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Paragraph Summary Test - 2

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Paragraph Summary Test - 2
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  • Question 1
    3 / -1

    An ignorant mind is precisely not a spotless, empty vessel, but one that’s filled with the clutter of irrelevant or misleading life experiences, theories, facts, intuitions, strategies, algorithms, heuristics, metaphors, and hunches that regrettably have the look and feel of useful and accurate knowledge. This clutter is an unfortunate by-product of one of our greatest strengths as a species. We are unbridled pattern recognizers and profligate theorizers. Often, our theories are good enough to get us through the day, or at least to an age when we can procreate. But our genius for creative storytelling, combined with our inability to detect our own ignorance, can sometimes lead to situations that are embarrassing, unfortunate, or downright dangerous—especially in a technologically advanced, complex democratic society that occasionally invests mistaken popular beliefs with immense destructive power (See: crisis, financial; war, Iraq).

    Solution

    This paragraph tells us that the ignorant mind is filled with a clutter of misleading theories and facts. The clutter is a by-product of our ability, as a species, to recognize patterns and theorize based on these. But this very same genius for storytelling, along with our inability to recognize our own ignorance, can put us in undesirable situations.

    Option B captures all the key ideas of the paragraph: (a) our mental clutter- a by-product of our storytelling ability, (b) our ignorance of our own ignorance, and (c) how this can hamper our judgement, leading us to undesirable situations.

    Option A states that ability to recognize patterns and creatively formulate theories is the "greatest weakness? of our species. The paragraph given does not say this. Also, this option does not touch upon our inability to detect our own ignorance, which is an important point made in the paragraph. Not only do we formulate theories out of irrelevant or misleading information, we are ignorant of this.

    Option C states that our ignorance is "compounded" by our tendency to create stories out of the clutter in our minds. What the paragraph states is different. The paragraph states that our tendency to recognize patterns and tell stories based on these creates mental clutter. Also, option C does not talk of our inability to detect our own ignorance.

    Option D states that our tendency to weave stories out of the mental clutter "often" leads to truly dangerous situations. This overemphasizes the point. The paragraph only mentions that our creative storytelling ability and ignorance of our own ignorance can "sometimes" lead to situations that are embarrassing, unfortunate, or downright dangerous. Further, this option too does not mention our inability to detect our own ignorance.

    The question is "Choose the option that summarizes the paragraph best "
    Hence, the answer is B

  • Question 2
    3 / -1

    The most momentous development of our era, precisely, is the waning of the nation state: its inability to withstand countervailing 21st-century forces, and its calamitous loss of influence over human circumstance. National political authority is in decline, and, since we do not know any other sort, it feels like the end of the world. This is why a strange brand of apocalyptic nationalism is so widely in vogue. The current appeal of machismo as political style, the wall-building and xenophobia, the mythology and race theory, the fantastical promises of national restoration – these are not cures, but symptoms of what is slowly revealing itself to all: nation states everywhere are in an advanced state of political and moral decay from which they cannot individually extricate themselves.

    Solution

    This paragraph states that the nation state has weakened considerably in the 21st century. The decline of national political authority, in turn, has led to a strange brand of "apocalyptic nationalism" characterized by political machismo, xenophobia and the like.

    Now, looking at the options, we see that option A sums up the key ideas of the paragraph well.

    Option B, while true, does not touch upon apocalyptic nationalism, which is one of the main ideas in the given paragraph. The same is the case with option D. So, both options B and D are ruled out.

    Option C is incorrect. The paragraph argues that the waning of the nation state has led to xenophobia and apocalyptic nationalism. Option C states the converse of this.

    The question is "Choose the option that summarizes the paragraph best "
    Hence, the answer is A

  • Question 3
    3 / -1

    The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’ s position.
    To me, a “classic” means precisely the opposite of what my predecessors understood: a work is classical by reason of its resistance to contemporaneity and supposed universality, by reason of its capacity to indicate human particularity and difference in that past epoch. The classic is not what tells me about shared humanity — or, more truthfully put, what lets me recognize myself as already present in the past, what nourishes in me the illusion that everything has been like me and has existed only to prepare the way for me. Instead, the classic is what gives access to radically different forms of human consciousness for any given generation of readers, and thereby expands for them the range of possibilities of what it means to be a human being.

  • Question 4
    3 / -1

    The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’ s position.
    A translator of literary works needs a secure hold upon the two languages involved, supported by a good measure of familiarity with the two cultures. For an Indian translating works in an Indian language into English, finding satisfactory equivalents in a generalized western culture of practices and symbols in the original would be less difficult than gaining fluent control of contemporary English. When a westerner works on texts in Indian languages the interpretation of cultural elements will be the major challenge, rather than control over the gramrmr and essential vocabulary of the language concerned. It is much easier to remedy lapses in language in a text translated into English, than flaws of content. Since it is easier for an Indian to learn the English language than it is for a Briton or American to comprehend Indian culture, translations of Indian texts is better left to Indians.

