ENGLISH LANGUAGE WORKSHOP HANDOUT

Ref: EWHO1002171
Directions for questions 1 to 24: Read the given passages carefully and answer the questions that follow them.

PASSAGE – Ι

In July 1609, Galileo, who was a professor at the University of Padua, then under the rule of the Republic of Venice,
heard about a spyglass being made in Holland. Quickly, he figured out the requisite shape and combination of lenses
needed to go from two or three orders of magnification to eight. Just one month later he presented his invention to the
Senate of Venice as a new military technology; it would, he told the Senate, make it possible to spot enemy ships at sea
a full two hours before a naked-eye observer. In order to benefit from his inventions and discoveries, he offered the
telescope as a “gift” to the Senate. It worked. He was rewarded in the form of tenure and a doubling of his salary. Shortly
after, however, spyglasses of ever-increasing power began flooding Europe: Venice had no real advantage over its
enemies. Galileo was informed that he would receive no further salary increase and that he was bound to teach in Padua
for the rest of his life. Not a fate he welcomed.

Undeterred, he began grinding new and more powerful lenses, while negotiating a position with the Grand Duke of
Tuscany. He wanted to move back to Florence, his hometown, and become the court mathematician there. By the end of
November, he’d completed a 20-power telescope, which he then, turned to the night sky. The first thing Galileo discovered
was that the moon was not smooth and homogeneous, as everyone believed. Instead, it was covered with craters and
mountains whose peaks became awash with light when the “terminator” — the line that separates the illuminated and
dark parts of the moon — inched forward through the night. Galileo’s telescope was about to deliver even more shocking
news. In the clear sky of January 1610, he pointed it toward Jupiter, and noticed three small stars peculiarly aligned next
to it. He recorded their position on a piece of paper. The following night, he could scarcely believe his eyes: they had
moved. And now there were four. A few nights later, Galileo realized that they were not stars but planets orbiting Jupiter
as it moved westward against the backdrop of the fixed stars. For the first time ever, someone had observed a celestial
body that orbited around something that was not Earth. This was a formidable blow to both the Ptolemaic system and
Aristotelian physics, which did not allow for multiple centers of gravity. Galileo’s discoveries spelled the end of conceptions
of Earth, and hence of man, as the center of everything.
In order to benefit from his discoveries, Galileo needed to publish. Fast. He decided to hastily assemble a small book.
In just two weeks he had the first part of the manuscript ready, and by January 31, 1610, he was visiting a printer in
Venice. He strategically named the newly discovered planets “Cosmica Sidera” (Cosmican Stars) in homage to his would-
be new patron Cosimo de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Unlike the telescope, this was a symbolic gift, but one rich in
powerful associations. On February 20, Galileo received the news from Florence — the gift had been accepted, albeit
with this caveat: the Grand Duke’s new celestial possessions should rather be called “Medicean Stars” to honor the House
of Medici and avoid confusion with the term “cosmic stars.” […] While parts of the book were already in press, Galileo
realized that he could measure the height of lunar mountains based on their projected shadows; he forthwith added these
calculations to the text. The last piece of information to enter the book were the positions of the Medicean Stars. The
dedicatory preface is dated March 12. The final title was Sidereus Nuncius, which means the Sidereal Messenger.

1. What is the author attempting to illustrate through this
passage?
(A) How the printing of Sidereus Nuncius was the
most extraordinary episode in the history of
scientific publishing
(B) An unusual wealth of information on the making
of Galileo’s book Sidereus Nuncius
(C) How Sidereus Nuncius turned Galileo into the
brightest new star of Western science
(D) The historical overview behind Galileo’s
landmark book Sidereus Nuncius, which was
published in Venice in 1610
2. In the passage, the expressions “gift” and “symbolic
gift” allude to
(A) Galileo presenting a telescope that would be a
great help in maritime land enterprises and
Galileo's inspired scientific sycophancy.
(B) the telescope with the advantage of discovering
the ships of the enemy two hours before they
could be seen with the natural vision and the
planets orbiting Jupiter.
(C) the telescope with the advantage of discovering
the ships of the enemy two hours before they
could be seen with the natural vision and
Galileo's dedication of a pamphlet to Cosimo II
de Medici.
(D) Galileo presenting a telescope that would be a
great help in maritime land enterprises and an
emblematic representation of the Medicean stars.
3. The author of the passage is likely to agree with which
of the following?
(a) Galileo’s discovery of a pockmarked moon made
no sense to earlier observers.
(b) Galileo was apparently more interested in
topography than cartography.
(c) Galileo toppled Ptolemaic and Aristotelian
conceits that everything revolved around the
Earth.

