Question 1

The passage describes how, throughout the ages, the businessman has helped build great cities, provided luxuries, supported artists with patronage, and raised the standard of living of fellow citizens, and then states that in recent centuries the bu…

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Introduction / Context: This is a theme detection question related to the role of the businessman in society and history. The passage notes that businessmen have helped build cities, offered luxuries, given patronage to artists, and raised the standard of living of their fellow citizens. It further states that businessmen have seeded the Industrial Revolution around the globe. We must choose the statement that best summarises what the passage is trying to convey about the businessman, without adding unrelated claims or ignoring the primary emphasis. Given Data / Assumptions: Businessmen have historically helped build civilisation s great cities. They have provided people with luxuries and artists with patronage. They have helped raise the standard of living of fellow citizens. They have seeded the Industrial Revolution in many parts of the world. The passage talks about social and civilisational impact, not about personal lifestyle. Concept / Approach: In theme detection, we look for the option that captures the passage central thrust. The passage emphasises the businessman as an agent who contributes to cities, culture, standards of living, and technological transformation through the Industrial Revolution. Therefore the core idea is the businessman contribution to society and civilisation. Options that focus only on his personal comfort or treat him mainly as a beneficiary of industrialisation do not reflect the main message. Step-by-Step Solution: Step 1: Identify verbs in the passage related to the businessman: helped build, provided, patronised, lifted, seeded. All of these indicate active contribution or initiative.Step 2: Examine option d. It states that the businessman has significantly contributed to the growth of civilisation. This directly frames the businessman as a contributor, matching the passage.Step 3: Examine option a. It focuses on luxurious life, which the passage does not mention at all. The passage is about benefits to others and to civilisation.Step 4: Examine option b. It treats the businessman as mainly a beneficiary of the Industrial Revolution, but the passage says that the businessman seeded that revolution, a creative and initiating role.Step 5: Examine option c. It limits the businessman to raising only his own standard of living, which contradicts the passage statement that he has lifted his fellow citizens.Step 6: Option e is wrong because one option clearly fits the passage. Verification / Alternative check: If we condense the passage into a single idea, it can be stated as: the businessman plays a central and positive role in building cities, supporting culture, improving living standards, and initiating industrial progress. Option d expresses this idea succinctly. Other options either misinterpret the businessman as a passive beneficiary or restrict the benefit to his personal life. The passage repeatedly emphasises actions directed toward society and civilisation, confirming that option d is best supported. Why Other Options Are Wrong: Option a introduces comfort and luxury of the businessman, which are not discussed in the text. Option b reverses the direction of influence; the passage credits the businessman with seeding the Industrial Revolution rather than being only its beneficiary. Option c says he raises only his own standard of living, directly contradicting the line about lifting fellow citizens. Option e is wrong because option d clearly reflects the central idea. Common Pitfalls: Many students look for statements that sound socially critical or flattering and choose them without carefully checking if they match the text. Another pitfall is ignoring strong verbs like helped build or seeded, which clearly indicate active contribution. By focusing on the businessman effect on civilisation rather than on his personal life, we recognise that the relevant answer is about contribution, not lifestyle. Final Answer: The businessman has significantly contributed to the growth and development of civilisation.

Question 2

The passage recalls Emerson view that the poet imagination makes him master of land, sea, and air, and then notes that what poets dream one day often becomes a technological reality for everyone, such as flight into outer space, which even early aer…

