English Reading Comprehension

What is the central point made out in the passage?

Directions: The short passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Many of you have long experienced in your manufacturing operations the advantages of substantial, well-contrived, and well-executed machinery.
Experience has also shown you the difference of the results between mechanism which is    neat, clean, well arranged, and always in a high state of repair; and that which is allowed to be dirty, in disorder, and without the means of preventing unnecessary friction, and which therefore becomes, and works, much out of repair. In the first case the whole economy and management are good, every operation proceeds with ease, order, and success.
In the last, the reverse must follow, and dissatisfaction among all the agents and instruments interested or occupied in the general process, which cannot fail to create great loss.
If, then, due care as to the state of your inanimate machines can produce such beneficial results, what may not be expected if you devote equal attention to your vital machines, which are far more wonderfully constructed?
When you shall acquire a right knowledge of these, of their curious mechanism, of their self-adjusting powers; when the proper mainspring shall be applied to their various movements— you will become conscious of their real value, and you will readily be induced to turn your thoughts more frequently from your inanimate to your living machines; and you will discover that the latter may be easily trained and directed to procure a large increase of pecuniary gain, while you may also derive from them a high and substantial satisfaction.

Directions: The short passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

When you take a fish out of the ocean and throw it on the bank – the misery and the suffering and the torture, and the hankering and the effort to reach back to the ocean is because that is where the fish belongs. Any suffering is simply indicative that you are not in communion with existence that the fish is not in the ocean. When a dewdrop slips from a lotus leaf into the ocean, it does not find that it is part of the ocean, it finds it is the ocean. And to find it is the ultimate goal, the ultimate realisation. There is nothing beyond it. I don’t want anybody to stand between an individual and existence. You are here, every individual is here, and the whole existence is available.

What is the theme of the passage?

Directions: The short passage below is followed by a question based on its content. Answer the question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage.

Most people do not know that Juliette Gordon Low, the founder of the Girl Scouts of America, was deaf. She began to lose her hearing when she was 17, and became almost totally deaf in her adulthood. Juliette married William Mackay Low and they went to England to live. Juliette became interested in the Girl Guides Association there. Juliette organized several Girl Guides troops in both England and Scotland. Since she could not do all the work herself, she had to ask other women to help her. Sometimes the women were reluctant to give their time due to family responsibilities. However, Juliette was a very determined woman. When the women refused, she would pretend that she didn't understand what they said. As a result, the women helped her in spite of being busy. When Juliette came back to America for a visit, she started the first Girl Guides troop in the country in her home town, Savannah. By the time she went back to England six months later, there were six Girl Guide troops in Savannah. At that time, the girls each made their own uniforms. In 1913, the Girl Guides changed its name to the Girl Scouts. Juliette Low came back to Savannah that same year.

The main idea of this passage can best be stated as

Directions: Select the two answer choices that, when used to complete the sentence, fit the meaning of the sentence as a whole and produce completed sentences that are alike in meaning.

Central to all such “cognitive” approaches is a robust notion of rationality in the ________ of scientific theories or research programs.

The author's use of the phrase 'indicating something else also' in the 3^rd paragraph, implies most likely which of the following?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

In a major step toward helping paralytic victims walk again, Duke University researchers have announced that they had proved monkeys can use their brainpower to control the walking patterns of robots.

The investigators implanted Idoya, a rhesus monkey, with electrodes which gathered signals from her brain's motor and sensory cortex cells as she ambled along on a specially built child-size treadmill. The electrodes recorded the cells' responses as the monkey walked on the treadmill at different speeds; simultaneously, sensors on Idoya's legs tracked their patterns of movement. The information was transmitted real time from their lab in Durham, to control the commands of a humanoid robot in Kyoto, Japan.

Through the electrodes in her brain, the researchers discovered that some neurons fire at different phases and frequencies, depending on their role in the process. During the experiment, the robot continued to move for several minutes after Idoya stopped strolling on her treadmill indicating something else also.

