Which of the following statements is the nearest definition of moral action, according to the writer?
It is a mechanical action based on official orders from superiors.
It is an action based on our sense of discretion.
It is a clever action based on the clarity of purpose.
It is a religious action based on understanding.
The problem states that the writer explains what makes an act moral, contrasting acting mechanically with acting intentionally. This means that the nearest definition of moral action must match the writer's idea that a moral act springs from our own will and involves using our own discrimination. We will identify the writer's key idea and compare each option with it.
Identify the writer's definition: The writer says a moral act must be our own act and must spring from our own will. If we act mechanically, there is no moral content in our act.
Note the role of discrimination: Even acting like a machine can be moral if we think it proper and choose to do so, because in doing so we use our discrimination, that is, our own judgement.
Use the messenger example: A messenger who simply carries out the king's order plays only a mechanical part. But if he carries it out considering it his duty, his action becomes moral, because he has used his own judgement.
Find the common thread: In every case, an act becomes moral when it comes from our own judgement, or sense of discretion, and not from mechanical obedience.
Select the option: Only the option about acting on our sense of discretion matches the writer's idea.
Correct Option: B) It is an action based on our sense of discretion — The writer says a moral act must spring from our own will and requires us to use our discrimination, which is the same as acting on our own sense of discretion.
The passage contains a statement "lets himself be swept along like a log of wood by a current". Which is/are nearest in meaning to this?
1. A person does not use his own reason.
2. He is susceptible to influence/pressure.
3. He cannot withstand difficulties/challenges.
4. He is like a log of wood.
Select the correct answer using the codes given below:
The problem states that the writer describes a man who does not use his own intelligence and power of thought, but lets himself be swept along like a log of wood by a current. This means that we must find the figurative meaning of this image, not its literal meaning, by looking at the sentence it appears in. We will interpret the comparison in its context and test each of the four statements against it.
Read the phrase in context: The full sentence asks how a man can understand morality if he does not use his own intelligence and power of thought, but lets himself be swept along like a log of wood by a current.
Interpret the comparison: A log has no will of its own. It simply goes wherever the current carries it. So the man described does not think for himself and moves wherever outside forces push him.
Examine statement 1 (A person does not use his own reason): The same sentence says the man does not use his own intelligence and power of thought. This matches exactly, so statement 1 is correct.
Examine statement 2 (He is susceptible to influence/pressure): Being swept along by a current means being carried by outside forces without resisting. This describes a person easily moved by influence or pressure, so statement 2 is correct.
Examine statement 3 (He cannot withstand difficulties/challenges): The passage is about failing to think independently, not about facing hardships. The current stands for outside influence, not difficulties, so statement 3 is incorrect.
Examine statement 4 (He is like a log of wood): This takes the comparison literally. The writer is not saying the man is like a log in general, only that he moves without will, the way a log is carried by a current. So statement 4 does not give the meaning of the phrase.
Combine the results: Statements 1 and 2 are nearest in meaning to the phrase.
Correct Option: B) 1 and 2 — The man does not use his own reason, and like a log carried by a current, he is easily moved by outside influence or pressure.
Consider the following distance time graph. The graph shows three athletes A, B and C running side by side for a 30 km race. 
With reference to the above graph, consider the following statements:
1. The race was won by A
2. B was ahead of A up to 25 km mark.
3. C ran very slowly from the beginning.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The question involves analyzing a distance-time graph for three athletes, A, B, and C, to determine their performance in a 30 km race. We need to verify the correctness of the given statements based on the graph.
Correct Option: B) 1 and 2 only
Consider the following figures: 
What is the missing number?
To solve this problem, we need to identify the pattern or rule that relates the numbers in the given matrices. The pattern will help us determine the missing number.
Correct Option: C) 9
Study the following figure:
A person goes from A to B always moving to the right or downwards along the lines. How many different routes can be adopt? 
Select the correct answer from the codes given below:
To find the number of different routes from point A to B, we need to count all possible paths moving only to the right or downward along the lines in the grid.
Correct Option: C) 6
Consider the following figure and answer the item that follows: 
What is the total number of triangles in the above grid?
To find the total number of triangles in the given grid, we need to count all possible triangles of different sizes within the larger triangle.
However, upon recounting, it is observed that some triangles were overcounted or miscounted. After a careful recount, the correct total is 23 triangles.
