The real root of the equation 26x + 23x+2 - 21 = 0 is

• log2 33
• log2 9
• log2 73
• log2 27

The average of 30 integers is 5. Among these 30 integers, there are exactly 20 which do not exceed 5. What is the highest possible value of the average of these 20 integers?

• 4
• 5
• 4.5
• 3.5

Let a, b, x, y be real numbers such that a² + b² = 25, x² + y² = 169 and ax + by = 65. If k = ay - bx, then

• k = 0
• k > 513
• k = 513
• 0 < k ≤ 513

In a triangle ABC, medians AD and BE are perpendicular to each other, and have lengths 12 cm and 9 cm, respectively. Then, the area of triangle ABC, in sq cm, is

• 80
• 68
• 72
• 78

Let a1, a2 be integers such that a1 - a2 + a3 - a4 + ... +(-1)n-1 an = n, for n ≥ 1. Then a51 + a52 + ... + a1023 equals

• -1
• 1
• 0
• 10

How many factors of 24 × 35 × 104 are perfect squares which are greater than 1? [TITA]

Two circles, each of radius 4 cm, touch externally. Each of these two circles is touched externally by a third circle. If these three circles have a common tangent, then the radius of the third circle, in cm, is

• π/3
• 1
• 12√
• 2–√

What is the largest positive integer such that n²+7n+12 / n²−n−12 is also positive integer?

• 6
• 8
• 16
• 12

In 2010, a library contained a total of 11500 books in two categories - fiction and non-fiction. In 2015, the library contained a total of 12760 books in these two categories. During this period, there was 10% increase in the fiction category while there was 12% increase in the non-fiction category. How many fiction books were in the library in 2015?

• 6600
• 6160
• 6000
• 5500

Let f be a function such that f (mn) = f (m) f (n) for every positive integers m and n. If f (1), f (2) and f (3) are positive integers, f (1) < f (2), and f (24)=54, then f (18) equals [TITA]

Let A and B be two regular polygons having a and b sides, respectively. If b = 2a and each interior angle of B is 3/2 times each interior angle of A, then each interior angle, in degrees, of a regular polygon with a + b sides is [TITA]

A cyclist leaves A at 10 am and reaches B at 11 am. Starting from 10:01 am, every minute a motorcycle leaves A and moves towards B. Forty-five such motorcycles reach B by 11 am. All motorcycles have the same speed. If the cyclist had doubled his speed, how many motorcycles would have reached B by the time the cyclist reached B?

• 22
• 20
• 15
• 23

Let A be a real number. Then the roots of the equation x² - 4x - log2 A = 0 are real and distinct if and only if

• A < 116
• A > 18
• A > 116
• A < 18

John jogs on track A at 6 kmph and Mary jogs on track B at 7.5 kmph. The total length of tracks A and B is 325 metres. While John makes 9 rounds of track A, Mary makes 5 rounds of track B. In how many seconds will Mary make one round of track A? [TITA]

Anil alone can do a job in 20 days while Sunil alone can do it in 40 days. Anil starts the job, and after 3 days, Sunil joins him. Again, after a few more days, Bimal joins them and they together finish the job. If Bimal has done 10% of the job, then in how many days was the job done?

• 13
• 12
• 15
• 14

In an examination, Rama's score was one-twelfth of the sum of the scores of Mohan and Anjali. After a review, the score of each of them increased by 6. The revised scores of Anjali, Mohan, and Rama were in the ratio 11:10:3. Then Anjali's score exceeded Rama's score by

• 26
• 32
• 24
• 35

In an examination, the score of A was 10% less than that of B, the score of B was 25% more than that of C, and the score of C was 20% less than that of D. If A scored 72, then the score of D was [TITA]

The base of a regular pyramid is a square and each of the other four sides is an equilateral triangle, length of each side being 20 cm. The vertical height of the pyramid, in cm, is

• 10√2
• 8√3
• 12
• 5√5

If x is a real number, then √(4x - x²)/3 is a real number if and only if

• -3 ≤ x ≤ 3
• 1 ≤ x ≤ 2
• 1 ≤ x ≤ 3
• -1 ≤ x ≤ 3

Let ABC be a right-angled triangle with hypotenuse BC of length 20 cm. If AP is perpendicular on BC, then the maximum possible length of AP, in cm, is

• 10
• 8√2
• 6√2
• 5

Two ants A and B start from a point P on a circle at the same time, with A moving clockwise and B moving anti-clockwise. They meet for the first time at 10:00 am when A has covered 60% of the track. If A returns to P at 10:12 am, then B returns to P at

• 10:27 am
• 10:25 am
• 10:45 am
• 10:18 am

How many pairs (m,n) of positive integers satisfy the equation m² + 105 = n²? [TITA]

The salaries of Ramesh, Ganesh and Rajesh were in the ratio 6:5:7 in 2010, and in the ratio 3:4:3 in 2015. If Ramesh's salary increased by 25% during 2010-2015, then the percentage increase in Rajesh's salary during this period is closest to

• 7
• 8
• 9
• 10

A man makes complete use of 405 cc of iron, 783 cc of aluminium, and 351 cc of copper to make a number of solid right circular cylinders of each type of metal. These cylinders have the same volume and each of these has radius 3 cm. If the total number of cylinders is to be kept at a minimum, then the total surface area of all these cylinders, in sq cm, is

• 1044(4 + π)
• 8464π
• 928π
• 1026(1 + π)

The quadratic equation x² + bx + c = 0 has two roots 4a and 3a, where a is an integer. Which of the following is a possible value of b² + c?

