Reading - 3
Topics Covered
 Active Reading
 Organisation and Types of Passages
Number of questions : 17
In this class we would apply the concepts of Critical
Reading to solve the questions in the various kinds
of Reading Comprehension passages.
However, before that we must spend some time in
understanding what makes a person have a high
accuracy rate in solving Reading Comprehension
questions. ‘Active Reading’ is the most important
skill that ensures high accuracy in Reading
Comprehension. Apart from that, it always helps to
know what kind of logic is followed by examiners in
developing the passages and questions. This class
would help you understand the importance of Active
Reading and the organization and types of passages.
Importance of Active Reading
Whenever you read any text, whether it is a book, a
research report or a reading comprehension passage,
you must get involved in it as if you are in conversation
with the author. Active reading is different from passive
reading. It is an important skill that aids your
comprehension. An active reader applies certain
questions and theories that help to enhance clarity.
It is a step ahead of merely “skimming” the text.
Active reading involves applying logical and rhetorical
skills.
Reading - 3
VARC
CEX-V-0253/23
If you just read passively, then you are dealing with
only the superficial aspect of the text – the
information that is provided. This allows you to answer
only certain type of questions. But, typical RC
questions represent a wide variety of questions and
in order to tackle all of them you need the ability to
read critically. Active reading gets at the “deep
structure”, that is, inference, tone, and organization,
which allows you to answer all types of questions.
How can you be an active reader?
a. Pay attention to the opening paragraph
The manner in which the author introduces
the text reveals a lot about the writer’s attitude,
aim, viewpoint, or approach. This is important
in enhancing your overall comprehension of
the passage. Ideally, you should pause for a
second after reading the first paragraph in
order to quickly reflect upon these issues.
b. Analyze the arguments
While reading, analyse what you have read
and draw inferences. Practise this more during
the preparatory stage, so that it becomes a
matter of habit. This skill will come in very
handy while attempting inferential questions
as their answers are not explicitly stated in
the passage.
Page 1
 Organization and Types of Passages
Organization of passages refers to the arrangement
of thoughts in an orderly and functional way in order
to create a balanced course of action. The text is so
arranged that the purpose is clear, the main idea
logically stated and developed, and a similar logic is
applied to move along the passage.
Besides organization, it is also important for you to
familiarize yourself with the different types of
passages that appear in the entrance examinations.
Thus, you should acquaint yourself with a variety of
texts while reading in the preparatory stage. Limiting
yourself to reading only one or two types of passages
(not subject matter) will be counterproductive,
because the actual test will present a wide variety,
and your preparation would only help you crack the
types you have practised upon. An equitable amount
of time and effort should be spent on various kinds
of passages.
Types of Passages
A. ARGUMENTATIVE
These kinds of passages deal with arguments
made by the author on a subject. The common
opinion/argument is stated, followed by the
author’s counter arguments. Logic plays a big
part in fashioning these counter-arguments,
and typically at least a few questions that follow
will test you on this. A question can also be
asked about your opinion on the logic used
by the author.
Passage - I
Directions for questions 1 and 2: Read the following
passage carefully and answer the questions that
follow.
Start Time:
Page 2
Noting the role of the Royal Air Force in saving his
country during the Battle of Britain, Winston Churchill
observed that never had so many owed so much to
so few. We owe a great deal — indeed, literally
everything — to evolution, and yet never have so
many said and written so much about something
they understood so poorly. Not that evolution is all
that difficult to understand. Rather, so many people
have such strong feelings about it, often connected
to so many regrettable stock phrases, that clear
thought has often been obscured. This is especially
unfortunate in today’s intellectual — or, more to the
point, anti-intellectual — climate, with the Bush
administration persistently seeking to trump science
with ideology.
Notwithstanding recent victories of science over so-
called intelligent design in Pennsylvania and Utah,
this particular struggle is not likely to end soon. The
following catalog of misconceptions, along with
responses, is therefore offered for scholars who may
well find themselves confronting voices whose
amplitude and frequency exceed their wisdom.
“It’s only a theory.” Biologists often speak of “the
theory of evolution”, but not because evolution is a
guess or mere speculation. My Random House
Dictionary provides, among its definitions of “theory”,
the following: “a proposed explanation whose status
is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established
propositions that are regarded as reporting matters
of actual fact”. Someone might express a “theory”
that Elvis Presley still lives, or that trailer parks attract
tornadoes. The same person might also say,
“Biologists have a theory that human beings evolved”,
in which case, knowingly or not, a very different use
of the word has been employed. Indeed, my
dictionary also gives this definition of “theory”: “a
more or less verified established explanation
accounting for known facts or phenomena”, with
examples that include number theory, the theory of
relativity, atomic theory, and so forth. In this sense,
Reading - 3
and this only, evolution is a theory. It is, in fact, as
close to truth as any science is ever likely to get.
“Evolutionary logic is circular: The fittest are
those that survive, and those that survive are
the fittest. So it doesn’t say anything.” First,
natural selection is not about surv ival, but
reproduction: specifically, individuals’ and genes’
reproducing themselves. Survival is evolutionarily
important because — and only because — it
contributes to reproduction. Second, “fitness” does
not determine natural selection; rather, natural
selection is the unavoidable result of how “fit”
something is, which is to say, how successful it is
in promoting its genes. Fitness leads to the important
prediction that natural selection favoring a particular
type should result in a larger proportion of that type
in future populations. This prediction has been
repeatedly tested and confirmed.
“Natural selection is just a negative process; it
cannot create anything new.” Natural selection
is only “negative” in that certain individuals and their
genes fall by the evolutionary wayside in preference
to others, which prosper. But evolution is not merely
a question of deleting those organisms that are less
