READING COMPREHENSIONTYPES OF QUESTIONS AND IDENTIFYING WRONG OPTIONS.

Passage 1. Questions 1-5

BRITAIN has the widest gender pay gaps in Europe. For every pound that men earn, women make 80p... In 2018, organizations were required to
annually publish the hourly pay gap between men and women. … The 10,000 employers that filed results revealed an average median pay gap of
12%. Some reported a 29.5% gap. …

The data doesn't adjust for employees’ different roles.CEOs are compared directly withsecretaries.Mean gaps are skewed by a few high-
earners – nine of ten organizations with the greatest differences between median and mean pay-gaps are football clubs – leaving room for spin and
counterproductive responses.

Two narratives have emerged: 1) The gaps prove how sexist the workplace still is. 2) They're explained by men’s greater share of senior
jobs, and not “discrimination”. Neither is quite right.

Gender pay gap doesn't reveal pay discrimination. The new reporting exercise is not about that. Airlines with wide pay gaps are unlikely to
have unequal pay, because collective bargainingtends to determine salaries. Of easyJet’s pilots, 94% are men (average salary: £92,400)
whereas 69% of cabin crew are women (average salary: £24,800). The airline industrydoes not have a “equal work, unequal pay” problem so
much as a recruitment problem.

Other industries fail to promote enough women.A study by SKEMA Business School showsthat whereas half of graduate entrants in
American law firms were women, only one in five equity partners was. Women constituted 52% of banking employees globally but only 38% of
middle managers and 16% of executive committee members were women. ….

Companies have accompanied their data with plans to fix things. Many firms aim to improve the figures for 2019, hoping to achieve gender
balance across all ranks by 2030. They should bewary of quick fixes...
“Sensible solutions take time. One must diagnose what lies behind the numbers. I’m concerned that this British reporting is ostensibly focused on
pay, but in reality it’s just about representation,” says Brian Levine of Mercer, a consultancy. “Companies need to checkwhether they are
hiring equitably, paying equitably and offering equitable opportunities toadvance.”

Men’s and women’s salaries start diverging from the childbearing years. This “motherhood penalty” is often followed by the “good-daughter
penalty”, when elderly parents require care and daughters prove more conscientious than sons. The median pay gap is only 2% among full-time
workers in their 30s, yet jumps to 14% in their 40s and 16% in their 50s.

It may be tempting to blame women’s lack of progression on their wombs.This is only partof the explanation. The other is structural
discrimination. One in nine new mothers is dismissed, made redundant or treated so poorly that she leaves. Subtler biases favour men in hiring,
performance reviews, pay and promotions. A 2016 study by Warwick University found that, among workers who asked for pay rises, men were 25%
more likely than women to get the nod.

Unlike Britain, many European countries tackling pay gaps have focused on discriminationbetween people with similar jobs, rather than
gaps across whole companies. Nevertheless,Britain’s blunter exercise is having an impact. The data has got everyone talking about pay.
Now that the numbers are out, executives are keen to improve women's positions.

It will be hard to say whether this improvement is caused bythe companies' mandatoryreporting of data on pay equality (under pressure from
shareholders) or broader winds of change.…..The pay gap would endure as long as more women than men worked part-time and in
industries that pay poorly. So, what pay gap size should be tolerated?

IDENTIFY MAIN ARGUMENT QUESTION.

Q1. Which of the following statements best reflects the main argument of the author in the passage?
a) Despite its flaws, a new obligation to report the differences between men's and women's pay could spark a change in employment practices.

b) Income gaps exist because men are favored in hiring, performance reviews, pay and promotions to senior positions.

c) Companies should not remain in the bottom quartile for gender and ethnic diversity in leadership.
 d) A woman's lack of progression in the workplace can be solely attributed to the sexist workplace and not to the “womb” or the “good daughter-
penalty”.

INFERENCE QUESTION (ABOUT A STATEMENT MADE BY THE AUTHOR)

Q2. Which of the following hasbeen cited as a problem that plagues the airline industry, as can be deduced from the passage?
a) Pay-discrimination problem

b) Recruitment problem

c) Collective bargaining

d) Structural discrimination

AUTHOR’S PURPOSE IN MENTIONING AN EXAMPLE

Q3. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the example of the study conductedby SKEMA Business School?

a) To demonstrate that the difference in the probability of a female employee at an entry level position and at a top level position is highest in the
banking sector as compared to other sectors.

b) To indicate that more women than men are employed in management roles that do not fall under the classical definitions of “equity partners”
and “executive committee members”.

c) To highlight that there are leaky pipelines in some sectors where the share of women drops at several levels of promotion.

d) To reiterate that it is high time that the banking sector reduced the pay gap between male and female employees by providing female
employees with opportunities to gain new skills.
 LOGICALSTRUCTURE/ORGANISATION OF THE PASSAGE QUESTION

Q4. How is the second para related to the first para of the passage?

a) It provides an example to support the finding presented in the first para.

b) It introduces evidence that undermines the argument presented in the first para.

c) It lays bare the shortcomings in the data, undermining the argument made in the first para.

d) It demonstrates the potential dangers of a commonly used strategy.

