Verbal Logic - 8

Contents
• Test Drive
• Para Completion VA - 21
CEX-V-0257/18

Number of Questions : 35

Test Drive 4. Vagabond : Settled

(1) Bedlam : Serene
Time Limit 5 Minutes (2) Frazzled : Invigorated
(3) Havoc : Tranquillity
Directions for questions 1 to 5: Each of the (4) Jittery : Fretful
questions contain a pair of words which share a
particular relationship. From the given options, 5. Censure : Fulmination
(1) Grody : Nauseating
choose the pair which shows a relationship least
(2) Stalwart : Neophyte
similar to that of the question pair.
(3) Queasy : Squeamish
(4) Indictment : Incrimination
1. Gawky : Ungainly
(1) Truculent : Belligerent
Class Sheet
(2) Atavistic : Suave
(3) Snarl : Growl Para Completion - Type 1
(4) Dewlap : Mandible
Directions for questions 6 to 10: The questions
2. Gnomic : Terse contain a paragraph each from which the first
(1) Feral : Barbarous sentence has been deleted. From the given options,
(2) Intrepid : Doughty choose the one that completes the paragraph most
(3) Gratuitous : Warranted logically and coherently. Mark the appropriate option.
(4) Despot: Tyrant
6. We have had another terrorist attack, happily
3. Exacerbate : Inflame this time the bomb did not explode, there were
(1) Herald : Prorogue no deaths and injuries were relatively minor
(2) Predilection : Proclivity but fear levels are not, although few people
(3) Transfix : Mesmerize are going to stop using public transport.
(4) Beguile : Enrapture We all know we have to carry on although
there are few of us now who are not aware of
the lottery of the threat; we just hope that

VA - 21 Page 1
 this is one without our name on the ticket. uncommon for years to pass before dates
Not that we wish random death and destruction for appeal hearings are set.
on anyone else but it is hard not to thank (4) A number of legislators were told to give
providence when such violence is not visited up their seats after the Supreme Court
on your own house. ruled in 2013 that a lawmaker would
(1) Meanwhile nature, or indeed that same automatically be disqualified upon being
providence, has been fighting back too as convicted.
the worst storm ever known shattered the
Caribbean. 8. It is considered the most significant among
(2) The summer holidays are over and it is the many cultural contributions of the
business as usual although Parliament Sumerians and the greatest among those of
is in recess for the party conference the Sumerian city of Uruk which advanced
circus until October 9. the writing of cuneiform c. 3200 BCE.
(3) As I said, it's hard not to thank providence The name comes from the Latin word cuneus
when you and yours stay safe whatever for 'wedge' owing to the wedge-shaped style
happens to the anonymous other. of writing. In cuneiform, a carefully cut writing
(4) There is a sort of balance to the negative implement known as a stylus is pressed into
forces of humankind when nature shows soft clay to produce wedge-like impressions
her real power but at the same time, as that represent word-signs (pictographs) and,
usual, it is the poorest who have suffered later, phonograms or `word-concepts' (closer
most. to a modern day understanding of a `word').
All of the great Mesopotamian civilizations
7. As such, individuals might lose years of used cuneiform (the Sumerians, Akkadians,
employment in between court proceedings if Babylonians, Elamites, Hatti, Hittites,
they are not allowed to work during the appeal Assyrians, Hurrians and others) until it was
period. This, of course, is not a problem that abandoned in favour of the alphabetic script
the lawmakers are likely to face. Since all at some point after 100 BCE.
citizens are equal before the law, it can be (1) The great literary works of Mesopotamia
argued that the right to appeal against a such as the famous Epic of Gilgamesh
conviction must be extended to were all written in cuneiform.
parliamentarians as well. But it is one thing (2) One no longer had to struggle with the
to be fair; it is quite another for the country to meaning of a pictograph; one now read a
be ruled by criminals. If they must remain in word-concept which more clearly
their seats while they appeal against their conveyed the meaning of the writer.
convictions, parliamentarians should at least (3) The earliest cuneiform tablets, known as
be stripped of their decision-making powers. proto-cuneiform, were pictorial, as the
(1) It is true that every citizen of India has the subjects they addressed were more
right to appeal against a guilty verdict. concrete and visible but developed in
(2) India's Parliament, at present, has the complexity as the subject matter became
highest number of politicians facing more intangible.
criminal charges since 2004. (4) Cuneiform is a system of writing first
(3) Given the glacial pace at which the judicial developed by the ancient Sumerians of
system in India functions, it is not Mesopotamia c. 3500-3000 BCE.