fit; because of mutation (which provides genetic
novelty) and reproduction (which combines DNA in
unique ways), new genetic material is constantly
being produced. And much depends on this regular
generation of genetic diversity, on the world being,
as the poet Louis MacNeice put it, “incorrigibly
plural”. In his poem “Snow”, MacNeice went on to
feel “the drunkenness of things being various”, a
variousness that is essential as the building blocks
from which evolution constructs those things that
we identify as highly adapted organisms, including
ourselves.
But although the production of div ersity is
fundamentally random, the power of natural selection
is that it is not simply at the mercy of haphazard
Reading - 3
events, merely eliminating the unfit. It creates novelty
because it adds a crucial process: a mechanism for
“selective retention”.
Imagine that instead of those hypothetical monkeys
creating all of Shakespeare, we wanted just a single
phrase, “to be or not to be”. It consists of 18
characters, including spaces. Given the alphabet plus
a possible blank space, we have a total of 27
possibilities for each slot. The chance that one of
our monkeys might randomly get the initial “t” is
thus 1/27. The chance that it would simultaneously
and randomly place an “o” in the second slot is
1/27 × 1/27 = 1/729. The chance of getting all
18 characters correct, by chance alone, is thus
1/27 times itself 17 times, which is inconceivably
small.
But what if, instead of tossing out every meaningless
word and having to start afresh each time, those
patterns that were promising — even by a little bit —
were retained, and then randomly modified yet again,
once more retaining (that is, selecting) those that
were more “fit”? I started with 18 random strikes on
a computer keyboard and programmed the machine
to make a few small changes — introduce some
new letters — every “generation”. Those changes
are equivalent to mutation and recombination,
providing regular sources of random variation on an
existing theme. Next I added the simple requirement
of selectively retaining whatever most closely
approximates “to be or not to be”, after which the
“organism” randomly varies again, with the outcome
screened once more for resemblance — however
slight — to the target. The result was that after a
very small number of generations — usually on the
order of 30 — the desired outcome was obtained.
In one test, for example, I started with “fuwl sazgh
ekm fje”. Discouraging, perhaps, but after several
runs it had become the dimly recognizable “tubl hot
nnoq ioby”. By run 22, it was “tu bep ok not ts e”.
Page 3
And by 29, “to be ok not to bo”, which even the most
cynical monkey is likely to acknowledge as having
just about arrived, and a whole lot more quickly than
1/27 to the 18th power would suggest.
“Evolution is no longer going on, especially in
the case of human beings.” Evolution happens
anytime there are changes in a population’s genetic
makeup. The most powerful mechanism of
evolutionary change is natural selection, which
operates whenever some individuals leave more
genetic representatives than others do. The only way
for evolution to cease would be if everyone reproduced
equally; more precisely, if genes continued to replace
themselves in exactly the same proportion as they
currently exist. Just a moment’s reflection should
convince anyone that evolution is very alive, for human
beings as for everything else, so long as “differential
reproduction” is going on.
That doesn’t mean, however, that the conditions of
evolution are the same as they have been in the
past. The “selective environment” for human beings,
for example, has changed dramatically from the
Pleistocene. Certain traits that almost certainly were
strongly selected against, such as myopia and
diabetes, are now neutral or, at worst, only mildly
negative. Human ingenuity has come up with
eyeglasses and insulin, which only scratch the
surface of how modern Homo sapiens has modified
natural selection, hence its own evolution.
“Biological evolution no longer matters, having
been superseded by cultural evolution.” Cultural
evolution is real, and it may in fact be the one sense
in which human beings do experience Lamarckian
evolution, via a kind of inheritance of acquired
characteristics. Cultural evolution, like biological
evolution, involves change, but instead of genes, it
is based on cultural practice: language; technology;
styles of clothing; ways of living; traditions including
culinary, religious, military, intellectual, social; and
Page 4
just about everything else that human beings do
outside the anatomy and physiology of their own
bodies. Cultural evolution, like biological evolution,
requires variation, but instead of genetic mutations,
its raw material comes from ideas and concepts,
innovations of mind and matter that may ultimately
be traceable — however indirectly — to humanity’s
DNA, but which are not a simple matter of
biochemical alterations in genetic material. Cultural
evolution, like biological evolution, proceeds by
selective retention of whatever works or is favored
for any other reason (such as obvious efficiency, the
vagaries of fashion, or even the dictates of the
powerful). To some extent, human beings are like a
train traveling on two tracks, but in our case, the
wheels on one track (biological evolution) move
slowly while those on the other (cultural evolution)
move rapidly. No wonder our species feels pulled
apart. But this disparity, rather than negating the
impact of biological evolution, only italicizes its
significance.
“Evolution acts for the good of the species.” All
sorts of things evolve: galaxies, stars, a person’s
thinking, a government’s policies. But none of those
qualify as evolution as biologists understand the term.
People have evolved; a person does not. Evolution
involves change, but not the change that takes place
in growth, aging, changing one’s clothes or even
one’s mind. To qualify as biological evolution, there
must be a change in a population’s gene pool over
time. This is why only populations evolve, not
individuals — because each of us is stuck with our
private genetic endowment. And yet individuals are
crucial to evolution, both individual bodies and
individual genes. In fact, one of the most important
and useful realizations of recent years is that
evolution operates most strongly at the lowest
possible levels, notably that of individuals and genes,
not groups or species.
Reading - 3
Natural selection works by differential reproduction, with some individuals and their genes more successful
than others. A species is the sum total of its individuals and their genes. It has no metaphysical existence
of its own, and, as far as can be determined, no one is looking out for the good of the species as a whole,
although each component has been selected to look out for itself. Analogously, in a free-market society,
individuals and corporations seek to maximize their profits; any larger-order benefit derived by the nation is
simply the unintentional summed effects of all those private, enterprising activities going on at a lower level.

