1

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Episode 45
Shall we see some more of Verbal Reasoning from actual papers? See this question from the paper of 18-11-2007 that has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted and, from the given options, you are to choose the sentence that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way: Characters are also part of deep structure. Characters tie events in a story together and provide a thread of continuity and meaning. Stories can be about individuals, groups, or whole organizations, so from an organisational studies perspective, the focal actor(s) determine the level and unit of analysis used in a study. Stories of mergers and acquisitions, for example, are commonplace. In these stories whole organizations are personified as actors. But these macro-level stories usually are not told from the perspective of the macro-level participants, because whole organizations cannot narrate their experiences in the first person. Options as follows: (1) More generally, data concerning the identities and relationships of the characters in the story are required, if one is to understand role structure and social networks in which that process is embedded. (2) Personification of a whole organization abstracts away from the particular actors and from traditional notions of level of analysis. (3) The personification of a whole organization is important because stories differ depending on who is enacting various events. (4) Every story is told from a particular point of view, with a particular narrative voice, which is not regarded as part of the deep structure. (5) The personification of a whole organization is a textual device we use to make macro-level theories more comprehensible. See Option 1 that begins with the words more generally which would mean that immediately previous to these words, the discussion was either about less general issues or about specific cases or micro-level issues. Is this true? No. Because the immediately previous reference is to macro-level stories which itself is a general topic. What could be more general than macro-level? Option 1 will not work for that simple logical reason. Move on to Option 2. But first let us understand the meaning of the word personification through a simple illustration. Imagine that a young man called Charles is very punctual. He wakes up at 4 a.m. each day. He studies diligently till 6 a.m. and then goes for a swim every day without fail. He reaches office at 8.30 a.m. sharp and so on. When people see him, they feel that if ever the word punctuality could take human form, then Charles could be the human form of that word. Going back to Option 2, please see the following words in the passage: whole organizations are personified as actors. This means actors represent the organisation in its human form. So if one Mr. Jim is personifying, say, Simpson Metals Limited, then, for purposes of the story, Mr. Jim is Simpson Metals Limited just as Charles is punctuality in human form. Option 2 would not work because it says that Mr. Jim (who is the personification of Simpson Metal Limited) abstracts (draws) away from Mr. Jim whereas, as far as the story is concerned, there is no difference between Jim and the company. See Option 3. Imagine that students from a college in Ahmedabad decide to enact a play called Macbeth by William Shakespeare and decide that Jignesh will play the part of Macbeth and Jigna will play the role of Lady Macbeth. Will the story of Macbeth be changed if, instead of Jignesh, Deepak plays Macbeth? No way! This is why Option 3 is illogical. Go on to Option 4. See the following words in the passage: But these macro-level stories usually are not told from the perspective of the macro-level participants, because whole organizations cannot narrate their experiences in the first person. Imagine that a large company called Simpson Textiles has acquired a petrochemicals company called Richardson Petrochemicals and a story is being written about this acquisition. An illustrative list of the macro-level participants in such a story could be as follows: (A) the management of Simpson Textiles (B) the management of Richardson Petrochemicals (C) the banks that financed these companies and felt that their loans to Richardson Petrochemicals could be repaid only if a strong company took it over (D) the employees unions of Richardson Petrochemicals who resisted the acquisition because Simpson __________________________________________________________________________________________ 305, Kirtiman Complex, Opp. Kadva Patidar Hostel,Gulbai Tekra, Ahmedabad (M) 9825934661 400/2, Sector 5A, Near G2 Circle, Gandhinagar

_______________________________________________________________________________ Textiles wanted to reduce the staff. Suppose you were to ask Simpson Textiles to get up and narrate its views on the acquisition, this would be possible only if some (human) representative of the company gets up and narrates the organisations views since any organisation is as such made up of human beings who discuss and decide what they collectively feel about some matter. This collective view is, after all, nothing other than the organisational perspective on the matter. Merely because an individual speaks on behalf of the organisation, it does not mean that the views expressed by that individual are not part of deep structure. This is why Option 4 will not do. We are left with Option 5 that fits like a shot because it talks about personification of a whole organisation, which is the subject matter of the major part of the passage. If you will see the level of logic that the above question tests, it should become clear that preparing for the competitive examination is a fairly long term process. There is nothing like starting too early. A serious aspirant must begin as early as possible, preferably as soon as he enters college. Here are a few brainteasers: (BT. I) In a 1000-meter race A gives B a 40-meter head-start and wins by 19 sec. But if A gives B a 30 sec start then B wins by 40 m. How many seconds does A require to run a km? (1) 125 (2) 120 (3) 150 (4) 140. (BT. II) On one of the escalators in Gallops Mall on S.G Highway, I find that if I walk down 26 steps I require 30 seconds to get to the bottom, but if I walk 34 steps I require only 18 seconds to reach the bottom. How many steps would I have to walk if that escalator were turned off? Want to check your answers to the brainteasers? Write to query@catalysis.co.in.

_________________________________________________________________________________ 305, Kirtiman Complex, Opp. Kadva Patidar Hostel,Gulbai Tekra, Ahmedabad 9825934661 400/2, Sector 5A, Near G2 Circle, Gandhinagar

(M)