• 3721
• 549
• 361
• 427

In a six-digit number, the sixth, that is, the rightmost, digit is the sum of the first three digits, the fifth digit is the sum of first two digits, the third digit is equal to the first digit, the second digit is twice the first digit and the fourth digit is the sum of fifth and sixth digits. Then, the largest possible value of the fourth digit is [TITA]

Mukesh purchased 10 bicycles in 2017, all at the same price. He sold six of these at a profit of 25% and the remaining four at a loss of 25%. If he made a total profit of Rs. 2000, then his purchase price of a bicycle, in Rupees, was

• 2000
• 6000
• 8000
• 4000

The number of common terms in the two sequences: 15, 19, 23, 27, ...... , 415 and 14, 19, 24, 29, ...... , 464 is

• 20
• 18
• 21
• 19

If (2n+1) + (2n+3) + (2n+5) + ... + (2n+47) = 5280, then what is the value of 1+2+3+ ... +n ? [TITA]

The strength of a salt solution is p% if 100 ml of the solution contains p grams of salt. Each of three vessels A, B, C contains 500 ml of salt solution of strengths 10%, 22%, and 32%, respectively. Now, 100 ml of the solution in vessel A is transferred to vessel B. Then, 100 ml of the solution in vessel B is transferred to vessel C. Finally, 100 ml of the solution in vessel C is transferred to vessel A. The strength, in percentage, of the resulting solution in vessel A is

• 15
• 12
• 13
• 14

If 5x - 3y = 13438 and 5x-1 + 3y+1 = 9686, then x + y equals [TITA]

Amal invests Rs 12000 at 8% interest, compounded annually, and Rs 10000 at 6% interest, compounded semi-annually, both investments being for one year. Bimal invests his money at 7.5% simple interest for one year. If Amal and Bimal get the same amount of interest, then the amount, in Rupees, invested by Bimal is [TITA]

A shopkeeper sells two tables, each procured at cost price p, to Amal and Asim at a profit of 20% and at a loss of 20%, respectively. Amal sells his table to Bimal at a profit of 30%, while Asim sells his table to Barun at a loss of 30%. If the amounts paid by Bimal and Barun are x and y, respectively, then (x - y) / p equals

• 1
• 1.2
• 0.7
• 0.50

John gets Rs 57 per hour of regular work and Rs 114 per hour of overtime work. He works altogether 172 hours and his income from overtime hours is 15% of his income from regular hours. Then, for how many hours did he work overtime? [TITA]

Q1. What is the minimum possible number of different types of prizes? (TITA)

Q2. What is the maximum possible number of different types of prizes? (TITA)

Q3. Which of the following is not possible?

• There are exactly 30 items of type b.
• There are exactly 75 items of type e.
• There are exactly 60 items of type d.
• There are exactly 45 items of type c.

Q4. You ask for the type of item in box 45. Instead of being given a direct answer, you are told that there are 31 items of the same type as box 45 in boxes 1 to 44 and 43 items of the same type as box 45 in boxes 46 to 100. What is the maximum possible number of different types of items?

• 5
• 6
• 3
• 4

Q1. Who is standing at intersection a?

• W
• Y
• No one
• V

Q2. Who can V see?

• U, W and Z only
• U and Z only
• Z only
• U only

Q3. What is the minimum number of street segments that X must cross to reach Y?

• 3
• 2
• 1
• 4

Q4. Should a new person stand at intersection d, who among the six would she see?

• V and X only
• U and Z only
• U and W only
• W and X only

Q1. What is the rank of Kerala in the ‘IPC crimes’ category? (TITA)

Q2. In the two states where the highest total number of cases are registered, the ratio of the total number of cases in IPC crimes to the total number in SLL crimes is closest to

• 19 : 20
• 11 : 10
• 1 : 9
• 3 : 2

Q3. Which of the following is DEFINITELY true about the ranks of states/UT in the ‘other crimes’ category?

i) Tamil Nadu: 2
ii) Puducherry: 3

• only ii)
• both i) and ii)
• only i)
• neither i), nor ii)

Q4. What is the sum of the ranks of Delhi in the three categories of crimes? (TITA)

Q1. On which aspect is the median score of the five vendors the least?

• Cost
• Quality
• Reliability
• Customer Service

Q2. A vendor's final score is the average of their scores on all six aspects. Which vendor has the highest final score?

• Vendor 1
• Vendor 3
• Vendor 4
• Vendor 2

Q3. List of all the vendors who are among the top two scorers on the maximum number of aspects is:

• Vendor 1 and Vendor 2
• Vendor 2, Vendor 3 and Vendor 4
• Vendor 2 and Vendor 5
• Vendor 1 and Vendor 5

Q4. List of all the vendors who are among the top three vendors on all six aspects is:

• None of the Vendors
• Vendor 1
• Vendor 1 and Vendor 3
• Vendor 3

Q1. In how many different ways can the items be arranged on the shelves?

• 2
• 1
• 4
• 8

Q2. Which of the following items is not a type of biscuit?

• B
• A
• L
• G

Q3. Which of the following can represent the numbers of the empty shelves in a possible arrangement?

• 1,7,11,12
• 1,5,6,12
• 1,2,6,12
• 1,2,8,12

Q4. Which of the following statements is necessarily true?

• There are two empty shelves between the biscuits and the candies.
• All candies are kept before biscuits.
• All biscuits are kept before candies
• There are at least four shelves between items B and C.

Q1. What was the highest total score?

• 23
• 24
• 25
• 21

Q2. What was Zeneca's total score?

• 21
• 22
• 23
• 24

Q3. Which of the following statements is true?

• Zeneca’s score was 23.
• Zeneca was the highest scorer
• Xyla was the highest scorer.
• Xyla’s score was 23

Q4. What was Tanzi's score in Round 3?

• 1
• 5
• 3
• 4

Q1. Which digit does the letter A represent? (TITA)

Q2. Which digit does the letter B represent? (TITA)

Q3. Which among the digits 3, 4, 6 and 7 cannot be represented by the letter D? (TITA)

Q4. Which among the digits 4, 6, 7 and 8 cannot be represented by the letter G? (TITA)

Q1. Which of the following is true?

• The third performance was composed by Ashman.
• The second performance was composed by Dyu.
• The second performance was composed by Gagan.
• The third performance was composed by Dyu.

