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VERBAL ABILITY
BEST SUMMARY ANALOGY & OTHERS
DIRECTIONS for questions 1 to 11: Four alternative summaries are given below each text. Choose the
option that best captures the essence of the text.
1. Physically, inertia is a feeling that you just cant move; mentally, it is a sluggish mind. Even if you
try to be sensitive, if your mind is sluggish, you just dont feel anything intensely. You may even
see a tragedy enacted in front of your eyes and not be able to respond meaningfully. You may see
one person exploiting another, one group persecuting another, and not be able to get angry. Your
energy is frozen. You are not deliberately refusing to act; you just dont have the capacity.
A. Inertia makes your body and mind sluggish. They become insensitive to tragedies, exploitation,
and persecution because it freezes your energy and decapacitates it.
B. When you have inertia you dont act although you see one person exploiting another or one
group persecuting another. You dont get angry because you are incapable.
C. Inertia is of two types physical and mental. Physical inertia restricts bodily movements.
Mental inertia prevents mental response to events enacted in front of your eyes.
D. Physical inertia stops your body frommoving; mental inertia freezes your energy, and stops
your mind fromresponding meaningfully to events, even tragedies, in front of you.
2. Genetically modified plants, probably tobacco or maize, offer a cheap way to make vast quantities
of vaccines and other drugs. It looks like the cost of plane-derived products will be 10 to 100 fold
less than conventionally derived products, J ulian Ma says. If the technique is proved, it may be
adopted by developing countries, thus helping to break their reliance upon pharmaceutical
multinationals by growing and harvesting plants in low-tech. We may see this being transferred to
countries where they can start their own industry at a low start up cost and produce the amount
they need.
A. According to experts plants have the potential to be harnessed as a cheap way to make
vaccines and other drugs. It is going to be blessing for the developing countries.
B. J ulian Ma believes that Genetically Modified plants have the potential to help the developing
countries as it can end their dependence on Pharmaceutical multinationals. The GM plants
can help then develop vast quantities of vaccine at a fraction of the cost of products
manufactured by pharma MNCs.
C. Tobacco and maize plants can be genetically modified. This can help the developing nations
to free themselves of the strangle of pharmaceutical MNCs by helping these nations in
producing cheaper vaccines.
D. According to J ulian Ma Genetically Modified plants will end the hegemony of pharmaceutical
MNCs over developing nations. These countries will be free fromthe exorbitant prices
charged and will have the techniques to produce their own vaccines.
3. Try before you buy. We use this memorable saying to urge you to experience the consequences of
an alternative before you choose it, whenever this is feasible. If you are considering buying a van
after having always owned sedans, rent one for a week or borrow a friends. By experiencing the
consequences first hand, they become more meaningful. In addition, you are likely to identify
consequences you had not even thought of before. May be you will discover that it is difficult to
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park the van in your small parking space at work, but that, on the other hand, your elderly father
has a much easier time getting in and out of it.
A. If you are planning to buy a van after being used to sedans, borrow a van or rent it and try
it before deciding to buy it. Then you may realize that parking a van is difficult while it is
easier for your elderly father to get in and out of it.
B. Before choosing an alternative, experience its consequences if feasible. If, for example,
you want to change fromsedans to a van, try one before buying it. You will discover aspects
you may never have thought of.
C. Always try before you buy anything. You are bound to discover many consequences. One
of the consequences of going in for a van is that it is more difficult to park than sedans at the
office car park.
D. We urge you to try products such as vans before buying them. Then you can experience
consequences you have not thought of such as parking problems. But your father may find
vans more comfortable than cars.
4. Dance in India has had a long history. We find mention of it in the Vedas themselves. The reference
in the great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata are more profuse. Arjuna, one of the
heroes of the Mahabharata, during his period of exile, was employed by the king of Virata as a
teacher of music and dance to the princesses. Fromthis, it would seem that in those days, dance
was a highly respected art practiced as much by high born ladies as by professional dancers. In
the Malavikagnimitra, a play by Kalidasa written in 5
th
century AD, stage dancing has an important
role.
A. Dance in India dates back to the time of the Vedas, Ramayana and Mahabharata. In fact in
the Mahabharata none other than Arjuna is depicted teaching dance to the princesses thus
making it a respected art practiced equally by high born ladies and professional dancers.