End Time:

1. What is the author’s reaction to calling evolution a theory?

———————————————————————————————————————————

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2. Given below are the controversial issues regarding evolution that the author evaluates in the passage.
Write down his comments on each one of them.
MISBELIEFS AUTHOR’S ARGUMENTS
i. It’s only a theory. ____________________________

ii. Circularity of the logic of evolution. ____________________________

iii. Natural evolution is a negative process. ____________________________

iv. Evolution is no longer going on. ____________________________

v. Cultural evolution supersedes biological evolution. ____________________________

vi. Evolution acts for the good of the species. ____________________________

B. DISCURSIVE

Discursive passages present a discourse by the author on a particular subject. The author presents his or
her ideas on the subject matter and opinions are stated with the use of logic.

Reading - 3 Page 5
 Passage - II
Directions for questions 1 and 2: Read the following
passage carefully and answer the questions that
follow.
Start Time:
In recent years the US electorate has become highly
polarised. Large contiguous regions of the country
(the red states) favour the Republicans, other large
contiguous regions favour the Democrats (the blue
states), and relatively small regions in between (which
we might label purple) constitute the so-called
battleground states.
There are many reasons for this dichotomy, but some
light may be shed by an abstract model introduced
in 1999 by Joshua Epstein of the Brookings
Institution.
Imagine that around a big circle are millions of people
who are asked daily whether they intend to vote for
George Bush or John Kerry. Assume that they have
an initial favorite, randomly choosing Bush or Kerry,
but that they are very conformist and decide daily to
consult some of their immediate neighbours. After
polling those on either side of them, they adjust their
vote to conform with that of the majority of their
neighbours.
How many people each voter consults varies from
day to day and is determined by the fact that they
are “lazy statisticians”. They expand their samples
of adjacent voters only as much as necessary,
wishing always to conform with minimum exertion.
There are various ways to model this general idea,
but let’s assume the following specific rule. If one
day a voter, say Henry, polls the X people on either
side of him, the next day he expands his sample to
the X+1 people on either side of him. If the
percentage favouring the two candidates in this
expanded sample is different than it is when he polls
Page 6
only the X people on either side of him, he expands
his sample still further.
On the other hand, if the percentage favouring the
two candidates is the same in the expanded sample
as it is when he polls only the X people on either
side of him, Henry decides he may be working too
hard. In this case he reduces his sample to the X-1
people on either side of him. If the percentage
favouring the candidates is the same in this smaller
sample, he reduces that sample further.
Every voter updates his or her favorite daily and
interacts with other voters according to these same
rules. (At the cost of complicating the model we can
allow voters to consult an acquaintance network
rather than only their immediate physical
neighbours.)
Epstein’s model showed that the result of all this
consulting is a little surprising. After several days of
this sequential updating of votes, there are long arcs
of solid Bush voters and long arcs of solid Kerry
voters and, between them, small arcs of very mixed
voters. After a short while, voters in the solid arcs
need consult only their immediate neighbours to
decide how to vote and almost never change their
votes. Voters between the solid arcs need to consult
many people on either side of them and change their
vote quite frequently.
Although Epstein applied his model to more
automatically followed social norms, the idea of
extending it to voting is seductive. People do tend to
surround themselves with others of like mind and
generally only those at the borders between
partisans, the so-called swing voters, are open to
much change. His major point is that social norms,
often a result of nothing more than propinquity, make
it unnecessary to think much - about what to wear,
which side of the road to drive on, when to eat, etc.
To the considerable extent that voting is - for many -
an unthinking emulation of those with whom they
Reading - 3
associate, the model helps explain the near uniformity
of their friends’ political opinions.
When there’s some sort of shock to the system,
Epstein’s model suggests something else rather
interesting. If a large number of voters change their
vote suddenly for some reason (say, a terrorist attack
or environmental catastrophe), the changed voter
preferences soon settle down to a new equilibrium
just as stable with solid Bush, solid Kerry, and mixed
border areas, but located at different places around
the circle. The model thus shows how political
allegiances can sometimes change suddenly, but
then settle quickly into a new and different
segmentation just as rigidly adhered to as the old.
End Time:
1. Why do the voters in the solid arcs need to
consult only their immediate neighbours?
(1) They want to know the real picture and a
small sample will suffice
(2) They slowly become lazy and do not want
to work hard at this
(3) The reassuring findings discourage them
to do more work at this
(4) They become rebellious and try to foster
open mindedness.
(5) They desire to build up a strong affinity
with their neigbours by showing faith on
them.
2. According to Epstein, social norms are more
often than not a result of which of the
following?
(1) Proclivity (2) Proximity (3) Inequity
(4) Equality (5) Inquiry
C. DESCRIPTIVE
In a descriptive passage, the author presents
a description of an experience/an event. The