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Introduction / Context: This theme detection question connects poetry, imagination, and technological achievement. The passage mentions Emerson description of the poet as landlord, sealord, and airlord, whose imagination makes him master of land, sea, and air. It then observes that poet dreams of yesterday often become the practical achievements of today for all people, citing flight into outer space as an example that even the pioneers of aeroplanes might not have foreseen. We must determine which statement best reflects the central idea of imagination leading to real world achievement. Given Data / Assumptions: Poets use imagination to conquer land, sea, and air in a figurative way. Ideas that begin as poetic dreams can later turn into concrete technological achievements. Flight into outer space is an example of something that was once beyond imagination for early aeroplane inventors. The passage suggests a link between imagination and later practical realisation but does not say that every single imagination becomes reality. It also does not claim that outer space exploration is the final limit of technology. Concept / Approach: We look for the answer option that summarises this relationship between imagination and reality without exaggerating it. Statements that say all imaginations become reality overstate the point. Similarly, claims that human technological development has reached a final climax are not supported by the passage. The correct statement will acknowledge that many imagined possibilities have later been realised through ideas and hard work, without making universal or final claims. Step-by-Step Solution: Step 1: Examine option b. It says that what humans imagine is often not impossible and that through ideas and hard work they frequently transform such imaginations into reality. This captures both the role of imagination and the necessary effort.Step 2: Compare with the passage. The text explicitly says that a poet dream of yesterday becomes an actual achievement and reality for all, and it illustrates this with flight into outer space. This supports the idea that imagination and subsequent work can lead to major achievements.Step 3: Evaluate option a. It claims all imaginations become reality some day. The passage never suggests this universal statement; it only gives examples where imagination preceded achievement.Step 4: Evaluate option c. It narrows the idea to poetry and suggests that only seemingly impossible imaginations make a good poet. The passage does not evaluate what makes a good poet; it focuses on the general link between imagination and future reality.Step 5: Evaluate option d. It states that outer space exploration is the climax of technological development, a claim not made or implied by the text.Step 6: Since option b aligns with the passage and the others do not, option e is also incorrect. Verification / Alternative check: Paraphrase the passage in simple language: Poets imagine grand possibilities, and over time, some of these imaginative visions become real technologies, such as human flight and space travel. This is very close to the idea that many human imaginations are not impossible; with effort and innovation, humans often convert them into reality. Option b states exactly that. Options a and d overstate the case either by claiming universality or finality, which the passage carefully avoids. Why Other Options Are Wrong: Option a stretches the idea to all imaginations, which is not supported. Option c changes the focus from imagination becoming reality to a criterion for being a good poet, which the passage does not discuss. Option d introduces a new claim about the final climax of technology that is absent from the passage. Option e is wrong because option b fits the passage well. Common Pitfalls: A common error is to choose options that sound inspirational but go beyond what the text actually says. Another pitfall is treating a specific example, such as space travel, as if it were a claim about the ultimate limit of development. Reading carefully shows that the passage highlights the power of imagination combined with human effort, not universal success of every imagined idea or a final endpoint of technology. Final Answer: What humans imagine is often not impossible, and through ideas and hard work they frequently transform such imaginations into reality.

Question 3

The passage explains that the press should not be afraid to uphold and support just and righteous causes, to criticise the government in a healthy manner, and to protect the rights of workers and suppressed sections, while also giving a balanced vie…

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Introduction / Context: This theme detection question focuses on the responsibilities of the press in a democracy. The passage states that the press should support just causes, criticise the government in a healthy manner, protect the rights of workers and suppressed groups, and provide a balanced view so that people can form healthy public opinion. Based on this description, we must choose the option that best expresses the overall role of the press without adding claims that are not made in the passage. Given Data / Assumptions: The press should uphold and support just and righteous causes. The press should criticise the government in a healthy and constructive manner. The press must be vigilant in protecting the rights of workers and suppressed sections. The press should provide balanced coverage to help people form sound public opinion. Democracy requires informed citizens and open discussion. Concept / Approach: We need the option that summarises the described responsibilities of the press in a democratic context. The passage emphasises multiple tasks: watchdog role, support for justice, voice for the marginalised, and balanced reporting. This all points toward a broad, central role for the press in democracy. Statements that declare the press to be the only means of communication or that focus only on government use of press are too narrow or off target. The correct option should encompass the overall importance and responsibility of the press. Step-by-Step Solution: Step 1: Examine option c. It says that the press has a great role to play in a democracy. This matches the passage general emphasis on the multiple duties of the press.Step 2: Consider option a. It mentions freedom of the press as essential for democracy. Although this is a widely accepted idea, the passage does not directly discuss legal freedom or constitutional rights, only what the press should do.Step 3: Consider option b. It claims the press is the only means for governments to project policies. The passage does not mention government projections at all.Step 4: Consider option d. It states that the press can be used by governments for upliftment, which shifts focus from independent press action to government use of media, not described in the text.Step 5: Since option c neatly captures the broad and responsible role highlighted, option e, which rejects all statements, cannot be correct. Verification / Alternative check: Summarise the passage: Press must support just causes, criticise the government constructively, protect rights of weaker sections, and provide balanced information to form healthy public opinion. The natural conclusion is that the press plays a crucial and responsible role within a democracy. Option c expresses this directly. Option a, while normally true, emphasises legal freedom and constitutional necessity, which are not explicitly discussed. Therefore option c is the best supported statement. Why Other Options Are Wrong: Option a moves from described duties to an institutional requirement of freedom, which, though closely related, is not the passage direct focus. Option b restricts the press to a government mouthpiece, which contradicts the criticising and watchdog roles mentioned. Option d focuses on the government using the press as a tool, again ignoring its independence and critical functions. Option e is wrong because option c clearly summarises the intended message. Common Pitfalls: Many candidates automatically choose option a, since the idea that freedom of the press is essential for democracy is familiar from civics. However, examination passages often require precise matching rather than general knowledge. Another pitfall is to think of the press only as a channel for government policy, while this passage stresses its independent responsibilities toward justice, criticism, and public opinion formation. Final Answer: The press has a great and responsible role to play in a democratic system.

