CAT 2023 Preparation, Syllabus, Result

MBA CAT 2024
2382

 

RC Practice - 27th June  

The refusal of some countries to extradite persons accused or convicted of terrorist act has focused attention on the problems caused by the political offense exception to extradition. Extradition is the process by which one country returns an accused or convicted person found within its borders to another country for trial or punishment. Under the political offense exception, the requested state may, if it considers the crime to be a “political offense,” deny extradition to the requesting state.

Protection of political offenses is a recent addition to the ancient practice of extradition. It is the result of two fundamental changes that occurred as European monarchies were replaced by representative governments. First, these governments began to reject what had been a primary intent of extradition, to expedite the return of political offenders, and instead sought to protect dissidents fleeing despotic regimes. Second, countries began to contend that they had no legal or moral duty to extradite offenders without specific agreements creating such obligations. As extradition laws subsequently developed through international treaties, the political offense exception gradually became an accepted principle among Western nations.

There is no international consensus, however, as to what constitutes a political offense. For analytical purposes illegal political conduct has traditionally been divided into two categories. “Pure” political offenses are acts perpetrated directly against the government, such as treason and espionage. These crimes are generally recognized as nonextraditable, even if not expressly excluded from extradition by the applicable treaty. In contrast, common crimes, such as murder, assault, and robbery, are generally extraditable. However, there are some common crimes that are so inseparable from a political act that the entire offense is regarded as political. These crimes, which are called “relative” political offenses, are generally nonextraditable. Despite the widespread acceptance of these analytic constructs, the distinctions are more academic than meaningful. When it comes to real cases, there is no agreement about what transforms a common crime into a political offense and about whether terrorist acts fall within the protection of the exception. Most terrorists claim that their acts do fall under this protection.

Nations of the world must now balance the competing needs of political freedom and international public order. It is time to reexamine the political offense exception, as international terrorism eradicates the critical distinctions between political offenses and nonpolitical crimes. The only rational and attainable objective of the exception is to protect the requested person against unfair treatment by the requesting country. The international community needs to find an alternative to the political offense exception that would protect the rights of requested persons and yet not offer terrorists immunity from criminal liability.

1. In the passage, the author primarily seeks to

(A) define a set of terms and clarify the distinction involved

(B) outline a new approach in dealing with political offenders

(C) describe a current problem and plead for a remedial action

(D) expose an illegal practice of several nations

2. Which of the following best describes the author’s view of “political offense exception?”

(A) It is a dubious distinction open to discretionary interpretation

(B) It is the root cause behind spreading tentacles of terrorism

(C) It is an ambiguous territory used by nations to serve their propaganda

(D) It is an internationally recognized practice for fair treatment of criminals

3. Given the discussion in the passage, which one of the following distinctions does the author consider particularly problematic?

(A) between common crimes and “relative” political offense

(B) between “pure” political offenses and common crimes

(C) between “pure” political offenses and “relative” political offenses

(D) between terrorist acts and acts of espionage

4. According to the author, the primary purpose of the political offense exception should be to

(A) ensure that terrorists are tried for their acts

(B) provide political criminals immunity against persecution

(C) offer diplomatic immunity to political criminals

(D) limit extradition to those accused of “relative” political offenses

5. The author would most likely agree that the political offense exception

(A) has been a modestly useful weapon again terrorism

(B) has never met the objective for which it was originally established

(C) has been of more academic than practical value to political dissidents 

(D) has, in some cases, been stretched beyond intended use

6. Which one of the following, if true, would give the author most cause to reconsider her recommendation regarding the political offence exception ?

(A) More nations started extraditing persons accused or convicted of treason, espionage, and other similar crimes.

(B) The nations of the world sharply decreased their use of the political offense exception protect persons accused of each of the various types of “pure” political offenses.

(C) The nations of the world sharply decreased their use of the political offense exception to protect persons accused of each of the various types of “relative” political offenses.

(D) The nations of the world started to disagree over the analytical distinction between “pure” political offenses and “relative” political offenses.

Passage analysis of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/oWiujaqCmPk

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/W28oFsp4MjA

2383

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2384

RC Practice - 28th June

Various tales in Herodotus’s The Histories display a circular means of the realization of fate.  In one story involving the birth of Cyrus and his rise to power in Asia, Herodotus tells us that  the Median king Astyages was having disturbing dreams about his daughter Mandane. We are told that his first dream, in which Mandane’s urine flooded all of Asia, was  interpreted ominously by the Magi. As a consequence, when the time came to marry  Mandane off, Astyages made what turned out to be a fatal mistake. While there were plenty  of wealthy and powerful Medes eligible for marriage, “his fear of the dream made him refuse  to marry her to any of them; instead, he gave her to a Persian called Cambyses, whom he  found to be of noble lineage and peaceful behavior, although he regarded him as the social  inferior by far of a Mede of the middle rank.” Essentially, Astyages altered what would be a  normal treatment of the marriage in order to marry his daughter to someone less threatening.  This attempt to avoid the prophesy of the first dream backfired however, and when Mandane  became pregnant, Astyages had another foreboding dream. This second dream was  interpreted to mean that Mandane’s son would rule in Astyages’s place. Herodotus tells us  that “[the prophecy of the second dream] was what Astyages was guarding against” when he  again took action, telling his advisor Harpagus to kill the baby. This plan backfired as well  since Harpagus refused to kill the baby, leading to a complicated chain of events whereby the  child—later to be named Cyrus—survived and returned to conquer his grandfather’s  kingdom. In this story, Astyages’s downfall is depicted as resulting directly from two major  mistakes—marrying Mandane to Cambyses and telling Harpagus to kill their offspring. These  mistakes in turn are shown to be motivated by fear of the prophesies of his downfall. Had not  some divine force planted the dreams in his head, he would not have taken the steps  necessary to fulfill those prophesies. Through this circular path, destiny is unavoidably  realized. 

