RC for TCS NQT

Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

1) Although European decisions during the 16th and 17th centuries to explore, trade with, and
colonize large portions of the world brought tremendous economic wealth and vast geographic
influence, the enormous success of European maritime ventures during the age of exploration
also engendered a litany of unintended consequences for most of the nations with which Europe
interacted. Due to their incredible military force, religious zeal, and uncompromising goal of
profit, Europeans often imposed their traditions, values, and customs on the people with whom
they traded. They frequently acted without regard to the long-term welfare of others as their
principal concern was short-term economic gain. Since many nations that traded with Europe
placed high value on their historical customs, some natives became deeply disconcerted by the
changes that occurred as a result of European power. These factors, coupled with perennial
domestic political instability, caused numerous countries to grow increasingly resistant to
European influence.

One potent example of this ideological shift can be seen in the actions of the Tokugawa
government of Japan. In its Seclusion Edict of 1636, the government attempted to extricate
cultural interactions with Europe from the intimate fabric of Japanese society.
The Edict attempted to accomplish this by focusing on three areas. First, it sought to curb
cultural exchange by eliminating people bringing European ideas into Japan. The Edict stated,
"Japanese ships shall by no means be sent abroad….All Japanese residing abroad shall be put to
death when they return home." Second, the Edict focused on limiting trade. Articles 11 through
17 of the Edictimposed stringent regulations on trade and commerce. Third, the government
banned Christianity, which it saw as an import from Europe that challenged the long-established
and well-enshrined religious traditions of Japan. The government went to considerable lengths to
protect its culture. Article eight of the Edict stated, "Even ships shall not be left untouched in the
matter of exterminating Christians."

With the example of Japan and the examples of other countries that chose a different response to
European influence, it is perhaps not too far of a stretch to conclude that Japan made the right
decision in pursuing a path of relative isolationism. As history unfolded during the next 400
years, in general, countries that embraced European hegemony, whether by choice or by force,
tended to suffer from pernicious wealth inequality, perennial political instability, and protracted
underdevelopment.

1. RC question: 1/7

It can best be inferred from the passage that in 1636, the Japanese government:
A. Saw its citizens living abroad as potential threats
B. Considered all foreign religions a danger
C. Disagreed with the European philosophy that trade brought wealth
D. Foresaw the economic dangers of European trade and imperialism
E. Believed that ideas coming into Japan via foreign interactions provided no
positive impact to Japanese society

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

2. RC question: 2/7

Which of the following best characterizes the most significant motivation for
Europe's behaviour with Japan during the 17th century?
A. Religious zeal
B. Long-term political concerns
C. Short-term economic self-interest
D. Cultural imperialism
E. Territorial aggrandizement

3. RC question: 3/7

The author most likely included the quotation from Article Eight of the Edict at the
end of the second paragraph to:
A. Highlight the venomous anger many Japanese leaders felt toward the
importation of foreign religions
B. Emphasize the determination of the Japanese government to protect itself from
foreign influences it saw as damaging
C. Illustrate how pervasive foreign religious influence had become in Japanese
society
D. Emphasize that European economic influence offered no justification for the
Edict and the government relied instead on foreign religious influence to justify
the Edict
E. Provide an example of Japan's effort to curb cultural and economic exchange

4. RC question: 4/7

Based upon the passage, the author would likely agree most strongly with which of
the following statements:
A. European decisions made during the 16th and 17th centuries in dealing with
Japan represent an aberration from the typical pattern of European decisions
B. Japanese rulers who responded with ferocity to European influence bear part of
the responsibility for the caustic European-Japanese relationship that ensued
C. With the hindsight of history, Japan likely made the appropriate decision in
extricating itself from European influence
D. European religious and cultural values conflicted with European economic
behaviour toward Japan
E. The width and breadth of Japan's cultural fabric suffered from its seclusionist
policies