Question 4

You are given five statements about starting salaries of teachers and other professionals, age of first year teachers, and the relationship between education and salary. Each option lists a set of three of these statements. Identify the set of state…

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Introduction / Context: This question asks you to identify which set of three statements about starting salaries of teachers and other professionals is logically consistent. The statements discuss how the salary gap has changed, how much other professionals salaries have increased, whether starting teachers are underpaid, the role of formal education, and the age of first year teachers. Instead of choosing a single statement that follows from others, we are asked to select the group of three that fits together most coherently without contradiction and that presents a meaningful picture about teacher pay relative to other professionals. Given Data / Assumptions: Statement a: The gap between average starting salaries of teachers and those of other professionals has shrunk in recent years. Statement b: The average age of first year teachers is the same as it was in 1975. Statement c: Starting teachers are no longer underpaid. Statement d: The extent of a person formal education is a measure by which to determine salary level. Statement e: Over the last few years, average starting salaries of other professionals have increased by twenty percent. We assume teachers generally have education comparable to that of other professionals. Concept / Approach: To judge logical consistency in this context, we ask whether the statements in a given set can all be true at the same time and whether they combine to form a sensible picture about teacher pay. The best set will be the one where the statements reinforce each other rather than being unrelated or suggesting unresolved tension. We check each option by seeing how its three statements interact when taken together, particularly with respect to whether teachers remain underpaid relative to other professionals. Step-by-Step Solution: Step 1: Analyse the relation between a, e, and c. Statement e says other professionals starting salaries rose by twenty percent. If, despite this, statement a claims that the salary gap between teachers and others has shrunk, then teachers starting salaries must have increased by more than twenty percent, helping to remove earlier underpayment. Statement c explicitly concludes that starting teachers are no longer underpaid. All three statements therefore support a coherent scenario: teachers were underpaid earlier, but larger recent increases in teacher salaries, relative to those of other professionals, have reduced the gap and removed underpayment.Step 2: Examine sets involving d and b. Statement d introduces a general rule that education determines salary level. Statement b talks about age of first year teachers, which has no direct impact on whether they are underpaid or whether the gap has changed. Thus sets with b and d tend to be less focused on explaining changes in underpayment or salary gap.Step 3: Consider option c, which uses a, c, and b. Here, a and c do fit together, but b about age is largely irrelevant to the theme of fairness and salary gap. This set is consistent but does not explain why teachers are no longer underpaid as clearly as the combination of a, e, and c.Step 4: Notice that option a and option b effectively mention the same three statements in a different order, neither of which includes c, which is the direct statement about underpayment.Step 5: Since a coherent and focused picture emerges most strongly from combining a, e, and c, option d, which chooses this set, is the best answer. Verification / Alternative check: Imagine the situation described by statements a, e, and c numerically. If other professionals saw a twenty percent rise, and yet the gap between their starting salaries and those of teachers shrank, it means that teachers pay must have risen by more than twenty percent. That greater increase can plausibly move teachers from being underpaid to not underpaid, matching statement c. The three statements therefore form a logically consistent narrative: teachers were underpaid earlier, significant recent increases in their salaries have shrunk the gap and removed the underpayment. Why Other Options Are Wrong: Options a and b involve statements e, b, and d. These can be true together, but they do not directly address or explain whether teachers remain underpaid. They lack the clear link that c provides. Option c uses a, c, and b. While these can be consistent, the presence of b adds no explanatory power, and the absence of e makes it harder to understand how the gap shrank. Option e claims that none of the sets is consistent, which is incorrect because a, e, and c clearly support each other. Common Pitfalls: Students often treat logical consistency as meaning merely that statements are not explicitly contradictory, rather than also considering how well they fit together to explain a situation. Another pitfall is ignoring the numerical information in statement e and how it interacts with the shrinking gap in statement a. Recognising that a, e, and c combine to tell a coherent story about improved teacher pay allows us to see why option d is the most suitable choice. Final Answer: Statements a, e, and c taken together form a logically consistent set.

