Data for Questions 1 & 2 : An annually conducted nationwide survey by a leading health research organization, shows a continuing marked decline in the use of illegal drugs like hashish and charas by high school seniors over the last five years
1. In using the results of the survey described above, in order to make conclusions about illegal
drug use in the teenage population as a whole, which of the following, if true, casts most doubt
on the relevance of the survey results?
a) Because of cuts in funding, no survey of illegal drug use by high school seniors will be
conducted next year.
b) Another survey found an increase in the rate of smoking amongst the high school seniors.
c) Illegal drug use by teenagers is highest in those areas of the country where teenagers are
least likely to stay in high school for their senior year.
d) The proportion of high school seniors who say that they strongly disapprove of illegal
drug use has declined over the last three years.
2. Which of the following, if true, would provide most support for concluding from the survey
results described above that the use of illegal drugs by people below the age of 20 is
declining?
a) Another survey found an increase in the rate of smoking amongst the high school seniors.
b) In the past, high school seniors were consistently the population group most likely to use
illegal drugs and most likely to use them heavily.
c) The percentage of high school seniors who use illegal drugs is consistently very similar
to the percentage of all people below the age of 20 who use illegal drugs.
d) Both (b) and (c).
3. The local education authorities in India have recently issued a “prescribed” list of books that
are approved for reading in schools by children aged between 5 and 11.
A furor has arisen among many parents because an authoress by the name of Pooja Mehta,
very popular with children, has been omitted from the said list. When asked to comment on the
omission, the head of the committee that was responsible for preparing the list of books said
that the books of Mrs Pooja Mehta have been omitted because “we thought they are of an
inferior quality and do not sufficiently stimulate the children’s intellectual ability and not
because they contain characters which are stereotypes or may show racial prejudice.”
Which one of the following statements can be inferred from the above paragraph?
a) There was an opinion that Mrs Mehta’s books were omitted because they contained
characters that were stereotypes or showed racial prejudice.
b) The parents’ view is that Mrs Pooja Mehta’s books might have been left off the list
because some of her characters were racist.
c) Mrs Pooja Mehta was popular with children and parents because she included stereotype
characters in her books.
d) None of these.
4. All televisions emit sounds. And all radios emit sounds. Therefore, I conclude that all
televisions are radios.
The argument above is invalid because
a) the writer bases his argument on another argument that contains circular reasoning.
b) the writer has illogically classified two disparate groups together when there is no
relationship between them, except that they both have the same attribute.
c) the writer has made a mistaken analogy between two dissimilar objects.
d) the writer has failed to express his reasoning fully.
5. In elections in a democratic set up, the proper role of the press is to cover only those factors
in the campaign which bear on the eventual outcome. Since the outcome is invariably a victory
for the candidate of one of two major parties, the press should not cover the campaigns of
candidates of minor parties. The argument above relies on which of the following assumption
?
a) It is unlikely that there will be more than three candidates in any given race.
b) Candidates of minor parties will never win elections.
c) The number of votes cast for a candidate of a minor party is not likely to affect the
outcome of the contest between the candidates of the two major parties.
d) Both (b) and (c).
6. The daily journey from his home to his office takes Shyam on an average fifty five minutes by
car. Shyam learns about a different route from a neighbour. This route is longer in distance,
but will only take thirty five minutes on the average, because it contains stretches of roads
where it is possible to drive at higher speeds. Shyam ‘s only consideration apart from the time
factor, is the cost. He calculates that his car will consume 10% less gasoline if he takes the
suggested new route. Shyam decides to take the new route for the next two weeks as an
experiment.
If the above were the only considerations, which one of the following may have an effect on
the decision Shyam has made?
a) Major road work is begun on the shorter distance route, which holds up traffic for an
extra ten minutes. The project will take six months, but after it, the improvements will
allow the journey to be made in half an hour less than at present.
b) Re-routing of heavy vehicular traffic from the shorter route to a new route, is expected to
reduce the amount of traffic to one third of the current levels
c) Shyam finds a third route which is slightly longer than his old route, but shorter than the
suggested route.
d) Both (a) and (b).
7. The cost of housing in many urban parts of India has become so excessive that many young
couples, with above-average salaries, can only afford small apartments. EMI and rent
commitments are so huge that they cannot consider the possibility of starting a family since a
new baby would probably mean either the mother or father giving up a well-paid position—
something they can ill afford. The lack of or great cost of child-care facilities further
precludes the return of both parents to work.
Which of the following adjustments could practically be made to the situation described
above which would allow young couples to improve their housing prospects?
a) Encourage couples to remain childless.
b) Encourage couples to have one child only.
c) Encourage young couples to move to cheaper areas for living.
d) None of these is likely to have an impact on the current situation.
8. By the early 1990s, the services sector contributed approximately 20 percent of India’s GDP.
Still, no coherent system of rules, principles, and procedures exist to govern the service
sector.
Which of the following best summarises the argument?
a) Regulatory systems lag behind reality.
b) A regulatory system ought to reflect the importance of the service sector.
c) India’s GDP was five times its service sector.
d) None of these.
9. In 1980, Uttam Pradesh earned Rs. 17 million in tourist revenue. By 1990, tourist revenue
doubled and in 2000, it reached the sum of Rs. 132 million.
Each of the following, if true, may explain the trend in tourist revenue except:
a) The number of tourists has increased from 1940 to 1980.
b) Average expenditure per tourist has increased.
c) Average stay per tourist has increased.
d) The number of total hotel rooms has increased.
10. Following the massive earthquake in Gujarat, building rules in Gujarat required all apartment
buildings constructed after 2002 to have earthquake resistant designs.
From which of the following can the statement above be inferred?
a) Apartment buildings built after 2002 had to be earthquake resistant.
b) All apartment buildings built in Gujarat after 2002 have to have earthquake resistant
designs.
c) Some apartment buildings constructed before 2002 had earthquake resistant designs.
d) Both (a) and (b).
11. In 1980, the average per capita telephone consumption in India was one telephone per
hundred people. By 2005, the figure became one telephone per 8 people.
Each of the following, if true, could explain this trend except:
a) The cost of owning telephones has gone down to one fifth of its earlier values.
b) There has been a privatisation of the telecom sector in the 1990s.
c) Getting a telephone connection has been simplified, and waiting lines have been
eliminated.
d) There has been an increase in affluence and disposable income amongst the country’s
vast middle class.