5. RC question: 5/7

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

According to the passage, which of the following constituted the biggest reason for
the Seclusion Edict of 1636?
A. Japanese economic potential would be hampered in the long-term
B. European trade amounted to a disproportionate transfer of wealth
C. With growing European influence, the potential for European military action
against the Japanese government became too large
D. Traditional Japanese culture and way of life were threatened by European
influence
E. Japanese rulers feared the arrival of additional traders and cultural imperialists

6. RC question: 6/7

According to the passage, the Japanese government took all of the following actions
in an attempt to protect Japanese culture and way of life EXCEPT:
A. Prohibit Japanese from visiting other countries, even to see family
B. Execute Japanese citizens who settled in other countries but later decided to
return to Japan
C. Heavily regulate foreign economic trade
D. Destroy all remnants of Christianity
E. Prohibit criticism of the feudal shogun system of government

7. RC question: 7/7

The primary purpose of the passage is to:

A. Explain the actions of the Tokugawa government of Japan
B. Compare the results of countries that pursued protectionism with those that
pursued globalization
C. Explore the consequences of some European trade and exploration along with
analysing a country’s response to it
D. Argue for the success of European trade as a means to create wealth and exert
influence
E. Elucidate the root of frustration with European imperialism

Alexander Pope was born an only child to Alexander and Edith Pope in the spring of 1688. The
elder Pope, a linen-draper and recent convert to Catholicism, soon moved his family from
London to Binfield, Berkshire in the face of repressive, anti-Catholic legislation from

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

Parliament. Described by his biographer, John Spence, as "a child of a particularly sweet
temper," and with a voice so melodious as to be nicknamed the "Little Nightingale," the child
Pope bears little resemblance to the irascible and outspoken moralist of the later poems. Though
barred from attending public school or university because of his religion, Pope was eager to
achieve and hence, largely self-educated. He taught himself French, Italian, Latin, and Greek,
and read widely, discovering Homer at the precocious age of six.

At twelve, Pope composed his earliest extant work, Ode to Solitude; the same year saw the onset
of the debilitating bone deformity that plagued Pope until the end of his life. Originally attributed
to the severity of his studies, the illness is now commonly accepted as Pott’s disease, a form of
tuberculosis affecting the spine that stunted his growth—Pope’s height never exceeded four and
a half feet—and rendered him hunchbacked, asthmatic, frail, and prone to violent headaches. His
physical appearance made him an easy target for his many literary enemies in later years, who
referred to the poet as a "hump-backed toad." Pope’s Pastorals, which he claimed to have written
at sixteen, were published in Jacob Tonson’s Poetical Miscellanies of 1710 and brought him
swift recognition. An Essay on Criticism, published anonymously the year after, established the
heroic couplet as Pope’s principal measure. It included the famous line "a little learning is a
dangerous thing." The poem was said to be a response to an on-going debate on the question of
whether poetry should be natural, or written according to predetermined artificial rules inherited
from the classical past. It attracted the attention of Jonathan Swift and John Gay, who became
Pope’s lifelong friends and collaborators. Together they formed the Scriblerus Club, a
congregation of writers endeavouring to satirize ignorance and poor taste through the invented
figure of Martinus Scriblerus, who served as a precursor to the dunces in Pope’s late
masterpiece, the Dunciad.

1712 saw the first appearance of the The Rape of the Lock, Pope’s best-known work and the one
that secured his fame. Its mundane subject—the true account of a squabble between two
prominent Catholic families over the theft of a lock of hair—is transformed by Pope into a mock-
heroic send-up of classical epic poetry. It originated from a quarrel between two families with
whom Pope was acquainted. The cause was not very small − the 7th Lord Petre cut off a lock of
Miss Arabella Fermor’s hair, and kept it as a trophy. Although Pope did not admit it, the title of
the work was most likely influenced by Alessandro Tassoni’s mock-epic The Rape of the
Bucket, from 1622.

Turning from satire to scholarship, Pope in 1713 began work on his six-volume translation of
Homer’s Iliad. He arranged for the work to be available by subscription, with a single volume
being released each year for six years, a model that garnered Pope enough money to be able to
live off his work alone, one of the few English poets in history to have been able to do so.

