Arguments - Previous Year CAT/MBA Questions
The best way to prepare for Arguments is by going through the previous year Arguments CAT questions. Here we bring you all previous year Arguments CAT questions along with detailed solutions.
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It would be best if you clear your concepts before you practice previous year Arguments CAT questions.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
In a recent report, the gross enrolment ratios at the primary level, that is, the number of children enrolled in classes one to five as a proportion of all children aged 6 to 10, were shown to be very high for most states; in many cases they were way above 100 percent! These figures are not worth anything, since they are based on the official enrolment data compiled from school records. They might as well stand for ‘gross exaggeration ratios’.
Which one of the following options best supports the claim that the ratios are exaggerated?
- (a)
The definition of gross enrolment ratio does not exclude, in its numerator, children below 6 years or above 10 years enrolled in classes one to five.
- (b)
A school attendance study found that many children enrolled in the school records were not meeting a minimum attendance requirement of 80 percent.
- (c)
A study estimated that close to 22 percent of children enrolled in the class one records were below 6 years of age and still to start going to school.
- (d)
Demographic surveys show shifts in the population profile which indicate that the number of children in the age group 6 to 10 years is declining.
Solution
Discuss
ReportRead the passage and answer the question that follows it.
Szymanski suggests that the problem of racism in football may be present even today. He begins by verifying an earlier hypothesis that clubs’ wage bills explain 90% of their performance. Thus, if players’ salaries were to be only based on their abilities, clubs that spend more should finish higher. If there is pay discrimination against some group of players-fewer teams bidding for black players thus lowering the salaries for blacks with the same ability as whites-that neat relation may no longer hold. He concludes that certain clubs seem to have achieved much less than what they could have, by not recruiting black players.
Which one of the following findings would best support Szymanski's conclusion?
- (a)
Certain clubs took advantage of the situation by hiring above-average shares of black players.
- (b)
Clubs hired white players at relatively high wages and did not show proportionately good performance.
- (c)
During the study period, clubs in towns with a history of discrimination against blacks, under-performed relative to their wage bills.
- (d)
Clubs in one region, which had higher proportions of black players, had significantly lower wage bills than their counterparts in another region which had predominantly white players.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
The pressure on Italy’s 257 jails has been increasing rapidly. These jails are old and overcrowded. They are supposed to hold up to 43,000 people - 9,000 fewer than now. San Vittore in Milan, which has 1,800 inmates, is designed for 800. The number of foreigners inside jails has also been increasing. The minister in charge of prisons fears that tensions may snap, and so has recommended to the government an amnesty policy.
Which one of the following, if true, would have most influenced the recommendation of the minister?
- (a)
Opinion polls have indicated that many Italians favour a general pardon.
- (b)
The opposition may be persuaded to help since amnesties must be approved by a two third majority in the parliament.
- (c)
During a recent visit to a large prison, the pope, whose pronouncements are taken seriously, appeared for ‘a gesture of clemency’.
- (d)
Shortly before the recommendation was made, 58 prisons reported disturbances in a period of two weeks.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
The offer of the government to make iodised salt available at a low price of one rupee per kilo is welcome, especially since the government seems to be so concerned about the ill effects of non-iodised salt. But it is doubtful whether the offer will actually be implemented. Way back in 1994, the government, in an earlier effort, had prepared reports outlining three new and simple but experimental methods for reducing the costs of iodisation to about five paise per kilo. But these reports have remained just those-reports on paper.
Which one of the following, if true, most weakens the author's contention that it is doubtful whether the offer will be actually implemented?
- (a)
The government proposes to save on costs by using the three methods it has already devised for iodisation.
- (b)
The chain of fair-price distribution outlets now covers all the districts of the state.
- (c)
Many small-scale and joint-sector units have completed trials to use the three iodisation methods for regular production.
- (d)
The government which initiated the earlier effort is in place even today and has more information on the effects of noniodised salt.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
About 96% of Scandinavian moths have ears tuned to the ultrasonic pulses that bats, their predators, emit. But the remaining 4% do not have ears and are deaf. However, they have a larger wingspan than the hearing moths, and also have higher wingloadings- the ratio between a wing's area and its weight-meaning higher maneuverability.
Which one of the following can be best inferred from the above passage?
- (a)
A higher proportion of deaf moths than hearing moths fall prey to bats.
