In the frames that follow, you will see a short passage

with some text missing either at the end or somewhere

in between.

Among the options given below the passage, choose

the one that best fits into the blank, keeping in view
the overall tone of the passage.
Particulars of caste, position and designation limit us. You belong
to the wider human fraternity but by focusing on being an Indian,
your identity gets reduced drastically. By considering yourself as
someone belonging to Uttar Pradesh, you further confine your
ambit._________________________.

(1) By regarding yourself as someone who belongs to North India,

you limit yourself further.
(2) By remembering, all the while, that you are proud to be an
Indian, you break free from a regional identity.
(3) By believing yourself as someone who belongs to Rae Bareilly,
you limit yourself further.
(4) By marrying outside your caste and adjusting to a diametrically
different culture than the one prevalent in your parental home, you
unshackle yourself from caste bonds.
See the passage once again: “Particulars of caste, position and designation
limit us. You belong to the wider human fraternity but by focusing on being an
Indian, your identity gets reduced drastically. By considering yourself as
someone belonging to Uttar Pradesh, you further confine your
ambit._________________________.”

According to the passage, even when you focus on being an Indian, your
identity gets reduced drastically.

Therefore Options 1, 2, and 4 will not work which talk about either regional
limitations, caste limitations, or being an Indian.

So Option 3: “By believing yourself as someone who belongs to Rae Bareilly,

you limit yourself further.”
The Swat valley is a pretty part of Pakistan.
Tourists used to flock there to take in serene
mountain views and enjoy the hospitality of
the generous local folk who were moderate in
their beliefs and attitudes. Today, Swat is a
base for militants. As Swat reels under the
floods that have devastated swathes of
Pakistan, the federal government and the
army are trying hard to provide relief and gain
back some of the confidence of local
residents.
They lost that support because, as press reports in Pakistan say, radicals
moved in by capitalizing on the locals’ ________ towards a government they
saw as distant and indifferent.

(1) hostility (2) indifference (3) concern (4) impassivity

A recent report on scientists tracking down to Indian
hospitals a drug-resistant super-bug that infects
patients and causes multiple-organ failure is
_______________, even if exaggerated.

(1) interesting (2) disconcerting (3) extremely alarming

(4) malicious
See the passage once again: A recent report on scientists tracking down
to Indian hospitals a drug-resistant super-bug that infects patients and
causes multiple-organ failure is _______________, even if exaggerated.
(1) interesting (2) disconcerting (3) extremely alarming (4) malicious.

When something is exaggerated, it is overstated. If someone were to tell

you that they had to camp out the whole night in an open car in -8
degrees C when they went to Mount Abu on 1st January last year, he may
have overstated the temperature. It might have been, say, -2 degrees
Celsius. But the fact remains that it was very cold. Similarly, the fact
remains that the super-bug very nearly causes multiple-organ failure.
That is why the report could either be disconcerting (disturbing) or
alarming (frightening). However, having known that the report is
exaggerated, it would be disturbing but not alarming.
For all its reported _________, not to speak of that veil of
secrecy that sometimes parts only to reveal stories of
surreal realities, North Korea might just have come up
with a brilliant idea that could have implications for global
trade and how nations can diplomatically put each other
down. The communist state has apparently offered to
pay off an old debt, not in cash but with ginseng,
supposedly aphrodisiacally-inclined roots.

(1) radiance (2) openness (3) drabness (4) hostility

Look at the passage once again: For all its reported _________, not to
speak of that veil of secrecy that sometimes parts only to reveal stories of
surreal realities, North Korea might just have come up with a brilliant idea
that could have implications for global trade and how nations can
diplomatically put each other down. The communist state has apparently
offered to pay off an old debt, not in cash but with ginseng, supposedly
aphrodisiacally-inclined roots. (1) radiance (2) openness (3) drabness (4)
hostility.

Imagine that someone says about his brother as follows: “For all his
apparent sympathy towards our old aunt, the real reason behind his visiting
her so frequently is to get her to will her property to him.”

What does the word “for” mean here”? It means “notwithstanding”.

Look at the passage once again: For all its reported _________, not to
speak of that veil of secrecy that sometimes parts only to reveal stories of
surreal realities, North Korea might just have come up with a brilliant idea
that could have implications for global trade and how nations can
diplomatically put each other down. The communist state has apparently
offered to pay off an old debt, not in cash but with ginseng, supposedly
aphrodisiacally-inclined roots. (1) radiance (2) openness (3) drabness (4)
hostility.

Who is that “it” in “….its reported___, ….”? North Korea, of course.

If North Korea might come up with a brilliant idea notwithstanding something

in the blank, the word in the blank should be opposite in meaning to
“brilliant”. Only DRABNESS will work.
It’s the final countdown for the Commonwealth Games’ October 2010
curtain-raiser. Yet, here we are, still plugging leaks, fixing collapses and
shoveling debris at Games venues.

Merry England, meantime, is discussing ________ stuff. Like whether the

Beatles or Rolling Stones will do the kick-off gig at the London Olympics
in futuristic 2012!