Page 2 VA - 21
9. With his family's ancient roots in the Comtat apparent interests - the individual against the
Venaissin region of Provence, he was a man common good - almost always lies
both profoundly Jewish and forever French. somewhere at the root of human conflicts and
Growing up amid the sounds of singing also those between man and environment.
workers in his father's almond business, All taken into account, however, the true,
he acquired a tolerance for sonic simultaneity long-term interests of the individual cannot
that, in the words of Jeremy Drake, in the conflict with what is best for all.
New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, (1) Nowadays people are becoming more and
prompted Milhaud to create works in which more egoistic and self-centered.
there is "so much (sometimes too much) (2) These days people are brought up and
going on at the same time." His lyricism may educated to regard most matters mainly
not be as affectingly personal as that of Francis from a relatively individual viewpoint.
Poulenc, his fellow-member of the composers' (3) When analyzing the success and failures
group Les Six, but it is underlined by an of the current belief system, it is useful to
indomitable humanism. His heritage in begin by questioning its basic
Provence was merely part of a broader assumptions.
Mediterranean zone, which for him, as Drake (4) Globalization and the idea of free trade
explains, "extended all the way from Istanbul have encouraged people to adopt a more
to Rio de Janeiro." unified belief system nowadays.
(1) Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), the great but
excessively prolific French composer, Para Completion - Type 2
wrote hundreds of works, many of which
you don't need to know about. Directions for questions 11 to 15: The questions
(2) "La Mère" is still a work lovingly overstuffed contain a paragraph each from which a sentence
with music and words, but the singers' has been deleted. From the given options, choose
coaching in the French text is exemplary, the one that completes the paragraph most logically
and the direction is viscerally dramatic and coherently. Mark the appropriate option.
throughout.
(3) Multiplicity in unity is the key to Milhaud's 11. Anyone who has common sense will
music. remember that the bewilderments of the eyes
(4) Milhaud, in his quest for his identity, turns are of two kinds, and arise from two causes,
to music to find a common ground with either from coming out of the light or from
his roots. going into the light, which is true of the mind's
eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and
10. Even when we are taught to identify with and he who remembers this when he sees any
protect the best interests of one party against one whose vision is perplexed and weak,
another, be it our group, our society, our nation, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask
our culture... the appeal often relies most whether that soul of man has come out of the
heavily on the individual concerned perceiving brighter light, and is unable to see because
this as in his 'own' partisan interest. unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned
The perceived self-interest, even of a very large from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess
grouping, is indeed not always compatible of light. _______. Or, if he has a mind to laugh
with the universal good. Such a clash of at the soul which comes from below into the

VA - 21 Page 3
 light, there will be more reason in this than in (3) This brings about the total destruction of
the laugh which greets him who returns from the world due to the wrath of Abzu, the
above out of the light into the den. God of fresh water.
(1) And he will count the one happy in his (4) Abzu, God of fresh water, co-creator of
condition and state of being, and he will the cosmos, threatens to destroy the
pity the other. world with his waters, and the Gods gather
(2) And this, indeed, is a very just distinction. in terror.
(3) And our argument shows that the power
and capacity of learning exists in the soul 13. In response to all of this, a decent human
already. being would've said something like, "I have
(4) And he is compelled to fight about the no idea the pain this family is going through.
images or the shadows of images of If my words compounded their pain, I am truly
justice. sorry. Our nation lost a hero and this family
lost a loved one. ______ If given a chance
12. After six generations of gods, in the again, I will communicate this directly to the
Babylonian Enûma Eliš, in the seventh family so that my words can match the intent
generation, (Akkadian "shapattu" or sabath), of my heart." I just made that up on the fly.
the younger Igigi gods, the sons and I didn't think about it. I just thought about what
daughters of Enlil and Ninlil, go on strike and I might say if I happened to either put my foot
refuse their duties of keeping the creation in my mouth with a grieving family or was
working. ______ Enki promises to help and perceived to mean something that I didn't
puts Abzu to sleep, confining him in irrigation quite mean.
canals and places him in the Kur, beneath (1) Such losses are irreparable.
his city of Eridu. But the universe is still (2) One doesn't know how to overcome such
threatened, as Tiamat, angry at the a loss.
imprisonment of Abzu and at the prompting (3) We are all worse for such a loss.
of her son and vizier Kingu, decides to take (4) Our nation has lost its precious treasure.
back the creation herself. The gods gather
again in terror and turn to Enki for help, 14. Quinquennial party congresses of the CCP
but Enki who harnessed Abzu, Tiamat's used to be mechanisms for the division of the
consort, for irrigation refuses to get involved. spoils and presenting a face of China moving
The gods then seek help elsewhere, and the further away from the totalitarianism of the
patriarchal Enlil, their father, God of Nippur, Mao Zedong era. But the present Congress
promises to solve the problem if they make is a reminder of how far Xi has dragged China
him King of the Gods. backwards in terms of political and economic
(1) Abzu, was the name for fresh water from liberalisation. Through unbridled ambition and
underground aquifers which was given a manipulation, the current president has put a
religious fertilising quality in Sumerian and brake on the liberal understanding of China
Akkadian mythology. progressively reforming and opening up. _____
(2) Abzu, God of fresh water, gets angry with Having ruthlessly eliminated rivals and
Enlil and Ninlil. anointed himself as the "core leader" on a
par with Mao and Deng in 2016, Xi is aiming
for the tags of Chairman for Life and enshrining