1. Which of the following best describes the philosophical argument underlying the  passage? 

(A) There is no free will; humans all have a predetermined and unavoidable fate. (B) Divine revelations are His way of communicating with us. 

(C) Free will serves destiny. 

(D) Human’s circumstances are his own making. 

2. Which of the following cannot be inferred from the passage? 

(A) As a result of his first dream, Astyages believed the threat his daughter posed to him  could be through her husband. 

(B) Astyages believed that it was always best to observe the recommendations of the Magi. 

(C) Astyages believed that a Persian noble was less of a threat to his position than a Median  noble. 

(D) Had Astyages not acted upon his dreams, he might have averted the fate that befell him. 

3. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly undermine the claim that  Astyages’s downfall proceeded from two major mistakes? 

(A) Mandane’s husband would have deposed Astyages if he had known why his son was  killed. 

(B) Astyages’s first dream was in fact a warning against allowing his daughter to marry. 

(C) Harpagus would not have killed the baby regardless of whether he knew the prophesy. 

(D) Mandane’s son would have conquered his grandfather’s kingdom regardless of who his  father was 

Answers of today's RC : - https://youtu.be/Gcu3zjnZQ7o

2385

RC Practice - 29th June

The number of women directors appointed to corporate boards in the United States has  increased dramatically, but the ratio of female to male directors remains low. Although  pressure to recruit women directors, unlike that to employ women in the general work force,  does not derive from legislation, it is nevertheless real. Although small companies were the first to have women directors, large corporations  currently have a higher percentage of women on their boards. When the chairs of these large  corporations began recruiting women to serve on boards, they initially sought women who  were chief executive officers (CEO’s) of large corporations. However, such women CEO’s  are still rare. In addition, the ideal of six CEO’s (female or male) serving on the board of each  of the largest corporations is realizable only if every CEO serves on six boards. This raises  the specter of director over-commitment and the resultant dilution of contribution.  Consequently, the chairs next sought women in business who had the equivalent of CEO  experience. However, since it is only recently that large numbers of women have begun to  rise in management, the chairs began to recruit women of high achievement outside the  business world. Many such women are well known for their contributions in government,  education, and the nonprofit sector. The fact that the women from these sectors who were  appointed were often acquaintances of the boards’ chairs seems quite reasonable: chairs have  always considered it important for directors to interact comfortably in the boardroom. Although many successful women from outside the business world are unknown to corporate  leaders, these women are particularly qualified to serve on boards because of the changing  nature of corporations. Today a company’s ability to be responsive to the concerns of the  community and the environment can influence that company’s growth and survival. Women  are uniquely positioned to be responsive to some of these concerns. Although conditions have  changed, it should be remembered that most directors of both sexes are over fifty years old.  Women of that generation were often encouraged to direct their attention toward efforts to  improve the community. This fact is reflected in the career development of most of the  outstandingly successful women of the generation now in their fifties, who currently serve on  corporate boards: 25 percent are in education and 22 percent are in government, law, and the  nonprofit sector. One organization of women directors is helping business become more responsive to the  changing needs of society by raising the level of corporate awareness about social issues,  such as problems with the economy, government regulation, the aging population, and the  environment. This organization also serves as a resource center of information on  accomplished women who are potential candidates for corporate boards. 

1. The author of the passage would be most likely to agree with which of the following  statements about achievement of the “ideal” mentioned in the passage? 

(A) It has only recently become a possibility. 

(B) It would be easier to meet if more CEO’s were women. 

(C) It is very close to being a reality for most corporate boards. 

(D) It might affect the quality of directors’ service to corporations.

2. All of the following are examples of issues that the organization described in the last  paragraph would be likely to advise corporations on EXCEPT 

(A) long-term inflation 

(B) health and safety regulations 

(C) the energy shortage 

(D) emerging product trends

3. It can be inferred from the passage that, when seeking to appoint new members to a  corporation’s board, the chair traditionally looked for candidates who 

(A) had legal and governmental experience (B) had experience dealing with community affairs 

(C) could work easily with other members of the board 

(D) had influential connections outside the business world 

4. The passage suggests that corporations of the past differ from modern corporations in  which of the following ways? 

(A) Corporations had greater input on government policies affecting the business community. 

(B) Corporations were less responsive to the financial needs of their employees. (C) The ability of a corporation to keep up with changing markets was not a crucial factor in its success. 

(D) A corporation’s effectiveness in coping with community needs was less likely to affect its  growth and prosperity.

5. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage? 

(A) A problem is described, and then reasons why various proposed solutions succeeded or  failed are discussed. 

(B) A problem is described, and then an advantage of resolving it is offered. 

(C) A problem is described, and then reasons for its continuing existence are summarized. 

(D) The historical origins of a problem are described, and then various measures that have  successfully resolved it are discussed. 