  • Question 5
    3 / -1

    The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’ s position.
    For each of the past three years, temperatures have hit peaks not seen since the birth of meteorology, and probably not for more than 110,000 years. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air is at its highest level in 4 million years. This does not cause storms like Harvey — there have always been storms and hurricanes along the Gulf of Mexico — but it makes them wetter and more powerful. As the seas warm, they evaporate more easily and provide energy to storm fronts. As the air above them warms, it holds more water vapour. For every half a degree Celsius in warming, there is about a 3% increase in atmospheric moisture content. Scientists call this the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. This means the skies fill more quickly and have more to dump. The storm surge was greater because sea levels have risen 20 cm as a result of more than 100 years of human- related global warming which has melted glaciers and thermally expanded the volume of seawater.

  • Question 6
    3 / -1

    The passage given below is followed by four sumrmries. Choose the option that best captures the author’ s position.
    A fundamental property of language is that it is slippery and messy and more liquid than solid, a gelatinous mass that changes shape to fit. As Wittgenstein would remind us, “usage has no sharp boundary.” Oftentimes, the only way to determine the meaning of a word is to examine how it is used. This insight is often described as the “meaning is use” doctrine. There are differences between the “meaning is use” doctrine and a dictionary-first theory of meaning. “The dictionary’s careful fixing of words to definitions, like butterflies pinned under glass, can suggest that this is how language works. The definitions can seem to ensure and fix the meaning of words, just as the gold standard can back a country’s currency.” What Wittgenstein found in the circulation of ordinary language, however, was a free-floating currency of meaning. The value of each word arises out of the exchange. The lexicographer abstracts a meaning from that exchange, which is then set within the conventions of the dictionary definition.

    Solution

    According to the paragraph, language is like a gelatinous mass that changes shape to fit. Also, many times the only way to find meaning of word is to examine how it is used. It is stated that definitions are fixed o the word by dictionary. While Wittgenstein found that circulation of ordinary language was a free-floating currency of meaning. So the meanings are dynamic. Thus value of word arises from the exchange and then the lexicographer abstracts meaning from that exchange. Thus, definitions are picked up from the meaning in use.

    Option A, which states that definitions are like dogmatic, cannot be found in the paragraph. Hence, it can be eliminated.
    The paragraph doesn’t talk about why lexicographers fix meanings. Hence, option B can be eliminated.
    Option C covers all the main points. Hence, it is the right choice.
    The purpose of the passage is not to compare meaning of words in dictionaries with meaning which arises from exchange. Hence, option D can be eliminated.
    Hence, option C is the right choice.

  • Question 7
    3 / -1

    The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’s position.
    Both Socrates and Bacon were very good at asking useful questions. In fact, Socrates is largely credited with coming up with a way of asking questions, ‘the Socratic method,’ which itself is at the core of the ‘scientific method,’ popularised by Bacon. The Socratic method disproves arguments by finding exceptions to them, and can therefore lead your opponent to a point where they admit something that contradicts their original position. In common with Socrates, Bacon stressed it was as important to disprove a theory as it was to prove one — and real-world observation and experimentation were key to achieving both aims. Bacon also saw science as a collaborative affair, with scientists working together, challenging each other.

    Solution

    According to the paragraph, both Socrates and Bacon advocated examining arguments and theories from both sides to prove them.

  • Question 8
    3 / -1

    The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the author’ s position.
    North American walnut sphinx moth caterpillars (Amorpha juglandis) look like easy meals for birds, but they have a trick up their sleeves — they produce whistles that sound like bird alarm calls, scaring potential predators away. At first, scientists suspected birds were simply startled by the loud noise. But a new study suggests a more sophisticated mechanism: the caterpillar’s whistle appears to mimic a bird alarm call, sending avian predators scrambling for cover. When pecked by a bird, the caterpillars whistle by compressing their bodies like an accordion and forcing air out through specialized holes in their sides. The whistles are impressively loud — they have been measured at over BO dB from 5 cm away from the caterpillar — considering they are made by a two-inch long insect.

    Solution

    According to the paragraph the North American walnut sphinx moth caterpillars produce whistles which are extremely loud considering their size. These whistles appear to mimic bird(predator) alarm calls which scares them to look for cover. Thus, these sounds act as acoustic deception and help the insect to defend themselves against predators.

    Option A mentions about vocal tracts which is out of scope. Hence, it can be eliminated.
    Option B though correct, fails to mention the use of sound to defend against the preators. Hence, it can be eliminated.
    Option C captures all the main points and hence is right choice.
    Option D mentions ‘camouflage’ which is also out of context. Hence, it can be eliminated.
    Hence, option C is the right answer.

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