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 (d) Galileo made astonishing discoveries that
introduced a gestalt shift of sorts in human self-
understanding.
(e) Galileo was still carrying out observations when
he began frenetically assembling Sidereus
Nuncius.
(f) Galileo's flattery worked and he was appointed to
the court of the grand duke in Florence.
(A) a, b, e and d
(B) a, b, c, e and f
(C) c, d and f
(D) All of the above
4. The term “caveat”, as used in the passage, would
most likely correspond with which of the following?
(A) Medici’s patronage of scientific inquiry
(B) Galileo's hope of gaining financial support
(C) Praising Galileo for putting the name of Medici
among the eternal stars
(D) Galileo's patrons taking no chances in having
Galileo's satellites named after them

PASSAGE – ΙΙ

T he controversial science of neurotheology aims to find the answer to an age-old question: why do we believe? When
neuroscientist Andrew Newberg scanned the brain of “Kevin”, a staunch atheist, while he was meditating, he made a
fascinating discovery. “Compared with the Buddhist monks and Franciscan nuns, whose brains I’d also scanned, Kevin’s
brain operated in a significantly different way,” he says. “He had far more activity in the prefrontal cortex, the area that
controls emotional feelings and mediates attention. Kevin’s brain appeared to be functioning in a highly analytical way,
even when he was in a resting state.” In this spirit, several years ago, I attended an “Alpha” course, a
10-week introduction to evangelical Christianity. It utterly failed to convince me but, during a service, another “recruit”,
Mark, fell to his knees, babbling “in tongues”. When he came round, he was convinced he had been possessed by the
Holy Spirit. I watched, bemused. Why had he entered this transcendental state, while I was completely unmoved? Was
he deluded, or was he genuinely a conduit of God? Or were our brains simply wired differently? “When people speak in
tongues, they’re gone, they’re in a completely altered state. But most of the time they’re normal people like us, with jobs
and children – they don’t show any sign of being delusional,” says Newberg. “Scans of their brains – when they’re
‘possessed’ – show very different results to scans of Carmelite nuns in prayer or meditation. There you see increased
frontal lobe activity in the areas concerned with concentration, but the speakers in tongues had decreased activity in the
same area, which would give them the sensation that someone else was ‘running the show’.”

During brain scans of those involved in various types of meditation and prayer, Newberg noticed increased activity in the
limbic system, which regulates emotion. He also noted decreased activity in the parietal lobe, the part of the brain
responsible for orienting oneself in space and time. “When this happens, you lose your sense of self,” he says.
“You have a notion of a great interconnectedness of things. It could be a sense where the self dissolves into nothingness,
or dissolves into God or the universe.” “It seems that the brain is built in such a way that allows us as human beings to
have transcendent experiences extremely easily, furthering our belief in a greater power,” Newberg says. This would
explain why some type of religion exists in every culture, arguably making spirituality one of the defining characteristics
of our species.

Spirituality, after all, serves a vital human purpose. Numerous studies show that religious belief is medically and
psychologically (not to mention socially) beneficial. They report lower blood pressure, recover quicker from breast cancer,
have better outcomes from coronary disease and rheumatoid arthritis, have greater success with IVF and are less likely
to have children with meningitis. Patients with a strong “intrinsic faith” (a deep personal belief, not just a social inclination
to go to a place of worship) recover 70 per cent faster from depression than those who are not deeply religious. Such
advantages aside, religions give their followers the benefits of a supportive social network – since research has shown
lack of social contact can be more harmful to health than obesity, alcoholism and smoking 15 cigarettes a day. “Being
part of a group is very important psychologically. In times of prosperity, people tend to question large movements, but
during periods of economic stress, fundamentalist movements flourish,” says Patrick McNamara, Associate Professor of
neurology at Boston University.