6. It can be inferred from the passage that all of the following factors make women uniquely  valuable members of modern corporate boards, EXCEPT 

(A) The nature of modern corporations 

(B) The increased number of women CEO’s 

(C) The careers pursued by women currently available to serve on corporate boards 

(D) The cultural context in which they were brought up 

Passage Analysis of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/5k1eSzapBq8

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/37qCa0aZRyg

2386

RC Practice - 30th June

Because we have so deeply interiorized writing, we find it difficult to consider writing to be an  alien technology, as we commonly assume printing and the computer to be. Most people are  surprised to learn that essentially the same objections commonly urged today against computers  were urged by Plato in the Phaedrus, against writing. Writing, Plato has Socrates say, is inhuman, pretending to establish outside the mind what in  reality can be only in the mind. Secondly, Plato‘s Socrates urges, writing destroys memory.  Those who use writing will become forgetful, relying on external resource for what they lack in  internal resources. Thirdly, a written text is basically unresponsive, whereas real speech and  thought always exist essentially in a context of give-and-take between real persons. Without writing, words as such have no visual presence, even when the objects they represent are  visual. Thus, for most literates, to think of words as totally disassociated from writing is  psychologically threatening, for literates‘ sense of control over language is closely tied to the  visual transformations of language. Writing makes ―words‖ appear similar to things because we  think of words as the visible marks signalling words to decoders, and we have an inability to  represent to our minds a heritage of verbally organized materials except as some variant of  writing. A literate person, asked to think of the word ―nevertheless‖ will normally have some  image of the spelled-out word and be quite unable to think of the word without adverting to the  lettering. Thus the thought processes of functionally literate human beings do not grow out of  simply natural powers but out of these powers as structured by the technology of writing. Without writing, human consciousness cannot achieve its fuller potentials, cannot produce other  beautiful and powerful creations. Literacy is absolutely necessary for the development not only of  science, but also of history, philosophy, explicative understanding of literature and of any art, and  indeed for the explanation of language (including oral speech) itself. Literate users of a  grapholect such as standard English have access to vocabularies hundreds of times larger than  any oral language can manage. Thus, in many ways, writing heightens consciousness.  Technology, properly interiorized, does not degrade human life but enhances it. In the total absence of any writing, there is nothing outside the writer, no text, to enable him or  her to produce the same line of thought again or even verify whether he has done so or not. In  primary oral culture, to solve effectively the problem of retaining and retrieving carefully  articulated thought, you have to do your thinking in mnemonic patterns, shaped for ready oral  recurrence. A judge in an oral culture is often called upon to articulate sets of relevant proverbs  out of which he can produce equitable decisions in the cases under formal litigation under him.  The more sophisticated orally patterned thought is, the more it is likely to be marked by set expressions skilfully used. Among the ancient Greeks, Hesiod, who was intermediate between  oral Homeric Greece and fully developed Greek literacy, delivered quasiphilosophic material in  the formulaic verse forms from which he had emerged. 

Q1). In paragraph 5 of the passage, the author mentions Hesiod in order to: 

A. prove that oral poets were more creative than those who put their verses in written words. 

B. show that some sophisticated expressions can be found among the preliterate ancient Greeks. 

C. demonstrate that a culture that is partially oral and partially literate forms the basis of an ideal  society. 

D. no sophisticated expressions could be found among the pre-literate ancient Greeks. 

Q2). According to the author, an important difference between oral and literate cultures  can be expressed in terms of: 

A. extensive versus limited reliance on memory. 

B. chaotic versus structured modes of thought. 

C. barbaric versus civilized forms of communication.

D. presence and absence of books 

Q3). The author refers to Plato in the first and second paragraphs. He brings the  philosopher up primarily in order to: 

A. provide an example of literate Greek philosophy. 

B. suggest the possible disadvantages of writing. 

C. illustrate common misconceptions about writing. 

D. define the differences between writing and computer technology. 

Q4) Plato viewed writing with disdain because of all but which of the following reasons: 

A. It results in a wrong projection of human ideas in the external world 

B. It lacks the dynamism of human communication 

C. It undermines memory 

D. It brings about a cruel alienation of human from something that is his 

Q5) The passage is primarily concerned with 

A. criticising those who speak against writing‘ 

B. emphasising the importance of writing 

C. documenting the negative effects of writing 

D. discussing how writing has influenced human consciousness

Passage analysis of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/rS5OlXaYAws

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/rHZz_myzqF8

2387

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Do pass it on to anyone you think would benefit from the session. :)

2388

RC Practice - 1st July

Utilitarian models of the state, subordinating individual rights to a calculus of maximum social welfare, have long been a de facto orthodoxy among political philosophers. Yet they run counter to the basic liberal concept of fairness, which deeply characterizes the intuitive American response to injustice, and provide succor to those who espouse radical solutions to social problems—socialism on the one hand and the new conservatism on the other. Those comfortable with these dogmas should take note of the philosophical revival of the once discarded notion of the social contract. This idea receives its fullest exposition in John Rawls's "A Theory of Justice." Rather than adopt Rousseau's vision of naturalman—a picture almost impossible to conjure up in the face of more recent scientific knowledge—the new contractarians postulate a group of rational men and women gathered for the purpose of elucidating a concept of justice which will guide their affairs. They further assume that these people make their decision behind a veil of ignorance; that is, they are totally ignorant for now of their position in society—their race, their gender, their place in the social order. Yet the principles at which they arrive will bind them once the veil is lifted. Starting from this original position, it can be logically demonstrated that rational beings would arrive at a decision ensuring the maximum possible justice and liberty for even the meanest member of society. Thus, freedom of speech, for example, would be inviolable, whereas the utilitarian could easily justify its abridgment for a greater social good. Second, social and economic inequality, which are the inevitable result of the lottery of birth, should be arranged such that they inhere in offices and stations in life available to all and thus are, by consensus, seen to be to everyone's advantage. Injustice, then, is defined as an unequal distribution of good things, with liberty being first among them. While it can be and has been argued that the blind choosers envisioned by the new contractarians might well choose to gamble on the outcome of the social order, such arguments are ultimately lacking in interest. The point of the contractarian view does not lie in what real people "would" do in an admittedly impossible situation. Rather, it is to provide an abstract model that is intuitively satisfactory because, in fact, it corresponds to the ideas of "fairness" so deeply rooted in the American national psyche. 