Page 4 VA - 21
 his "guiding thought" into the Chinese non-issues like linking language to pride and
constitution. The propaganda drumbeat from culture.
China's state-owned media surrounding Xi's (1) Since Indians speak so many languages,
personalised "new theory for the new era" a link language will be required and for
to steer the country like the "Mao Zedong many people it is English, not Hindi.
thought" and the "Deng Xiaoping theory" leave (2) The demand for English is evident from
little doubt that Xi wishes to be the next Great the number of schools which promise a
Helmsman and rule endlessly at his whim. good English education.
(1) The China he has moulded during his first (3) In this globalizing world, English opens
term in office is a pale shadow of the many doors to students and workers.
domestically loosening and internationally In countries in the region, there is a thriving
modest China of the previous two industry imparting spoken English to those
decades. trying to secure jobs abroad.
(2) President Xi Jinping is the uncrowned (4) But now, thanks to language chauvinism
emperor of the world's most populous and and hectic efforts by countries like China
would-be most powerful country. to promote English, we stand in danger
(3) Today, the collegiality and sharing of power of losing that advantage.
that stood China in good stead since Deng
Xiaoping's passing in 1997 have been Para Completion - Type 3
shaken by Xi's historic power grab.
(4) It is the harbinger of a new kind of Directions for questions 16 to 35: The questions
dictatorship in the 21st century. contain a paragraph each from which the last
sentence has been deleted. From the given options,
15. Using one's native language is no greater choose the one that completes the paragraph most
marker of tradition or culture, it is a choice. logically and coherently. Mark the appropriate option.
We have long spoken of our advantage over
the Chinese in that thanks to the British, 16. I am sometimes attacked for imposing 'rules'.
English is universally spoken in India. In fact Nothing could be further from the truth. I hate
125 million people in India speak English, rules. All I do is report on how consumers
second only to the US. And this has given react to different stimuli. I may say to a
Indians an edge in the sciences, in copywriter, "Research shows that
information technology and humanities. commercials with celebrities are below
_____Our politicians routinely use language average in persuading people to buy products.
as some sort of indicator of patriotism, Are you sure you want to use a celebrity?"
advocating that teaching in schools shift to Call that a rule? Or I may say to an art director,
the regional language or Hindi. Their own "Research suggests that if you set the copy
children, however, tend to enjoy the in black type on a white background, more
advantages of an English education. people will read it than if you set it in white
In this globalizing world, English opens many type on a black background." (CAT, 2006)
doors to students and workers. If anything, (1) Guidance based on applied research can
the government should endeavor to ensure hardly qualify as 'rules'.
that people get quality English education and (2) Thus, all my so called 'rules' are rooted in
access to speaking skills instead of raising applied research.

VA - 21 Page 5
 (3) A suggestion perhaps, but scarcely a rule. peace and to prefer negotiation to violence
(4) Such principles are unavoidable if one and coercion. (CAT, 2006)
wants to be systematic about consumer (1) However, diplomacy has often been used
behaviour. as a mask by nations which intended to
(5) Fundamentally it is about consumer use force.
behaviour - not about celebrities or type (2) However, when the veil is lifted, we
settings. commonly see that diplomacy is
understood as a disguise for the rule of
17. Relations between the factory and the dealer
force.
are distant and usually strained as the factory
(3) However, history has shown that many of
tries to force cars on the dealers to smooth
these nations do not practice what they
out production. Relations between the dealer
profess.
and the customer are equally strained
(4) However, history tells us that peace is
because dealers continuously adjust
professed by those who intend to use
prices-make deals-to adjust demand with
violence.
supply while maximizing profits.
(5) However, when unmasked, such nations
This becomes a system marked by a lack of
reveal a penchant for the use of force.
long-term commitment on either side, which
maximize feelings of mistrust. In order to
Practice Questions
maximize their bargaining positions, everyone
holds back information-the dealer about the
19. In a remote Zambian village, a nine-year-old
product and the consumer about his true
girl is accused of being a witch and given a
desires. (CAT, 2006)
stark choice: to accept her supernatural
(1) As a result, 'deal making' becomes
branding and live a tethered life as a sorceress,
rampant, without concern for customer
or to cut her ties with local tradition and be
satisfaction.
transformed into a goat that may be killed
(2) As a result, inefficiencies creep into the
and eaten for supper. Thus begins this
supply chain.
bewilderingly strange yet terrifically sure-
(3) As a result, everyone treats the other as
footed feature debut from writer-director
an adversary, rather than as an ally.
Rungano Nyoni. Born in Zambia and part-
(4) As a result, fundamental innovations are
raised in Wales, Nyoni first made international
becoming scarce in the automobile
waves with such award-winning shorts as
industry.
Mwansa the Great (2011) and Listen (2014).
(5) As a result, everyone loses in the long
(1) Now, this satirical parable of magic and
run.
superstition confirms her promise as a
film-maker of fiercely independent vision.
18. In the evolving world order, the comparative
(2) Now, this tale of cannibalism will fail to
advantage of the United States lies in its
conform to accepted standards of cinema.
military force. Diplomacy and international law
(3) Now, this great short feature will throw
have always been regarded as annoying
Nyoni into the arms of stardom.
encumbrances, unless they can be used to
(4) Now, only through government's
advantage against an enemy. Every active
intervention can there be any chance for
player in world affairs professes to seek only
the film to be released.