5. In the given context of the passage, which of the
following statements about Kevin is supported by
Newberg?
(A) He did not become deeply emotional.
(B) He took a more critical view of events.
(C) There was a large drop in activity in his parietal lobe.
(D) His prefrontal cortex was taxed at the meditation
peak.
6. In the given context of the passage, Newberg
believes which of the following about Mark?
(A) His case is a proof of not being touched by a
supreme being, but of mere blips in brain
chemistry.
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(B) His case proves that the frontal lobes light up
for any kind of excitement, not just religious
experience.
(C) The decrement in frontal lobe activity enabled the
loss of control necessary for garrulous outbursts.
(D) His brains allowed him to simply surrender to
events around him.
7. In the given context of the passage, Newberg is most
likely to agree with which of the following statements
about Carmelite nuns in prayer?
(A) Their psyche hates any form of cognitive
dissonance or challenge to ingrained beliefs.
(B) Religious activities such as prayer strengthened
the ability of their frontal lobes to control primitive
impulses.
EWHO1002171/2
 (C) Widespread activity in emotion-related brain
networks was observed.
(D) Neural activity in areas involved in attention was
observed.
8. In the given context of the passage, the author is most
likely to agree with which of the following statements?
(A) People who are conscious of lacking regular
social ties should make an effort to join
community groups.
(B) Since the health benefits of religious pursuits are
proven, it would be foolish to dismiss them.
(C) If we want to be healthy, we need to ape the
faithful.
(D) We are not machines and therapeutic ways to
deal with our stress is very welcome, however it
comes about.
9. A majority of the human species is spiritually oriented
because
(A) the activity in the prefrontal cortex – the area
which mediates attention – is more in human
beings than in other living species.
(B) the way in which the human brain is designed,
helps us to have spiritual experiences easily and
lends support to our belief in a supreme power.
(C) the part of the brain which regulates emotions
and feelings is more developed in humans,
furthering our belief in a greater power.
(D) it is a proven fact that spirituality is
psychologically and medically beneficial to
human beings.

PASSAGE – ΙΙΙ

L iberals are living in alarming times. A few years before his death in 2012, the British historian Eric Hobsbawm passed
summary judgment on the future of liberal democracy. ‘None of the major problems facing humanity in the 21st century
can be solved,’ he wrote in the British magazine Prospect, ‘by the principles that still dominate the developed countries of
the West: unlimited economic growth and technical progress, the ideal of individual autonomy, freedom of choice, electoral
democracy.’ Hobsbawm did not say which were more at fault: liberal aims or liberal capacities. It hardly mattered. His
prophetic voice seemed to echo the gathering fears of liberals themselves that perhaps their day was done.

More is in play here than an irrational loss of nerve. Much of what has shaken liberal self-belief since the 1990s is real
enough and well-attested: external shocks from violent Islamism; injury to liberal values done by espionage, war-making
and torture; a global banking collapse with its costly rescues and enduring economic harm. Adverse trends are no less
troubling. Within the Western world, economic inequality threatens social peace. Debt-strapped governments are patching
up costly welfare systems that struggle to meet their promises. Disappointed voters are abandoning the centre-right and
centre-left for newly sanitized extremes. Outside the slowed and aging West, illiberal politics appeal to rapidly growing
revisionary powers: China, for example, and to some degree, India, Turkey and Iran. With so much to feed their night-
time fears, it is odd that liberals can sleep at all.

