Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
US, did not incorporate a writing system such as the one that allows the archeologists to
precisely date Maya inscriptions to the exact day, but constructing several tall stone buildings
that can be dated to within a year, the archaeologists have adequate information to understand
the societies’ history.
Solution
The Anasazi, ancient societies that flourished between 200 BC and 1500 AD in southwestern
US, did not incorporate a writing system such as the one that allows the archeologists to
precisely date Maya inscriptions to the exact day, but constructing several tall stone buildings
that can be dated to within a year, the archaeologists have adequate information to understand
the societies’ history.
The Anasazi,
o ancient societies
that flourished between 200 BC and 1500 AD in southwestern US,
did not incorporate a writing system such as
o the one that allows the archeologists to precisely date Maya inscriptions to the
exact day,
but constructing several tall stone buildings
o that can be dated to within a year,
the archaeologists have adequate information to understand the societies’ history.
Answer Choices
A
since they constructed several tall stone buildings that can be dated
a. Correct.
Writing since the age of six and later earning a degree in English, Marjorie K Rawlings,
winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for her book The Yearling, purchasing seventy-two acres
of land in Cross Creek near Florida in 1928, two years after she fell in love with the place
during a visit to her brother-in-law.
Solution
Writing since the age of six and later earning a degree in English, Marjorie K Rawlings,
winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for her book The Yearling, purchasing seventy-two acres
of land in Cross Creek near Florida in 1928, two years after she fell in love with the place
during a visit to her brother-in-law.
Marjorie K Rawlings,
o winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1939 for her book The Yearling,
o purchasing seventy-two acres of land in Cross Creek near Florida in 1928, two
years after
she fell in love with the place during a visit to her brother-in-law.
Answer Choices
purchasing seventy-two acres of land in Cross Creek near Florida in 1928, two years after she
fell
purchased seventy-two acres of land in Cross Creek near Florida in 1928, two years after she
had fallen
a. Correct.
purchased in Cross Creek seventy-two acres of land near Florida, two years after she in 1928
had fallen
a. Misplaced modifier: “in Cross Creek” and “in 1928” have been misplaced.
had purchased in 1928 seventy-two acres of land near Florida in Cross Creek, two years after
she fell
a. Verb Tense Error: Use of past perfect tense “had purchased” for the later event is
incorrect.
b. Modifier Error: “in Cross Creek” has been misplaced.
had purchased in 1928 seventy-two acres of land in Cross Creek near Florida, two years after
she fell
a. Verb Tense Error: Use of past perfect tense “had purchased” for the later event is
incorrect.
Graduation rates in the US, that is the lowest among the developed nations, are predicted to
be higher this year over last since the government spends about $100 per student more than it
did last year.
Solution
Meaning
Error Analysis
i. SV number agreement error: Since noun modifier that refers to plural noun rates, use of
singular verb is incorrect.
ii. Verb Tense Error: Use of simple present tense verb is incorrect because it is not a
regular/habitual activity done by the government. It is the activity that the govt. is doing this
year.
iii. Idiom Error: The correct comparison idiom is higher than, not higher over.
iv. Expression Error: Placement of more is incorrect because the intended meaning is that the
government is spending $100 more per student.
Answer Choices
A
Graduation rates in the US, that is the lowest among the developed nations, are predicted to
be higher this year over last since the government spends about $100 per student more than it
did
It is predicted that graduation rates in the US, lowest among the developed nations, will be
higher this year than last year’s since the government spends about $100 per student more
than it did
i. Parallelism Error: The phrase last year’s (rate) is not parallel to rate this year.
ii. Verb Tense: Use of simple present tense verb is incorrect because it is not a regular/habitual
activity done by the government. It is the activity that the govt. is doing this year.
iii. Expression Error: Placement of more is incorrect because the intended meaning is that the
government is spending $100 more per student.
Predictions are for graduation rates in the US to be lowest among the developed nations and
to be higher this year than last year’s since the government is spending about $100 more per
student than it did
Graduation rates in the US, lowest among the developed nations, are predicted to be higher
this year than last since the government is spending about $100 more per student than it was
Correct answer choice. Use of was is correct as the extended verb in the second part
of the comparison is …than it was (spending).