Q2. Which of the following is FALSE?

• Queen did not perform in any item composed by Gagan.
• Rani did not perform in any item composed by Badal.
• Samragni did not perform in any item composed by Ashman.
• Princess did not perform in any item composed by Dyu.

Q3. The sixth performance was composed by:

• Gagan
• Ashman
• Badal
• Dyu

Q4. Which pair of performances were composed by the same composer?

• The third and the seventh
• The first and the seventh
• The first and the sixth
• The second and the sixth

Q1. Who among the following is NOT a member of Team 2?

• Sally
• Paula
• Quentin
• Terence

Q2. Who among the four is part of exactly two teams?

• Sally
• Quentin
• Robert
• Paula

Q3. Who among the five is a member of all teams?

• No one
• Terence
• Sally
• Paula

Q4. Apart from Chinese & English, which languages are spoken by Team 1?

• Basque & French
• Arabic & French
• Basque & Dutch
• Arabic & Basque

Q1.If a ‘Heavy Monsoon State’ is defined as a state with actual rainfall from June-August, 2019 of 900 mm or more, then approximately what percentage of ‘Heavy Monsoon States’ have a negative deviation from respective LPAs in 2019?

• 75.00
• 57.14
• 42.86
• 14.29

Q2. If a ‘Low Monsoon State’ is defined as a state with actual rainfall from June-August, 2019 of 750 mm or less, then what is the median ‘deviation from LPA’ (as defined in the Y-axis of the figure) of ‘Low Monsoon States’?

• -30%
• 10%
• -20%
• -10%

Q3. What is the average rainfall of all states that have actual rainfall of 600 mm or less in 2019 and have a negative deviation from LPA?

• 450 mm
• 367 mm
• 460 mm
• 500 mm

Q4. The LPA of a state for a year is defined as the average rainfall in the preceding 10 years considering the period of June-August. For example, LPA in 2018 is the average rainfall during 2009-2018 and LPA in 2019 is the average rainfall during 2010-2019. It is also observed that the actual rainfall in Gujarat in 2019 is 20% more than the rainfall in 2009. The LPA of Gujarat in 2019 is closest to

• 475 mm
• 490 mm
• 505 mm
• 525 mm

Q1. Among students who supported proposal A, what percentage preferred Sunita? [TITA]

Q2. What percentage of the students surveyed who did not support proposal A preferred Ragini as student union president? [TITA]

Q3. What percentage of the students surveyed who supported both proposals A and B preferred Sunita as student union president?

• 25
• 50
• 40
• 20

Q4. How many of the students surveyed supported proposal B, did not support proposal A and preferred Ragini as student union president?

• 40
• 210
• 200
• 150

Q1. Maximum number of patients the clinic can cater on a single day?

• 15
• 30
• 31
• 12

Q2. The queue is never empty on one particular Saturday. Which of the three doctors would earn the maximum amount in consultation charges on that day?

• Dr. Kane
• Dr. Wayne
• Dr. Ben
• Both Dr. Wayne and Dr. Kane

Q3. Mr. Singh visited the clinic on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of a particular week, arriving at 8:50 a.m. on each of the three days. His token number was 13 on all three days. On which day was he at the clinic for the maximum duration?

• Friday
• Wednesday
• Same duration all days
• Monday

Q4. On a slow Thursday, only two patients are waiting at 9 a.m. After that two patients keep arriving at exact 15 minute intervals starting at 9:15 a.m. -- i.e. at 9:15 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 9:45 a.m. etc. Then the total duration in minutes when all three doctors are simultaneously free is

• 30
• 10
• 15
• 0

Q1. Total amount in three pouches in first column of second row? [TITA]

Q2. How many pouches contain exactly one coin? [TITA]

Q3. Number of slots for which the average amount of three pouches is an integer? [TITA]

Q4. Number of slots for which total in three pouches strictly exceeds Rs. 10? [TITA]

Q1. The second question in ET was prepared by:

• Eshan
• Chetan
• Dave
• Beti

Q2. How many 5-mark questions were there in MT and ET combined?

• Cannot be determined
• 12
• 10
• 13

Q3. Who prepared 15-mark questions for MT and ET?

• Only Dave, Esha, Fakir
• Only Beti, Dave, Esha, Fakir
• Only Esha and Fakir
• Only Dave and Fakir

Q4. Which question did Beti prepare in ET?

• Ninth question
• Tenth question
• Fourth question
• Seventh question

Q1. Scores of Chen, David, and Eric after Round 3?

• 3, 0, 3
• 3, 3, 0
• 3, 3, 3
• 3, 6, 3

Q2. Which three players were in the last three positions after Round 4?

• Hansa, Ikea, Joshin
• Bala, Chen, Gordon
• Bala, Ikea, Joshin
• Bala, Hansa, Ikea

Q3. Which player scored points in the maximum number of rounds?

• Joshin
• Chen
• Ikea
• Amita

Q4. Which players scored points in the last round?

• Amita, Bala, Chen
• Amita, Chen, David
• Amita, Eric, Joshin
• Amita, Chen, Eric

Q1. Percentage profit of the store in 2018? [TITA]

Q2. Ratio of revenue from Produce department in 2017 to 2018?

• 8:5
• 16:9
• 4:3
• 9:16

Q3. Percentage of total profits in 2016 from Electronics department? [TITA]

Q4. Approximate difference in profit percentages of store between 2017 and 2018?

• 8.3
• 33.3
• 25.0
• 15.5

All of the following serve as evidence for the character of Aladdin being based on Hanna Diyab EXCEPT:

• Diyab’s cosmopolitanism and cross-cultural experience.
• Diyab’s humble origins and class struggles, as recounted in his travelogue.
• Diyab’s description of the wealth of Versailles in his travelogue.
• Diyab’s narration of the original story to Galland.

The author of the passage is most likely to agree with which explanation for the origins of the story of Aladdin?