But is this picture too bleak? Does it not one-sidedly ignore achievements that liberals should be proud of? And lasting
strengths that, if remembered, could give them heart? Ever since the early 19th century, when liberalism first took hold
as a political practice, liberals have regularly veered from elation to despair, when defeating or compromising with one
historic rival after another. Liberalism artfully co-opted its earliest competitors, conservatism and socialism. In Europe, it
saw off the failed early 20th-century gods of fascism and communism. And by compromising with democratic populism, it
reconfigured itself, stabilizing after 1945 as liberal democracy. Liberal thinkers worked hard to show that liberalism was
not only stronger and more durable than its rivals, but also fairer, more rational and more beneficial – in a word, better.

The philosopher of science Karl Popper gave eloquent voice to that sense of liberalism’s moral advantage in a talk called
‘The History of Our Time: An Optimist’s View’, given in 1986 in honour of Eleanor Rathbone, a British social reformer and
pioneer of child benefit. Individuals who were lucky enough to live in the liberal democracies of western Europe and the
United States experienced an awkward but workable mix of free markets, popular elections, welfare systems and personal
liberties. Popper said of those people: ‘never before have their human rights, and their human dignity, been so respected,
and never before have so many been ready to bring great sacrifices for others, especially for those less fortunate than
themselves. I believe that these are facts.’ Popper acknowledged challenges ahead but judged that liberals could meet
them if they stuck to their ideals: especially their intellectual ideals of experiment, open-minded argument and a refusal to
prophesy.

10. According to Hobsbawm, the days of liberal
democracy are done because
(A) inequality in the world might be the most obvious
way in which present-day liberalism is going
11. According to the passage, what led to a reality check
wrong.
(B) be it the power of state or the market, the
superior power of some people over others tends
inevitably to arbitrariness and domination.
(C) liberalism’s high bid has made it a doctrine of
hope but equally an engine of disappointment.
(D) capitalist economics was creating a global
menace that liberal-democratic politics was
incapable of meeting.
on liberal faith since the 1990s?
(A) Lack of clarity on what features of liberalism are
essential, what incidental, or where it is going
wrong
(B) Near-fatal failures of global terrorism, political
collapses and economic slump

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 (C) Technical change and economic growth
threatening future lives when left uncontrolled
(D) Over-general theoretical claims that caricature
the liberal outlook, invoking vague sociology to
discredit liberal ideas
12. According to the author, which of the following is the
most noteworthy trend of liberalism?
(A) It being a timeless body of universal ideals
14. Which of the following best presents the function of
(B) It responding to a novel condition of societies,
energized by capitalism and shaken by
revolution
(C) Its proud achievements and robust mentality for
facing future dangers
(D) Its historic compromise with democracy
13. According to Popper, liberalism is not dead primarily
because of which of the following reasons?
(A) At its broadest, liberalism is about improving
people’s lives while treating them alike and
shielding them from undue power.
(B) Liberalism offered nations the means to adapt
laws and governments to productive new
patterns of trade and industry.
(C) It fostered standards of humanity; standards for
how state power and moneyed power must not
mistreat or neglect people with less power.
(D) Liberalism’s aims remain what they always were:
faith in human progress and insistence on civic
respect for people.
the penultimate and the last paragraphs?
(A) They present evidence to suggest that the
apprehensions mentioned in the earlier part of
the passage have no real basis.
(B) They present evidence to corroborate the view
presented in the first and second paragraphs of
the passage.
(C) They present certain facts that are likely to
undermine the argument presented in the first
part of the passage.
(D) They present evidence to counter the allegations
levelled in the earlier part of the passage.

PASSAGE – ΙV

G abriel García Marquez (1927–2014) is known in the English-speaking world for his lyrical, densely descriptive novels,
but as a journalist he was acerbically funny, charming, and slightly bizarre. The young García Márquez devoured what
surrounded him. Everything was raw material for his newspaper columns — film adaptations of Faulkner, nudism, dancing
bears, the letter X, a woman he saw in an ice cream parlor who may have been the “ugliest I’ve ever seen in my life, or,
on the contrary, the most disconcertingly beautiful.”