It is the prediction that graduation rates in the US, which are the lowest among the developed
nations, will be higher this year over last since the government is spending about $100 more
per student now than what it was
i. Idiom Error: The correct comparison idiom is higher than, not higher over.
ii. Wordy: The structure what it was is wordy. The precise expression is …than it did.
Manufactured food products that contain added sugar are the leading cause for high blood
pressure in obese people. So, in the interest of obese people, food manufacturers have come
up with a line of obesity-friendly products that contain stevia instead of sugar. Therefore,
obese people who frequently avoided manufactured foods can now safely indulge themselves
in them without worrying about the negative consequences to their health
since____________.
Which of the following most logically completes the argument?
Passage Analysis
Manufactured food products that contain added sugar are the leading cause for high blood
pressure in obese people.
Manufactured or artificially processed and created food products have added sugar
These food products are one of the main reasons behind the problem of high blood
pressure in obese people.
So, in the interest of obese people, food manufacturers have come up with a line of obesity-
friendly products that contain stevia instead of sugar.
Because of this reason, the companies that manufacture food have started using stevia
instead of sugar in their products to provide food products that are not harmful for the
obese people.
Therefore, obese people who frequently avoided manufactured foods can now safely indulge
themselves in them without worrying about any negative consequences to their health
since________.
The passage concludes that the obese people who usually avoid the manufactured
food products can enjoy them now without having to think of any negative effects of
these food products on their health because_________.
Conclusion:
The obese people who frequently avoided manufactured food products can now safely
indulge themselves in them without worrying about any negative consequences on their
health.
Pre-thinking
Strengthen Framework:
What new information will make us believe more in the conclusion that:
o The obese people who frequently avoided manufactured food products can
now safely indulge themselves in them without worrying about any negative
consequences on their health.
Given:
o Manufactured food products that contain added sugar are the leading cause for high
blood pressure in obese people.
o In the interests of obese people, food manufacturers have come up with a line of
obesity-friendly products that contain stevia instead of sugar.
Thought Process
The author concludes that the obese people who frequently avoided manufactured food
products because they contained added sugar can now safely indulge themselves in them
without worrying about any negative consequences to their health considering the fact that
food manufacturers have started using stevia instead of sugar to make the food products
obesity friendly.
However, the author fails to account for the negative health effects of stevia, if any.
Moreover, the author does not state anything about the negative impact – if any – of the other
constituents in these manufactured food products.
The conclusion ends with a “since”, indicating that the blank be filled with a supporting
reason.
Now the reason that would support the conclusion would have to show that neither stevia nor
any other constituents in these manufactured food products will have any harmful impact on
the overall health of these people.
Strengthener#1
The amount of stevia added in manufactured foods does not have a considerable negative
impact on the health of obese people.
Strengthener#2
Other ingredients of the manufactured food products do not have a significant negative
impact on health of people.
Answer Choices
A
The passage is specifically about added sugar in manufactured or artificially processed food
and not about natural foods that have naturally occurring sugar. Therefore, naturally
occurring sugar is not the problem. Hence, this choice has no impact on the conclusion.
This choice tells us that there are no harmful additives or preservatives present in the
manufactured products that contain stevia.
apart from improving glucose tolerance, stevia can also help lower elevated blood pressure.
This choice talks about other benefits of stevia which can be partly inferred from the
passage. If added sugar increases blood pressure levels and stevia is added instead to address
this problem, then likely stevia does not elevate blood pressure. Hence, this has no impact on
the conclusion.
the effects of obesity and its associated problems far outweigh the potential side-effects of
consuming stevia.
This choice states that the effects of obesity are more serious that the effects of consuming
stevia. This suggests that stevia has potential side-effects. If anything, this choice weakens
the conclusion that stevia added products may not be that safe to consume.
excessive sugar consumption is known to be a leading cause of obesity and related diseases.
This choice talks above the effects of excessive sugar consumption. The manufactured
products do not contain added sugar. Therefore, this choice is irrelevant to the conclusion.
Conclusion:
A longer stint at writing codes and therefore a greater proficiency in coding makes male IT
professionals much better at witting codes than their female counterparts.
Pre-thinking
Falsification question
In what scenario will the male IT professionals not be better at coding than their
female co-workers?
Given
o While only 5% of the male IT employees were found to have committed errors
while writing codes, as much as 25% of the female ones were found to have
done the same.
o The male IT employees have been worker longer at coding and thereby have
better knowledge of it.