1. The author most likely wrote this passage primarily to 

(A) outline and defend a contractarian view of justice 

(B) propose an alternative to radical solutions to social problems 

(C) compare the utilitarian and contractarian theories 

(D) resurrect the idea of the social contract 

2. Which of the following would NOT be classified as the utilitarian way of conducting social affairs, as it has been mentioned in the passage? 

(A) Prohibiting homosexual relationships because they pose a threat to the social fabric 

(B) Revoking free access to education in colleges and schools 

(C) Making vaccination against a communicable disease mandatory 

(D) Implementing a progressive taxation system 

3. Which of the following is an assumption of the contractarian model, as presented by the author? 

(A) The decision makers act before acquiring any place in the social order. 

(B) All members of the contracting group will place a high value on personal liberty. 

(C) Justice can only be secured by ensuring that all positions in the social order have equal power and status. 

(D) The contracting parties will seek to safeguard their own liberties at the expense of the rights of others. 

4. The author implies that a party to the social contract who "chose to gamble on the outcome of the social order" would select a principle of justice 

(A) allowing an unequal access to liberty and other social goods 

(B) based on the greatest possible equalization of both personal freedom and material circumstances 

(C) that explicitly denied inherent inequalities among the members of society 

(D) that valued the benefit of society in the aggregate over the freedom of the individual 

5. It can be inferred that the author feels the ideas of John Rawls are relevant today because 

(A) they present, in contrast to utilitarianism, an ethically-based concept of justice 

(B) they outline a view of justice which results in the maximum possible liberty for all 

(C) utilitarian ideas have led to social philosophies with which the author disagrees 

(D) new evidence has strengthened the idea of the social contract 

Passage anaylsis of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/bDCOm88v1Fc

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/KWQs9lLK3hg

2389

GEM Fresher.

 Acads 9.8,84,8.5.

What score do I need to target in CAT 21 for new and baby IIMS and IITS?

For old IIM's I guess its 99.5 or nothing right?

2390

I am a final year undergrad. 

Given an option of taking up an sde job or a analyst job at Big 4 which one should be better in terms of work ex?

2391

RC Practice - 2nd July

Japanese firms have achieved the highest levels of manufacturing efficiency in the world automobile industry. Some observers of Japan have assumed that Japanese firms use the same manufacturing equipment and techniques as United States firms but have benefited from the unique characteristics of Japanese employees and the Japanese culture. However, if this were true, then one would expect Japanese auto plants in the United States to perform no better than factories run by United States companies. This is not the case; Japanese-run automobile plants located in the United States and staffed by local workers have demonstrated higher levels of productivity when compared with factories owned by United States companies. Other observers link high Japanese productivity to higher levels of capital investment per worker. But a historical perspective leads to a different conclusion. When the two top Japanese automobile makers matched and then doubled United States productivity levels in the mid-sixties, capital investment per employee was comparable to that of United States firms. Furthermore, by the late seventies, the amount of fixed assets required to produce one vehicle was roughly equivalent in Japan and in the United States. Since capital investment was not higher in Japan, it had to be other factors that led to higher productivity. A more fruitful explanation may lie with Japanese production techniques. Japanese automobile producers did not simply implement conventional processes more effectively: they made critical changes in United States procedures. For instance, the massproduction philosophy of United States automakers encouraged the production of huge lots of cars in order to utilize fully expensive, component-specific equipment and to occupy fully workers who have been trained to execute one operation efficiently. Japanese automakers chose to make small-lot production feasible by introducing several departures from United States practices, including the use of flexible equipment that could be altered easily to do several different production tasks and the training of workers in multiple jobs. Automakers could schedule the production of different components or models on single machines, thereby eliminating the need to store the buffer stocks of extra components that result when specialized equipment and workers are kept constantly active. 

1. The primary purpose of the passage is to 

(A) present the major steps of a process 

(B) clarify an ambiguity 

(C) chronicle a dispute 

(D) correct misconceptions 

2. The author suggests that if the observers of Japan mentioned in line 2 were correct, which of the following would be the case? 

(A) Japanese workers would be trained to do several different production jobs. (B) Culture would not have an influence on the productivity levels of workers. 

(C) The workers in Japanese-run plants would have higher productivity levels regardless of where they were located. 

(D) The production levels of Japanese-run plants located in the United States would be equal to those of plants run by United States companies. 

3. Which of the following statements concerning the productivity levels of automakers can be inferred from the passage? 

(A) Prior to the 1960’s, the productivity levels of the top Japanese automakers were exceeded by those of United States automakers. 

(B) The culture of a country has a large effect on the productivity levels of its automakers. 

(C) The greater the number of cars that are produced in a single lot, the higher a plant’s productivity level. 