Page 6 VA - 21
20. Viewing Hayao Miyazaki's "Spirited Away" for approach, catching them in a glass and taking
the third time, I was struck by a quality them outside, with me at the backdoor
between generosity and love. On earlier checking that they are released as far away
viewings I was caught up by the boundless from the house as possible).
imagination of the story. This time I began to (1) So I crawled towards the door and sealed
focus on the elements in the picture that didn't it with duct tape so the thing couldn't
need to be there. Animation is a painstaking crawl into the rest of the house in the
process, and there is a tendency to simplify night.
its visual elements. Miyazaki, in contrast, (2) The house had become a den to most
offers complexity. His backgrounds are rich things insolent and needed to be scanned
in detail, his canvas embraces space liberally, thoroughly.
and it is all drawn with meticulous attention. (3) An insidious approach to the situation
(1) But he personally draws thousands of became mandatory.
frames by hand. (4) The spider and the fly, an inauspicious
(2) Movies about specific characters in a element should not be entertained under
detailed world are spellbinding because any pretext.
they make no attempt to cater to us; they
are defiantly, triumphantly, themselves. 22. Appraising that commercial opportunity came
(3) Despite having a rich plot with developed naturally to an entrepreneur like Columbus,
characters, Spirited Away was not made as did his sponsors' pressure on him to find
with a script and in fact Miyazaki's films precious metals and his religion's
do not have any scripts at all. contradictory concerns both to protect and
(4) We may not pay much attention to the convert heathens. On the day after Columbus
corners of the frame, but we know they landed in 1492 on an island in the present-
are there, and they reinforce the day Bahamas and saw its Taíno islanders,
remarkable precision of his fantasy worlds. he wrote that "with fifty men they could all be
subjected and made to do all that one wished."
21. I love my children but I once discovered that (1) Soon, it was seen that the concept of
my arachnophobia is an even stronger instinct slavery was eroding with a great uprising
than my protectiveness as a parent. I was conducted by the natives.
snuggled with my young son reading a (2) Soon, the attempt to subjugate Columbus
bedtime book when a huge spider crawled backfired against the natives.
down the wall beside him. Some parents might (3) Soon, the religious keepers of Columbus'
have dragged their child away, or thrown faith were up at arms against the natives.
themselves between their offspring and (4) Soon the African trade was changing life
possible danger. My uncomfortable truth is, in Spain; within another hundred years
before I'd even registered a thought, I'd most urban families owned one or more
propelled myself off the bed and onto the floor, black servants.
pushing my son closer to the spider in the
process. My partner, the designated
dealer-with-spiders in our household, was
away. (He takes an inexplicably humane

VA - 21 Page 7
23. In August 2014, Rourke came under scrutiny (1) When I was still living in Urbana, I would
for purchasing and wearing a T-shirt bearing often take my mother for a drive.
the likeness of Russian President Vladimir (2) Their last night in their home is the last
Putin at a time when most of the Western time they will sleep together in the same
world was criticizing and sanctioning Russia bed.
for its alleged violations of Ukrainian (3) It's so tough it might not be filmable today,
sovereignty. When questioned by the press, when even Alzheimer's stories have happy
Rourke explained: "If I didn't like him, I wouldn't endings.
buy the T-shirt, believe me. I met him a couple (4) But Anita holds bridge classes in her living
of times and he was a real gentleman. A very room, for perhaps 20 students.
cool, regular guy. Looked me right in the eye.
Good guy." 25. George Best combined elegant balance,
(1) On August 12, 2014, Rourke said he had strength on the ball, deadly finishing and the
purchased the T-shirt because the ability to slalom through defences as if the
proceeds were going to benefit an ill football gods exclusively afforded him
Ukrainian boy in need of an operation. superhuman skill. Seldom is the world of
(2) He also denounced Republican football graced by the embodiment of ability
frontrunner Donald Trump as a "bully". and toughness and in George Best the world
(3) Rourke revealed that he had donated most saw football's Greek demigod, Achilles. He
of his £1.5 million earnings from the film challenged the butchers of the game,
Francesco to support Joe Doherty in his mercilessly leaving them in his wake time and
campaign for political asylum in the United time again while riding the avalanche of
States. challenges aimed at his kneecaps.
(4) He also commented that, "I think I hadn't (1) Every man wanted to be him and every
left the house for four or five months, and woman wanted to have him.
I was sitting in the closet, sleeping in the (2) George Best, a shy boy with a slight
closet for some reason, and I was in a frame from Cregagh in the east of Belfast
bad place". was discovered at 15 years of age in
Belfast by Manchester United scout Bob
24. "Make Way for Tomorrow" (1937) is a Bishop.
nearly-forgotten American film made in the (3) But, like many of football's tragic heroes,
Depression. It tells the story my mother George Best had a dark side and for every
imagined for herself. A couple has lived happily ounce of skill he emanated on the pitch,
together for 50 years. They lose their home he seemed to consume an alcohol-fuelled
to a bank. Their five grown children are lifestyle.
sincerely sorry to hear this, but what can they (4) His most prolific run of form was from
do with them? One has moved to California 1965-1972 as he continued to score and
and is rarely heard from. The others live closer, set up goals for the Red Devils.
but don't have the space to take in two people.
It is decided that mother and father will stay
with two different children, "for now."