In that clash of the musical Titans, one side will exit, sighing Stones-like:
“You can’t always get what you want…”

(1) esoteric (2) futuristic (3) concrete (4) musical

Let us see the relevant portion of the passage: It’s the final countdown for
the Commonwealth Games’ October 2010 curtain-raiser. Yet, here we are,
still plugging leaks, fixing collapses and shoveling debris at Games venues.
Merry England, meantime, is discussing ________ stuff. Like whether the
Beatles or Rolling Stones will do the kick-off gig at the London Olympics in
futuristic 2012!
(1) esoteric (2) futuristic (3) concrete (4) musical.

We are still plugging leaks, fixing collapses and shoveling debris at the
Games venues. The word “meantime” in “Merry England, meantime, is
discussing _____ stuff” indicates that England is doing something other than
doing routine work, that England is doing something other than construction
and repairs and so on. What, therefore, England is doing is something
abstract. That is why Option 1 will do very well. “Futuristic” means
“something pertaining to the future” and if employed in the blank would be
stressing the obvious (such as asking the ice-cream vendor for “cold” ice-
cream) and hence would be logically inappropriate.
Prof. Smith once posed this question to his students at
Cambridge:

“In the year 1928, there were four dates, which, written in
the well-known manner of DD/MM/YY, the day multiplied
by the month will be equal to the year. These are
28/1/28, 14/2/28, 7/4/28 and 4/7/28. In this century,
1901-2000, inclusive, which year gives the largest
number of dates that complies with the above condition?”
As regards DD/MM/YY, where DD*MM=YY, for DD the limit is 31, for MM the
limit is 12 and hence with these two limitations, the largest number of dates
that comply with the above condition is 1924. As such the matter is about the
highest number if factors of YY, which would be highest in the case of 1996
but because of the constraints, 1924 will have the largest number of dates
that comply with the conditions stated in the question.
If one-fifth of the number of children out on a picnic to the
seashore is busy making sandcastles, one-third of these
schoolchildren is playing beach-volleyball and three
times the difference between those making sandcastles
and those playing beach volleyball is out surfing, and
three little girls from this group of schoolchildren, is
playing hide and seek, how many are in this group of
schoolchildren?
If one-fifth of the number of children out on a picnic to the seashore is busy
making sandcastles, and one-third of these schoolchildren is playing beach-
volleyball, this means the number of children in the group is a multiple of
both 3 and 5, the least of which is 15.

So if there are 15 children, 3 are making sandcastles, 5 are playing beach

volleyball then 6 are surfing. This should mean that there would be one left
from a group of 15. If there are 3 left, the group had 45 students.
Grandpa:

"My grandson is about as many days as my son is

weeks, and my grandson is as many months as I am in
years. My grandson, my son and I together are 160
years. Can you tell me my age in years?"
The ratio of the age of the grandpa: the age of the father: the age of the
grandson is 12:7:1.

If their ages add up to 160, the grandfather is 96, the son is 56 and the son
is 8 years old.
A naturalist, who was trying to pull the leg of Colonel Crackham,
said that he had been investigating the question of blindness in
bats.

“I find,” he said, “that their long habit of sleeping in dark corners

during the day, and only going abroad (meaning travelling far and
wide) at night, has really led to great prevalence of blindness
among them, though some had perfect sight and others could see
out of one eye. Two of my bats could see out of the right eye, just
three could see out of the left eye, four could not see out of the
left eye, and five could not see out of the right eye.”

What is the smallest number of bats that he must have examined

in order to get these results?
 3 bats that 2 bats that
could see out 2 bats that
could see out
of the left eye were
of the right
alone completely
eye alone
blind

The least possible number of bats was 7 as per the above Venn Diagram.
The square root of half of the total number of bees in a
swarm has flown far out to a Jasmine bush; one female
bee is trying to rescue a male bee that is buzzing within
the lotus flower into which he was allured by its
fragrance but is now imprisoned in it, whereas 8/9 th of
the total number of bees in that swarm is watching the
lone female bee doing the rescue act as above. How
many bees were in the swarm if the total number of bees
in the swarm is less than 300?
Since 8/9th of the number of bees is watching the rescue act, the total
number of bees is divisible by 9. Secondly half of the number is a perfect
square. The square root of a number divisible by 9 would always be divisible
by 3. So the number of bees out to the jasmine bush could be 3 (when the
total number of bees would be 18), 6(when the total number of bees would
be 72), 9(when the total number of bees would be 162), or 12 (when the
total number of bees would be 288). So the number of bees, which is less
than 300, could be 18, 72, 162, and 288.

If the number of bees were to be 18 and the square root of half of the total
number of bees has flown to a Jasmine bush, this means 3 bees are out to
the jasmine bush, two bees are around the lotus and that leaves 13 bees
watching the rescue. Is 13 the 8/9th of 18? No.
The number of bees, which is less than 300, could be 18, 72, 162, and 288.

If the number of bees were to be 72 and the square root of half of the total
number of bees has flown to the Jasmine bush, this means 6 bees are out
to the jasmine bush, two bees are around the lotus and that leaves 64 bees
watching the rescue. Is 64 the 8/9th of 72? Oh yes, is its. So the answer is:
72 bees in the swarm.