B. Dance has always been an important element of Indian culture. It is proved by the fact that
Arjuna, in the Mahabharata, was employed by the king of Virata to teach dance to his
daughters. Kalidasa too used dance as the central theme for one of his plays.
C. Dance in India has a long history. We find the reference to dance in the Vedas, Ramayana
and Mahabharata. Kalidasa too mentioned it in at least one of his plays. Arjunas teaching
dance to the princesses of Virata shows that it was a respected art too.
D. Dance in ancient India was considered an important art. In fact according to Mahabharata,
the King of Virata hired Arjuna to impart dance and music lessons to the princesses. An
author of Kalidasas stature too used dance as a central theme in his works.
5. It is important for shipping companies to be clear about the objectives for maintenance and materials
management as to whether the primary focus is on service level improvement or cost minimization.
Often when certain systems are set in place, the cost minimization objective and associated
procedure become more important than the flexibility required for service level improvement. The
problemreally arises since cost minimization tends to focus on out of pocket costs which are
visible, while the opportunity costs, often greater in value, are lost sight of.
A. Shipping companies have to either minimize costs or maximize service quality. If they focus
on cost minimization, they will reduce quality. They should focus on service level improvement,
or else opportunity costs will be lost sight of.
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B. Shipping companies should determine the primary focus of their maintenance and materials
management. Focus on cost minimization may reduce visible costs, but ignore greater invisible
costs and impair service quality.
C. Any cost minimization programin shipping is bound to lower the quality of service. Therefore,
shipping companies must be clear about the primary focus of their maintenance and materials
management before embarking on cost minimization.
D. Shipping companies should focus on quality level improvement rather than cost cutting.
Cost cutting will lead to untold opportunity costs. Companies should have systems in place
to make the service 1evel flexible.
6. The characteristic excellence of Wordsworth is the sanity and soundness of his thoughts and
sentiments drawn, not from books, but fromthe poets own meditative observation. His thoughts
and sentiments are fresh and original. In the matter of these too excellent traits, Wordsworth
strikingly resembles Samuel Daniel. His diction is for all time and ages. This is also true of his
sentiments, which remain fresh even after repeated perusals. For though they are expressed in a
language easily comprehensible even to ordinary readers. They are drawn from depths into which
few in any age have dared to descend.
A. The excellence of Wordsworth lies in the sanity and soundness of his thoughts that were
drawn by his superior observation skills and intuition. His sentiments and diction are penetrating
and reflective. Furthermore his writing is lucid, appears fresh and remains relevant to all.
B. The excellence of Wordsworth has a striking resemblance to the excellence of Samuel
Daniel. The writing of both of themhad this distinct quality of remaining fresh no matter
how many times they were read.
C. The excellence of Wordsworth lies in his originality. His thoughts were drawn froman inner
well. The language that he used was very easy to understand.
D. The excellence of Wordsworth lies in the sanity and soundness of his thoughts that were
drawn by his superior observation skills. His thoughts are often fresh and resemble Samuel
Daniels thoughts. His diction and sentiment remain new even after repeated perusal.
7. The human race is spread all over the world, from the polar regions to the tropics. The people of
whom it is made up eat different kinds of food, partly according to the climate in which they live,
and partly according to the kind of food which their country produces. In hot climates, meat and
fat are not much needed; but in the Arctic regions they seemto be very necessary for keeping up
the heat of the body. Thus, in India, people live chiefly on different kinds of grains, eggs, milk, or
sometimes fish and meat. In Europe, people eat more meat and less grain. In the Arctic regions,
where no grains and fruits are produced, the Eskimo and other races live almost entirely on meat
and fish.
A. Food eaten by people in different regions of the world depends on the climate and produce
of the region, and varies frommeat and fish in the Arctic to predominantly grains in the
tropics.
B. Hot climates require people to eat grains while cold regions require people to eat meat and
fish.
C. In hot countries people eat mainly grains while in the Arctic, they eat meat and fish because
they cannot grow grains.
D. While people in Arctic regions like meat and fish and those in hot regions like India prefer
mainly grains, they have to change what they eat depending on the local climate and the
local produce.