Thought Process
The author’s entire reasoning is based on a single parameter - the percentage of male and
female employees who have been found to have committed errors while coding. The author
does not explicitly talk about the number of errors vis-a-vis the amount of codes written by
the male and female employees respectively. However, as a general principle, we can safely
think that the more work one does, the more errors one is likely to commit and vice versa.
Falsification Condition
What if there were some other parameters than the one given in the argument that were being
considered when drawing the conclusion?
Let’s say that the amount of coding done by female IT professionals was significantly higher
than that done by male ones. Or in other words what if the male IT professionals were doing
significantly much less coding work than the female ones? This, then could explain why the
female IT professionals had more errors to show than the male ones.
Assumption
The amount of coding done on average by male IT professionals is not significantly lower
than the amount done by the female ones.
Answer Choices
The per capita coding work done by male IT professionals is not significantly lower than
that done by their female counterparts.
This tells us that the IT male professionals do not do, on average, considerably less coding
than the female IT professionals.
The choice says ,“not significantly larger”. This could mean either the percentage is the
same or lower. If the percentage is the same then the conclusion is strengthened and if the
percentage is lower, the conclusion is weakened. But in no way is this a “must be true”
condition.
The comparison here is between newly joined IT professionals and experienced ones.
Hence, this is completely out of scope.
This choice means that the male and female IT professionals typically do similar amount of
coding. But this does not have to be true for the conclusion to hold true.
The client companies of GenSect prefer their projects to be handled by male IT professionals
because of the lower error margins
This supports the idea of male IT professionals being better at their work. But it is not a
must be true condition and hence not the assumption behind the conclusion.
Due to global climate changes, rainfall patterns have changed, adversely impacting crop
productions across the world. Because sugarcane which is a water dependent crop grows best
in medium to heavy rainfall, the sucrose content of the cane generally decreases in the
absence of adequate water during its formative period. Consequently, farmers face revenue
loss. Paradoxically though, the revenue from sugarcane yields for the local farmers increased
post the droughts in Grangxi that occurred right before the harvest period.
Which of the following, if true, does most to explain the paradox described above?
Passage Analysis
Due to global climate changes, rainfall patterns have changed, adversely impacting crop
productions across the world.
Changes in the global climate have caused changes in the rainfall patterns.
The change in rainfall pattern has negatively impacted the production of crops
throughout the world.
Because sugarcane which is a water dependent crop grows best in medium to heavy rainfall,
the sucrose content of the cane generally decreases in the absence of adequate water.
Sugarcane is a water dependent crop and grows best within a particular range of
rainfall.
This range is from medium to heavy.
Typically, the sucrose content of the sugarcane crop goes down if there is absence of
enough water.
Paradoxically though, the revenue from sugarcane yields for the local farmers increased post
the droughts in Grangxi that occurred during the maturing period of this season’s plantings.
However, contrary to the above facts, the local farmers in Grangxi earned more
revenue from the sugarcane crop after the droughts in Grangxi.
o The droughts occurred when the crop was in the maturing stage.
Pre-thinking
Thought Process
The passage presents information about the impact of inadequate water supply on the sucrose
content and thus on the revenue from the crop. However, if this relation is correct, the
droughts in Grangxi should have led to reduced revenue from the crop. But that is not true.
On the contrary, the revenue increased.
Per the passage, the revenue is based on the sucrose content of the sugarcane. It also mentions
that droughts occurred during the maturing period of the crop. So, we need to think of
something that could have led to the increased revenue after the drought.
Firstly, there may some other factor that significantly influences the revenues from the
sugarcane crop, for example, the total yield. If the total yield was low lading to reduced
supplies, it could have increased the price of sugarcane resulting in increased profits.
Secondly, it is possible that the drought did not have the expected impact because it occurred
during the maturing period of the crop and not during its formative stage.
Answer Choices
A
Often droughts adversely impact the availability of labour required to work on the sugar
plantations in the areas so affected.
As per this choice, the availability of labour for sugar plantations reduces during the
droughts. In that case, the cost of production of sugarcane would increase (reduced labour
supply means costly labour). So, this choice presents another reason that could negatively
impact the sugarcane production. It does not provide any reason to resolve the paradox.