In 1719, following the death of his father, Pope moved to an estate at Twickenham, where he
lived for the remainder of his life. Here he constructed his famous grotto. The celebrated grotto
was, in fact, an imaginative method of linking the riverside gardens with the gardens which lay
on the other side of the road leading from Twickenham to Teddington. Encouraged by the
success of the Iliad, Pope went on to translate the Odyssey— which he brought out under the
same subscription model as the Iliad—and to compile a heavily-criticized edition of

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

Shakespeare, in which Pope "corrected" the Bard’s meter and made several alterations to the
text, while leaving corruptions in earlier editions intact.

In addition to his translation of the "Odyssey," which he completed with Broome and Fenton in
1726, Pope published "Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady" and the "Epistle of Eloïsa
to Abelard" in 1717. Also, in 1725, he published an annotated edition of William Shakespeare.

Other works include: "Essay on Man" (1715),"Epistles" (1732- 34), four "Moral Essays," and
other epistles, all of which explore the philosophy and metaphysics. Pope’s uprightness had
everything to do with his artistic merit. He wrote satire in the service of virtue – not simply self-
defence.

8. RC question: 1/7

As per passage, which of the following can be said true about Pott’s disease?
A.The 18th-century English poet Alexander Pope died as a result of Pott’s disease.
B. It is tuberculosis of spine and causes abnormal backward curvature of the same resulting in
a hunchback.
C.It is an abnormal backward curvature of the spine and causes weight loss resulting in a
hunchback.
D.Individuals suffering from Pott’s disease typically experience back pain, night sweats,
fever, weight loss, and anorexia.

9. RC question: 2/7

As per passage, which of the following lists all the works by Alexander Pope?
A. Ode to Solitude, Pope’s Pastorals, An Essay on Criticism, Dunciad, The Rape
of the Lock, translation of Iliad, translation of Odyssey, Elegy to the Memory of
an Unfortunate Lady, Epistle of Eloïsa to Abelard, Essay on Man, Epistles, and
Moral Essays.
B. Ode to Solitude, Poetical Miscellanies, An Essay on Criticism, Dunciad, The
Rape of the Lock, translation of Homers Iliad and the Odyssey, Elegy to the
Memory of an Unfortunate Lady, Epistle of Eloïsa to Abelard, Essay on Man,
Epistles, and Moral Essays.
C. Ode to Solitude, Pope’s Pastorals, An Essay on Criticism, Dunciad, The Rape
of the Lock, The Rape of the Bucket, translation of Iliad, translation of
Odyssey, Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady, Epistle of Eloïsa to
Abelard, Essay on Man, Epistles, and Moral Essays.
D. Ode to Solitude, Pope’s Pastorals, An Essay on Criticism, Dunciad, The Rape
of the Lock, The Rape of the Bucket, translation of Iliad, translation of
Odyssey, Elegy to the Memory of an Unfortunate Lady, Essay on Man,
Epistles, and Moral Essays.

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

10. RC question: 3/7

Which of the following can be assumed as a valid reason for Pope to write the poem
- "The Rape of the Lock"?
A. He wished to patch up a bitter public feud which had broken out between two
well-known families.
B. He wished to present a true account of a squabble between two prominent
Catholic families over the theft of a lock of hair.
C. He wished to present a neat paradox: to persuade us that he’s an independent
thinker and a man of moral integrity.
D. Cannot be determined from the passage.
11. RC question: 4/7

According to the passage, "An Essay on Criticism" was:

A. An attempt to identify and refine Pope’s own positions as a poet and critic.
B. An essay which established the heroic couplet as Pope’s principal measure.
C. An essay which included the famous line "a little learning is a dangerous thing."
D. A poem written in a type of rhyming verse called heroic couplets.
12. RC question: 5/7

The word ‘grotto’ in the passage means:

A. A secret place
B. Recess of the mind
C. An artificial cave, esp. as in landscaped gardens during the 18th century.
D. A fanciful building
13. RC question: 6/7

In the passage, which of the following is not a mentioned fact about Pope?
A. Pope grew up as a Catholic at a time when many Catholics were barred from
attending public school or university.
B. Although he never married, he had many female friends to whom he wrote
witty letters.
C. From the age of twelve, he suffered numerous health problems, such as Pott’s
disease which deformed his body and stunted his growth, leaving him with a
severe hunchback.
D. A precocious child, Pope began to study French, Italian, Latin, and Greek at the
age of six.
.

