Reading Comprehension (GMAT)

The author seems to be making a point for

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Were we all naturally inclined to morality, the analysis of it, it is true, might have great speculative interest; but a moral system would not be needed as it is for a great practical purpose. The law, as we all know, has arisen because of transgressions, and the moralist has to meddle with human nature mainly because it is inconstant and corrupted. It is a wild horse that has not so much to be broken, once for all, as to be driven and reined in perpetually. And the art of the moralist is, by opening the mind's eye to the true end of life, to make us sharply conscious of what we lose by losing it. And the men to whom we shall chiefly want to present this end are not men, let us remember, who desire to see it, or who will seek for it of their own accord, but men who are turned away from it, and on whose sight it must be thrust. It is not the righteous but the sinners that have to be called to repentance. And not this only, not only must the end in question be thus presentable, but when presented it must be able to stand the inveterate criticism of those who fear being allured by it, who are content as they are, and have no wish to be made discontented.

In the opinion of the author, morality is
I. a bitter medicine
III. outdated and antiquated
III. an innate quality of humans

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Were we all naturally inclined to morality, the analysis of it, it is true, might have great speculative interest; but a moral system would not be needed as it is for a great practical purpose. The law, as we all know, has arisen because of transgressions, and the moralist has to meddle with human nature mainly because it is inconstant and corrupted. It is a wild horse that has not so much to be broken, once for all, as to be driven and reined in perpetually. And the art of the moralist is, by opening the mind's eye to the true end of life, to make us sharply conscious of what we lose by losing it. And the men to whom we shall chiefly want to present this end are not men, let us remember, who desire to see it, or who will seek for it of their own accord, but men who are turned away from it, and on whose sight it must be thrust. It is not the righteous but the sinners that have to be called to repentance. And not this only, not only must the end in question be thus presentable, but when presented it must be able to stand the inveterate criticism of those who fear being allured by it, who are content as they are, and have no wish to be made discontented.

In the passage, what does the term 'by using the truncated senses' most likely refer to?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Unlike a long, very long, spiral staircase inside a lighthouse, the top of which, though invisibly lost in the mists of darkness is present, or perhaps a mountain much higher than the highest, but still having a discernable acme, the journey of consciousness does not stop at any level. Like exploring an underwater maze of caves, deep under the sea, in almost pitch darkness, the human soul transcends the boundaries and barriers of time and space. There is no life-line to haul oneself back to safety if lost or paralyzed with fear, the sense of spatial reasoning is in abeyance, the eyes are nearly blind due to the pitch darkness, and yet one must feel one’s way forward by using the truncated senses to the best of one’s ability. The darkness holds unknown fears - real, and those conjured by one’s senses, unseen challenges and pitfalls as well as good and nasty surprises within its bosom and yet the journey must go on because to stop and give up means getting stuck at the same spot for eternity. According to many scientists and philosophers, time and space are the only two anchors that give us a sense of progress, direction and spatial reasoning and if both of these are removed, as they have been suggested by thinkers and visionaries alike to be the props created by humans, then nothing is left. Our world is perhaps the creation of our mind and death erases our mind like a hard drive wiped clean of all data, till the time comes for it to start storing data again on the next plane of consciousness. It is like giving up the familiar comfort of a familiar landing and venturing out in the dark unknown again. Time is relative, we live in different time zones, there is day in one part of the world while another is shrouded by the darkness of the night. The time spent waiting for a lover makes every second seem like an eternity while the same time rushes past when the deadline for some important task approaches.

What is the author trying to convey in the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Unlike a long, very long, spiral staircase inside a lighthouse, the top of which, though invisibly lost in the mists of darkness is present, or perhaps a mountain much higher than the highest, but still having a discernable acme, the journey of consciousness does not stop at any level. Like exploring an underwater maze of caves, deep under the sea, in almost pitch darkness, the human soul transcends the boundaries and barriers of time and space. There is no life-line to haul oneself back to safety if lost or paralyzed with fear, the sense of spatial reasoning is in abeyance, the eyes are nearly blind due to the pitch darkness, and yet one must feel one’s way forward by using the truncated senses to the best of one’s ability. The darkness holds unknown fears - real, and those conjured by one’s senses, unseen challenges and pitfalls as well as good and nasty surprises within its bosom and yet the journey must go on because to stop and give up means getting stuck at the same spot for eternity. According to many scientists and philosophers, time and space are the only two anchors that give us a sense of progress, direction and spatial reasoning and if both of these are removed, as they have been suggested by thinkers and visionaries alike to be the props created by humans, then nothing is left. Our world is perhaps the creation of our mind and death erases our mind like a hard drive wiped clean of all data, till the time comes for it to start storing data again on the next plane of consciousness. It is like giving up the familiar comfort of a familiar landing and venturing out in the dark unknown again. Time is relative, we live in different time zones, there is day in one part of the world while another is shrouded by the darkness of the night. The time spent waiting for a lover makes every second seem like an eternity while the same time rushes past when the deadline for some important task approaches.