Climate changes have encouraged farmers to turn to different farming practices involving
many kinds of innovations in the agricultural sector.
This presents a fact about the use of different farming practices. However, this choice does
not tell us whether farmers in Grangxi have used any such practices. Also, this option does
not explain how the farmers had higher revenues in the face of a likely reduction in sucrose
content due to the droughts. Hence, this choice cannot resolve the paradox in the passage.
The extent of impact of water deficit stress on the sucrose content in stalks depends on the
plant growth stage - droughts in the later stages can help boost the sucrose content.
It states that the effect of unavailability of water on the sucrose content of sugarcane depends
on the stage of the plant. It states that droughts in later stages can help increase the sucrose
content. Since, the passage mentions that the crop was in maturing stage, the droughts must
have increased the sucrose content in them. This choice helps resolve the paradox in the
passage.
The sucrose content of the cane increases with better storage facilities and a decrease in the
time between harvesting and sugar manufacture from the cane.
This choice talks about the impact of better storage facilities and reduced time between
harvesting and sugar manufacture from cane on the sucrose content. However, we do not
have any information about the storage facilities or the time between harvesting and sugar
manufacture from the stated sugarcane crop. Hence, we cannot relate these factors with the
increased revenue. Hence, this choice cannot resolve the paradox in the passage.
Grangxi has a significantly better irrigation support system based on seasonal rivers than
many of the surrounding districts also experiencing the drought.
This choice compares the irrigation system of Grangxi with its neighboring districts.
However, the paradox is not related to the surrounding districts. Hence, this choice does not
present any information to resolve the paradox in the passage.
Which of the following statements best helps evaluate the President’s argument?
Solution
Passage Analysis
President of Lazyville: The people of our country love watching movies and frequent the
cinemas regularly, an activity that acts as a good revenue source for the government.
o The people of Lazyville like watching movies.
o They regularly go to movie theaters.
o The revenue generated from this activity acts as a good revenue source for the
government.
Setting up movie rental services within the country would cater to such people.
o Proposal: Setting up facilities enabling people to rent movies would also cater to the
movie-loving population.
However, setting up such services wouldn’t be of help to the economy.
o However, such services wouldn’t help Lazyville’s economy.
If people start watching more movies, they become less productive and contribute less to
the country’s overall revenue.
o Conclusion: If people of Lazyville start watching more movies, their productivity will
drop and they will contribute less to the overall revenue for the country.
Pre-thinking
Whether movie rental services make a significant contribution to the country’s GDP
Whether any additional movies watched by the people of Lazyville would be watched in
their leisure time or in otherwise productive time.
Answer Choices
Whether people rent movies to watch them in their leisure time or take time out of work.
Whether some people stop going to cinemas when the same movie is available to rent.
Irrelevant. The conclusion is concerned with negative impact to economy if more than usual
number of movies are watched by people.
Whether the additional revenue generated by the movie rental business can be invested to
improve the overall well-being of society.
Whether there was a reduction in overall productivity when people initially started watching
movies in cinemas.
a. Yes – increases the belief that the proposal might negatively impact the economy.
b. No – the president’s reasoning still stands. So, this extreme doesn’t impact the conclusion.
Incentives help drive passionate employees to be more focused, more productive, and
provide more work output within a stipulated time. Therefore, in order to maximize the work
output from its employees and therefore maximize the profits generated within a year, every
company should incorporate an incentive based goal setting process to drive the employees
more.
Which of the following roles do the boldfaced portions play in the argument?
Therefore, in order to maximize the work output from its employees and therefore maximize
the profits generated within a year,
every company should incorporate an incentive based goal setting process to drive
the employees more.
o Every company should employ a process that provides incentives for
achievemnet of goals and this will motivate the employess more.
Pre-thinking
1st Bold Face
o Role = Fact/ Observation
o Relationship = Supports the main conclusion.
2nd Bold Face
o Role = Main Conclusion, Recommendation.
Overall
o Both go in the same direction.
o The first is a fact about incentives and second is the conclusion drawn based
on this fact.
Answer Choices
A
The first is a principle that the argument seeks to explain; the second is evidence to support a
proposal.
The first is a circumstance that supports the position taken by the argument; the second is that
position.
The first is a judgement that is not questioned by the argument; the second is a
recommendation that disputes that judgement.