Page 8 VA - 21
26. Imagination is intrinsic to our inner lives. You colour was purple, he adored Star Wars and
could even say that it makes up a 'second he used to hide pencils in an attempt to play
universe' inside our heads. We invent animals hooky from school.
and events that don't exist, we rerun history (1) He was an ordinary kid born with Severe
with alternative outcomes, we envision social Combined Immunodeficiency
and moral utopias, we revel in fantasy art, (SCID, pronounced 'skid').
and we meditate both on what we could have (2) He was of the suggestion that if a child
been and on what we might become. with SCID could be preserved in a
Animators such as Hayao Miyazaki, Walt germ-free environment long enough for a
Disney and the people at Pixar Studios are matching bone marrow donor to be found,
masterful at imagination, but they're only it might be possible to cure them.
creating a public version of our everyday (3) He was an ordinary kid thrown into an
private lives. If you could see the fantastic extraordinary way of life because he had
mash-up inside the mind of the average no immune system.
five-year-old, then Star Wars and Harry Potter (4) He was unable to make his own T cells.
would seem sober and dull.
(1) So, why is our current generation losing 28. The horror that was inflicted on ordinary
interest in the application of creative citizens of Mumbai at the Elphinstone Road
fantasy? railway station is criminal to say the least.
(2) So, why is there so little analysis of It is hard to swallow the fact that the disaster
imagination, by philosophers, was the direct result of an interminably
psychologists and scientists? delayed tender to reconstruct the overhead
(3) So, why is it that we don't talk or think walkway. Those in the bureaucracy who were
about imagination in our daily lives? behind this delay should be sacked.
(4) So, why is there this mechanical This incident is just one instance of the reality
approach to imagination which is echoed of the 'tender system' that hinders
in computational and modular theories of development in India. While the Centre and
the mind? state governments address the problems that
besiege India and try to restructure the
27. David Vetter was a much-anticipated and mechanisms responsible for providing efficient
much-loved baby. He came into the world infrastructure and good governance to civil
crying and screaming like any other newborn, society, they must correct this faulty and
and for 20 whole seconds he lived in it like archaic 'tender system'. Those responsible
the rest of us. Sadly, that's where the normal for substandard work or untenable delays
bit of the story ends. David was carefully should be held accountable
enclosed in a specially built plastic bubble (1) Senior secretaries in the states need to
where he would spend the rest of his days. be out in the field, checking the
The exceptional nature of his existence would maintenance of roads and supply of
lead to incredible scientific discoveries during electricity and water.
his 12 years on Earth, but also long after his (2) As soon as the leadership can make
death. However, perhaps the most important these fundamental changes, Indians will
facts to remember are that David's favourite begin to develop a sense of pride and feel
empowered to reshape the country.

VA - 21 Page 9
 (3) This is the only way to change the Year's Eve was special. I had been purified
complexion of India and to cut the arrogant by the fire of adolescence. I'd concluded I had
babus to size. really no one in my life except my parents.
(4) Indians will laud those who make their We had moved recently to a twenty-fifth-
living and working dignified. storey flat in a building on Cuffe Parade.
I was unhappy in these new surroundings,
29. Saraladebi was certainly better educated than confronting from above the dead water around
most of her contemporaries. She studied us. I wanted to continue writing poetry;
physics, a subject not generally chosen by I wasn't doing much with my time but
women during that time, particularly a woman practising Indian classical music. I'd drifted
away from my school friends.
from the Tagore household. She also had a
(1) When the Seventies ended, my parents
degree in English and expanded her linguistic
and I decided to do nothing on New Year's
accomplishments by studying Persian,
Eve; a decision they had allowed me to
French and Sanskrit. She had completed her
take on all our behalf.
Bachelor of Arts from the well-known Bethune
(2) I felt as if I was the only person in New
College, and, in Bengal, acquired the
York who was disconnected and free.
reputation of a progressive, educated woman (3) The day I've been waiting for will be
who did not hesitate to speak her mind imminent.
publicly. (4) I was enveloped in a haze of sadness as
(1) Her autobiography often talked derisively I speculated whether my mother, whom
about the effeminate Bengali man. I'd never seen in a state of confusion, was
(2) Swami Vivekananda was so fond of her confused and lost.
that he gave her a copy of all his writings,
including Rajjog, each inscribed 'Given 31. Madley's nearly two hundred pages of
with love'. appendices are the most complete incident-
(3) A few years after she graduated, she by-incident tally ever compiled of Indian lives
decided to leave her 'domestic cage' and lost during this terrible period. Asking for
move south to Mysore to teach. names would have been impossible; instead
(4) It is also gently suggested that because we get numbers of deceased and places
of her liberal lifestyle, her mother's family where they perished-one or two with brains
did not want any potential scandals smashed on rocks on a particular day over
involving Saraladebi in Calcutta. here, thirty to a hundred shot to death and
left floating in a river over there.
30. A year is not simply a collection of days. It's (1) This museum is enriching in its
like a single day - in that it has a clear ethnographic detailing of the lives of the
beginning and end - magnified many times Indians.
over. At the end of the year, we might feel a (2) This scrupulously detailed epilogue is the
range of emotions pass through us, as if we equivalent of a memorial wall that we are
were remembering everything that had visiting for the first time.
happened from morning to evening. Or, of (3) This goes to show how redundant naming
course, we might feel nothing. By the time I is in a sociological study.
was seventeen or eighteen (my daughter's age (4) This will prove beyond any doubt the
now), I had given up on the idea that New atrocities commited by the Indians.