- (b)
Deaf moths may try to avoid bats by frequent changes in their flight direction.
- (c)
Deaf moths are faster than hearing moths, and so are less prone to becoming a bat's dinner than hearing moths.
- (d)
The large wingspan enables deaf moths to better receive and sense the pulses of their bat predators.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
Argentina’s beef cattle herd has dropped to under 50 million from 57 million ten years ago in 1990. The animals are worth less, too: prices fell by over a third last year, before recovering slightly. Most local meat packers and processors are in financial trouble, and recent years have seen a string of plant closures. The Beef Producers’ Association has now come up with a massive advertisement campaign calling upon Argentines to eat more beef -their “juicy, healthy, rotund, plate-filling” steaks.
Which one of the following, if true, would contribute most to a failure of the campaign?
- (a)
There has been a change in consumer preference towards eating leaner meats like chicken and fish.
- (b)
Prices of imported beef have been increasing, thus making locally grown beef more competitive in terms of pricing.
- (c)
The inability to cross breed native cattle with improved varieties has not increased, production to adequate levels.
- (d)
Animal rights pressure groups have come up rapidly, demanding better and humane treatment of farmyard animals like beef cattle.
Read each of the passage and answer the question that follows it.
The problem of traffic congestion in Athens has been testing the ingenuity of politicians and town planners for years. But the measures adopted to date have not succeeded in decreasing the number of cars on the road in the city centre. In 1980, an odds and evens number-plate legislation was introduced, under which odd and even plates were banned in the city centre on alternate days, thereby expecting to halve the number of cars in the city centre. Then in 1993 it was decreed that all cars in use in the city centre must be fitted with catalytic converters; a regulation had just then been introduced, substantially reducing import taxes on cars with catalytic converters, the only condition being that the buyer of such a ‘clean’ car offered for destruction a car at least 15 years old.
Which one of the following options, if true, would best support the claim that the measures adopted to date have not succeeded?
- (a)
In the 1980s, many families purchased second cars with the requisite odd or even number plate.
- (b)
In the mid-1990s, many families found it feasible to become first-time car owners by buying a car more than 15 years old and turning it in for a new car with catalytic converters.
- (c)
Post-1993, many families seized the opportunity to sell their more than 15 year-old cars and buy ‘clean’ cars from the open market, even if it meant forgoing the import tax subsidy.
- (d)
All of the above.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
Although in the limited sense of freedom regarding appointments and internal working, the independence of the Central Bank is unequivocally ensured, the same cannot be said of its right to pursue monetary policy without coordination with the central government. The role of the Central Bank has turned out to be subordinate and advisory in nature.
Which one of the following best supports the conclusion drawn in the passage?
- (a)
A decision of the chairman of the Central Bank to increase the bank rate by two percentage points sent shock-waves in industry, academic and government circles alike.
- (b)
Government has repeatedly resorted to monetisation of the debt despite the reservation of the Central Bank.
- (c)
The Central Bank does not need the central government’s nod for replacing soiled currency notes.
- (d)
The inability to remove coin shortage was a major shortcoming of this government.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
The Shveta-chattra the “White Umbrella” was a symbol of sovereign political authority placed over the monarch's head at the time of the coronation. The ruler so inaugurated was regarded not as a temporal autocrat but as the instrument of protective and sheltering firmament of supreme law. The white umbrella symbol is of great antiquity and its varied use illustrates the ultimate common basis of non-theocratic nature of states in the Indian tradition. As such, the umbrella is found, although not necessarily a white one, over the head of Lord Ram, the Mohammedan sultans and Chatrapati Shivaji.
Which one of the following best summarises the above passage?
- (a)
The placing of an umbrella over the ruler’s head was a common practice in the Indian: subcontinent.
- (b)
The white umbrella represented the instrument of firmament of the supreme law and the non-theocratic nature of Indian states.
- (c)
The umbrella, not necessarily a white one; was a symbol of sovereign political authority.
- (d)
The varied use of the umbrella symbolised the common basis of the non-theocratic nature of states in the Indian tradition.
Read the passage and answer the question that follows it.
The theory of games is suggested to some extent by parlour games such as chess and bridge. Friedman illustrates two distinct features of these games. First, in a parlour game played for money, if one wins the other (others) loses (lose). Second, these games are games involving a strategy. In a game of chess, while choosing what action is to be taken, a player tries to guess how his /her opponent will react to the various actions he or she might take. In contrast, the card-pastime, ‘patience’ or ‘solitaire’ is played only against chance.