García Márquez joined El Espectador eight months after Gustavo Rojas Pinilla took power, and was writing for the paper
when ten students were killed by the military government during a peaceful protest on 8 and 9 June 1954. During this
period García Márquez was a member of the Communist Party, paying monthly membership and meeting regularly with
its leader Gilberto Vieira, who at the time was hiding out a few blocks from Bogotá’s downtown. The political climate didn’t
permit a straightforward style. More spirited Colombian journalism of the early ’50s displayed signs of a search for national
identity and a desire to make sense of things after La Violencia of the ’40s. But though press laws in favor of free
expression were passed, the political atmosphere remained suffocating. New episodes of violence would break out in
1954 under Rojas Pinilla and continue to do so over the next decade, even after the joint bipartisan National Front
government led by Liberals and Conservatives assumed power. The journalistic atmosphere became one of conflict
aversion: writers, anxious to foster agreement to prevent further bloodshed, found their hands tied by censorship, both
external and self-imposed.

The indirect style of García Márquez’s crónicas managed to be political without being overly provocative; his playfulness
toed the line without crossing it. Rojas Pinilla’s government frequently censored opposition newspapers such as
El Tiempo, El Diario Gráfico, El Siglo, and El Espectador, where García Márquez worked. The crónica—a playful narrative
form without an equivalent in English—developed in part because it could give this blue pencil the slip. The influence of
García Márquez, already recognized by his contemporaries as a talented journalist, didn’t prevent some peers from
criticizing him for being insufficiently political. Few of his reports responded directly to the dictatorship. In 1955,
government heavyweights wanted to block the publication of his piece on the shipwrecked sailor, which explicitly
condemned the Navy. El Espectador published García Márquez’s text anyway, but prudently decided afterward to post
him to Europe as a foreign correspondent. Never again would García Márquez write so directly on Colombian politics.

Meanwhile, in the ’70s, journalistic currents began to shift in Colombia yet again. The desire for political justice and a
more straightforward style began to take precedence. Though the model story may still have been patterned on the
narrative, condensation and clear argument began to assume priority. Left-wing guerrilla groups’ responses to military
government violence against local communities invited retaliation; narcotraffickers began to organize the sale of drugs
seriously as left-wing cells sought a means to finance themselves. The civil war, a still-unfinished coda to — and escalation
of — La Violencia, ratcheted up polemic in all its forms. Writing, in this climate, proceeded more often from argument than
anecdote.
15. Which of the following best describes the essence of the first paragraph Gabriel García Marquez … beautiful?
(A) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
(B) All is grist that comes to the mill.
(C) If push comes to shove, journalism scores over fiction.
(D) Familiarity breeds contempt.

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16. Which of the following titles best describes the (b) Civilian rule was restored in Columbia after
contents of the passage? Conservatives and Liberals, with the support of
(A) The Journalism of García Márquez Rojas Pinilla, agreed to unite under the National
(B) Criticism and Reportage in García Márquez's Front.
books (c) García Marquez's narrative journalism encourages
(C) The Creativity and Personality of García Márquez one to lie, bend the facts, and depart from the truth.
(D) Linguistic Pleasures in García Márquez’s (d) The cronica escaped censorship.
non-fiction (e) García Marquez's piece on the shipwrecked
sailor was politically provocative.
17. Which of the following choices match the given words (f) Critical reasoning replaced narrative in the
from the passage with their appropriate meanings? journalism of the 70’s Columbia.
(a) acerbity (b) disconcertment
(c) coda (d) polemics (A) d, e and f (B) a, c and e
(i) dispute (ii) sharpness (C) b, d and f (D) a, b and c
(iii) conclusion (iv) unsettlement
(A) a - iii, b - ii, c - i, d - iv 19. Which of the following options characterizes the
(B) a - i, b - iii, c - iv, d - ii journalistic style of Gabriel Garcia Marquez?
(C) a - iv, b - i, c - ii, d - iii (A) Extremely apolitical
(D) a - ii, b - iv, c - iii, d - i (B) Overly flippant
(C) Highly eccentric
18. According to the passage, which of the following (D) Somewhat sportive
statements are NOT true?
(a) García Márquez began his career as a journalist
writing for El Espectador.