Page 10 VA - 21
32. Jha raises important questions pertaining to it offers little consolation; after the seeming
the history and organizational structure of resolution of the commands of the thunder's
these groups. The trip to fascist Italy by B.S. precepts, it bursts out in anguish again with
Moonje, the founder of the Bhonsala Military a line from Kyd's The Spanish Tragedy -
School, for instance, is an important finding. "Hieronymo's mad againe" (Eliot will have
As is the identification of the structural known that Kyd was a notorious atheist, one
attributes of the outfits, some of which Jha of Marlowe's School of Night). The thunder
discusses at length. What binds the Bajrang repeats, but the call to peace at the end -
Dal, the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Yuva "Shantih, shantih, shantih" - is perhaps the
Vahini to, say, the Bhonsala Military School peace of exhaustion rather than acceptance.
are their shapelessness, the deification of (1) Eliot is presenting a diagnosis of his,
leadership and an adherence to the doctrine and our, sickness, but he is not yet sure
of violence. Little was known about the of the prescription - which is why, perhaps,
Sanatan Sanstha till it had the blood of The Waste Land is so great a poem.
rationalists on its hand. (2) What, then, did the first readers of The
(1) Dhirendra K. Jha's book can justifiably Waste Land see, knowing little of Eliot
claim to be an introduction to the forces as a person and nothing of his private life?
that have polarized modern India. (3) Eliot's 1920 New Year resolution, to "get
(2) Jha reveals that like the millennial cults, started" on his "long poem", came after
the Sanatan Sanstha and the Hindu Yuva some very difficult months.
Vahini look at their founders as divine (4) Eliot's "Oxford year" (1914-15) was
leaders with unquestionable authority. decisive. It was then that he encountered
(3) Poverty, unemployment and caste Ezra Pound.
equations are instrumental in their
genesis. 34. The question is why he finds these prejudices
(4) His analysis of the manner in which the so difficult to escape-why these ugly
sangh's shadow armies exploit insinuations have become his habit.
subterranean tensions to weaken the One answer is to be found in his way of
social fabric could have been more working-indeed, in his latter-day way of life.
rigorous. The film's fantasy of conspiracies and hidden
motives, of deep contrivances and elusive
33. The poem draws on and shatters into pieces identities, suggests a suspicion of the world
the polite culture of Eliot's cultivated and a radical contrast between Godard's
youth - bits of Arthurian lore, echoes of hemmed-in, disconnected private realm and
Shakespeare and Goldsmith and Ovid - as the wider world. Ultimately the political
well as less conventionally acceptable conspiracies of "Film Socialisme" are as
literature - a line from Baudelaire here, of de personal, for Godard, as the domestic
Nerval there. It draws on Christianity - the intimacies: they suggest the imaginings of a
agony in the garden, the unrecognisable man, all too often alone, at his desk,
companion on the road to Emmaus, the submerged in the works of investigative
allusions to St Augustine in spiritual crisis - journalists and anecdotal historians and
and Buddhism, with the three-fold commands grandiloquent "polemicists," all the while
of the thunder in the last section. Yet, at best, collating and comparing, remembering and

VA - 21 Page 11
 speculating and imagining; the web of 35. The asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
conspiracies he envisions plays the role of is inhabited by thousands of chunks of rock
Platonic forms, the realities behind the vain and metal ranging in size from Ceres (at 935
banalities of daily life. His solitude is a creative km across, the largest) to small pebbles.
solitude of political romanticism, filled with Some of these objects have eccentric orbits.
noble, quasi-utopian feelings and with Planetary gravitation causes their paths to
bitterness directed at the world in which they change with each orbit, sometimes bringing
remain unrealized. them quite close to Earth. Even if most of
(1) Ultimately, Godard is trying to weave a these don't threaten Earth directly, scientists
fantasy, not a realistic narrative. are concerned about roids larger than a
(2) However, Godard is a simple man trying kilometre straying close to 'our' neck of the
to find a few answers. solar system, which puts them on a collision
(3) The beauty of "Film Socialisme" course with Earth. If one of these space hunks
juxtaposes Godard's personal demons hits us, it will set off a million megaton
with his artistic nuances. explosions.
(4) The coherence and the contradictions of (1) The result is beyond the imagination of
"Film Socialisme" are equally the image the most sophisticated of the species.
of Godard's self-exile, of his lonely (2) The result? It's horrible.
idealism. (3) Deaths could run into billions, and most
flora and fauna would disappear.
(4) One cannot even fathom the magnitude
of the ensuing chaos.

Visit “Test Gym” for taking Topic Tests / Section Tests on a regular basis.

