Directions (1-5): For each of the following questions, a part or the whole of the original sentence has been highlighted in bold. You have to find the best way of writing the bold part of the sentence. Option A repeats the bold part, if the bold part is grammatically correct then choose option A.
Q1. Whereas in mammals the tiny tubes that convey nutrients to bone cells are arrayed in parallel lines, in birds the tubes form a random pattern.
(a) Whereas in mammals the tiny tubes that convey nutrients to bone cells are arrayed in parallel lines, in birds the tubes
(b) Whereas the tiny tubes for the conveying of nutrients to bone cells are arrayed in mammals in parallel lines, birds have tubes that
(c) Unlike mammals, where the tiny tubes for conveying nutrients to bone cells are arrayed in parallel lines, birds’ tubes
(d) Unlike mammals, in whom the tiny tubes that convey nutrients to bone cells are arrayed in parallel lines, the tubes in birds
(e) Unlike the tiny tubes that convey nutrients to bone cells, which in mammals are arrayed in parallel lines, in birds the tubes
Q2. Joachim Raff and Giacomo Meyerbeer are examples of the kind of composer who receives popular acclaim while living, often goes into decline after death, and never regains popularity again.
(a) often goes into decline after death, and never regains popularity again
(b) whose reputation declines after death and never regains its status again
(c) but whose reputation declines after death and never regains its former status
(d) who declines in reputation after death and who never regained popularity again
(e) then has declined in reputation after death and never regained popularity
Q3. In no other historical sighting did Halley’s Comet cause such a worldwide sensation as did its return in 1910-1911.
(a) did its return in 1910-1911.
(b) had its 1910-1911 return
(c) in its return of 1910-1911
(d) its return of 1910-1911 did
(e) its return in 1910-1911
Q4. The company announced that its profits declined much less in the second quarter that analysts had expected it to and its business will improve in the second half of the year.
(a) had expected it to and its business will improve
(b) had expected and that its business would improve
(c) expected it would and that it will improve its business
(d) expected them to and its business would improve
(e) expected and that it will have improved its business
Q5. Rock samples taken from the remains of an asteroid about twice the size of the 6-mile-wide asteroid that eradicated the dinosaurs has been dated to be 3.47 billion years old and thus is evidence of the earliest known asteroid impact on Earth.
(a) has been dated to be 3.47 billion years old and thus is
(b) has been dated at 3.47 billion years old and thus
(c) have been dated to be 3.47 billion years old and thus are
(d) have been dated as being 3.47 billion years old and thus
(e) have been dated at 3.47 billion years old and thus are
Directions (6-10): The following questions are based on the reasoning contained in brief statements or passages. For some questions, more than one of the choices could conceivably answer the question. However, you are to choose the best answer; that is, the response that most accurately and completely answer the question. You should not make assumptions that are by commonsense standards implausible, superfluous, or incompatible with the passage.
Q6. It has taken almost two years since the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and more than three years since the beginning of the global recession brought on by the financial sector’s misdeeds for the United States and Europe finally to reform financial regulation. Perhaps we should celebrate the regulatory victories in both Europe and the United States. After all, there is almost universal agreement that the crisis the world is facing today—and is likely to continue to face for years—is a result of the excesses of the deregulation movement begun under Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan 30 years ago. Unfettered markets are neither efficient nor stable.
Which of the following follows logically from the argument?
(a) Reason triumphs over ideology and interests.
(b) There is an important role for government to play in the economy.
(c) In a severe downturn, monetary policy is likely to be ineffective.
(d) Deregulation is necessary for the market forces to correct themselves.
(e) Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were failures.
Q7. Stem cell therapy, the most promising treatment is autologous—where patients’ own cells are harvested and re-introduced into their body. Animal studies have indicated that injecting stem cells directly into organs is safe. Positive effects have been shown for the treatment of conditions including heart attacks and urinary incontinence. Many scientists hope stem cell therapy can be used to treat a wide range of diseases.
Which of the following, if true, belies the hope of the scientists?
(a) There is a wide gap between scientific knowledge and clinical translation for safe and effective stem cell-based therapies.
(b) The only patient who had received autologous treatment suffered tissue damage and died from an infection.
(c) Autologous treatment was found to have led to the development of blood vessel and bone marrow masses at the place of injection.
(d) The scientists hope is based on premature enthusiasm and protocols that are not fully vetted.