The first is a principle that the argument seeks to establish; the second is a circumstance on
which that principle is based.
The first is an observation that is used to suggest a recommendation; the second is evidence
that supports that recommendation.
Solution
Meaning
the teenagers become easy target for creators of such self-destructive games as the Blue
Whale Challenge.
The sentence says that the teenagers become easy target for creators of self-destructive games
such as the Blue Whale Challenge as they are not able to identify the harm these games can
cause or they are afraid to share the details of the same. The reason for doing so is that either
they are scared of the judgment or they do not get support.
Error Analysis
the teenagers become easy target for creators of such self-destructive games as the Blue
Whale Challenge.
Answer Choices
can cause or scared to share the details of such games, because of either fear of judgment or
Correct as discussed above.
will cause or scared to share the details of such a game, either due to fear of judgment or
1. Verb Tense Error leasing to Meaning Error: Use of will cause does not present the possibility
of the action as mentioned in the original sentence. Also, since the sentence presents
general information about an event relevant in the present, use of simple future tense verb
is not correct.
2. Idiom Errors:
a. Use of due to to present the reason for the action unable to recognize or scared to share is
incorrect. The correct idiom is because of.
b. While either is followed by due to, or is followed by lack of support. These two phrases are
not grammatically parallel.
can cause, scared to share the details of such a game, because of either fear of judgment or
1. Parallelism error: The two modifiers unable to… and scared to… are not connected by any
marker.
can cause, scared to share the details of such a game, and fear of judgment due to
1. Parallelism Errors:
o Per this choice, the forced parallelism among unable to…, scared to…, and fear of
judgement leads to distortion of the intended meaning.
o The first two elements of the list mentioned above are adjectives while the last
element is a noun phrase. The list is not grammatical.
2. Modifier Error: Because of the placement of the modifier due to after fear of judgement, the
choice now suggests that fear of judgement is due to lack of support. This is certainly not the
intended meaning.
can cause and scared to share the details of such a game, not only because of fear of judgment
but also
a. Use of and instead of or changes the intended meaning. Per this choice both the actions act
as factors for teenagers becoming the easy target of the mentioned games.
b. Per the original sentence only one of the points – either fear of judgment or lack of
judgement – is the reason for teenagers unable to recognize or scared to share to share. Per
this sentence, both the factors are the reason for the same. This is distortion of the intended
meaning.
Because he wrote in an early form of English, even though Chaucer’s works are difficult to
read, with spellings and vocabulary that seem strange to us, a detailed review of his works
helps scholars study about how English literature began many centuries ago.
Solution
Meaning
Because he wrote in an early form of English,
o even though Chaucer’s works are difficult to read,
with spellings and vocabulary
that seem strange to us,
a detailed review of his works helps scholars study about
o how English literature began many centuries ago.
Error Analysis
Because he wrote in an early form of English,
o even though Chaucer’s works are difficult to read,
with spellings and vocabulary
that seem strange to us,
a detailed review of his works helps scholars study about
o how English literature began many centuries ago.
1. Meaning Error: As already discussed in the Meaning Analysis section, the way this sentence
is structures, it fails to convey the intended meaning clearly.
Answer Choices
A
Because he wrote in an early form of English, even though Chaucer’s works are difficult to
read
Chaucer wrote in an early form of English and that is why his works are difficult to read
1. Meaning Error: The intended contrast that although Chaucer’s works are difficult to
comprehend, a detailed study of the same helps scholars do something is missing.
Despite Chaucer’s works that are difficult to read because of writing in an early form of
English
1. Meaning Error: The contrast per this choice is illogical. This choice says that despite his work,
a detailed study helps the scholars do something.
Even though Chaucer’s works are difficult to read because Chaucer wrote in an early form of
English
Correct: This choice clearly presents the intende4d meaning through correct grammar.
Because Chaucer’s works are difficult to read even though Chaucer wrote in an early form of
English
1. Meaning Errors:
a. Illogical cause-and-effect: This choice says that because Chaucer’s works are difficult to read. A
detailed study of the same helps scholars study…. This is not the intended cause-and-effect.
b. Illogical contrast: Per this choice Chaucer’s works are difficult to read although Chaucer wrote
in an old form of English. This is not the intended contrast.