INFERENCE/ AGREE-DISAGREE QUESTION

Q5. Which of the following interventions would the author of the passage support?

a) The impact of the “motherhood penalty” and “good-daughter penalty” needs to be studied.

b) Companies should hire equitably, pay equitably and offer equitable opportunities for women to advance.

c) Shareholders should pressurize firms to publish data on pay equality.

d) The pay-reporting exercise in Britain should focus on income gaps across whole industries and not just discrimination.
Passage 2. Questions 6-10

What has happened to our profession, and our art, to cause the supposed end of our most powerful means of conceptualizing and
representing architecture – drawing?

The computer, of course. With its tremendous ability to organize and present data, the computeris transforming every aspect of how architects
work, from sketching their first impressions of an idea to creating complex construction documents for contractors. Are our hands becoming
obsolete as creative tools, replaced by machines? And where does that leave the architectural creative process?

Today, architects typically use computer-aided design software … [B]uildings are no longer just designed visually and spatially; they are
“computed” via interconnected databases… There’snothing inherently problematic about that, as long as it’s not just that. Architecture
cannotdivorce itself from drawing, no matter how impressive the technology gets.Drawings are notjust end products: they are part of the
thought process of architectural design. Drawingsexpress the interaction of our minds, eyes and hands. This last statement is absolutely
crucial to the difference between those who draw to conceptualize architecture and those who use the computer…

For decades I have argued that architectural drawing can be divided into three types, which I call the “referential sketch,” the “preparatory
study” and the “definitive drawing.” The definitive drawing, the final and most developed of the three, is almost universally produced on the
computer nowadays, and that is appropriate. But what about the other two? What is their value in the creative process?

The referential sketch serves as a visual diary, a record of an architect’s discovery. It can be as simple as a shorthand notation of a design
concept or can describe details of a larger composition. It might not even be a drawing that relates to a building or any time in history. It’s not likely
torepresent “reality,” but rather to capture an idea.

The second type of drawing, the preparatory study, is typically part of a progression of drawingsthat elaborate a design. Like the referential
sketch, it may not reflect a linear process. I personally like to draw on translucent yellow tracing paper, which allows me to layer one drawing on
top of another, building on what I’ve drawn before and, again, creating a personal, emotional connection with the work.

With both of these types of drawings, there is a certain joy in their creation, which comes from the interaction between the mind and the
hand. Our physical and mental interactions with drawings are formative acts. In a handmade drawing, whether on an electronic tablet or on
paper, there are intonations, traces of intentions and speculation. This is not unlike the way a musician might intone a note or how a riff in
jazz would be understood subliminally and put a smile on your face.

I find this quite differentfrom today’s “parametric design,” whichallows the computer to generate form from a set of instructions, sometimes
resulting in so-called blob architecture. The design derived from hand; [on the designs are complex and interesting in their own way, but they
lack the emotional content of a design derived from hand; on the other hand] drawing by hand stimulates the imagination and allows us to speculate
about ideas, a good sign that we’re truly alive.

INFERENCE QUESTION-REFUTING AUTHOR’S ARGUMENT IN THE PASSAGE.

Q6. The author’s argument about the process of drawing in architectureis refuted if:

a) architects prefer to use computers instead of sketching themselves.

b) hand drawings are more emotionally satisfying than using computers.

c) drawing by hand does not help architects explore the idea as deeply as the computer does.

d) architects skip referential sketch and preparatory study to create a parametric design.

INFERENCE QUESTION THAT IDENTIFIES HIS/HER OPINION

a) drawing with a machine doesn’t bring out the concept accurately.

b) only drawing can enable the interaction of mind, eyes and hands.

c) a design derived by hand is emotionally richer.

INFERENCE QUESTION BASED ON A PHRASE FROM THE PASSAGE. A COMPARISON

a) an accurate way of depicting the role of sketching by hand.

b) an analogy demonstrating the importance of human connect in architectural drawing.

c) an example to highlight how music uses the same principles as drawing.

d) an example to show how the way music is produced is unlike how drawings are made.

FACTUAL QUESTION- DIRECT

a) the former represents the idea whereas the latter represents further elaboration.

b) the latter represents the original idea whereas the former represents progressions.

c) the latter represents a primitive form whereas the former represents an advanced form.

d) the former represents an incomplete idea whereas the latter represents the complete one.
INFERENCE QUESTION-OPINION OF THE AUTHOR ABOUT..