questions that follow these type of passages
typically involve a lower level of inference, and
Reading - 3
are easy to comprehend and are likely to be
found stated in the passage. Here, applying
skimming would help as long as you are aware
of the mind-map of the passage.
Passage - III
Directions for questions 1 to 3: Read the following
passage carefully and answer the questions that
follow.
Start Time:
In 1957, Heinrich Böll published his famous travel
book Irisches Tagebuch, which was later translated
as Irish Journal. The Irish hated it and the Germans
loved it. For the Irish it had too many donkeys and
stonewalls, too much dreaming and backward
innocence. For the Germans, however, it was
precisely these simple things that became so
attractive. They carried the book with them in their
rucksacks, searching for a kind of emotional
connection to the people and the landscape. It gave
them a sense of innocence and belonging, an inner
life of feelings that was denied to them in their own
country.
In fact, it was not a book about Ireland at all, but a
book about all the things that were missing in
Germany. Ireland was abundant with elusive qualities
such as soul, sadness, longing, timelessness, all
the romance of liberation and freedom. The Irish lived
like there was no tomorrow. There was music
everywhere and drinking. And maybe it is exactly
this intoxicating naturalism, this idealism of
uncomplicated life, which appealed so much to the
German mind. Ireland had the same iconic value as
the Che Guevara poster on the bedroom wall.
Had Boll written the same book about Germany, it
would no doubt have been shunned as fascist. On
the cliffs of Moher, the German could find a sense of
home that had no ideological associations. They
Page 7
could learn to play the tin whistle and even sing songs
about freedom. Unlike the Irish, Germans abroad
tend to forget where they come from. There is no
German enclave in New York as there used to be.
Where the Irish and the Italians always longed to be
on the map, to be heard and not forgotten, the
Germans longed to be invisible.
The emotional attachment to home, to the land, to
the place in which you are born, is something
hereditary that lies deep in the human psyche, which
is why it could be so abused by Nazi ideology. The
result of this abuse is the systematic denial ever
since of any feelings of belonging, a denial that has
become so pervasive in German consciousness that
it has erased these human instincts almost
completely.
Of course the Germans have feelings. They fall in
love, they have desires like everyone else, they feel
passionate about football and you can hear the odd
person proclaim “I love Berlin” or “I love Bavaria”. Of
course they feel sadness and grief, compassion,
friendship, the entire spectrum of human emotions.
But there was always something missing too. They
had no dream-life, at least not until the Wim Wenders
movie Himmel ber Berlin came out. Or maybe it
started again when the Berlin wall came down, with
people crying and embracing each other on the
streets.
Up to now, Germans have trained themselves to feel
no pain, no sense of loss, no compassion for
themselves. Nowhere in the world was the father
and son gap so wide as it was in Germany. From
the late 60s, young people prosecuted their parents
and reshaped the German conscience. All this was
essential for German renewal, but it also led to a
dislocation, a kind of orphaned state. In the process
of exorcising the Nazi crimes, generations of
Germans also denied their own heritage and severed
an emotional link with their own people.
Page 8
The hidden agony of this discontinuity has never been
fully explored. In effect, they became a homeless
people, and still are. The physical destruction of
German cities, the occupation by foreign armies,
was overcome by adapting and rebuilding. But the
intellectual homelessness was more profound, and
included a ruthless defection from anything that had
a spiritual link with the German soul. There is an
unacknowledged loneliness in being German.
It is right that Germans have turned their back on
the arrogance of nationalism. They are the only
people in the world who have so comprehensively
examined their own past. They have been to hell
and back with guilt, and their overriding sense of
duty towards their victims is unheard of in any other
society. Remembering the Holocaust has replaced
the crucifixion of Christ as a leading icon in our society.
Memorials have become religious sites that provide
a new kind of holiness and guide us towards a fair
and racially tolerant society. If there is such a thing
as absolution, it is only by remembering and revisiting
these sites.
End Time:
1. What is the author trying to communicate by
talking about Ireland being like “the Che
Guevara poster on the bedroom wall”?
(1) All over the world people think of Ireland
as being a magical place.
(2) For the Germans, Ireland exemplifies the
realization of their wishes.
(3) Che Guevara was from Ireland and hence
the analogy.
(4) The aspect of “unfettered freedom” is
shown in both the cases.
(5) Germans consider Ireland's way of living
as valueless.
Reading - 3
2. What does the statement that “there is no
German enclave in New York” indicate?
(1) The Americans do not like the Germans.
(2) The world over Germans are vilified for
their past.
(3) Germans do their best to disassociate
from their nationality.
(4) Germany is a country that is undergoing
massive problems.
(5) New York lacks enough space to
accommodate any German enclave.
3. How does the transformation of the Holocaust
to an iconic status affect the Germans’ sense
of national pride?
(1) It helps them feel happier about their
country.
(2) It is the first thing people think of when
they find out someone is German.
(3) It binds together all Germans and makes
them feel unified.
(4) It enhances the German's desire to relate
more with their country mentally and
emotionally.