(D) The amount of capital investment made by automobile manufacturers in their factories determines the level of productivity. 

4. Which of the following best describes the organization of the first paragraph? (A) A thesis is presented and supporting examples are provided. 

(B) Opposing views are presented, classified, and then reconciled. 

(C) A fact is stated, and an explanation is advanced and then refuted. (D) A theory is proposed, considered, and then amended. 

5. It can be inferred from the passage that one problem associated with the production of huge lots of cars is which of the following? 

(A) The need to manufacture flexible machinery and equipment 

(B) The need to store extra components not required for immediate use 

(C) The need for expensive training programs for workers, which emphasize the development of facility in several production jobs 

(D) The need to increase the investment per vehicle in order to achieve high productivity levels 

6. With which of the following predictive statement regarding Japanese automakers would the author most likely agree? 

(A) The efficiency levels of the Japanese automakers will decline if they become less flexible in their approach to production. 

(B) United States automakers will originate new production processes before Japanese automakers do. 

(C) Japanese automakers will hire fewer workers than will United States automakers because each worker is required to perform several jobs. 

(D) Japanese automakers will spend less on equipment repairs than will United States automakers because Japanese equipment can be easily altered. 

Answers of today's RC:- https://youtu.be/zrbooH-8Slo

2392

t545454545

0 voters

2393

Can anyone suggest some practice source for someone having 99 in both lrdi and qa last year? In past year mocks, which are good?

2394

RC Practice - 3rd July

In recent years much attention has been paid to distilling those factors that create a positive  work environment for corporate employees. The goal ultimately is to discover what allows  some companies to foster high employee morale while other companies struggle with poor  productivity and high managerial turnover. Several theories have been posited, but none has  drawn as much interest from the corporate world, or has as much promise, as value  congruence, which measures the "fit" between an employee's values and those of co-workers  and the company itself. The concept of value congruence is generally intuitive – when there is a match between  employee and organization value systems, positive outcomes will result. Although the link  between value congruence and positive organizational outcomes has been firmly established,  until recently it was not clear why this process takes place. Rather than directly causing  positive outcomes, value congruence primarily leads to positive outcomes through the  enhancement of communication and trust between the organization and the employee. Value  Congruence -> Trust + Communication -> Positive Outcomes That is, when value  congruence between an employee and the organization is high, there tends to be high levels  of trust and communication between the two parties. Value congruence can be broken into three main subcategories: person-environment ("P-E"),  person-person ("P-P"), and perceptual fit ("PF"). Person-environment congruence refers to a  harmony between the personal values of the employee and corporate culture of the company  in which he or she works. Someone with a high P-E congruence feels personally in tune with  his company's stated policies and goals. Conversely, someone with a low P-E congruence  feels a sense of disharmony between his own values and the stated policies and goals of his  company. A high P-P congruence indicates a sense of solidarity with one's co-workers in  terms of shared values and goals. A low P-P congruence indicates a sense of isolation from co-workers brought about by an absence of shared values. Finally, strong PF suggests a  strong correspondence between the values that an employee perceives his company to have  (whether or not the company actually does) and the values that his co-workers perceive the  company to have (again, whether or not it actually does). A weak PF implies that an  employee's perception of his company's values differs significantly from that of his co?workers. Research has shown that P-E and PF congruence are important measures of employee  satisfaction, commitment, and likelihood of turnover, although P-P congruence has little  bearing on these parameters. Moreover, PF is especially important in establishing harmonious  relations between workers and managers. These measures give corporations a robust  paradigm on the basis of which to create long-term personnel plans and productivity growth  targets: in particular, P-E and PF congruence allow companies to discover dysfunctional  work relationships and clarify misperceived company policies and goals. With these tools in  hand, companies can look forward to increased employee satisfaction and, ultimately,  improved company performance

1. The passage suggests that perceptual fit congruence would be most useful in determining  which of the following? 

A. whether a company ought to make its policies and goals more transparent 

B. whether a company ought to provide sensitivity training for its management C. whether a company ought to create more opportunities for interaction among workers 

D. whether a company ought to address employee grievances more directly 

2. Which of the following correctly represents the relationship between value-fit, communication and outcomes for a corporate in context of the passage? 

A. lack of communication between employee and organization could be a sign of low value fit 

B. transparency in peer-to-peer communication brings about positive outcomes C. the policy statement of an organization enhances trust in the company and brings about  positive results 

D. there is no way to enhance outcomes for a company without fostering employee trust. 

3. According to the passage, which of the following was a motivation in the creation of the  system of value congruence? 

A. a desire to minimize the liability of upper management for employee dissatisfaction 

B. a desire to help companies to improve their internal harmony 

C. a desire to foster awareness of factors influencing managerial success 

D. a desire to eliminate discrepancies between a company’s goals and the values of its  employees 

4. The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following? 

A. Comparing a new theory of corporate performance to a discredited theory and predicting  the usefulness of the new theory.