* MB – Memory Based

Page 12 VA - 21
 VA - 21 : Verbal Logic - 8 CEX-V-0257/18
Answers and Explanations

1 2 2 3 3 1 4 4 5 2 6 2 7 3 8 4 9 3 10 2
11 1 12 4 13 3 14 1 15 4 16 3 17 5 18 2 19 2 20 4
21 1 22 3 23 1 24 2 25 3 26 2 27 3 28 3 29 3 30 1
31 4 32 2 33 1 34 4 35 2

1. 2 Gawky and ungainly mean clumsy or awkward. 7. 3 The second sentence of the paragraph talks about
Dewlap and mandible refer to the body structure of the loss of years of employment. Only option 3 talks
certain animals. Dewlap is the "fold of loose skin about the pace of judicial dealings. Hence, it is the
hanging under the throat of cattle, dogs, etc". Mandible best option to start the paragraph. Option 1 is a close
refers to the "the jaw or a jawbone, especially the option too but it can't immediately come before the
lower jawbone in mammals and fishes." So the two second sentence. Options 2 and 4 are too specific to
words are somewhat similar. Truculent and belligerent be the topic sentence of the paragraph.
both mean aggressive. Snarl and growl are synonyms.
However, suave, which means sophisticated, is the 8. 4 Options 2 and 3 can be directly eliminated as they
antonym of atavistic, which means primal or can't come before the second sentence of the
unsophisticated. paragraph. They deal with some features of cuneiform.
The first sentence needs to introduce the topic.
2. 3 Gnomic and terse mean "concise, to the point". Options Between options 1 and 4, the latter is a better choice
1, 2, and 4 have pairs of synonyms. Intrepid or doughty as it creates a mandatory pair with the following
means "to be brave in the face of fear". Option 3 has sentence.
a pair of antonyms. Gratuitous means uncalled for,
or unwarranted. 9. 3 The paragraph talks about the various influencing
factors behind Milhaud's music. All these factors are
3. 1 The two words in the question pair share a diverse in nature and range. Option 1 looks like the
synonymous relationship. Exacerbate or inflame means perfect topic sentence but it doesn't introduce this
"to make things worse". Options 2, 3, and 4 have pairs paragraph. "You don't need to know about" has to be
of synonyms. Herald means "to bring in or usher in". explained in the next sentence. So, it must be the topic
Prorogue is a technical term which means "to sentence of some other paragraph. Option 2 is too
discontinue the session of Parliament without specific to be part of this paragraph. Options 3 and 4
dissolving it". It is a synonym of "put off or delay". come close. However, the concept of multiplicity is the
Hence, option 1 is the answer. main point of this paragraph. Hence, it is the best
answer.
4. 4 A vagabond is not settled at one place. He is a nomad.
Bedlam means chaos, anything but serene or tranquil. 10. 2 The paragraph talks about the concept of "individual
Frazzled means exhausted, not invigorated. Jittery or interest" and its associated issues. Only option 2 talks
fretful means anxious. Hence, option 4 is the answer. about this. It also creates a mandatory pair with the
following sentence.
5. 2 Censure or criticize is a synonym of fulmination.
Options 1, 3, and 4 have pairs of synonyms. 11. 1 The paragraph talks about the way humans perceive.
Stalwart or veteran is the antonym of neophyte. It talks about the mind's eye. The blank is preceded by
a sentence that talks about the person being "dazzled
6. 2 Option 3 starts with 'As I…". Hence it cannot be the by excess of light". The sentence after the blank starts
1st sentence. Option 1 sounds like a conclusion and with "or". So these sentences talk about different
not an introduction. Option 4 is irrelevant to the possibilities or results of the act of perception. Notice
paragraph. It is too broad. Option 2 introduces the "the soul" in the line after the blank. Only option 1 goes
topic as the terrorist attack happened after October 9. with the theme of the paragraph as well as the two
It is the only option relevant to the paragraph. sentences closest to the blank.

VA - 21 Page 1
12. 4 Option 1 is out of the scope of this narration. 20. 4 The paragraph focuses on how much attention to
This paragraph talks about a story and there is a detail and meticulousness is required to come up with
sequential nature to the ordering of sentences. a good animated work of art. Animation has close
The sentence which fits the blank must give a reason connection with fantasy world, which makes option 4
for Enki's promise. Option 2 comes close but it doesn't correct. Option 1 talks about a painstaking process
fit the story. The sons and daughters of Enlil and Ninlin but it is wrong since it has no direct bearing with the
go on strike. Why would Abzu be angry with the paragraph. Option 2 is eliminated since it talks about
parents? Option 3 is too extreme. Enki tries to save the characters and Option 3 is wrong since it talks about
world. This option talks about the destruction of the the script.
world. Option 4 is the best sentence as it is compatible
with the theme of the paragraph. 21. 1 The passage discusses the narrator's extreme phobia
regarding spiders. Hence the exaggerated response
13. 3 All the options can come in the blank if we take the of 1 suits the passage. Other options are logically
theme into consideration. However, option 3 is the incorrect.
best fit as it retains the first person narrative structure
of the paragraph. 22. 4 The passage talks about Columbus' expedition and
the progression towards slavery. The later can
14. 1 This paragraph talks about Xi. The two sentences that consolidated by looking at the presented piece of
flank the blank talk about his leadership or rule. writing in the given passage. 1 and 3 goes beyond the
Hence, only option 1 completes this mandatory scope of the passage. 3 is wrong since it is mentioned
sequence.
that Columbus's religion prohibited harming of heathens.