PASSAGE – V

O ut there somewhere, marked on no map but tantalisingly near, is a promised land called Normal, to which one day we
can return. This is the magical geography we are taught by politicians, such as Boris Johnson with his “significant return
to normality”. It is the story we tell ourselves, even if we contradict it with the very next thought.

There are practical reasons to believe that Normal is a fairyland to which we can never return. The virus has not gone
away, and is likely to keep recurring in waves. But let’s focus on another question: if such a land existed, would we want
to live there?

Of course, we would all like to leave the pandemic behind, with its devastating impacts on physical and mental health,
its exacerbation of loneliness, the lack of schooling and the collapse in employment. But this doesn’t mean that we want
to return to the bizarre and frightening world the government defines as normal. Ours was no land of lost content, but a
place in which lethal crises were gathering long before the pandemic struck. Alongside our many political and economic
dysfunctions, normality meant accelerating the strangest and deepest predicament humankind has ever confronted: the
collapse of our life-support systems.

Last month, confined to our homes, we watched columns of smoke rising from the Arctic, where temperatures reached a
highly abnormal 380C. Such apocalyptic imagery is becoming the backdrop to our lives.

When business as usual resumes, so does the air pollution that kills more people every year than Covid-19 has yet done,
and exacerbates the impacts of the virus. Climate breakdown and air pollution are equally applicable to all living systems:
rainforests, coral reefs, rivers, soil. They are unspooling at shocking speed due to the cumulative effect of “normality”,
which entails a perpetual expansion of consumption.

The living world, and the people it supports, cannot sustain this level of consumption, but normal life depends on it. The
compound, cascading effects of dysbiosis push us towards what some scientists warn could be global systemic collapse.

The polls on this issue are also clear: we do not want to return to this madness. A YouGov survey suggests that eight out
of 10 people want the government to prioritise health and wellbeing above economic growth during the pandemic, and six
out of 10 would like it to stay that way when (or if) the virus abates. A survey by Ipsos produced a similar result: 58% of
British people want a green economic recovery, while 31% disagree. By and large, the poorer the nation, the greater the
weight its people give to environmental issues. In China, in the same survey, the proportions are 80% and 16%, and in
India, 81% and 13%. The more we consume, the more our moral imagination atrophies.

But the Westminster government is determined to shove us back into hypernormality regardless of our wishes. The
government’s proposed free ports, in which tax and regulations are suspended, will not only exacerbate fraud and money
laundering but also expose the surrounding wetlands and the rich wildlife they harbour, to destruction and pollution.