B. Illustrating a new approach to measuring employee satisfaction through a detailed analysis  of a particular case. 

C. Challenging an old view of employee commitment and suggesting that a new paradigm is  necessary.

D. Promoting a new method of measuring the likelihood of corporate success by explaining  its benefits 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/i9KVzjh8BCM

2395

RC Practice - 4th July

Fame and fortune are both mysterious and fickle. What is it that makes one person wealthy  and famous, while the rest of his or her friends or colleagues are left behind? While it's true  that money can't buy you happiness, at least on a long-term basis, it can definitely buy you  the freedom to do what you want in life. And that is worth a lot. While most everyone harbors a secret (or maybe not-so-secret) desire to be either rich,  famous--or both--this is particularly true for members of the Millennial generation.  According to a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, 81 percent of Millennials said  that getting rich is their generation's first or second most important life goal, and 51 percent  said the same about getting famous. So, what is it exactly that the rich and famous do differently from the rest of us, and how can  you adopt some of these habits in your own life? History might have a lesson here. In popular wisdom, fame and fortune are often associated with virtue, industry, and a host of  other attributes. However, random strokes of fate often determine such success and said  commonly perceived virtues prove irrelevant. For instance, decades after her death, Coco  Chanel remains the epitome of French fashion and her name, as well as the company she  founded, is known throughout the world. Yet, few realize that she, while undeniably talented,  initially succeeded by leveraging her status as a courtesan. As a company owner, it would be  an understatement to say that she was not known for her generous treatment of her  employees. During the Nazi occupation, she lived a privileged life at the Hotel Ritz and her  lover at the time was a German intelligence operative. Conversely, there is the example of Madeleine Vionnet, a professional contemporary of  Chanel. She is often credited with permanently transforming fashion through her use of the  bias cut—cutting material against the grain of the fabric. In the 1930’s, her gowns were worn  by Hollywood stars, and her standing was second to none. She was also, in many ways, an  early feminist, establishing largely unheard of employee benefits—such as day care and  medicalcare—for her largely female staff. In addition, she lobbied for fashion copyright  protections. When the Second World War broke out, she closed her business and simply  retired. Today, she is largely unknown outside of the fashion industry. 

1. The author wrote the passage to posit which of the following? 

(A) that the relationship between virtue and success is inverse 

(B) that an inferior designer was more successful than a superior one 

(C) to contrast the aesthetic of Chanel to that of Vionnet 

(D) to suggest that no causal relationship exists between personal qualities and professional  legacy 

2. The author discusses the employee benefits offered by Vionnet in order to 

(A) differentiate her from Chanel 

(B) illustrate Vionnet’s admirable qualities

(C) highlight the fact that virtues are no guarantee of success 

(D) demonstrate the economic burden of her decisions that might have led to her failure

3. The Pew research shows all but which of the following about millenials? 

(A) They are peculiarly fascinated with renown and riches 

(B) Getting wealthy is one of their top priorities in life 

(C) Their yearning for money and fame is not always evident 

(D) On average, they desire fortune more than fame 

4. Which of the following assertions about Chanel has been made by the author? (A) She was not talented, but just lucky to have become so renowned 

(B) Her success is attributable, at least in part, to her earlier profession 

(C) She worked with the Nazi camp and was associated with a German intelligence officer 

(D) She was generous to her employees

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/vxxOFIOGcj0

2396

RC Practice - 5th July

In 1977 the prestigious Ewha Women’s University in Seoul, Korea, announced the opening  of the first women’s studies program in Asia. Few academic programs have ever received  such public attention. In broadcast debates, critics dismissed the program as a betrayal of  national identity, an imitation of Western ideas, and a distraction from the real task of  national unification and economic development. Even supporters underestimated the  program; they thought it would be merely another of the many Western ideas that had already  proved useful in Asian culture, akin to airlines, electricity, and the assembly line. The  founders of the program, however, realized that neither view was correct. They had some  reservations about the applicability of Western feminist theories to the role of women in Asia  and felt that such theories should be closely examined. Their approach has thus far yielded  important critiques of Western theory, informed by the special experience of Asian women. For instance, like the Western feminist critique of the Freudian model of the human psyche,  the Korean critique finds Freudian theory culture-bound, but in ways different from those  cited by Western theorists. The Korean theorists claim that Freudian theory assumes the  universality of the Western nuclear, male-headed family and focuses on the personality  formation of the individual, independent of society. An analysis based on such assumptions  could be valid for a highly competitive, individualistic society. In the Freudian family drama,  family members are assumed to be engaged in a Darwinian struggle against each other— father against son and sibling against sibling. Such a concept projects the competitive model  of Western society onto human personalities. But in the Asian concept of personality there is  no ideal attached to individualism or to the independent self. The Western model of  personality development does not explain major characteristics of the Korean personality,  which is social and group-centered. The “self” is a social being defined by and acting in a  group, and the well-being of both men and women is determined by the equilibrium of the  group, not by individual self-assertion. The ideal is one of interdependency. In such a context, what is recognized as “dependency” in Western psychiatric terms is not, in  Korean terms, an admission of weakness or failure. All this bears directly on the Asian  perception of men’s and women’s psychology because men are also “dependent.” In Korean  culture, men cry and otherwise easily show their emotions, something that might be  considered a betrayal of masculinity in Western culture. In the kinship-based society of  Korea, four generations may live in the same house, which means that people can be sons and  daughters all their lives, whereas in Western culture, the roles of husband and son, wife and  daughter, are often incompatible. 

1. Which of the following is NOT necessarily true of the family structures in Western  and Korean cultures? 

(A) the former is based on the ideal of competition among the members while the latter is  based on the ideal of cooperation 

(B) a family member in the West would generally find himself torn between shouldering the  responsibilities of being a father and a son at once 

(C) a Western family man is more repressive than a Korean counterpart 

(D) domestic disharmony is more common in the Western families than in the Korean ones 

2. Which of the following best summarizes the content of the passage? 

(A) A critique of a particular women’s studies program 

(B) A report of work in social theory done by a particular women’s studies program 

(C) An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of a particular women’s studies program 

(D) An analysis of the philosophy underlying women’s studies programs

3. Which of the following conclusions about the introduction of Western ideas to  Korean society can be supported by information contained in the passage?