(5) It fuels the wish to not to be German and
disassociate from the country.
D. ANALOGY
Analogy is defined as “similarity in some
respects between things that are otherwise
dissimilar”. So, a passage that uses analogy
takes two instances, objects, etc. and points
out the similarities between them. This is used
to make a bigger point about one or both of
these subjects. Reading only a part of the
passage or using only the skimming and
scanning technique would be
counterproductive in the case of analogy-
driven passages. Inference would be used
extensively, so you are likely to get questions
that test this aspect.
Reading - 3
Poem
Directions for questions 1 and 4: Read the following
peom and answer the questions that follow.
Start Time:
I do what many dream of, all their lives,
—Dream? strive to do, and agonize to do,
And fail in doing.
I could count twenty such
On twice your fingers, and not leave this town,
Who strive—you don’t know how the others strive
To paint a little thing like that you smeared
Carelessly passing with your robes afloat,—
Yet do much less, so much less, Someone says,
(I know his name, no matter)—so much less!
Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.
There burns a truer light of God in them,
In their vexed beating stuffed and stopped-up brain,
Heart, or whate’er else, than goes on to prompt
This low-pulsed forthright craftsman’s hand of mine.
Their works drop groundward, but themselves, I know,
Reach many a time a heaven that’s shut to me,
Enter and take their place there sure enough,
Though they come back and cannot tell the world.
My works are nearer heaven, but I sit here.
The sudden blood of these men! at a word—
Praise them, it boils, or blame them, it boils too.
I, painting from myself and to myself,
Know what I do, am unmoved by men’s blame
Or their praise either. Somebody remarks
Morello’s outline there is wrongly traced,
His hue mistaken; what of that? or else,
Rightly traced and well ordered; what of that?
Speak as they please, what does the mountain care?
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for? All is silver-grey,
Placid and perfect with my art: the worse!
I know both what I want and what might gain,
And yet how profitless to know, to sigh
Page 9
 “Had I been two, another and myself,
Our head would have o’erlooked the world!” No doubt.
Yonder’s a work now, of that famous youth
The Urbinate who died five years ago.
(’Tis copied, George Vasari sent it me.)
Well, I can fancy how he did it all,
Pouring his soul, with kings and popes to see,
Reaching, that heaven might so replenish him,
Above and through his art—for it gives way;
That arm is wrongly put—and there again—
A fault to pardon in the drawing’s lines,
Its body, so to speak: its soul is right,
He means right—that, a child may understand.
Still, what an arm! and I could alter it:
But all the play, the insight and the stretch—
(Out of me, out of me! And wherefore out?
Had you enjoined them on me, given me soul,
We might have risen to Rafael, I and you!
Nay, Love, you did give all I asked, I think—
More than I merit, yes, by many times.
But had you—oh, with the same perfect brow,
And perfect eyes, and more than perfect mouth,
And the low voice my soul hears, as a bird
The fowler’s pipe, and follows to the snare —
Had you, with these the same, but brought a mind!
Some women do so. Had the mouth there urged
”God and the glory! never care for gain.
”The present by the future, what is that?
”Live for fame, side by side with Agnolo!
”Rafael is waiting: up to God, all three!”
I might have done it for you. So it seems:
Perhaps not. All is as God over-rules.
Beside, incentives come from the soul’s self;
At the end,
God, I conclude, compensates, punishes.
End Time:
Page 10
1. Which of the following options best reflects
the tone of the speaker in the poem?
(1) Pedantic (2) Didactic
(3) Hortatory (4) Wistful
(5) Irate
2. Which of the following statements best
reflects the central theme of this poem?
(1) An artist’s lament for the fact that worldly
concerns have prevented him from fulfilling
his promise as a great artist
(2) The triumph of the artist’s art in terms of
spiritual power over that of his peers
(3) An artist’s grievance about his wife
expressed in a wistful note
(4) An artist’s reflection upon the beauty of
the evening and his experience
(5) A tirade against mediocre artists becoming
successful
3. Who is the copier of the famous work of art
by the Urbinate?
(1) George Vasari (2) Raphael
(3) Morello (4) Agnolo
(5) Cannot be determined
4. It can be inferred from the passage that the
artist’s wife Lucrezia
(1) holds artists like Raphael and Agnolo in
higher regard than the artist.
(2) has not given the artist the right advice
and support in the development of his
career.
(3) has been the only model after whom the
artist has fashioned his concept of
feminine beauty.
(4) was not earlier proud of the artist and his
achievements.
(5) was an extremely talented artist herself.
Reading - 3
 Test your knowledge
Directions for questions 1 to 3: The passage given
below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the
most appropriate answer to each question.
Knowledge originates either in scientific, objective
observation of the “real” world, or in emotional, highly
personal apprehension of values expressed as I like
or approve of this. Rhetoric is not possible within
this duality. We, can however, question this duality
and this involves some border crossing from the
territory of philosophy into the old world of rhetoric
that turns to study the particular sites where writing
takes place to explore how writing and persuasion
works. From this perspective the structure of a
scientific report is not just a matter of superficial
style, but rather a complex stock of argumentative
moves or commonplaces that serve to reinforce and
reproduce a view of the world that characterizes the
discipline of science. In short, the “common” topics
have become, in their way, as specialized as the