The team’s goal is to finally enable real-time direct interfaces between a brain and electronic and mechanical devices that could be used to restore sensory and motor functions lost through injury or disease. The team hopes that one day soon, they will also master sufficient syntax to talk back to the brain, which would enable them, for instance, to build a human prosthetic arm laden with sensors to send tactile feedback into the somatosensory cortex of its user.

The experiment in monkey-to-robotic motion is the latest in a long series of studying the primate brain's ability to stimulate robotic arms through neural signals. In 2000 Nicolelis and his colleagues described how they had reliably translated the raw electrical brain activity of an owl monkey named Belle into signals that successfully directed the actions of robotic arms based both at Duke and at an MIT lab 965 kilometers away in Cambridge. Belle's tiny hand moved a joystick left or right to correspond with a horizontal series of lights on a display panel in a Duke lab; both robot arms followed suit.

A few years later, the team listened in on brain signals generated by a rhesus monkey named Aurora using a joystick to play a video game and translated them into commands for a mechanical arm to duplicate the motions. Aurora was ultimately able to move a robotic arm sans the joystick, using only her thoughts, an experiment that the team believes addresses fundamental questions about how brain circuits operate.

What is the function of the fourth paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

In a major step toward helping paralytic victims walk again, Duke University researchers have announced that they had proved monkeys can use their brainpower to control the walking patterns of robots.

The investigators implanted Idoya, a rhesus monkey, with electrodes which gathered signals from her brain's motor and sensory cortex cells as she ambled along on a specially built child-size treadmill. The electrodes recorded the cells' responses as the monkey walked on the treadmill at different speeds; simultaneously, sensors on Idoya's legs tracked their patterns of movement. The information was transmitted real time from their lab in Durham, to control the commands of a humanoid robot in Kyoto, Japan.

Through the electrodes in her brain, the researchers discovered that some neurons fire at different phases and frequencies, depending on their role in the process. During the experiment, the robot continued to move for several minutes after Idoya stopped strolling on her treadmill indicating something else also.

The team’s goal is to finally enable real-time direct interfaces between a brain and electronic and mechanical devices that could be used to restore sensory and motor functions lost through injury or disease. The team hopes that one day soon, they will also master sufficient syntax to talk back to the brain, which would enable them, for instance, to build a human prosthetic arm laden with sensors to send tactile feedback into the somatosensory cortex of its user.

The experiment in monkey-to-robotic motion is the latest in a long series of studying the primate brain's ability to stimulate robotic arms through neural signals. In 2000 Nicolelis and his colleagues described how they had reliably translated the raw electrical brain activity of an owl monkey named Belle into signals that successfully directed the actions of robotic arms based both at Duke and at an MIT lab 965 kilometers away in Cambridge. Belle's tiny hand moved a joystick left or right to correspond with a horizontal series of lights on a display panel in a Duke lab; both robot arms followed suit.

A few years later, the team listened in on brain signals generated by a rhesus monkey named Aurora using a joystick to play a video game and translated them into commands for a mechanical arm to duplicate the motions. Aurora was ultimately able to move a robotic arm sans the joystick, using only her thoughts, an experiment that the team believes addresses fundamental questions about how brain circuits operate.

Which of the following is / are NOT correct in the context of this passage?

1. Fundamentally speaking, there appears to be great similarity at the functional level between the observations made in both the Bell and the Idoya cases.
2. The Aurora experiment proves that thoughts can, on their own, enable robotic movement if the relevant signals duly reach the recipient part even in the absence of actual physical contact.
3. It is only the signals that enable particular movements and it is the neurons that generate these signals.
   
4. Theoretically speaking at least, one should be able to enjoy music or dance even if the relevant signals are not sent to the recipient.

   Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

   In a major step toward helping paralytic victims walk again, Duke University researchers have announced that they had proved monkeys can use their brainpower to control the walking patterns of robots.
   
   The investigators implanted Idoya, a rhesus monkey, with electrodes which gathered signals from her brain's motor and sensory cortex cells as she ambled along on a specially built child-size treadmill. The electrodes recorded the cells' responses as the monkey walked on the treadmill at different speeds; simultaneously, sensors on Idoya's legs tracked their patterns of movement. The information was transmitted real time from their lab in Durham, to control the commands of a humanoid robot in Kyoto, Japan.
   