• Galland derived the story from Diyab’s travelogue about Versailles.
• The story originates in an undiscovered medieval Arabic manuscript.
• Basing it on his own life, Diyab transmitted the story to Galland for Arabian Nights.
• Galland found the story in a medieval manuscript from Diyab.

Which of the following, if true, would invalidate the inversion that the phrase “flips the script” refers to?

• Diyab’s travelogue described the affluence of Bordeaux, instead of Versailles.
• The French fairy tales of the eighteenth century did not have rags-to-riches plot lines like Aladdin.
• The description of opulence in Diyab’s and Galland’s narratives bore no resemblance.
• Galland acknowledged in his published translations that he heard the story from Diyab.

Which of the following is the primary reason storytellers are still fascinated by the story of Aladdin?

• The traveller's experience that inspired the tale resonates even today.
• The tale documents the history of Europe and Middle East.
• The archetype of the rags-to-riches story makes it popular.
• The story is evidence of eighteenth century French Orientalist ideas.

Which of the following does not contribute to the passage’s claim about the authorship of Aladdin?

• The narrative sensibility of Diyab’s travelogue.
• The depiction of Versailles’ affluence in Diyab’s travelogue.
• Galland’s acknowledgment of Diyab in his diary.
• The story-line of many French fairy tales of the 18th century.

Which hypothetical statement would add the least depth to the author’s prediction about start-ups offering few product options?

• An exponential surge in sales enables start-ups to meet profit goals without expanding their catalogue.
• The government doubles taxes for these start-ups to favor rivals.
• Expanding product ranges causes loss of customer trust.
• Start-ups with few options are no exception to a deeply divided consumer market.

Which one best sums up the purpose of the examples of Casper and Glossier?

• They are increasing the purchasing power of poor Americans.
• They are exceptions to a dominant trend in consumer markets.
• They are facilitating a uniform distribution of commodities.
• They might transform into what they were exceptions to.

A new food brand plans to launch a series of products in the American market. Which plan is most likely supported by the author?

• A range of 10 products priced between $5 and $10.
• A range of 25 products priced between $10 and $25.
• A range of 25 products priced between $5 and $10.
• A range of 10 products priced between $10 and $25.

All of the following, IF TRUE, would weaken the author’s claims EXCEPT:

• Product options increased competition, lowering commodity prices and increasing purchasing power of the poor.
• The annual sales growth of companies with fewer options were higher than curated companies.
• Companies hiring lifestyle influencers had 40% lower sales than those who did not.
• Purchaser empowerment is directly proportional to the number of options they can choose from.

Based on the passage, all of the following can be inferred about consumer behaviour EXCEPT:

• Too many options have made it difficult for consumers to trust products.
• Consumers are susceptible to marketing images on social media.
• Having too many product options can be overwhelming.
• Consumers tend to prefer products by start-ups over established companies.

In the last sentence of paragraph 3, “slightly warmer air” and “at a slightly colder temperature” refer to ______ AND ______ respectively:

• the air inside penguins’ bodies kept warm because of metabolism of food AND the fall in temperature of the body air after it transfers some heat to the plumage.
• the cold Antarctic air which becomes warmer because of the heat radiated out from penguins’ bodies AND the fall in temperature of the surrounding air after thermal convection.
• the air trapped in the plumage which is warmer than the Antarctic air AND the fall in temperature of the trapped plumage air after it radiates out some heat.
• the cold Antarctic air whose temperature is higher than that of the plumage AND the fall in temperature of the Antarctic air after it has transmitted some heat to the plumage.

Which of the following best explains the purpose of the word “paradoxically” as used by the author?

• Keeping their body colder helps penguins keep their plumage warmer.
• Keeping a part of their body colder helps penguins keep their bodies warmer.
• Heat gain through radiation happens despite the heat loss through convection.
• Heat loss through radiation happens despite the heat gain through convection.

All of the following, if true, would negate the findings of the study EXCEPT:

• the penguins’ plumage were made of a material that did not allow any heat transfer through convection or radiation.
• the average air temperature recorded during June 2008 was –10°F.
• the temperature of the plumage on penguins’ heads, chests, and backs were 1.84, 7.24, and 9.76°F respectively.
• the average temperature of the feet of penguins in June 2008 were 2.76°F.

Which of the following can be responsible for Emperor Penguins losing body heat?

• Food metabolism
• Reproduction process
• Plumage
• Thermal convection

The author says that folk “may often appear a cosy, fossilised form” because:

• of its nostalgic association with a pre-industrial past.
• it has been arrogated for various political and cultural purposes.
• folk is a sonic “shabby chic” with an antique veneer.
• the notion of folk has led to several debates and disagreements.

All of the following are causes for plurality and diversity within the British folk tradition EXCEPT:

• the fluidity of folk forms owing to their history of oral mode of transmission.
• paradoxically, folk forms are both popular and unpopular.
• that British folk forms can be traced to the remote past of the country.
• that British folk continues to have traces of pagan influence from the dark ages.

At a conference on folk forms, the author is least likely to agree with which view?

• The power of folk resides in its contradictory ability to influence and be influenced by the present while remaining rooted in the past.
• Folk forms, despite their archaic origins, remain intellectually relevant in contemporary times.
• Folk forms, in their ability to constantly adapt, exhibit unusual poise and homogeneity with each change.
• The plurality and democratising impulse of folk forms emanate from the improvisation that practitioners bring to it.

The primary purpose of the reference to William Morris and his floral prints is to show:

• the pervasive influence of folk on contemporary art, culture, and fashion.
• that what is once regarded as radical in folk, can later be seen as conformist.
• that what was once derided as genteel is now considered revolutionary.
• that despite its archaic origins, folk continues to remain a popular tradition.

Which of the following statements about folk revivalism of the 1940s and 1960s cannot be inferred?

• Freedom and rebellion were popular themes during the second wave of folk revivalism.
• Electrification of music would not have happened without the influence of rock music.
• Even though it led to folk-rock’s golden age, it wasn’t entirely free from critique.
• It reinforced Cecil Sharp’s observation about folk’s constant transformation.