“special” topics (or specialized knowledge that
characterizes a particular discipline).
Knowledge is also discovered through dialectic.
Knowledge is not created through the isolated self
interacting with the physical world, nor even by groups
of selves attempting to achieve Platonic certainty
through the discursive testing of logical propositions
or mathematical axioms. Rather, knowledge is
developed communally through the process of
making an intelligible world with my fellow human
being. Hence we have the idea of an ongoing
conversation with persuasion a necessary means of
keeping the conversation (as a form of social
interaction) going.
But how do we influence each other through
language? In ‘Why Does Rhetoric Need a Theory of
Reading’? Doug Brent says:
Traditional rhetoric simply had to have faith that an
audience could interpret accurately. Rhetoric is
traditionally defined as the art of using language to
influence others’ behaviour and belief. This implies
that discourse is a reasonably reliable means by
Reading - 3
which one person can affect another. The rhetor must
know that what he puts into his discourse will be
roughly reflected in what the audience takes out.
Otherwise persuasion is meaningless, for the rhetor
has no predictable influence on his audience. To do
his job, the rhetor must believe human beings act
not at random, but rather for reasons that he can
predict and use. This assumption, however, has been
treated simply as an assumption, an article of faith.
1. A suitable title for the passage is
(1) W ays through which knowledge is
discovered.
(2) Knowledge can be discovered only
through rhetoric.
(3) Rhetoric and the discovery of knowledge.
(4) Traditional Rhetoric and its assumptions.
2. The tone of the passage is predominantly
(1) Descriptive
(2) Argumentative
(3) Analytical
(4) Didactic
3. Which of the following can be inferred from
the passage?
(1) The ‘duality’ as regards the origin of
knowledge takes into account communal
interactions.
(2) The effectiveness of Rhetoric as a means
to discover knowledge is suspect.
(3) Persuasion is one of the factors which
impede the discovery of knowledge
through rhetoric.
(4) The Rhetor can influence his audience
even if the audience is not interested in
what he is saying.
Page 11
Directions for questions 4 to 6: The passage given
below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the
most appropriate answer to each question.
The magic of Mahatma Gandhi is that he defies
categorization. W ould one call him a saint,
philosopher, social reformer, or politician? Actually,
he was all of these and perhaps, much more than
any of these. He was a deeply religious person, but
which religion could one ascribe his beliefs to? He
was greatly influenced by Vedanta, but was not really
a traditional Vedantist. Vedantic thought tells us the
atman or self in each individual is essentially one, a
part of the divine being or Brahman. The traditional
interpretation of this principle is an effort to
disassociate oneself from the world and its
machinations so that one becomes free of maya or
the illusion of a separately existing, ego-bound I .
Gandhi applied this principle in his unique way,
extending it to strive for a better society, free of all
divisions. He worked for caste and communal amity
and maintained that the service of the neediest people
is the worship of Daridranarayan (God in the form of
the poor). His life’s mission was to work for the
betterment of society by affirmative action. For him,
India’s independence was not merely about wrangling
power from the British but about creating a more
equitable society or Swarajya, “for those toiling and
unemployed millions who do not get even a square
meal a day and have to scratch along with a piece of
stale roti and a pinch of salt”.
The Bhagavad Gita says, “You have the right to act,
but do so without expecting the fruits of your action.”
From this, Gandhi drew inspiration to persevere
undaunted in his struggle, fully understanding that
his may be a prolonged struggle which may or may
not yield the expected results within a reasonable
period of time.
Many attribute his fetish for fasts to the Jain
philosophy, which was an early influence on him.
However, there was a key difference in the application
Visit “Test Gym” for taking Topic Tests / Section Tests on a regular basis.
Page 12
of this principle by Gandhi. While the Jain concept
of fasting is renunciation of action that of Gandhi
was fasting for a cause. In the Sermon on the Mount,
another great inspiration for Gandhi, Jesus says,
“Resist not him that is evil, but whosoever smiteth
thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also.”
Forgiveness, the central principle of Christ, was
embraced by Gandhi, but he did not stop at that. He
extended this principle to make non-violent opposition
a potent weapon. Fighting against injustice without
causing any harm or harboring any ill-feelings towards
the enemy came to be his guiding principle. Hence,
though deeply religious, he cannot be categorized
as belonging to any particular sect or creed. Like all
great messiahs and masters, he rose above the
practices of the day and culled the essence from
each faith, beautifully interweaving various religious
traditions to create a mosaic of spirituality that was
uniquely his own.
4. This passage principally intends to:
(1) Extol disciplinary ideas.
(2) Recognize the great work done.
(3) Identify the creation and practice of an
ideology.
(4) Extend religious beliefs.
5. The phrase “defies categorization” in the
passage means:
(1) Challenges classification.
(2) Resists grouping.
(3) Rebels labeling
(4) Disobeys groups
6. The last paragraph of the passage succeeds
mainly in:
(1) Laying down the political ideologies of the
times.
(2) Bringing out the greatness of the future
leaders.
(3) Highlighting the evolution of Gandhian
ideology.
(4) Defining true religion.
Reading - 3
 VARC : Solutions CEX-V-0253/23