   Through the electrodes in her brain, the researchers discovered that some neurons fire at different phases and frequencies, depending on their role in the process. During the experiment, the robot continued to move for several minutes after Idoya stopped strolling on her treadmill indicating something else also.
   
   The team’s goal is to finally enable real-time direct interfaces between a brain and electronic and mechanical devices that could be used to restore sensory and motor functions lost through injury or disease. The team hopes that one day soon, they will also master sufficient syntax to talk back to the brain, which would enable them, for instance, to build a human prosthetic arm laden with sensors to send tactile feedback into the somatosensory cortex of its user.
   
   The experiment in monkey-to-robotic motion is the latest in a long series of studying the primate brain's ability to stimulate robotic arms through neural signals. In 2000 Nicolelis and his colleagues described how they had reliably translated the raw electrical brain activity of an owl monkey named Belle into signals that successfully directed the actions of robotic arms based both at Duke and at an MIT lab 965 kilometers away in Cambridge. Belle's tiny hand moved a joystick left or right to correspond with a horizontal series of lights on a display panel in a Duke lab; both robot arms followed suit.
   
   A few years later, the team listened in on brain signals generated by a rhesus monkey named Aurora using a joystick to play a video game and translated them into commands for a mechanical arm to duplicate the motions. Aurora was ultimately able to move a robotic arm sans the joystick, using only her thoughts, an experiment that the team believes addresses fundamental questions about how brain circuits operate.

Which of the following is most nearly CORRECT in he context of the above passage?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Autism has a strong genetic component: With one identical twin autistic, the other has a 70 percent chance of having it, a risk 10 times that of fraternal twins. Yet great, unsuccessful effort has been spent looking for its genetics. To Wigler, the key lies in spontaneous mutations - novel alterations in the parental germ line of the offspring. Last year he formed a controversial theory for it. It suggests that females, who develop autism with a 1/4th frequency with which males do, may carry the genetic profile for it.

Wigler attributes the failure of conventional studies to their studies on families with more than one autistic child to search for differences in one genetic base. These differences could be any alteration in a base called SNPs.  Uncovering SNPs shared by affected people would uncover high-risk people. The problem is locating the same target: they have implicated loci on 20 of the 23 human chromosomal pairs.

In his first autistic research, Wigler, with Sebat, tried to determine the role of spontaneous mutations, called copy number variations. Before human genome sequencing, researchers thought an individual always had two copies of a gene. In 2004, the team showed that even in healthy individuals, they could go missing from (or be added to) the genome via genetic rearrangements. Studies on families with only one autistic member showed that up to 10 percent of non-inherited autism cases could be caused by these rearrangements. They found that the structural events were primarily deletions, leaving individuals with only one copy of a particular gene and leading, sometimes, to its functional disruption.

Later, Wigler unveiled a unified genetic theory, which he cobbled together by examining families with multiple autistic individuals and incorporating both hereditary and spontaneous events. Focusing on families with the first two children affected, he found that third-born male children have a 50 percent risk of acquiring the disorder, whereas the risk for third-born girls is closer to 20 percent. From there, Wigler developed a two-tiered hypothesis: The majority fall into the low-risk category, having spontaneous mutation. Contrarily, high-risk families - 25 percent of all, manifest the disease when an unaffected individual, mostly female, carries a sporadic mutation. In case of a male, the chances are roughly half.

Although Wigler’s model is seen as a simpler way to view the genetics of autism, others find it incomplete. Critics note that it does not explain observations of families with an autistic child in which either second- or third-degree relatives are also affected or in which first-degree relatives show mild symptoms. And the model fails to explain why girls do not get autism as frequently as boys. Wigler believes that more data might help prove him. For instance, the girl-boy discrepancy could be explained if the genetic modifiers are sex-specific, an effect that might become apparent if researchers look at cases in which a normal mother has an autistic daughter.