The word “topophobia” in the passage is used:

• to represent a feeling of dread towards particular spaces and places.
• as a metaphor expressing the failure of the homeland to accommodate non-citizens.
• to signify the fear of studying the complex discipline of topography.
• to signify feelings of fear or anxiety towards topophilic people.

In the last paragraph, the author uses the example of “Residents of upscale residential developments” to illustrate the:

• introduction of nationalist projects by such elites to produce a sense of dread or topophobia.
• manner in which environments are designed to minimise the social exclusion of their clientele.
• sensitive response to race and class problems in upscale residential developments.
• social exclusivism practised by such residents in order to enforce a sense of racial or class superiority.

Which one of the following best captures the meaning of the statement, “Topophilia is difficult to design for and impossible to quantify . . .”?

• Philosopher-architects are uniquely suited to develop topophilic design.
• People’s responses to their environment are usually subjective and so cannot be rendered in design.
• Architects have to objectively quantify spaces and hence cannot be topophilic.
• The deep anomie of modern urbanisation led to new urbanism’s intricate sense of place.

Which one of the following comes closest in meaning to the author’s understanding of topophilia?

• The French are not overly patriotic, but they will refuse to use English as far as possible, even when they know it well.
• The tendency of many cultures to represent their land as “motherland” or “fatherland” may be seen as an expression of their topophilia.
• Scientists have found that most creatures, including humans, are either born with or cultivate a strong sense of topography.
• Nomadic societies are known to have the least affinity for the lands through which they traverse because they tend to be topophobic.

Which of the following statements, if true, could be seen as not contradicting the arguments in the passage?

• Generally speaking, in a given culture, the ties of the people to their environment vary little in significance or intensity.
• Patriotism, usually seen as a positive feeling, is presented by the author as a darker form of topophilia.
• New Urbanism succeeded in those designs where architects collaborated with their clients.
• The most important, even fundamental, response to our environment is our tactile and olfactory response.

• 1. People with dyslexia have difficulty with print-reading, and people with autism spectrum disorder have difficulty with mind-reading.
• 2. An example of a lost cognitive instinct is mind-reading: our capacity to think of ourselves and others as having beliefs, desires, thoughts and feelings.
• 3. Mind-reading looks increasingly like literacy, a skill we know for sure is not in our genes, since scripts have been around for only 5,000-6,000 years.
• 4. Print-reading, like mind-reading varies across cultures, depends heavily on certain parts of the brain, and is subject to developmental disorders.

• 1. If you’ve seen a little line of text on websites that says something like "customers who bought this also enjoyed that” you have experienced this collaborative filtering firsthand.
• 2. The problem with these algorithms is that they don’t take into account a host of nuances and circumstances that might interfere with their accuracy.
• 3. If you just bought a gardening book for your cousin, you might get a flurry of links to books about gardening, recommended just for you! – the algorithm has no way of knowing you hate gardening and only bought the book as a gift.
• 4. Collaborative filtering is a mathematical algorithm by which correlations and cooccurrences of behaviors are tracked and then used to make recommendations.

• 1. We’ll all live under mob rule until then, which doesn’t help anyone.
• 2. Perhaps we need to learn to condense the feedback we receive online so that 100 replies carry the same weight as just one.
• 3. As we grow more comfortable with social media conversations being part of the way we interact every day, we are going to have to learn how to deal with legitimate criticism.
• 4. A new norm will arise where it is considered unacceptable to reply with the same point that dozens of others have already.

• 1. Metaphors may map to similar meanings across languages, but their subtle differences can have a profound effect on our understanding of the world.
• 2. Latin scholars point out carpe diem is a horticultural metaphor that, particularly seen in the context of its source, is more accurately translated as “plucking the day,” evoking the plucking and gathering of ripening fruits or flowers, enjoying a moment that is rooted in the sensory experience of nature, unrelated to the force implied in seizing.
• 3. The phrase carpe diem, which is often translated as “seize the day and its accompanying philosophy, has gone on to inspire countless people in how they live their lives and motivates us to see the world a little differently from the norm.
• 4. It’s an example of one of the more telling ways that we mistranslate metaphors from one language to another, revealing in the process our hidden assumptions about what we really value.

Vance Packard’s The Hidden Persuaders alerted the public to the psychoanalytical techniques used by the advertising industry. Its premise was that advertising agencies were using depth interviews to identify hidden consumer motivations, which were then used to entice consumers to buy goods. Critics and reporters often wrongly assumed that Packard was writing mainly about subliminal advertising. Packard never mentioned the word subliminal, however, and devoted very little space to discussions of “subthreshold” effects. Instead, his views largely aligned with the notion that individuals do not always have access to their conscious thoughts and can be persuaded by supraliminal messages without their knowledge.

• Packard argued that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ understands the hidden motivations of consumers and works at the subliminal level, on the subconscious level of the awareness of the people targeted.
• Packard held that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ understands the hidden motivations of consumers and works at the supraliminal level, though the people targeted have no awareness of being persuaded.
• Packard held that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ builds on peoples’ conscious thoughts and awareness, by understanding the hidden motivations of consumers and works at the subliminal level.
• Packard argued that advertising as a ‘hidden persuasion’ works at the supraliminal level, wherein the people targeted are aware of being persuaded, after understanding the hidden motivations of consumers and works.

A distinguishing feature of language is our ability to refer to absent things, known as displaced reference. A speaker can bring distant referents to mind in the absence of any obvious stimuli. Thoughts, not limited to the here and now, can pop into our heads for unfathomable reasons. This ability to think about distant things necessarily precedes the ability to talk about them. Thought precedes meaningful referential communication. A prerequisite for the emergence of human-like meaningful symbols is that the mental categories they relate to can be invoked even in the absence of immediate stimuli.