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Just as there has never been a normal person, there has never been a normal time. Normality is a concept used to limit
our moral imaginations. There is no normal to which we can return, or should wish to return. We live in abnormal times.
They demand an abnormal response.
20. Based on the information given in the passage, which
of the following is likely to be the abnormal response
which the author is suggesting?
(A) Persuading governments to prioritize people’s
health and well-being over economic recovery.
(B) Resisting politicians’ attempts to push us into
normality which only means more consumerism
at the expense of the planet.
(C) Exhorting governments to focus on improving the
economic situation which has been worsened by
the pandemic
(D) Vehemently supporting politicians’ attempts to
shove us into hypernormality which is likely to be
worse than the current situation.
21. All of the following have been mentioned as
consequences brought about by the pandemic
EXCEPT
(A) Strain on physical and mental health
(B) Fall in employment
(C) Precipitation of the biodiversity crisis
(D) Exacerbation of loneliness
22. The author’s tone in the last para of the passage can
be best described as
(A) indignant. (B) resigned.
(C) negative. (D) practical.
23. All of the following statements are rendered correct
by the passage EXCEPT:
(A) We are becoming inure to the environmental
crisis which we are facing.
(B) Nations which are economically sound attach
more importance to environmental issues.
(C) Returning to a state of ‘normality’ would entail an
increase in consumption.
(D) A majority of the people are in favour of a greener
world.
24. It can be inferred from the passage that the life
support systems which the author mentions in the
passage refers to
(A) a person’s employment which is the source of
sustenance for himself and his family.
(B) a country’s healthcare system which forms an
essential part of a nation’s well-being.
(C) the political system of a country, the stability of
which is crucial for a nation’s economic stability
and general welfare.
(D) the rainforests, coral reefs, wetlands, rivers etc.
which protect us from the adverse effects of
pollution and provide us a greener and safer
world.
Directions for questions 25 to 28: The sentences given
in each of the following questions, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is
indicated with a number. Choose the most logical order of
sentences that constructs a coherent paragraph and mark
the correct sequence in the box provided below the
question.
25. (1) The first to tackle it were the Greeks.
(2) During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, most
were inclined to believe that animals were
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intelligent beings, which differed from humans
not in ‘essence’ but only in the extent to which
they possessed reason.
(3) Philosophers had been arguing about animal
cognition for more than 2,000 years.
(4) In De abstinentia ab esu animalium, Porphyry of
Tyre argued that reason could be observed in the
behaviour of ‘all animals’.
26. (1) The philosopher creates and critiques
continuous lines of argument; the aphorist, on
the other hand, composes scattered lines of
intuition.
(2) Much of the history of Western philosophy can be
narrated as a series of attempts to construct
systems.
(3) One moves in a chain of logic; the other by leaps
and bounds.
(4) Conversely, much of the history of aphorisms
can be narrated as an animadversion, a turning
away from such grand systems through the
construction of literary fragments.
27. (1) There are several estimates of the black
economy and the amount of unaccounted
money stashed abroad.
(2) Therefore, when an agency such as the National
Institute of Public Finance and policy comes up
with a report that pins the size of the parallel
economy at 75 per cent of the GDP, we need to
take serious notice.
(3) When it comes to the parallel or black economy,
it is extremely difficult to provide even an
estimate that is reliable – which is not surprising
considering that cash transactions do not always
leave a trail.
(4) While many of them are believable, from a
policy-making perspective, it is important that the
process and methodology of estimation are
robust and credible.
(5) Estimates, by their very nature, are approximations
and cannot lay claim to any substantial level of
accuracy.
28. (1) According to recent research, people with even
benign and unusual characteristics should pay
attention to how different cultures respond to
them.
(2) In an extremely competitive job market, many
people wonder what influences the evaluation of
a candidate for a job.
(3) For example, does being exceptionally curious,
left- handed or vegetarian catch people’s eye in
a positive way or could those elements reduce
the extent to which others want to interact and
work with people like you?
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 (4) People want to be evaluated at least as
favourably as their qualifications justify, but can
seemingly innocuous but unusual traits make
you less professionally attractive?
(5) Though having unusual characteristics may not
be problematic in the United States, they can
have personal and professional implications in
Asian countries like Japan and South Korea,
where people are more likely to believe that there
are proper ways of being and acting.
Directions for questions 29 to 31: Each of the following
questions presents 5 statements of which 4, when placed
in appropriate order would form a contextually complete
paragraph. Pick the statement that is not part of that
context and mark the number corresponding with it in the
box provided below each question.
29. (1) The typical Roman formation was to position
light infantry toward the front masking heavy
infantry and then coordinating light and heavy
cavalry on the back wings.
(2) Roman military units of the period were largely
homogeneous and highly regulated, the army