(e) None of the above
Q8. Professor Capecchi, Nobel Prize-winning scientist says it could be tougher than first thought to harness the healing power of stem cells in medicine. It had been hoped a single “master” cell could potentially be used to repair all damage in a single organ. Professor Mario Capecchi, from the University of Utah, said that stem cell biology could be “more complicated” than previously thought, which could be bad news for patients hoping for the swift arrival of new stem cell therapies.
Which of the following, if true, helps best to strengthen the claim of the scientist?
(a) Unlike the majority of cells in the body, stem cells have special qualities.
(b) Stem cells not only reproduce themselves, but can produce a wide variety of the cells.
(c) It was believed that a uniform stem cell population was contained in each organ.
(d) Different stem cells are thought to be working together in the same organ.
(e) Embryonic stem cell research is mired in controversy.
Q9. The brain naturally distorts body image—a finding which could explain eating disorders like anorexia, say experts. People tend to think that their hands are wider and their fingers are shorter than they truly are. The confusion may lie in the way the brain receives information from different parts of the body. Distorted perception may dominate in some people, leading to body image problems. This may be relevant to psychiatric conditions involving body image such as anorexia nervosa, as there may be a general bias towards perceiving the body to be wider than it is.
Which if the following most seriously weakens the above argument?
(a) Dangerously underweight people generally desire to put on more weight.
(b) People tend to judge their hands leaner and legs fatter than actually are.
(c) People have an accurate knowledge of where all parts of the body are in space even when the eyes are closed.
(d) People generally have a conscious and clear visual image of their body parts.
(e) Dangerously overweight people sometimes desire to put on more weight.
Q10. Euro MPs have backed plans for more uniform food labeling in the EU, but they rejected “traffic light” color coding of foods. MEPs opted for Guideline Daily Amounts (GDAs), instead of red warning labels for foods seen as unhealthy because they are high in fat, sugar or salt. Some food producers lobbied intensively against color coding, fearing it would demonize their products. The MEPs’ vote could lead to new food labels in three to five years’ time. “Traffic light” coding is already used by some supermarkets and the idea is backed by the European Consumers’ Organization BEUC.
Which of the following can be validly concluded form the above?
(a) Shoppers find the system of labeling of foods called “traffic light” color coding useful.
(b) MEPs rejection of the “traffic light” color coding of foods was to favor the food producers lobby.
(c) The rejection of “traffic lights” color coding of foods makes it clear that MEPs won’t stand for people being misled by food packaging.
(d) The new food labels will have key nutritional information about salt, fat and sugar content and GDAs.
(e) More amendments are likely to the legislation on food labeling.
Directions (11-15): Each question below consists of a word, followed by five words or phrases. Choose the word or phrase that is most nearly opposite in meaning to the word.Since some of the questions require you to distinguish fine shades of meaning, be sure to consider all the choices before deciding which one is best.
Q11. obnoxious
(a) pleasant
(b) friendly
(c) harmonious
(d) caustic
(e) agreeable
Q12. sedulous
(a) diligent
(b) persevering
(c) cursory
(d) trying
(e) seductive
Q13. precocious
(a) intelligent
(b) bright
(c) gifted
(d) talented
(e) nincompoop
Q14. cryptic
(a) enigmatic
(b) evident
(c) puzzling
(d) hidden
(e) obscure
Q15. evanescent
(a) transient
(b) fleeting
(c) bypass
(d) enduring
(e) fragrant
Solutions
S1. Ans.(a)
Sol. Idiom; Rhetorical construction; Parallelism
“Whereas” introduces two contrasting situations or events and should be followed by parallel structures. In this sentence, whereas is immediately followed by a clause beginning with the prepositional phrase in mammals; this means that the second part of the sentence must also be a clause that opens with a preposition that functions in the same way – in this case, in birds. This structure clarifies that the things being contrasted are the tubes in mammals and the tubes in birds. In correct versions of the sentence grammatically contrast tubes and birds, mammals and tubes, or birds and mammals.
(a) Correct. Parallel structures make clear that the tubes in mammals are being contrasted with the tubes in birds.
S2. Ans.(c)
Sol. Verb tense; Parallelism
Faulty parallelism in the relative clause who receives … goes … regains … makes it unclear who or what is being describing. The original clause begins by describing a certain kind of composer. As written, with who as the subject of goes and regains, the last two descriptions illogically continue to refer to the kind of composer. Logically it must be the reputation that declines after the composer’s death.
(c) Correct. This sentence presents the proper logic while maintaining parallel structure and consistent verb tense.