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8. Money and youth can be an unhealthy combination. Popular wisdom now suggests that getting
handed a fat cheque for simply being part of the right family does not do much for anyone. With
a $41 trillion wealth transfer predicted as baby boomers near retirement, more parents are scaling
back massive family bequests, channeling money to social causes instead. The fledgling movement
stems, in part, fromspreading symptoms of affluenza. Rich kids have more problems with substance
abuse, anxiety and depression according to a Columbia university study. More importantly many
parents increasingly admire the model of Warren Buffet in putting their money to more noble
uses. As the rich have become richer, the plight of the disadvantaged has become more evident.
Instead of giving a potential complex to a handful of offspring, these parents want to use their
wealth even if it is relatively modest to help change the world.
A. According to a study conducted by Columbia University, a lot of money leads to substance
abuse and crime. As a result parent will increasingly leave their money for the social causes
of a worthy nature rather than leaving an inheritance for their children.
B. Inspired by Warren Buffet, parents of the baby boomer generation have decided to leave
their wealth for the poor and needy and thus preventing their children fromgoing astray.
C. An increasing number of parents are opting to leave their wealth for social causes rather
than to their children as large inheritance often leads to the young becoming wayward.
Aware of the plight of the needy and inspired by the benevolent like Warren Buffet, they
would like to change the world for better.
D. For easy and unearned money can lead the young on the path of crime, parents have
decided to deprive their children of their inheritance and instead favour charity so that they
can benefit the needy section of the society. Warren Buffet has exhorted themto do so.
9. You seemed at first to take no notice of your school-fellows, or rather to set yourself against them
because they were strangers to you. They knew as little of you as you did of them; this would
have been the reason for their keeping aloof fromyou as well, which you would have felt as a
hardship. Learn never to conceive a prejudice against others because you know nothing of them.
It is bad reasoning, and makes enemies of half the world. Do not think ill of themtill they behave
ill to you; and then strive to avoid the faults which you see in them. This will disarmtheir hostility
sooner than pique or resentment or complaint.
A. The discomfort you felt with your school fellows was because both sides knew little of each
other. You should not complain unless you find others prejudiced against you and have
attempted to carefully analyze the faults you have observed in them.
B. The discomfort you felt with your school fellows was because both sides knew little of each
other. Avoid prejudice and negative thoughts till you encounter bad behaviour fromothers,
and then win themover by shunning the faults you have observed.
C. You encountered hardship amongst your school fellows because you did not know them
well. You should learn to not make enemies because of your prejudices irrespective of their
behaviour towards you.
D. You encountered hardship amongst your school fellows because you did not know them
well. You should learn to not make enemies because of your prejudices unless they behave
badly with you.
10. As long as human nature remains what it is, there can be no perfect formof government. Nor can
democracy claimto one such. But of all the forms of governments known to man, it has been
found to be the best so far. We often talk about the failure of democracy; but more often than not,
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it is the failure of our intelligence. So we should not abandon democracy. It is not merely a formof
political organization. It is indeed a way of life it is an ideal worthy to be pursued and preserved.
A. Among the various forms of governance known to mankind, democracy has been the best
form of government known. Failure of democracy is mostly a failure of human intelligence.
So democracy should be pursued and preserved.
B. Democracy is the best formof government known to mankind. We should not give up
democracy because it fails whenever human intelligence fails.
C. Democracy is the perfect formof government known to mankind. When democracy fails it
is because of the human intelligence. It should not be abandoned.
D. Democracy should not be abandoned as it is the best formof government on the planet. If
it fails then there must be a failure of human intelligence.
11. Modembourgeois society, said Nietzsche, was decadent and enfeebled a victimof the excessive
development of the rational faculties at the expense of will and instinct. Against the liberal-rationalist
stress on the intellect, Nietzsche urged recognition of the dark mysterious world of instinctual
desires - the true forces of life. Smother the will with excessive intellectualizing and you destroy
the spontaneity that sparks cultural creativity and ignites a zest for living. The critical and theoretical
outlook destroyed the creative instincts. For mans manifold potential to be realized, he must
forego relying on the intellect and nurture again the instinctual roots of human existence.
A. Nietzsche urges the decadent and enfeebled modem society to forego intellect and give
importance to creative instincts.
B. Nietzsche urges the decadent and enfeebled modemsociety to smother the will with excessive
intellectualising and ignite a zest for living.