Which of the following purposes is served by the first paragraph in relation to the passage as a whole?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Autism has a strong genetic component: With one identical twin autistic, the other has a 70 percent chance of having it, a risk 10 times that of fraternal twins. Yet great, unsuccessful effort has been spent looking for its genetics. To Wigler, the key lies in spontaneous mutations - novel alterations in the parental germ line of the offspring. Last year he formed a controversial theory for it. It suggests that females, who develop autism with a 1/4th frequency with which males do, may carry the genetic profile for it.

Wigler attributes the failure of conventional studies to their studies on families with more than one autistic child to search for differences in one genetic base. These differences could be any alteration in a base called SNPs.  Uncovering SNPs shared by affected people would uncover high-risk people. The problem is locating the same target: they have implicated loci on 20 of the 23 human chromosomal pairs.

In his first autistic research, Wigler, with Sebat, tried to determine the role of spontaneous mutations, called copy number variations. Before human genome sequencing, researchers thought an individual always had two copies of a gene. In 2004, the team showed that even in healthy individuals, they could go missing from (or be added to) the genome via genetic rearrangements. Studies on families with only one autistic member showed that up to 10 percent of non-inherited autism cases could be caused by these rearrangements. They found that the structural events were primarily deletions, leaving individuals with only one copy of a particular gene and leading, sometimes, to its functional disruption.

Later, Wigler unveiled a unified genetic theory, which he cobbled together by examining families with multiple autistic individuals and incorporating both hereditary and spontaneous events. Focusing on families with the first two children affected, he found that third-born male children have a 50 percent risk of acquiring the disorder, whereas the risk for third-born girls is closer to 20 percent. From there, Wigler developed a two-tiered hypothesis: The majority fall into the low-risk category, having spontaneous mutation. Contrarily, high-risk families - 25 percent of all, manifest the disease when an unaffected individual, mostly female, carries a sporadic mutation. In case of a male, the chances are roughly half.

Although Wigler’s model is seen as a simpler way to view the genetics of autism, others find it incomplete. Critics note that it does not explain observations of families with an autistic child in which either second- or third-degree relatives are also affected or in which first-degree relatives show mild symptoms. And the model fails to explain why girls do not get autism as frequently as boys. Wigler believes that more data might help prove him. For instance, the girl-boy discrepancy could be explained if the genetic modifiers are sex-specific, an effect that might become apparent if researchers look at cases in which a normal mother has an autistic daughter.

Which of the following could have been the most suitable title for the above passage?

Directions: Answer the question based on the following passage.

Autism has a strong genetic component: With one identical twin autistic, the other has a 70 percent chance of having it, a risk 10 times that of fraternal twins. Yet great, unsuccessful effort has been spent looking for its genetics. To Wigler, the key lies in spontaneous mutations - novel alterations in the parental germ line of the offspring. Last year he formed a controversial theory for it. It suggests that females, who develop autism with a 1/4th frequency with which males do, may carry the genetic profile for it.

Wigler attributes the failure of conventional studies to their studies on families with more than one autistic child to search for differences in one genetic base. These differences could be any alteration in a base called SNPs.  Uncovering SNPs shared by affected people would uncover high-risk people. The problem is locating the same target: they have implicated loci on 20 of the 23 human chromosomal pairs.

In his first autistic research, Wigler, with Sebat, tried to determine the role of spontaneous mutations, called copy number variations. Before human genome sequencing, researchers thought an individual always had two copies of a gene. In 2004, the team showed that even in healthy individuals, they could go missing from (or be added to) the genome via genetic rearrangements. Studies on families with only one autistic member showed that up to 10 percent of non-inherited autism cases could be caused by these rearrangements. They found that the structural events were primarily deletions, leaving individuals with only one copy of a particular gene and leading, sometimes, to its functional disruption.