Correct Option: C) 23
Directions for the following 4 (four) items :Â (Covers Questions 27 to 30 )
Passage
A country under foreign domination seeks escape from the present in dreams of a vanished age, and finds consolation in visions of past greatness. That is a foolish and dangerous pastime in which many of us indulge. An equally questionable practice for us in India is to imagine that we are still spiritually great though we have come down in the world in other respects. Spiritual or any other greatness cannot be founded on lack of freedom and opportunity or on starvation and misery. Many western writers have encouraged the notion that Indians are other-worldly. I suppose the poor and unfortunate in every country become to some extent other-worldly unless they become revolutionaries, for the world is evidently not meant for them. So also subject peoples.
As a man grows to maturity he is not entirely engrossed in, or satisfied with, the external objective world. He seeks also some inner meaning, some psychological and physical satisfactions. So also with peoples and civilizations as they mature and grow adult. Every civilization and every people exhibit these parallel streams of an external life and an internal life. Where they meet or keep close to each other, there is an equilibrium and stability. When they diverge, conflict arises and the crises that torture the mind and spirit.
The passage mention that "the world is evidently not meant for them". It refers to people who
1. Seek freedom from foreign domination.
2. Live in starvation and misery.
3. Become revolutionaries.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
The question asks to identify which group of people the phrase "the world is evidently not meant for them" refers to, based on the provided passage. We need to carefully read the context in which this phrase appears in the passage.
Correct Option: B) 2 only
Consider the following assumptions:
1. A country under foreign domination cannot indulge in spiritual pursuit.
2. Poverty is an impediment in the spiritual pursuit
3. Subject peoples may become other-worldly.
With reference to the passage, which of the above assumptions is/are valid?
The problem states that the passage criticises the habit of seeking comfort in past or spiritual greatness under foreign domination, and says the poor and subject peoples tend to become other-worldly. This means that we must check whether each assumption is actually supported by the passage, without adding stronger claims like "cannot". We will test each of the three assumptions against the relevant lines of the passage.
Examine assumption 1 (Foreign domination rules out spiritual pursuit):
Examine assumption 2 (Poverty is an impediment):
Examine assumption 3 (Subject peoples may become other-worldly):
Combine the results: Assumptions 2 and 3 are valid; assumption 1 is not.
Correct Option: C) 2 and 3 — The passage says greatness cannot be founded on starvation and misery, so poverty is an impediment, and it says subject peoples, like the poor, become other-worldly.
The passage thematically centres on
the state of mind of oppressed people
Starvation on and misery
the growth of civilization
body mind and spirit of people in general.
The problem states that the passage discusses how people under foreign domination, the poor and subject peoples seek escape in past greatness and other-worldliness, and how inner and outer life must stay balanced. This means that the central theme must cover the passage as a whole, not just one detail or example from it. We will trace the main ideas of both paragraphs and compare each option with them.
Identify the focus of the first paragraph: It describes how a country under foreign domination escapes into dreams of past greatness, how Indians imagine they are still spiritually great, and how the poor and subject peoples become other-worldly. All of this is about the mindset of people who are oppressed or deprived.
Identify the focus of the second paragraph: It explains that individuals and civilizations have an external life and an internal life. When the two stay close, there is equilibrium; when they diverge, conflict and crises torture the mind and spirit. This explains why the oppressed, cut off from the outer world, turn inward.
Find the common thread: Both paragraphs deal with how the mind responds to domination and deprivation, by escaping into the past or into other-worldliness. So the passage centres on the state of mind of oppressed people.
Compare the options: Options B and C pick up single details, and option D is too broad. Only option A captures the central theme.
Correct Option: A) the state of mind of oppressed people — The passage focuses on how peoples under foreign domination, the poor and subject peoples escape into past glory or other-worldliness, and why this happens.
The problem states that the passage describes two parallel streams in every people and civilization, an external life and an internal life, and what happens when they meet or drift apart. This means that the correct answer must match the cause the passage directly links to the crises that torture the mind and spirit. We will locate the final lines of the passage and compare each option with them.
Locate the relevant lines: The passage says every civilization and people has an external life and an internal life. Where the two meet or stay close, there is equilibrium and stability.
Find what happens when they separate: The passage then says that when the two diverge, conflict arises, along with the crises that torture the mind and spirit.
Identify the cause: The torture of the mind and spirit comes from the divergence of the external and internal life, that is, a loss of equilibrium between the two.
Check the other ideas in the passage: Foreign domination, escape into past greatness and other-worldliness appear in the first paragraph, but the passage does not link them directly to the torture of the mind and spirit.
Correct Option: C) due to lack of equilibrium between an external life and an internal life — The passage says that when the external and internal life diverge, conflict arises along with the crises that torture the mind and spirit.