Q10. The author believes that definitive drawing:

a) can be produced faster by computers than humans.

b) is more developed because of the impressiveness of technology.

c) lacks the emotional connection brought by human drawing.

d) is the final phase of the conceptualisation of an idea.

PASSAGE 3. QUESTIONS 11-15.

In a world wherethe majority of analysts are bi- if not multi-lingual, the question ofhow languageaffectsboth the analytic process and
analytic product is an important one. Emotion, language processing and cognitive biases aside, the intriguing question remains: Would you
make the same decision in English as you would in, say, Chinese? Most analysts would likely answer yes to this question, butrecent research
led by Boaz Keysarsuggestsotherwise.

The study concludes that “people are not as risk-averse in a foreign language as they are in their native tongue.” Being more willing to take
on risk might sound like a dangerous characteristic to possess from an intelligence analyst’s perspective. In this case, however, beingless risk-
averse means that people more systematically assessed the problem and came to a more rational conclusion. At the root of this finding is
the conclusion that “people rely more on systematic processes…when making decisions in a foreign language.” … The ability to make
decisions driven more by rational thought and less by emotion is a capability to which every analyst likely aspires.

…Keysar showed that while participants made different decisions based on how the problem was framed (as more or less risky), they made
the same decision for both risk conditions when using their foreign language. The three groups of participants had English as a first language
and Japanese as a second, Korean as a first language and English as a second or English as a first language and French as a second, indicating that
this effect is replicable within and across language family boundaries.

So why, then, do we make more rational, less biased decisions in our second language than in our first? It largely has to do with the lack of
“emotional resonance” that we derive from foreign language text… [P]eople perceive messages delivered in their second language as less
emotional (and consequently less impactful) than messages delivered in their first language…

How we perceive emotion then ties directly to our internal cognitive processes. According to Daniel Kahneman, the most widely respected
authority on these internal processes, we have two broadsystems of thinking – System 1 and System 2.System 1is automatic whileSystem
2 is more deliberate and rational. Think of System 1 as the mechanism driving impulse buys and split-second decisions, whereas System 2 is more
like making a grocery list in advance...

Cognitive biases originate in System 1 thinking along with our gut instincts, emotional reactions and a less credible substantiation for
intelligence analysis, intuition. Consequently, it makes sense to pursue analysis derived from System 2 processes as it will likely be less
biased, more rational and more systematically attained. The argument here is that conducting analysis within the domain of a second, third
or fourth language will lead to an increased reliance on System 2 processes, thereby reducing bias and ultimately resulting in more
systematically derived analysis.

[W]ith bilingualism now practically a pre-requisite for analysis work, the benefit of this argument to intelligence analysts is obvious. The traditional
view is that an analyst is at an automatic disadvantage when operating in a non-native linguistic domain to conduct analysis, fearing the loss of
meaning and context. The argument here, however, sheds new light on the quality of the analytic product obtained in a non-native language.

IDENTIFYING THE MAIN POINT QUESTION

Q11. Which of the following, if true, refutes the author’s main point in the passage?
a) The quality of analytic product in the native tongue is below par.

b) Analysts are more rational when they are proficient in using a language, irrespective of whether it is their first or second language.
 c) Analysts can’t be competent unless they are bilingual.

d) The native language expertise is the most important parameter to recruit intelligence analysts.

SUMMARY QUESTION

Q12. Which of the following best summarises the relationship between rationality and risk-taking appetite?

a) Rationality is affected by emotional connection to the language.

b) Greater willingness to take risk is an indicator of rationality.

c) Greater willingness to avoid risk is an indicator of rationality.

d) Risk-taking appetite influences how systematic one’s thinking is.

INFERENCE QUESTION-QUOTE FROM A SPECIFIC PARAGRAPH

Q13. It can be inferred from the fourth para (‘So why…in their first language’) that:

a) we associate more emotion and impact with our second language.

b) rationality and emotion don’t go hand in hand.

c) bias and emotion don’t go hand in hand.

d) messages are conveyed emotionally only in the first language.

Q14. Which of the following agrees with the conclusioncited by Keysar’sstudy?

a) people analyse more systematically in their native language than in a foreign language.

b) people are more rational when using their native language than when they are using a foreign language.

c) people cannot be trusted to make logical decisions in a foreign language.

d) people take a more logical and systematic method to make decisions in a foreign language.

AGREE/DISAGREE-EXCEPT QUESTION

Q15. The author is likely to agree with all the following with respect to intelligence analysts EXCEPT:

a) cognitive biases correspond to System 1 thinking.

b) intuition, gut instincts and emotional reactions are not systematically derived.

c) System 2 processes result in more unbiased analysis.

d) analysis in native language relies more on System 2 thinking.