• Thoughts precede all speech acts and these thoughts pop up in our heads even in the absence of any stimulus.
• The ability to think about objects not present in our environment precedes the development of human communication.
• Thoughts are essential to communication and only humans have the ability to think about objects not present in their surroundings.
• Displaced reference is particular to humans and thoughts pop into our heads for no real reason.

Physics is a pure science that seeks to understand the behavior of matter without regard to whether it will afford any practical benefit. Engineering is the correlative applied science in which physical theories are put to some specific use, such as building a bridge or a nuclear reactor. Engineers obviously rely heavily on the discoveries of physicists, but an engineer's knowledge of the world is not the same as the physicist's knowledge. In fact, an engineer's know-how will often depend on physical theories that, from the point of view of pure physics, are false. There are some reasons for this. First, theories that are false in the purest and strictest sense are still sometimes very good approximations to the true ones, and often have the added virtue of being much easier to work with. Second, sometimes the true theories apply only under highly idealized conditions which can only be created under controlled experimental situations. The engineer finds that in the real world, theories rejected by physicists yield more accurate predictions than the ones that they accept.

• The unique task of the engineer is to identify, understand, and interpret the design constraints to produce a successful result.
• The relationship between pure and applied science is strictly linear, with the pure science directing applied science, and never the other way round.
• Though engineering draws heavily from pure science, it contributes to knowledge, by incorporating the constraints and conditions in the real world.
• Engineering and physics fundamentally differ on matters like building a bridge or a nuclear reactor.

• 1. His idea to use sign language was not a completely new idea as Native Americans used hand gestures to communicate with other tribes.
• 2. Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, for example, observed that men who are deaf are incapable of speech.
• 3. People who were born deaf were denied the right to sign a will as they were “presumed to understand nothing; because it is not possible that they have been able to learn to read or write.”
• 4. Pushback against this prejudice began in the 16th century when Pedro Ponce de León created a formal sign language for the hearing impaired.
• 5. For millennia, people with hearing impairments encountered marginalization because it was believed that language could only be learned by hearing the spoken word.

• 1. One argument is that actors that do not fit within a single, well-defined category may suffer an “illegitimacy discount”.
• 2. Others believe that complex identities confuse audiences about an organization’s role or purpose.
• 3. Some organizations have complex and multidimensional identities that span or combine categories, while other organizations possess narrow identities.
• 4. Identity is one of the most important features of organizations, but there exist opposing views among sociologists about how identity affects organizational performance.
• 5. Those who think that complex identities are beneficial point to the strategic advantages of ambiguity, and organizations’ potential to differentiate themselves from competitors.

• 1. ‘Stat’ signaled something measurable, while ‘matic’ advertised free labour; but ‘tron’, above all, indicated control.
• 2. It was a totem of high modernism, the intellectual and cultural mode that decreed no process or phenomenon was too complex to be grasped, managed and optimized.
• 3. Like the heraldic shields of ancient knights, these morphemes were painted onto the names of scientific technologies to proclaim one’s history and achievements to friends and enemies alike.
• 4. The historian Robert Proctor at Stanford University calls the suffix ‘-tron’, along with ‘-matic’ and ‘-stat’, embodied symbols.
• 5. To gain the suffix was to acquire a proud and optimistic emblem of the electronic and atomic age.

According to the passage, colonial powers located their capitals:

• 1. to showcase their power and prestige.
• 2. where they had the densest populations.
• 3. based on political expediency.
• 4. to promote their trading interests.

The “dilemma” mentioned in the passage refers to:

• 1. keeping government agencies in the largest city with good infrastructure or moving them to a remote area with few amenities.
• 2. concentrating on decongesting large cities or focusing on boosting employment in relatively larger cities.
• 3. encouraging private enterprises to relocate to smaller towns or not incentivising them in order to keep government costs in those towns low.
• 4. relocating government agencies to boost growth in remote areas with poor amenities or to relatively larger cities with good amenities.

People who support decentralising central government functions are LEAST likely to cite which of the following reasons for their view?

• 1. More independence could be enjoyed by regulatory bodies located away from political centres.
• 2. Policy makers may benefit from fresh thinking in a new environment.
• 3. It reduces expenses as infrastructure costs and salaries are lower in smaller cities.
• 4. It could weaken the nexus between bureaucrats and media in the capital.

The “long pedigree” of the aim to shift civil servants to improve their living standards implies that this move:

• 1. is not a new idea and has been tried in the past.
• 2. has become common practice in several countries worldwide.
• 3. is supported by politicians and the ruling elites.
• 4. takes a long time to achieve its intended outcomes.

According to the author, relocating government agencies has not always been a success for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

• 1. a rise in pollution levels and congestion in the new locations.
• 2. the difficulty of attracting talented, well-skilled people in more remote areas.
• 3. increased avenues of corruption away from the capital city.
• 4. high staff losses, as people may not be prepared to move to smaller towns.

Based on his views mentioned in the passage, one could best characterise Dr. Watrall as being:

• 1. opposed to the use of digital technology in archaeological and cultural sites in developing countries.
• 2. dismissive of laypeople’s access to specialist images of archaeological and cultural sites.
• 3. uneasy about the marketing of archaeological images for commercial use by firms such as Google and CyArk.
• 4. critical about the links between a non-profit and a commercial tech platform for distributing archaeological images.

By “digital colonialism”, critics of the CyArk–Google project are referring to the fact that:

• 1. CyArk and Google have been scanning images without copyright permission from host countries.
• 2. the scanning process can damage delicate frescos and statues at the sites.
• 3. countries where the scanned sites are located do not own the scan copyrights.
• 4. CyArk and Google have not shared the details of digitisation with the host countries.

Which of the following, if true, would most strongly invalidate Dr. Watrall’s objections?

• 1. Google takes down advertisements on its website hosting CyArk’s scanned images.
• 2. There is a ban on CyArk scanning archeological sites located in other countries.
• 3. CyArk does not own the copyright on scanned images of archaeological sites.
• 4. CyArk uploads its scanned images of archaeological sites onto museum websites only.