15. 4 The sentence before the blank talks about India's

23. 1 The paragraph talks about how Rourke got into trouble
advantage in terms of English usage. The sentence
for wearing a T-Shirt which bore an image in the
after the blank talks about something negative or
likeness of Putin. So option A is directly related to the
opposite to it. So the sentence which accounts for
theme of the passage. Options 2, 3, and 4 are beyond
this change of thought must fill the blank. Option 4 is
the scope of the paragraph and shall be eliminated.
the best fit.
24. 2 The paragraph deals with a film and its theme of
16. 3 The paragraph talks about rules and some
separation. There is a sense of gulf between parents
misconceptions associated with the author's notion
and their children which has crept in with age.
of rules. The penultimate sentence gives an example.
Option 3 explains how this example is related to the Option 2 is most relevant here and it offers a closure
main idea of the paragraph. Hence, it is the correct to the paragraph by stating how the couple will sleep
answer. together in the same bed for the last time. Option 3
although not completely irrelevant but is not logically
17. 5 All the options start with "as a result". Hence, we consistent with the paragraph. Options 1 and 4 are
need to apply the method of elimination. Options 1 and beyond the scope of the paragraph.
4 are beyond the scope of this paragraph. Option 2
gives a conclusion or effect which doesn't logically 25. 3 The paragraph deals with the abilities of George Best,
follow. Option 3 is similarly incorrect. Option 5 provides the footballer but also introduces a hint of tragedy by
a logical summary of the entire paragraph. invoking Achilles. Option 3 deals with football's tragic
heroes and thus is a fitting conclusion to the paragraph.
18. 2 "However" refers to a concession or mild contradiction. Option 1 is beyond the scope of the paragraph. Options
Options 1 and 3 are distorted conclusions. Options 4 2 and 4 although within the ambit of the passage, are
and 5 don't really contradict the given idea. logically inconsistent with the paragraph.
Hence, option 2 is the best fit.
26. 2 Option 4 is too specific and abrupt. The paragraph
19. 1 The given passage ends with Nyoni's past doesn't talk about imagination with relation to science
achievements with short films. This goes on to show only. Option 1 looks close but it will not complete the
that great things were expected from her. 1 focuses paragraph. It also doesn't match with the generic
on the plot of the film and how this will help her to (definition based) nature of the paragraph. Option 3 is
realize her potential. 2 is wrong since the concept of contradicted by the paragraph. We do meditate on
cannibalism is absent in the passage. 3 is wrong since some aspects of imagination. Option 2 is the best choice
the film in discussion is a feature film as mentioned in as it gives a logical continuum to the previous
the passage. 4 goes beyond the scope of the passage sentences.
and hence shall be eliminated.

Page 2 VA - 21
27. 3 The paragraph talks about David Vetter who lived in a 31. 2 1, 3, and 4 go beyond the scope of the given paragraph.
bubble. Option 1 does not conclude instead it can be
seen as a beginning of a new paragraph. Options 2 32. 2 The paragraph discusses the structure and history of
and 4 are completely out of the context of the given fringe fundamentalist groups and the elements that
paragraph. Option 3 is the correct conclusion to this bind these varied outifts together; their end goals, the
paragraph as it completes his description, and explains means they adopt to realise it and the role of leadership.
his existence in the best way. Option 2 reiterates the paragraph's statement how
these groups deify leadership. This option provides a
28. 3 Option 3 is clearly the answer. The paragraph tends logical conclusion to the paragraph. The other options
to conclude by holding those who are responsible for are beyond the scope of the paragraph.
the mishap. And therefore option 3 is the most suitable
answer as it states that the people of higher authorities 33. 1 The paragraph talks about Eliot's literary skill as a great
should be considered responsible. syncretist who drew upon both conventions as well
as odd works in crafting his poem. It also comments
29. 3 The paragraph talks about how much ahead of her on how the poem highlights the problem but never
time Saraladebi was and the fact that she never shied goes and offers either consolation or solution.
away from showcasing her progressiveness. Hence, Option A is the most logical conclusion hence.
option 3 which speaks about her decision to leave The other options are beyond the scope of the
home and start teaching after graduation perfectly paragraph.
concludes the paragraph. Options 1 and 2 are beyond
the scope of the paragraph. Option 4 shall be 34. 4 The paragraph is based on ‘Film Socialisme’. Option 4
eliminated because it talks about scandals and is not is the most appropriate as the paragraph states that
logically consistent with the theme of the paragraph. elements in the film are “personal for Godard”.
Moreover, it is written that he experienced solitude
30. 1 The paragraph talks about how the passing of years and hence, 4 best completes the paragraph. Option 3
engender a plethora of emotions and how one copes is ruled out because of “personal demons”.
with them. Also, it is the most appropriate as the
paragraph states that by the time the speaker was 35. 3 The paragraph gives a warning. It states the magnitude
17-18, she had given up the idea that new year was of the explosion, so 4 and 1 are ruled out. Option 2 is
special. This makes 1 correct. Option 2 is ruled out ruled out because the paragraph talks about a future
since the paragraph talking about India, while the option course of action while this option is in the present
mentions New York. Options 3 and 4 are beyond the tense. So, option 3 best completes the paragraph.
scope of the paragraph.

VA - 21 Page 3