Which one of the following can best be described as a “game?”
- (a)
The team of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary climbing Mt. Everest for the first time in human history.
- (b)
A national level essay writing competition.
- (c)
A decisive war between the armed forces of India and Pakistan over Kashmir.
- (d)
Oil Exporters’ Union deciding on world oil prices, completely disregarding the countries which have at most minimal oil production.
Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
Three airlines — IA, JA and SA — operate on the Delhi- Mumbai route. To increase the number of seats sold, SA reduced its fares and this was emulated by IA and JA immediately. The general belief was that the volume of air travel between Delhi and Mumbai would increase as a result.
Which of the following, if true, would add credence to the general belief?
- (a)
Increase in profitability of the three airlines.
- (b)
Extension of the discount scheme to other routes.
- (c)
A study that shows that air travellers in India are price-conscious.
- (d)
A study that shows that as much as 80 per cent of air travel in India is company-sponsored.
Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
Developed countries have made adequate provisions for social security for senior citizens. State insurers (as well as private ones) offer medicare and pension benefits to people who can no longer earn. In India, with the collapse of the joint family system, the traditional shelter of the elderly has disappeared. And the state faced with a financial crunch is not in a position to provide social security. So, it is advisable that the working population give serious thought to building a financial base for itself.
Which one of the following, if it were to happen, weakens the conclusions drawn in the above passage the most?
- (a)
The investible income of the working population, as a proportion of its total income, will grow in the future.
- (b)
The insurance sector is underdeveloped and trends indicate that it will be extensively privatized in the future.
- (c)
India is on a path of development that will take it to a developed country status, with all its positive and negative implications.
- (d)
If the working population builds a stronger financial base, there will be a revival of the joint family system.
Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
Various studies have shown that our forested and hilly regions and, in general, areas where biodiversity — as reflected in the variety of flora — is high, are the places where poverty appears to be high. And these same areas are also the ones where educational performance seems to be poor. Therefore, it may be surmised that, even disregarding poverty status, richness in biodiversity goes hand in hand with educational backwardness.
Which one of the following statements, if true, can be said to best provide supporting evidence for the surmise mentioned in the passage?
- (a)
In regions where there is little variety in flora, educational performance is seen to be as good as in regions with high variety in flora, where poverty levels are high.
- (b)
Regions which show high biodiversity also exhibit poor education performance, at low levels of poverty.
- (c)
Regions which show high biodiversity reveal high levels of poverty and poor educational performance.
- (d)
In regions where there is low biodiversity, at all levels of poverty, educational performance is seen to be good.
Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
Cigarettes constitute a mere 20 per cent of tobacco consumption in India, and fewer than 15 percent of the 200 million tobacco users consume cigarettes. Yet these 15 per cent contribute nearly 90 per cent of the tax revenues to the exchequer from the tobacco sector. The punitive cigarette taxation regime has kept the tax base narrow, and reducing taxes will expand this base.
Which of the following best bolsters the conclusion that reducing duties will expand the tax base?
- (a)
The cigarette manufacturers’ association has decided to indulge in aggressive promotion.
- (b)
There is a likelihood that tobacco consumers will shift to cigarette smoking if cigarette prices were to reduce.
- (c)
The cigarette manufacturers are lobbying for a reduction on duties.
- (d)
An increase in duties on non-cigarette tobacco may lead to a shift in favour of cigarette smoking.
Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
Thomas Malthus, the British clergyman-turned economist, predicted that the planet would not be able to support the human population for long. His explanation was that human population grows at a geometric rate, while the food supply grows only at an arithmetic rate.
Which one of the following, if true, would not undermine the thesis offered by Malthus?
- (a)
Population growth can be slowed down by the voluntary choices of individuals and not just by natural disasters.
- (b)
The capacity of the planet to feed a growing human population can be enhanced through biotechnological means.
- (c)
Human systems, and natural systems like food supply, follow natural laws of growth which have remained constant, and will remain unchanged.
- (d)
Human beings can colonize other planetary systems on a regular and ongoing basis to accommodate a growing population.
Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.