(A) Except for technological innovations, few Western ideas have been successfully  transplanted into Korean society. 

(B) The introduction of Western ideas to Korean society is viewed by some Koreans as a  challenge to Korean identity. 

(C) The development of the Korean economy depends heavily on the development of new  academic programs modeled after Western programs. 

(D) The extent to which Western ideas must be adapted for acceptance by Korean society is  minimal. 

4. It can be inferred from the passage that the broadcast media in Korea considered the  establishment of the Ewha women’s studies program 

(A) imitative 

(B) insignificant 

(C) newsworthy 

(D) praiseworthy 

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the position taken by some of the supporters  of the Ewha women’s studies program was problematic to the founders of the program  because those supporters 

(A) assumed that the program would be based on the uncritical adoption of Western theory 

(B) failed to show concern for the issues of national unification and economic development 

(C) were unfamiliar with Western feminist theory 

(D) accepted the universality of Freudian theory 

6. Which of the following statements about the Western feminist critique of Freudian  theory can be supported by information contained in the passage? 

(A) It recognizes that the Freudian theory is contextual 

(B) It was written after 1977. 

(C) It acknowledges the universality of the nuclear, male-headed family. 

(D) It challenges Freud’s analysis of the role of daughters in Western society 

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/wgZjHcvRjj8

2397

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2399

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2400

RC Practice - 7th July

Since the 1970s, economic and occupational insecurity has become a major problem for  American workers, their families, and their communities. While outsourcing, the busting and  decline of unionization and welfare supports, and the rise of immigration, the prison?industrial complex, and unemployment have brought increased competition and considerable  economic insecurity to working-class employees in the "traditional" blue-collar fields, there  is an increasing demand for service personnel, including clerical and retail occupations.  Sociologist Gosta Esping-Anderson describes these supervised service occupations as "junk  jobs," as they fail to pay living wages in the face of asset and price inflation, fail to pay  benefits, are often insecure, unstable, or temporary, and provide little work control and little  opportunity for skill development or advancement Since the early 1970’s, historians have begun to devote serious attention to the working class  in the United States. Yet while we now have studies of working-class communities and  culture, we know remarkably little of worklessness. When historians have paid any attention  at all to unemployment, they have focused on the Great Depression of the 1930’s. The  narrowness of this perspective ignores the pervasive recessions and joblessness of the  previous decades, as Alexander Robin shows in his recent book. Examining the period 1870- 1920, Robin concentrates on Massachusetts, where the historical materials are particularly  rich, and the findings applicable to other industrial areas. The unemployment rates that Robin calculates appear to be relatively modest, at least by  Great Depression standards: during the worst years, in the 1870’s and 1890’s, unemployment  was around 15 percent. Yet Robin rightly understands that a better way to measure the impact  of unemployment is to calculate unemployment frequencies—measuring the percentage of  workers who experience any unemployment in the course of a year. Given this perspective,  joblessness looms much larger. Robin also scrutinizes unemployment patterns according to skill level, ethnicity, race, age,  class, and gender. He finds that rates of joblessness differed primarily according to class:  those in middle-class and white-collar occupations were far less likely to be unemployed. Yet  the impact of unemployment on a specific class was not always the same. Even when  dependent on the same trade, adjoining communities could have dramatically different  unemployment rates. Robin uses these differential rates to help explain a phenomenon that  has puzzled historians—the startlingly high rate of geographical mobility in the nineteenth?century United States. But mobility was not the dominant working-class strategy for coping  with unemployment, nor was assistance from private charities or state agencies. Self-help and  the help of kin got most workers through jobless spells. While Robin might have spent more time developing the implications of his findings on  joblessness for contemporary public policy, his study, in its thorough research and creative  use of quantitative and qualitative evidence, is a model of historical analysis. 

1. The passage is primarily concerned with 

(A) recommending a new course of investigation 

(B) estimating unemployment rates in the latter half of 19th century United States 

(C) summarizing and assessing a study 

(D) comparing and contrasting two methods for calculating data 

2. The passage suggests that before the early 1970’s, which of the following was true of  the study by historians of the working class in the United States? 

(A) The study was infrequent or superficial, or both. 

(B) The study was repeatedly criticized for its allegedly narrow focus. 

(C) The study focused more on the working-class community than on working-class culture. 

(D) The study ignored working-class joblessness during the Great Depression.

3. According to the passage, which of the following is true of Robin’s findings  concerning unemployment in Massachusetts? 

(A) They tend to contradict earlier findings about such unemployment. 

(B) They are possible because Massachusetts has the most easily accessible historical  records. 

(C) They are the first to mention the existence of high rates of geographical mobility in the  nineteenth century. 

(D) They are relevant to a historical understanding of the nature of unemployment in other  states. 

4. Which of the following statements about the unemployment rate during the Great  Depression can be inferred from the passage? 

(A) It was sometimes higher than 15 percent. 

(B) It has been analyzed seriously only since the early 1970’s. 

(C) It can be calculated more easily than can unemployment frequency. 

(D) It has been shown by Robin to be lower than previously thought. 