Which of the following would be a suitable title for the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Unlike a long, very long, spiral staircase inside a lighthouse, the top of which, though invisibly lost in the mists of darkness is present, or perhaps a mountain much higher than the highest, but still having a discernable acme, the journey of consciousness does not stop at any level. Like exploring an underwater maze of caves, deep under the sea, in almost pitch darkness, the human soul transcends the boundaries and barriers of time and space. There is no life-line to haul oneself back to safety if lost or paralyzed with fear, the sense of spatial reasoning is in abeyance, the eyes are nearly blind due to the pitch darkness, and yet one must feel one’s way forward by using the truncated senses to the best of one’s ability. The darkness holds unknown fears - real, and those conjured by one’s senses, unseen challenges and pitfalls as well as good and nasty surprises within its bosom and yet the journey must go on because to stop and give up means getting stuck at the same spot for eternity. According to many scientists and philosophers, time and space are the only two anchors that give us a sense of progress, direction and spatial reasoning and if both of these are removed, as they have been suggested by thinkers and visionaries alike to be the props created by humans, then nothing is left. Our world is perhaps the creation of our mind and death erases our mind like a hard drive wiped clean of all data, till the time comes for it to start storing data again on the next plane of consciousness. It is like giving up the familiar comfort of a familiar landing and venturing out in the dark unknown again. Time is relative, we live in different time zones, there is day in one part of the world while another is shrouded by the darkness of the night. The time spent waiting for a lover makes every second seem like an eternity while the same time rushes past when the deadline for some important task approaches.

How best can the organization of the passage be described?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
The Federal Reserve has announced that it will be further buying treasuries worth six hundred billion dollars in the form of long term bonds. In a statement released in the form of an article to one of the leading national dailies, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve defended his actions by stating that similar steps have successfully been used in United States as well as other nations in the past to promote healthy fiscal growth. According to the administration, the previous injection of liquidity had reversed the downward slide of the economy but had left a lot to be desired in terms of employment generation and spending stimulus. With this additional inflow, coupled with near zero short  term interest rates, the Fed hopes to boost fresh home buying and trigger off a prolonged bout of spending. The timing of the announcement, so close to the holiday season, cannot be termed as accidental, though, it remains to be seen if it will help spread the holiday cheer or if any of that cheer will come back to the beleaguered Chairman. Although it remains too premature to comment upon the long term effects of the multiple stimuli, initial signs, though not overtly encouraging, have not been depressing either, with the retail data showing an increase in spending and manufacturing data also showing a jump that is the most in the last half year.
However, the reaction in many emerging economies has been less than euphoric and from a strictly fiduciary point of view, there seems to be a lot of merit in the statements of these nations. Although no nation has come out openly and slammed the move, the strategists and analysts who function as governmental mouthpieces have been, without exception, critical of what they call ‘uncontrolled money printing’ by the United States. While the U.S.A. has been accusing China of artificially devaluing its currency, an advisor to the Central Bank of China has hit back at Washington by accusing it of employing tactics that would devalue the dollar. Even Japan, the traditional ally of America, has voiced similar concerns. Many fear that the additional liquidity will find its way into the developing nations’ capital markets and most likely create an asset bubble in the emerging markets where the capital markets have been outperforming the global indices. There are indications that the central banks of many of these nations are in touch with each other and are contemplating a collective action if a sudden surge in volumes in stock markets creates a scenario for galloping inflation. Many banks in Asia Pacific have increased interest rates or are mulling the same to curb inflation.

According to the passage, United States expects to accomplish everything with economic stimulus except