In Dr. Thompson’s view, CyArk owning the copyright of its digital scans of archaeological sites is akin to:

• 1. tourists uploading photos of monuments onto social media.
• 2. the seizing of ancient Egyptian artefacts by a Western museum.
• 3. the illegal downloading of content from the internet.
• 4. digital platforms capturing users’ data for market research.

Of the following arguments, which one is LEAST likely to be used by the companies that digitally scan cultural sites?

• 1. It enables people who cannot physically visit these sites to experience them.
• 2. It helps preserve precious images in case the sites are damaged or destroyed.
• 3. It allows a large corporation to project itself as a protector of culture.
• 4. It provides images free of cost to all users.

Which one of the following statements would undermine the author’s stand regarding the greenness of cities?

• 1. The compactness of big cities in the West increases the incidence of violent crime.
• 2. Sorting through rubbish contributes to the rapid spread of diseases in the slums.
• 3. The high density of cities leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and global warming.
• 4. Over the last decade the cost of utilities has been increasing for city dwellers.

According to the passage, squatter cities are environment-friendly for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

• 1. their transportation is energy efficient.
• 2. they recycle material.
• 3. they sort out garbage.
• 4. their streets are kept clean.

We can infer that Calthorpe’s statement “still jars” with most people because most people:

• 1. regard cities as places of disease and crime.
• 2. do not consider cities to be eco-friendly places.
• 3. do not regard cities as good places to live in.
• 4. consider cities to be very crowded and polluted.

In the context of the passage, the author refers to Manaus in order to:

• 1. explain how urban areas help the environment.
• 2. describe the infrastructure efficiencies of living in a city.
• 3. explain where cities source their labour for factories.
• 4. promote cities as employment hubs for people.

From the passage it can be inferred that cities are good places to live in for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that they:

• 1. offer employment opportunities.
• 2. help prevent destruction of the environment.
• 3. contribute to the cultural transformation of residents.
• 4. have suburban areas as well as office areas.

Which of the following can be inferred from the author’s claim, “Which way is Oriental?”

• 1. Learning another language can mitigate cultural hierarchies and barriers.
• 2. Globalisation has mitigated cultural hierarchies and barriers.
• 3. Goodwill alone mitigates cultural hierarchies and barriers.
• 4. Orientalism is a discourse of the past, from colonial times, rarely visible today.

A French ethnographer decides to study the culture of a Nigerian tribe. Which of the following is most likely to be the view of the author of the passage?

• 1. The author would encourage the ethnographer, but ask him/her to first learn the language of the Nigerian tribe s/he wishes to study.
• 2. The author would encourage the ethnographer, but ask him/her to be mindful of his/her racial and gender identity in the process.
• 3. The author would discourage the ethnographer from conducting the study as Nigerian ethnographers can better understand the tribe.
• 4. The author would encourage the ethnographer and recommend him/her to hire a good translator for the purpose of holding interviews.

The author’s critics would argue that:

• 1. Empathy can overcome identity politics.
• 2. Language is insufficient to bridge cultural barriers.
• 3. Linguistic politics can be erased.
• 4. Orientalism cannot be practiced by Egyptians.

According to the passage, which of the following is not responsible for language’s ability to change us?

• 1. The ups and downs involved in the course of learning a language.
• 2. Language’s intrinsic connection to our notions of self and identity.
• 3. Language’s ability to mediate the impact of identity markers one is born with.
• 4. The twists and turns in the evolution of language over time.

All of the following statements about British colonialism can be inferred from the first paragraph, EXCEPT that it:

• 1. was at least partly an outcome of Enlightenment rationalism.
• 2. faced resistance from existing structural forms of Indian modernity.
• 3. was at least partly shaped by the project of European modernity.
• 4. allowed the treatment of colonies as experimental sites.

All of the following statements, if true, could be seen as supporting the arguments in the passage, EXCEPT:

• 1. the introduction of capitalism in India was not through the transformation of feudalism, as happened in Europe.
• 2. modernity was imposed upon India by the British and, therefore, led to underdevelopment.
• 3. throughout the history of colonial conquest, natives have often been experimented on by the colonisers.
• 4. the change in British colonial policy was induced by resistance to modernity in Indian society.

“Consequently, the colonial state could not settle simply for eminence at the cost of its marginality; it began to take initiatives to introduce the logic of modernity into Indian society.” Which of the following best captures the sense of this statement?

• 1. The colonial state’s eminence was unsettled by its marginal position; therefore, it developed Indian society by modernising it.
• 2. The colonial enterprise was a costly one; so to justify the cost it began to take initiatives to introduce the logic of modernity into Indian society.
• 3. The colonial state felt marginalised from Indian society because of its own modernity; therefore, it sought to address that marginalisation by bringing its modernity to change Indian society.
• 4. The cost of the colonial state’s eminence was not settled; therefore, it took the initiative of introducing modernity into Indian society.

Which one of the following 5-word sequences best captures the flow of the arguments in the passage?

• 1. Military power—arrogance—laboratory—modernity—capitalism.
• 2. Colonial policy—Enlightenment—external modernity—subjection—underdevelopment.
• 3. Colonial policy—arrogant rationality—resistance—independence—development.
• 4. Military power—colonialism—restructuring—feudalism—capitalism.

Which of the following observations is a valid conclusion to draw from the author’s statement that “the logical structure of endogenous change does not apply here. Here transformation agendas attack as an external force”?

• 1. The endogenous logic of colonialism can only bring change if it attacks and transforms external forces.
• 2. Indian society is not endogamous; it is more accurately characterised as aggressively exogamous.
• 3. Colonised societies cannot be changed through logic; they need to be transformed with external force.
• 4. The transformation of Indian society did not happen organically, but was forced by colonial agendas.