Later, Wigler unveiled a unified genetic theory, which he cobbled together by examining families with multiple autistic individuals and incorporating both hereditary and spontaneous events. Focusing on families with the first two children affected, he found that third-born male children have a 50 percent risk of acquiring the disorder, whereas the risk for third-born girls is closer to 20 percent. From there, Wigler developed a two-tiered hypothesis: The majority fall into the low-risk category, having spontaneous mutation. Contrarily, high-risk families - 25 percent of all, manifest the disease when an unaffected individual, mostly female, carries a sporadic mutation. In case of a male, the chances are roughly half.

Although Wigler’s model is seen as a simpler way to view the genetics of autism, others find it incomplete. Critics note that it does not explain observations of families with an autistic child in which either second- or third-degree relatives are also affected or in which first-degree relatives show mild symptoms. And the model fails to explain why girls do not get autism as frequently as boys. Wigler believes that more data might help prove him. For instance, the girl-boy discrepancy could be explained if the genetic modifiers are sex-specific, an effect that might become apparent if researchers look at cases in which a normal mother has an autistic daughter.

Find the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (iii).

Directions: The following passage has some blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. 

The traditional method of managing credit risk is ____(i)____ diversification. Although ____(ii)____ credit risk through diversification is effective, institutions are often constrained by _____(iii)____ of diversification ____(iv)_____ on account of limited area of _____(v)_____. During the last few years, managing credit risk through selling assets by way of securitisation has _____(vi)_____ in popularity. The market for securitised assets has grown _____(vii)_____ in the last few years and is expected to grow further in the _____(viii)_____ years. This mode of credit risk mitigation is most _____(ix)_____ to loans with standardised payment schedules and similar credit risk characteristics such as housing loans, auto loans, credit card receivables, etc. Further, shedding loans through securitisation might _____(x)____ client relationship. In this context, credit derivatives provide a new technique for managing credit risk.

Find the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (iii).

Directions: The following passage has some blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. 

The traditional method of managing credit risk is ____(i)____ diversification. Although ____(ii)____ credit risk through diversification is effective, institutions are often constrained by _____(iii)____ of diversification ____(iv)_____ on account of limited area of _____(v)_____. During the last few years, managing credit risk through selling assets by way of securitisation has _____(vi)_____ in popularity. The market for securitised assets has grown _____(vii)_____ in the last few years and is expected to grow further in the _____(viii)_____ years. This mode of credit risk mitigation is most _____(ix)_____ to loans with standardised payment schedules and similar credit risk characteristics such as housing loans, auto loans, credit card receivables, etc. Further, shedding loans through securitisation might _____(x)____ client relationship. In this context, credit derivatives provide a new technique for managing credit risk.

Find the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (vii).

Directions: The following passage has some blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. 

The traditional method of managing credit risk is ____(i)____ diversification. Although ____(ii)____ credit risk through diversification is effective, institutions are often constrained by _____(iii)____ of diversification ____(iv)_____ on account of limited area of _____(v)_____. During the last few years, managing credit risk through selling assets by way of securitisation has _____(vi)_____ in popularity. The market for securitised assets has grown _____(vii)_____ in the last few years and is expected to grow further in the _____(viii)_____ years. This mode of credit risk mitigation is most _____(ix)_____ to loans with standardised payment schedules and similar credit risk characteristics such as housing loans, auto loans, credit card receivables, etc. Further, shedding loans through securitisation might _____(x)____ client relationship. In this context, credit derivatives provide a new technique for managing credit risk.

Find the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (vii).

Directions: The following passage has some blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. 

The traditional method of managing credit risk is ____(i)____ diversification. Although ____(ii)____ credit risk through diversification is effective, institutions are often constrained by _____(iii)____ of diversification ____(iv)_____ on account of limited area of _____(v)_____. During the last few years, managing credit risk through selling assets by way of securitisation has _____(vi)_____ in popularity. The market for securitised assets has grown _____(vii)_____ in the last few years and is expected to grow further in the _____(viii)_____ years. This mode of credit risk mitigation is most _____(ix)_____ to loans with standardised payment schedules and similar credit risk characteristics such as housing loans, auto loans, credit card receivables, etc. Further, shedding loans through securitisation might _____(x)____ client relationship. In this context, credit derivatives provide a new technique for managing credit risk.