14. RC question: 7/7

Pope’s late masterpiece is:

A. Essay on Man
B. The Dunciad
C. Translation of Homer’s Iliad
D. he Rape Of The Lock

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

3. Western analytical philosophy has contributed two major elements to the theory of the
political good. It is unfortunate that the value of the first element, personalism, has been
diluted by its close association with the second element, valuational solipsism.

Personalism was developed in response to the belief that nations, states, religions, or any
other corporate entity have interests that transcend the interests of the individuals that
comprise them. The central tenet of personalism, therefore, is that institutions are good or
bad insofar as they are good or bad for the individuals that are affected by them. Institutions
are not good, for example, because they preserve the nation’s culture or because they
protect the natural world, unless preserving the nation’s culture or protecting the natural
world is good for the individual. As a philosophical assumption, personalism is most useful
in countering arguments for practices that harm individuals in the name of "the greater
good," or the "society at large." The personalist credo basically states that when it comes to
interests, there are no interests but human interests.

However, an excessive devotion to the theory of personalism may lead one to fall into the
trap of valuational solipsism. The word solipsism derives from the Latin for "lone self" and
the theory of valuational solipsism takes the isolated individual as the sole judge of value.
The problem with this viewpoint is obvious. By using the individual as the measure of the
good, valuational solipsism neglects to consider the whole range of social values that are
part of the political experience. These values include citizenship, status, and community,
none of which can exist without reference to other individuals.

Instead, political theories are based entirely on non-social values such as happiness,
material welfare, and utility, which are not dependent on interactions with others. Such a
view obscures a fundamental quality of the political good.

15 RC Question 1/4

The primary purpose of the passage is to:

A.compare and contrast two important theories of the good in political philosophy
B. defend a theory of the political good based on personalism from the attacks of valuational
solipsists
C.argue that an acceptance of personalism necessarily leads to an endorsement of
valuational solipsism as well
D.evaluate the impact that two major ideas have on the theory of good in political
philosophy
E. reject the theory of valuational solipsism as an appropriate way to arrive at the definition
of the political good

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RC for TCS NQT
Compiled by Ajay Almeida (Campus Credentials )

16 RC Question 2/4

The passage suggests that a follower of personalism would be most likely to reject
which one of the following policies?
A. A union head decrees that all members must strike when the union strikes
because it increases the power of the union.
B. A politician intends to lower taxes on the middle class to put more of the
workers’ money back into their hands.
C. A school decides to abandon its uniform standards after the student body votes
against them.
D. The owner of a company decides to cancel the company insurance policy in
order to increase his profit.
E. The head of a religious institution announces that its members no longer have to
give part of their incomes to the church.

17 RC Question 3/4

According to the passage, the author objects to which aspect of valuational

solipsism?
A. Adherents of it are less likely to recognize the contributions of personalism.
B. It includes values such as happiness, material welfare, and utility.
C. It fails to consider essential elements of the political good.
D. It places too much value on the individual at the expense of the institution.

E. It justifies policies that cause harm to individuals for the sake of the greater
good.

18. RC Question 4/4

According to the passage, the primary value of the personalist assumption is:
A. it refutes the belief that institutions have interests that transcend the interests of
individuals
B. it serves as a counterbalance to the excessive nature of valuational solipsism
C. it demonstrates that institutions are incapable of being good or bad
D. it aids in preserving a nation’s culture
E. it provides an effective rejoinder to certain types of justifications

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