• 1. Conceptualisations of ‘women’s time’ as contrary to clock-time and clock-time as synonymous with economic rationalism are two of the deleterious results of this representation.
• 2. While dichotomies of ‘men’s time’, ‘women’s time’, clock-time, and caring time can be analytically useful, this article argues that everyday caring practices incorporate a multiplicity of times; and both men and women can engage in these multiple-times
• 3. When the everyday practices of working sole fathers and working sole mothers are carefully examined to explore conceptualisations of gendered time, it is found that caring time is often more focused on the clock than generally theorised.
• 4. Clock-time has been consistently represented in feminist literature as a masculine artefact representative of a ‘time is money’ perspective.

Sequence the following sentences to form a coherent paragraph:

• 1. Living things—animals and plants—typically exhibit correlational structure.
• 2. Adaptive behaviour depends on cognitive economy, treating objects as equivalent.
• 3. The information we receive from our senses, from the world, typically has structure and order, and is not arbitrary.
• 4. To categorize an object means to consider it equivalent to other things in that category, and different—along some salient dimension—from things that are not.

Sequence the following sentences to form a coherent paragraph:

• 1. To the uninitiated listener, atonal music can sound like chaotic, random noise.
• 2. Atonality is a condition of music in which the constructs of the music do not ‘live’ within the confines of a particular key signature, scale, or mode.
• 3. After you realize the amount of knowledge, skill, and technical expertise required to compose or perform it, your tune may change, so to speak.
• 4. However, atonality is one of the most important movements in 20th century music.

Sequence the following sentences to form a coherent paragraph:

• 1. Such a belief in the harmony of nature requires a purpose presumably imposed by the goodness and wisdom of a deity.
• 2. These parts, all fit together into an integrated, well-ordered system that was created by design.
• 3. Historically, the notion of a balance of nature is part observational, part metaphysical, and not scientific in any way.
• 4. It is an example of an ancient belief system called teleology, the notion that what we call nature has a predetermined destiny associated with its component parts.

Language is an autapomorphy found only in our lineage, and not shared with other branches of our group such as primates. We also have no definitive evidence that any species other than Homo sapiens ever had language. However, it must be noted straightaway that ‘language’ is not a monolithic entity, but rather a complex bundle of traits that must have evolved over a significant time frame. Moreover, language crucially draws on aspects of cognition that are long established in the primate lineage, such as memory: the language faculty as a whole comprises more than just the uniquely linguistic features.

• Language, a derived trait found only in humans, has evolved over time and involves memory.
• Language is a distinctively human feature as there is no evidence of the existence of language in any other species.
• Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory.
• Language is not a single, uniform entity but the end result of a long and complex process of linguistic evolution.

Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage:

Social movement organizations often struggle to mobilize supporters from allied movements in their efforts to achieve critical mass. Organizations with hybrid identities—those whose organizational identities span the boundaries of two or more social movements, issues, or identities—are vital to mobilizing these constituencies. Studies of the post-9/11 U.S. antiwar movement show that individuals with past involvement in non-anti-war movements are more likely to join hybrid organizations than are individuals without involvement in non-anti-war movements. In addition, they show that organizations with hybrid identities occupy relatively more central positions in inter-organizational contact networks within the antiwar movement and thus recruit significantly more participants in demonstrations than do nonhybrid organizations.

• Post 9/11 studies show that people who are involved in non anti-war movements are likely to join hybrid organizations.
• Hybrid organizations attract individuals that are deeply involved in anti-war movements.
• Movements that work towards social change often find it difficult to mobilize a critical mass of supporters.
• Organizations with hybrid identities are able to mobilize individuals with different points of view.

Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage:

Privacy-challenged office workers may find it hard to believe, but open-plan offices and cubicles were invented by architects and designers who thought that to break down the social walls that divide people, you had to break down the real walls, too. Modernist architects saw walls and rooms as downright fascist. The spaciousness and flexibility of an open plan would liberate homeowners and office dwellers from the confines of boxes. But companies took up their idea less out of a democratic ideology than a desire to pack in as many workers as they could. The typical open-plan office of the first half of the 20th century was a white-collar assembly line. Cubicles were interior designers’ attempt to put some soul back in.

• Wall-free office spaces did not quite work out as desired and therefore cubicles came into being.
• Wall-free office spaces did not quite work out the way their utopian inventors intended, as they became tools for exploitation of labor.
• Wall-free office spaces could have worked out the way their utopian inventors intended had companies cared for workers' satisfaction.
• Wall-free office spaces did not quite work out as companies don’t believe in democratic ideology.

• 1. A particularly interesting example of inference occurs in many single panel comics.
• 2. It’s the creator’s participation and imagination that makes the single-panel comic so engaging and so rewarding.
• 3. Often, the humor requires you to imagine what happened in the instant immediately before or immediately after the panel you’re being shown.
• 4. To get the joke, you actually have to figure out what some of these missing panels must be.
• 5. It is as though the cartoonist devised a series of panels to tell the story and has chosen to show you only one – and typically not even the funniest.

Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Identify the odd one out:

• 1. Socrates told us that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ and that to ‘know thyself’ is the path to true wisdom.
• 2. It suggests that you should adopt an ancient rhetorical method favored by the likes of Julius Caesar and known as ‘illeism’ – or speaking about yourself in the third person.
• 3. Research has shown that people who are prone to rumination also often suffer from impaired decision making under pressure and are at a substantially increased risk of depression.
• 4. Simple rumination – the process of churning your concerns around in your head – is not the way to achieve self-realization.
• 5. The idea is that this small change in perspective can clear your emotional fog, allowing you to see past your biases.

Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Identify the odd one out:

• 1. Ocean plastic is problematic for a number of reasons, but primarily because marine animals eat it.
• 2. The largest numerical proportion of ocean plastic falls in small size fractions.
• 3. Aside from clogging up the digestive tracts of marine life, plastic also tends to adsorb pollutants from the water column.
• 4. Plastic in the oceans is arguably one of the most important and pervasive environmental problems today.
• 5. Eating plastic has a number of negative consequences such as the retention of plastic particles in the gut for longer periods than normal food particles.