Reading - 3
Passage - II Passage - III

1 3 2 2 1 2 2 3 3 5

Poem Test your knowledge

1 4 2 1 3 5 4 2 1 3 2 3 3 2 4 3 5 1 6 3

Passage - I Passage - III

1. The author addresses this point at the beginning and 1. 2 The author mentions this analogy at the end of the
talks about how theory is a term that is variously second paragraph. The author has introduced the idea
understood. He emphasizes the correct way in which of how the Germans consider Ireland to be a glorious
the theory of evolution is to be unders tood as place, and it is a place which is an ideal. Putting up
something scientific. someone’s poster on the wall is idealizing them, and in
a similar way the Germans know that Ireland is the
2. i. The way the word theory is understood needs to perfect antithesis to how they feel about their country.
be qualified. This makes option (2) correct.

ii. Natural selection is an outfall of how fit something
is in the process of procreation.
iii. There is also a positive aspect which is the
addition of genetic diversity through mutation and
reproduction.
iv. It is continuing through the selective environment
that has undergone a change.
v. Cultural evolution italicizes the significance of
biological evolution.
vi. Although this indicates the lack of evolutionary
leaps at an individual level, the importance of
individual in the process cannot be underestimated
either.
Passage - II
1. 3 The author mentions this in the eighth paragraph, where
he talks about how the process of consulting those
around you about their political choice has gone on for
sometime. Further, those who are in the solid arcs are
asking fewer people, since those they ask around
them have the same choice, leading them to believe
that they are doing far more work to find out the same
answer. This makes option (3) correct.
2. 2 The author mentions this in the ninth paragraph where
he mentions the importance of propinquity, which
means “nearness or kinship” in creating social norms.
This is Epstein’s belief. Hence, option (2) is correct.
2. 3 The author mentions this in the third paragraph. This is
a part of his statement where he is trying to indicate
the various ways in which Germans disassociate
themselves from “Germanness”. In a country like USA,
all nationalities have an enclave to meet others from
the home country, but not Germany, because Germans
want to wish away their nationality. This makes option
(3) correct.
3. 5 The author talks about the Holocaust becoming an icon,
and this is one of the major symbols because of which
the Germans feel a sense of negativity towards their
past. They want to wish it away and therefore they
long to be disconnected from this identification. This
makes option (5) correct.
Poem
1. 4 The poem, written in a melancholic note, is all about a
talented artist’s wistfulness for the fact that inspite of
being a superior crafts man his work has never
reached the level of beauty reached by some of his
peers who are less talented than he is. The overall
tone of the poem is therefore one of wistfulness for
desired heights of glory not reached. The following
lines further highlight the wistful tone of the author:
“Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.
There burns a truer light of God in them,
In their vexed beating stuffed and stopped-up brain,
Heart, or whate’er else, than goes on to prompt
This low-pulsed forthright craftsman’s hand of mine.
Their works drop groundward, but themselves, I know,
Reach many a time a heaven that’s shut to me…”