Question 5

In database systems such as SQL, a wildcard character used in a WHERE clause pattern can match multiple possible values. In which of the following situations is using a wildcard in a WHERE clause particularly useful?

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Introduction / Context: This question relates to basic SQL and database concepts. Wildcard characters such as percent and underscore are often used in WHERE clauses in SELECT statements to match patterns rather than exact values. The question asks when such wildcards are most useful, and the options contrast SELECT and CREATE statements and exact versus inexact matches. Understanding the typical use of the LIKE operator and wildcards is the key to answering this question correctly. Given Data / Assumptions: In SQL, the WHERE clause is used to filter rows returned by SELECT queries or, less commonly, to filter rows for UPDATE and DELETE. Wildcards are used with pattern matching operators such as LIKE. Wildcards help match unknown or variable portions of string values. CREATE statements are used to create tables, indexes, or databases, not to filter rows. The question specifically refers to a wildcard in a WHERE clause. Concept / Approach: A wildcard represents one or more unspecified characters in a pattern. In SQL, you normally use wildcards with LIKE in a SELECT statement when you only know part of a value or when you need to match a range of values that share some pattern. In CREATE statements, you define structure and do not filter data, so wildcards make no sense there. Similarly, when an exact match is required in a WHERE clause, wildcards are unnecessary. Therefore we look for the option that describes pattern based matching in a SELECT statement when the exact value is not fully known. Step-by-Step Solution: Step 1: Recall the syntax. A typical pattern matching query is SELECT * FROM customers WHERE name LIKE 'A%'; where percent is a wildcard for any sequence of characters.Step 2: Recognise the use case. We use such patterns when we do not know the full exact string, or when we want to match all values that start with, end with, or contain a certain substring.Step 3: Examine option a. It states that a wildcard in a WHERE clause is useful when an exact match is not possible in a SELECT statement and a pattern is needed. This matches the standard use of LIKE with wildcards.Step 4: Examine options b and c. They discuss CREATE statements, which do not use WHERE clauses to filter data values, so wildcards are irrelevant there.Step 5: Examine option d. It claims a wildcard is useful when an exact match is strictly necessary in SELECT, which is the opposite of how wildcards are used.Step 6: Option e claims wildcards are useful when no condition is required in the WHERE clause, which contradicts the idea of using a WHERE clause at all. Verification / Alternative check: Consider a realistic situation where a user wants all records where the product code begins with the letters CA but may have different numbers afterward. Using a WHERE clause with code LIKE 'CA%' is a textbook example of wildcard usage in a SELECT statement when you cannot or do not want to specify complete exact codes. This scenario matches option a precisely and confirms that the main role of wildcards is for partial or pattern based matches in SELECT queries. Why Other Options Are Wrong: Options b and c refer to CREATE statements, which are for defining structures and do not use WHERE pattern matching on data. Option d claims wildcards are useful when exact matches are mandatory, which misrepresents their purpose. Option e is incorrect because if no condition is needed, the WHERE clause itself can be omitted, and wildcards have no role. Common Pitfalls: Students sometimes confuse the roles of different SQL statements and might think of wildcards as general features that can appear anywhere. It is important to remember that wildcards typically appear with LIKE in WHERE clauses of SELECT, UPDATE, or DELETE statements, and are rarely meaningful in CREATE statements. Another mistake is to think wildcards can improve exact matching; in fact, they are specifically for inexact or pattern based matching scenarios. Final Answer: When an exact match is not possible or not known in a SELECT statement and we need to match a pattern instead.

Theme Detection Questions