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
The Federal Reserve has announced that it will be further buying treasuries worth six hundred billion dollars in the form of long term bonds. In a statement released in the form of an article to one of the leading national dailies, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve defended his actions by stating that similar steps have successfully been used in United States as well as other nations in the past to promote healthy fiscal growth. According to the administration, the previous injection of liquidity had reversed the downward slide of the economy but had left a lot to be desired in terms of employment generation and spending stimulus. With this additional inflow, coupled with near zero short  term interest rates, the Fed hopes to boost fresh home buying and trigger off a prolonged bout of spending. The timing of the announcement, so close to the holiday season, cannot be termed as accidental, though, it remains to be seen if it will help spread the holiday cheer or if any of that cheer will come back to the beleaguered Chairman. Although it remains too premature to comment upon the long term effects of the multiple stimuli, initial signs, though not overtly encouraging, have not been depressing either, with the retail data showing an increase in spending and manufacturing data also showing a jump that is the most in the last half year.
However, the reaction in many emerging economies has been less than euphoric and from a strictly fiduciary point of view, there seems to be a lot of merit in the statements of these nations. Although no nation has come out openly and slammed the move, the strategists and analysts who function as governmental mouthpieces have been, without exception, critical of what they call ‘uncontrolled money printing’ by the United States. While the U.S.A. has been accusing China of artificially devaluing its currency, an advisor to the Central Bank of China has hit back at Washington by accusing it of employing tactics that would devalue the dollar. Even Japan, the traditional ally of America, has voiced similar concerns. Many fear that the additional liquidity will find its way into the developing nations’ capital markets and most likely create an asset bubble in the emerging markets where the capital markets have been outperforming the global indices. There are indications that the central banks of many of these nations are in touch with each other and are contemplating a collective action if a sudden surge in volumes in stock markets creates a scenario for galloping inflation. Many banks in Asia Pacific have increased interest rates or are mulling the same to curb inflation.

The author uses the phrase 'uncontrolled money printing' to convey that

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
The Federal Reserve has announced that it will be further buying treasuries worth six hundred billion dollars in the form of long term bonds. In a statement released in the form of an article to one of the leading national dailies, the Chairman of the Federal Reserve defended his actions by stating that similar steps have successfully been used in United States as well as other nations in the past to promote healthy fiscal growth. According to the administration, the previous injection of liquidity had reversed the downward slide of the economy but had left a lot to be desired in terms of employment generation and spending stimulus. With this additional inflow, coupled with near zero short  term interest rates, the Fed hopes to boost fresh home buying and trigger off a prolonged bout of spending. The timing of the announcement, so close to the holiday season, cannot be termed as accidental, though, it remains to be seen if it will help spread the holiday cheer or if any of that cheer will come back to the beleaguered Chairman. Although it remains too premature to comment upon the long term effects of the multiple stimuli, initial signs, though not overtly encouraging, have not been depressing either, with the retail data showing an increase in spending and manufacturing data also showing a jump that is the most in the last half year.
However, the reaction in many emerging economies has been less than euphoric and from a strictly fiduciary point of view, there seems to be a lot of merit in the statements of these nations. Although no nation has come out openly and slammed the move, the strategists and analysts who function as governmental mouthpieces have been, without exception, critical of what they call ‘uncontrolled money printing’ by the United States. While the U.S.A. has been accusing China of artificially devaluing its currency, an advisor to the Central Bank of China has hit back at Washington by accusing it of employing tactics that would devalue the dollar. Even Japan, the traditional ally of America, has voiced similar concerns. Many fear that the additional liquidity will find its way into the developing nations’ capital markets and most likely create an asset bubble in the emerging markets where the capital markets have been outperforming the global indices. There are indications that the central banks of many of these nations are in touch with each other and are contemplating a collective action if a sudden surge in volumes in stock markets creates a scenario for galloping inflation. Many banks in Asia Pacific have increased interest rates or are mulling the same to curb inflation.

The tone of the author can be broadly categorized as one of the following?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question.
Unlike a long, very long, spiral staircase inside a lighthouse, the top of which, though invisibly lost in the mists of darkness is present, or perhaps a mountain much higher than the highest, but still having a discernable acme, the journey of consciousness does not stop at any level. Like exploring an underwater maze of caves, deep under the sea, in almost pitch darkness, the human soul transcends the boundaries and barriers of time and space. There is no life-line to haul oneself back to safety if lost or paralyzed with fear, the sense of spatial reasoning is in abeyance, the eyes are nearly blind due to the pitch darkness, and yet one must feel one’s way forward by using the truncated senses to the best of one’s ability. The darkness holds unknown fears - real, and those conjured by one’s senses, unseen challenges and pitfalls as well as good and nasty surprises within its bosom and yet the journey must go on because to stop and give up means getting stuck at the same spot for eternity. According to many scientists and philosophers, time and space are the only two anchors that give us a sense of progress, direction and spatial reasoning and if both of these are removed, as they have been suggested by thinkers and visionaries alike to be the props created by humans, then nothing is left. Our world is perhaps the creation of our mind and death erases our mind like a hard drive wiped clean of all data, till the time comes for it to start storing data again on the next plane of consciousness. It is like giving up the familiar comfort of a familiar landing and venturing out in the dark unknown again. Time is relative, we live in different time zones, there is day in one part of the world while another is shrouded by the darkness of the night. The time spent waiting for a lover makes every second seem like an eternity while the same time rushes past when the deadline for some important task approaches.