S3. Ans.(c)
Sol. Parallelism; Verb form; Logical predication
The single subject of this sentence is Halley’s Comet, and its single verb phrase is did cause. The comparison presented by the sentence is between adverbial phrases describing times when the comet was seen. Grammatically, the items being compared are parallel prepositional phrases beginning with the preposition in: in no other sighting and in its return in 1910-1911. This is the clearest, most economical way of presenting the information. The options that introduce a second verb (did or had) violate that parallelism and introduce a comparison between the comet itself (subject of the verb did cause) and the comet’s return (subject of the verb did or had).
(c) Correct. The parallel prepositional phrases in this sentence correctly compare times when the comet was sighted.
S4. Ans.(b)
Sol. Parallelism, verb tense, antecedent
The original sentence has three problems. The sentence must clarify that the analysts held their expectations before the company’s announcement. That is, it must use the past perfect had expected to show action prior to the past tense of announced. The sentence must also use would rather than will for the company’s uncertain business improvement in the future. Secondly, the use of the singular pronoun it to refer to plural profits is incorrect. Finally, two parallel clauses are needed because the company made two announcements: one about the decline of profits and one about the future of its business.
(b) Correct. Removal of it to avoids the error in grammar and eliminates unnecessary words in this sentence. The addition of that before its business would creates another parallel clause associated with announced and clarifies that there is a second announcement. Finally, this sentence properly uses had expected and would.
S5. Ans.(e)
Sol. Agreement; Idiom
The plural subject of this sentence, Rock samples, requires plural verb phrases – have been dated and are rather than has been dated and is. The idiomatic way of expressing estimation of age is with the phrase dated at.
(e) Correct. The plural verbs match the plural subject, and the wording of the sentence is idiomatic.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b). “crisis the world is facing today—and is likely to continue to face for years—is a result of the excesses of the deregulation.” The background to this is the introduction of financial regulations in the America and Europe. Hence it can be concluded that the writer believes that government interference is necessary—as free markets are neither efficient nor stable. Option (b) states just his as the conclusion.
S7. Ans.(b)
Sol. Option (b). We need to find an instance where the hope of the scientists needs to be weakened. The proof of the only patient who received the treatment suffering tissue damage (the injection of stem cells is for the purpose of tissue building) must necessarily dampen the confidence/hope of the scientists—simply, the treatment has produced opposite results—evidence against. In fact, all the options help to belie the hope. But only one option scores are required to rank them. Option (a) is general. Option (c) needs explanation about blood vessel and bone marrow—we cannot make sense of it. Option (d) is also general. Hence option (b) scores.
S8. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d). The argument that we have to strengthen is the contrary view held by the Nobel Prize winner to the earlier view that “It had been hoped a single “master’ cell could potentially be used to repair all damage in a single organ. Professor Mario Capecchi, from the University of Utah, said that stem cell biology could be ‘more complicated.’” Reinforcing Mario Capecchi’s view, option (d) attacks the “single master” hypothesis. Other options are irrelevant to this argument.
S9. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a). The only option where people seems to have an accurate body image is when people who are thin want to put on weight. Hence option (a) weakens the argument. Options (b) and (e) prove that they have distorted image. Options (c) and (d) are not related to space and visual image (shape) and not related to size. Hence option (a) is the answer.
S10. Ans.(a)
Sol. Option (a). Option (b) is a possibility and not a valid conclusion. Option (c), in effect, is the opposite of option (b), also not a valid conclusion. Similarly, options (d) and (e) too cannot be concluded. The part about supermarkets already using the “traffic lights” system and the backing it enjoys from the consumers point to the fact that consumers find the system useful, hence option (a).
S11. Ans.(a)
Sol. obnoxious-extremely unpleasant.
caustic-sarcastic in a scathing and bitter way.
After looking at all the options, we can see option A (pleasant) is the antonym of the given word-obnoxious.
S12. Ans.(c)
Sol. sedulous-(of a person or action) showing dedication and diligence.
cursory-hasty and therefore not thorough or detailed.
Hence, sedulous and cursory are antonyms in meaning.
S13. Ans.(e)
Sol. precocious-(of a child) having developed certain abilities or inclinations at an earlier age than is usual or expected.
nincompoop-a foolish or stupid person.
hence, nincompoop and precocious are antonyms.
S14. Ans.(b)
Sol. cryptic-having a meaning that is mysterious or obscure.
evident-clearly seen or understood; obvious.
hence, evident and cryptic are antonyms.
S15. Ans.(d)
Sol. evanescent-soon passing out of sight, memory, or existence; quickly fading or disappearing.
enduring-lasting over a period of time; durable.
hence, enduring and evanescent are antonyms