C. Nietzsche criticizes the intellectuals for enfeebling the modembourgeois society by not
nurturing mans creative instincts.
D. Nietzsche blames excessive intellectualization for the decline of modemsociety and suggests
nurturing creative instincts instead.
DIRECTIONS for questions 12 to 21: Each pair of CAPITALIZED words given below is followed by
four pairs of words Choose the pair which exhibit the relationship similar to that expressed in the capitalized
pair.
12. ROTATE : GYRATE
(A) Putrefy : Reject (B) Anachronism: Cubism
(C) Accolade : Criticism (D) Absolve : Exonerate
13. COMMITMENT : GROWTH
(A) Ingenuity : Invention (B) Gullibility : Experiment
(C) Loquaciousness : Sobriety (D) Taciturnity : Silence
14. FISH : MERMAID
(A) Unicom: Tapestry (B) Horse : Centaur
(C) Pegasus : Fly (D) Cat : Lion
15. ORIGINAL : ERSATZ
(A) euphoria : humour (B) cogitation : levity
(C) detract : extract (D) oracular : prophetic
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16. GENEROSITY : DONOR
(A) Discrimination : connoisseur (B) Credulity : dupe
(C) Eloquence : orator (D) Truculence : snob
17. INVECTIVE : PRAISE
(A) Indiscriminate : fastidious (B) Brook : tolerate
(C) Exaggerate : minimize (D) Untoward : favorable
18. STOIC : EMOTIONS
(A) glint : steel (B) flint : spark
(C) stork : baby (D) precious : gem
19. PROVINCIALISM : PAROCHIALISM
(A) Dilettane : Inexpert (B) Miscegenation : Mitigation
(C) Meretricious : Sober (D) Decadent : Resplendent
20. LYING : PERJ URY
(A) statement : testimony (B) seeing : observing
(C) taking : stealing (D) eating : dining
21. LIMPID : MURKY
(A) dazed : clouded (B) obscure : vague
(C) bright : gloomy (D) nebulous : dim
DIRECTIONS for questions 22 to 25:
Given below are five words. Choose the word that does not belong to the group
22. A. books B. library C. scholar D. dozen E. lectern
23. A. voyage B. plank C. nautical D. mariner E. compass
24. A. museum B. curator C. curio D. antiques E. pantheon
25. A. pulley B. hawser, C. crane D. wharf E. load
DIRECTIONS for questions 26 to 29:
Given below are four words. Choose the word that does not belong to the group
26. A. impetuosity B. equanimity C. zealousness D. effervescence
27. A. effusion B. intrusion C. percolation D. effluence
28. A. Abstract B. Conceptual C. Material D. Idealist
29. A. suffer B. endure C. ordeal D. withstand
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DIRECTIONS for questions 30 to 32: For the word given on top of the table, match the dictionary
definitions with their corresponding usage. Out of the four numbered choices given in the boxes below the
table, identify the one that has all the definitions and usage correctly matched and mark its number as your
answer.
30. Benign
Dictionary Definition Usage
A. Showing gentleness E. The tumour was benign.
B. Favourable F. The chemical additive is environmentally benign.
C. Harmless G. the opposition demanded a policy with benign consequences.
D. Not malignant H. He had a benign smile on his face.
(1) (2) (3) (4)
A H A E A G A G
B G B F B H B H
C F C H C F C E
D E D G D E D F
31. Pull
Dictionary Definition Usage
A. An act of using force to E. I used to be a teacher and still feel the
something upwards pull of the classroom.
B. An act of taking a long sip of F. Her familys name gives her a lot of
something pull I the surrounding villages.
C. A strong feeling that you want G. I was thirsty and took a good pull at
to go to a particular place or my beer.
person
D. Special influence that gives H. Why dont you give the rope a
an unfair advantage good pull?
(1) (2) (3) (4)
A H A H A H A H
B G B G B F B E
C E C F C E C G
D F D E D G D F
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32. Echo
Dictionary Definition Usage
A. Repetition of a sound E. Her resignation had an echo throughout the country.
B. An imitation F. We found an echo of the past civilization while examining the
artifacts.
C. Vestige G. The echo of her cry was heard by all.
D. Repercussion H. The capri is an echo of an earlier style.
(1) (2) (3) (4)
A H A G A E A G
B E B H B F B H
C F C F C H C E
D G D E D G D F