Reading - 3 Page 1
2. 1 Refer to the following lines from the poem:
“Well, less is more, Lucrezia: I am judged.
There burns a truer light of God in them,
In their vexed beating stuffed and stopped-up brain,
Heart, or whate’er else, than goes on to prompt
This low-pulsed forthright craftsman’s hand of mine.
Their works drop groundward, but themselves, I know,
Reach many a time a heaven that’s shut to me…”
Also refer to the following lines:
“Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for? All is silver-grey,
Placid and perfect with my art: the worse!
I know both what I want and what might gain,
And yet how profitless to know, to sigh
”Had I been two, another and myself,
”Our head would have o’erlooked the world!”
These lines clearly indicate that inspite of being a
superior craftsman, the artist has never been able to
rise to the heights of spirituality that leads to great art.
The central theme of the poem therefore is the artist’s
lament for the fact that worldly concerns have
prevented him from imbuing his art with spirituality and
thus fulfilling his promise as an artist.
3. 5 Refer to the following lines:
“Yonder’s a work now, of that famous youth
The Urbinate who died five years ago.
(’Tis copied, George Vasari sent it me.)”
These lines indicate that the work of the Urbinate has
been copied but there is no further information in the
poem about who has copied the work. George Vasari
had only sent the work but we do not know whether
he copied it or not.
4. 2 Refer to the following lines from the poem:
“Had you, with these the same, but brought a mind!
Some women do so. Had the mouth there urged
”God and the glory! never care for gain.
”The present by the future, what is that?
”Live for fame, side by side with Agnolo!
”Rafael is waiting: up to God, all three!”
I might have done it for you.”
These lines clearly indicate that the artist feels that
Lucrezia has not given him the right kind of advice and
support to create great works of art.
Test your knowledge
1. 3 Though the passage is broadly about 'Ways through
which knowledge is discovered', almost 90% of the
passage deals with 'Rhetoric as a way of discovering
knowledge'. Hence option (3) is an apt title for the
Page 2
passage. Option (1) becomes too general for the
pas sage. Option (2) cannot be validated by the
pas sage since the last line says that even the
assumption in rhetoric has been treated only as an
assumption. Option (4) is too specific. The passage
does not deal only with rhetoric and its assumptions.
Rhetoric is being explained as a means to the discovery
of knowledge.
2. 3 The passage consists of either the opinions of the
author or Doug Brent. The author delves deep into the
origins of knowledge and rhetoric through an analysis
of both. Hence option (3) is correct. The author does
not focus on description. He also does not argue or
indulge in arguments/counter-arguments. The author’s
tone is not that of preaching. Hence, didactic is
incorrect.
3. 2 Option (1) is incorrect as the 'duality' expressed by
the initial lines of the passage does not take into account
communal interactions which are central to the
rhetorical mode. Option (3) cannot be validated by the
passage. Yes, 'persuasion' is one of the factors
central to the discovery of knowledge through rhetoric.
But the passage does not see 'persuasion' as an
impeding factor. Option (4) is again far-fetched as the
passage has not spoken about the 'interest' factor.
This is something which needs more discussion in the
passage. Option (2) can be inferred from the last
paragraph and especially the last line of the passage.
The effectiveness of the Rhetor to influence the
audience is based on an assumption. The assumption
has been treated simply as an assumption/ article of
faith. This means that the assumption is open to
question, it is dependent on one's faith and has not
been validated. Hence the 'effectiveness of rhetoric'
is 'suspect'.
4. 3 The passage is mainly concerned with identifying the
creation and the implementation of the Gandhian
ideology. W e would be limiting the scope of the
passage if we say, that it is a mere extolment of
disciplinary ideas. Options (1) & (2) are facets of the
same, option (4) is inc orrect as it is nowhere
mentioned.
5. 1 The first line of the passage sets the theme, that
Gandhi's magic cannot be categorized and defined
because of its inherent sublime quality. Option (2) is
incorrect as there is no resistance and option (3) also
alludes to resistance, which is incorrect. Option (4)
denotes a kind of breaking of rules which is incorrect.
6. 3 The language in the last paragraph is full of admiration
for the way in which Gandhi had succeeded in evolving
an ideology which was based on the simple tenets of
life. All the other options are incorrect, as they cannot
be inferred from this paragraph.
Reading - 3