consisting of units of citizen infantry known as
legions that are quite valiant and experienced.
(3) In 216 BCE, Roman military tactics were still in
their infancy.
(4) Although Rome had won many impressive
victories during the First Punic War, they
continued to rely on their old tactic of placing a
numerically superior force in the field to
overwhelm the enemy.
(5) This formation had worked well in Rome's wars
with the Greek King Pyrrhus who, although
victorious at the Battle of Asculum (279 BCE),
lost so many men that his army could not
continue on to take the city.
30. (1) It offers an invitation to the spontaneous thrill of
a dance that I can neither accept nor even
contemplate.
(2) At times, affliction proves to be a blessing in
disguise.
(3) In this state of frustration, a movie classic like
Singing in the Rain becomes a kind of torture.
(4) Achingly, my body has wishes it cannot fulfill.
(5) When I watch those scenes with Gene Kelly,
immobility feels like a prison.
31. (1) Universal credit, introduced by the UK
government in 2013, was intended to represent
a significant development in social security
policy.
(2) Yet the benefit has become mired in controversy.
(3) It is associated with an increase in food poverty
(alongside a rise in the use of food banks), rent
arrears and, because of the Treasury’s use of it
to make savings in social security spending, the
further impoverishment of already poor people.
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(4) It aims to simplify provision for both workless and
poor in-work households, as well as providing
incentives for people to seek paid employment.
(5) The British government’s universal credit
scheme seeks solutions to problems that have
frustrated politicians for centuries.
Directions for questions 32 and 33: Four alternative
summaries are given below each text. Choose the
option that best captures the essence of the text and
and mark the number corresponding with it in the box
provided below each question.
32. According to Lawrence Stone, narrative has
traditionally been the main rhetorical device used by
historians. In 1979, at a time when the new social
history was demanding a social science model of
analysis, Stone detected a move back toward the
narrative. He defined narrative as follows: it is
organized chronologically; it is focused on a single
coherent story; it is descriptive rather than analytical;
it is concerned with people not with abstract
circumstances; and it deals with the particular and
specific rather than the collective and statistical. More
and more of the 'new historians' are now trying to
discover and present what was going on inside
people's heads in the past and what it was like to live
in the past, questions which inevitably lead back to
the use of narrative.
(1) Lawrence Stone, an ardent defender of
traditional historiography, questions the use of
narratives as the main rhetorical device used by
historians.
(2) Given the latest trends in historiography,
narratives that present individual perspectives
are likely to play a more significant role in
historical writing.
(3) The social science model of analysis that
supports narratives as tools of historiography is
better fit for history writing.
(4) History is more rightly related to common
populace rather than the regimes and royal
families.
33. When we ask ourselves what we really think about a
particular issue, we can often find ourselves at a loss.
Often this is not because we haven't thought the
matter through, but because we have not done so
with a clear intention of forming an opinion. All belief
should be proportional to the evidence, and if we
despair of ever having all the relevant evidence, yet
insist on being rational, we are likely to give up on
asking ourselves what we really think. This underlying
Humean maxim about rationality, however, needs to
be supplemented with other considerations. Intuition
should seek knowledge, if we can reasonably be sure
that our intuitive judgments are at the surface of a
reservoir of rational considerations.
(1) Our beliefs in relation to specific issues should be
governed by evidence; the better the evidence,
the better supported the belief.
(2) Our perspective on any issue should be decided
solely by rational considerations.
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 (3) Though belief should be logically supported by
evidence, even intuition that is at times
supported by rational considerations can
logically support our beliefs.
(4) Our beliefs about issues of particular importance
should reflect our rational as well as emotional
beings.
Directions for question 34: The passage given below is
followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best
captures the author’s position
34. Do we now live in an ‘age of conspiracism’? Social
media certainly has introduced new dynamics in how
conspiracy theories spread, how conspiracy theorists
get organised, and how easily one can find
conspiracy theories. It is also undeniable that many
citizens in the world believe conspiracy theories, and
that populist movements that actively propagate
conspiracy theories have enjoyed remarkable
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electoral success in recent years. But that doesn’t
make the present appreciably different from the past.
Throughout history, conspiracy theories have been
common, spreading through any available
communication channel, and fuelling conflict,
prejudice, hatred and war. The ‘age of conspiracism’
has lasted for millennia.
(1) Conspiracy theories have always been with us
powered by an evolutionary drive to survive.
(2) Conspiracy theories have always been part of
the human condition, and always will be.
(3) More citizens than ever before seem to believe
conspiracy theories, and our society provides an
exceptionally fertile soil for them to flourish.
(4) Conspiracy theories have permeated the history
of humanity from our earliest hunter-gatherer
days through to modern times.
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