The company’s coffee crop for 1998-99 totalled 8,079 tonnes, an all-time record. The increase over the previous year’s production of 5,830 tonnes was 38.58 per cent. The previous highest crop was 6,089 tonnes in 1970-71. The company had fixed a target of 8,000 tonnes to be realized by the year 2000-01, and this has been achieved two years earlier, thanks to the emphasis laid on the key areas of irrigation, replacement of unproductive coffee bushes, intensive refilling and improved agricultural practices. It is now our endeavour to reach the target of 10,000 tonnes in 2001-02.
Which one of the following would contribute most to making the target of 10,000 tonnes in 2001-02 unrealistic?
- (a)
The potential of the productivity enhancing measures implemented up to now has been exhausted.
- (b)
The total company land under coffee has remained constant since 1969 when an estate in the Nilgiri Hills was acquired.
- (c)
The sensitivity of the crop to climatic factors makes predictions about production uncertain.
- (d)
The target-setting procedures in the company had been proved to be sound by the achievement of the 8,000 tonnes target.
Directions: For each of the two questions, indicate which of the statements given with that particular question is consistent with the description of the unseasonable man in the passage below.
Unseasonableness is a tendency to do socially permissible things at the wrong time. The unseasonable man is the sort of person who comes to confide in you when you are busy. He serenades his beloved when she is ill. He asks a man who has just lost money by paying a bill for a friend to pay a bill for him. He invites a friend to go for a ride just after the friend has finished a long car trip. He is eager to offer services which are not wanted, but which cannot be politely refused. If he is present at an arbitration, he stirs up dissension between the two parties, who were really anxious to agree. Such is the unseasonable man.
He tends to
- (a)
entertain women.
- (b)
be a successful arbitrator when dissenting parties are anxious to agree.
- (c)
be helpful when solicited.
- (d)
tell a long story to people who have heard it many times before.
The unseasonable man tends to
- (a)
bring a higher bidder to a salesman who has just closed a deal.
- (b)
disclose confidential information to others.
- (c)
sing the praises of the bride when he goes to a wedding.
- (d)
sleep late and rise early.
Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.
Unless you decide your whole life to it, you will never learn to speak the language of another country to perfection; you will never know its people and its literature with complete intimacy.
Which of the following is likely to undermine the above argument?
- (a)
I can speak 10 foreign languages already.
- (b)
I do not travel to foreign countries.
- (c)
I am happy with the languages I know and do not need to learn any other language.
- (d)
I should spend time to understand my own people and literature first, only then can I appreciate other languages and cultures.
Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.
The writer can only be fertile if he renews himself and he can only renew himself, if his soul is constantly enriched by fresh experience.
Which of the following is most likely to support the above thought?
- (a)
Only out of fresh experience can the writer get germs for new writing.
- (b)
The writer can meet new people.
- (c)
The writer must see new places.
- (d)
None of these
Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.
But because the idea of private property has been permitted to override with its selfishness, the common good of humanity it does not follow that there are not limits within which that idea can function for the general convenience and advantage.
Which of the following is most likely to weaken the argument?
- (a)
All the people of the society should progress at an equitable rate and there should be no disparities and private property does bring about a tremendous disparity.
- (b)
One should not strive for the common good of humanity at all, instead one should be concerned with maximising one's own wealth.
- (c)
One should learn from the experiences of former communist nations and should not repeat his mistakes at all.
- (d)
Even prosperous capitalist countries like the USA have their share of social problems.
Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.
Now the audience is a very curious animal. It is shrewd rather than intelligent. Its mental capacity is less than that of its most intellectual members. If these were graded from A to Z, decreasing with succeeding letters to the zero of the hysterical shop-girl, I should say its mental capacity would come around about the letter O.
According to the above statement,
- (a)
some members in the audience are more intelligent than any of its other members.
- (b)
the net intelligence of the audience is a little less than average.
- (c)
Only (a)
- (d)
Both (a) and (b)
Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.
I have been studying it, consciously and subconsciously, for 40 years and I still find men unaccountable; people I know intimately can surprise me by some action of theirs which I never thought them capable of or by the discovery of some trait which exhibit a side of themselves that I never even suspected.
The idea in this sentence can be best summarised as
- (a)
men are inconsistent and therefore one should not be confident even about one's closest friends.
- (b)
men are unpredictable, one can never tell what they will do next; hence, one should be very careful in one's dealings.
- (c)
no matter how closely you know somebody there still exists an unknown facet of his personality.
- (d)
None of these