5. The author views Robin’s study with 

(A) wary concern 

(B) polite skepticism 

(C) scrupulous neutrality 

(D) qualified admiration 

6. Which of the following, if true, would most strongly support Robin’s findings as they  are described by the author? 

(A) Boston, Massachusetts, and Quincy, Massachusetts, adjoining communities, had a higher  rate of unemployment for working-class people in 1870 than in 1890. 

(B) White-collar professionals such as attorneys had as much trouble as day laborers in  maintaining a steady level of employment throughout the period 1870-1920. 

(C) Working-class women living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, were more likely than  working-class men living in Cambridge to be unemployed for some period of time during the  year 1873. 

(D) In the 1890’s, shoe-factory workers moved away in large numbers from Chelmsford,  Massachusetts, where shoe factories were being replaced by other industries, to adjoining  West Chelmsford, where the shoe industry flourished.

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/N90d_SAqaYM

2401

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2402

RC Practice - 8th July

It is frequently assumed that the mechanization of work has a revolutionary effect on the lives of the  people who operate the new machines and on the society into which the machines have been  introduced. For example, it has been suggested that the employment of women in industry took  them out of the household, their traditional sphere, and fundamentally altered their position in  society. In the nineteenth century, when women began to enter factories, Jules Simon, a French  politician, warned that by doing so, women would give up their femininity. Friedrich Engels,  however, predicted that women would be liberated from the “social, legal, and economic  subordination” of the family by technological developments that made possible the recruitment of  “the whole female sex into public industry.” Observers thus differed concerning the social  desirability of mechanization’s effects, but they agreed that it would transform women’s lives. Historians, particularly those investigating the history of women, now seriously question this  assumption of transforming power. They conclude that such dramatic technological innovations as  the spinning jenny, the sewing machine, the typewriter, and the vacuum cleaner have not resulted in  equally dramatic social changes in women’s economic position or in the prevailing evaluation of  women’s work. The employment of young women in textile mills during the Industrial Revolution  was largely an extension of an older pattern of employment of young, single women as domestics. It  was not the change in office technology, but rather the separation of secretarial work, previously  seen as an apprenticeship for beginning managers, from administrative work that in the 1880’s  created a new class of “dead-end” jobs, thenceforth considered “women’s work.” The increase in  the numbers of married women employed outside the home in the twentieth century had less to do  with the mechanization of housework and an increase in leisure time for these women than it did  with their own economic necessity and with high marriage rates that shrank the available pool of  single women workers, previously, in many cases, the only women employers would hire. Women’s work has changed considerably in the past 200 years, moving from the household to the  office or the factory, and later becoming mostly white-collar instead of blue-collar work.  Fundamentally, however, the conditions under which women work have changed little since before  the Industrial Revolution: the segregation of occupations by gender, lower pay for women as a  group, jobs that require relatively low levels of skill and offer women little opportunity for  advancement all persist, while women’s household labor remains demanding. Recent historical  investigation has led to a major revision of the notion that technology is always inherently  revolutionary in its effects on society. Mechanization may even have slowed any change in the  traditional position of women both in the labor market and in the home. 

1. Which of the following statements best summarizes the main idea of the passage? 

(A) The effects of the mechanization of women’s work have not borne out the frequently held  assumption that new technology is inherently revolutionary. 

(B) Recent studies have shown that mechanization revolutionizes a society’s traditional values and  the customary roles of its members. 

(C) Mechanization has caused the nature of women’s work to change since the Industrial Revolution. 

(D) The mechanization of work creates whole new classes of jobs that did not previously exist. 

2. It can be inferred from the passage that, before the Industrial Revolution, the majority of  women’s work was done in which of the following settings? 

(A) Textile mills 

(B) Private households 

(C) Offices 

(D) Factories 

3. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would consider which of the following to be  an indication of a fundamental alteration in the conditions of women’s work? 

(A) Statistics showing that the majority of women now occupy white-collar positions

(B) Interviews with married men indicating that they are now doing some household tasks 

(C) Surveys of the labor market documenting the recent creation of a new class of jobs in electronics  in which women workers outnumber men four to one 

(D) Census results showing that working women’s wages and salaries are, on the average, as high as  those of working men 

4. The passage states that, before the twentieth century, which of the following was true of many  employers? 

(A) They did not employ women in factories. 

(B) They tended to employ single rather than married women. 

(C) They employed women in only those jobs that were related to women’s traditional household  work. 

(D) They resisted technological innovations that would radically change women’s roles in the family. 

5. It can be inferred from the passage that the author most probably believes which of the  following to be true concerning those historians who study the history of women? 

(A) Their work provides insights important to those examining social phenomena affecting the lives  of both sexes. 

(B) Their work can only be used cautiously by scholars in other disciplines. 

(C) Because they concentrate only on the role of women in the workplace, they draw more reliable  conclusions than do other historians. 

(D) While highly interesting, their work has not had an impact on most historians’ current  assumptions concerning the revolutionary effect of technology in the workplace. 

6. Which of the following best describes the function of the concluding sentence of the passage? 

(A) It sums up the general points concerning the mechanization of work made in the passage as a  whole. 

(B) It draws a conclusion concerning the effects of the mechanization of work which goes beyond the  evidence presented in the passage as a whole. 

(C) It restates the point concerning technology made in the sentence immediately preceding it. 

(D) It qualifies the author’s agreement with scholars who argue for a major revision in the  assessment of the impact of mechanization on society.

Answers of today's RC :- https://youtu.be/ZWl_94C7VZw