Passage (Q.1 – Q.
4)
he house stood at the edge of the moor, its walls the color of old parchment, worn thin by
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decades of salt-laden winds. From the distance it appeared proud, almost defiant; yet on
approaching, one sensed an air of exhaustion—as though the stones themselves had grown
weary of withstanding time. A solitary lantern swung from the porch beam, its light trembling in
the draught like a pulse about to fail.
ithin, Mrs. Ellison kept her vigil beside a fire that had long since shrunk to embers. She had
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lived here since her girlhood, and habit had hardened into ritual: tea at six, shutters drawn by
seven, silence thereafter. Visitors rarely came, for the road was rough and the landscape
desolate. Yet she refused to abandon the house, declaring that it was “the last honest thing left
in a dishonest world.”
onight the wind carried a sound she could not name—half whisper, half lament. It rose and fell
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with the sighing of the chimney, and each time it passed, the flame fluttered low, as if paying
homage. She listened, not with fear but with recognition, for she had always felt that the moor
possessed a voice of its own. It spoke of losses that never healed and of secrets buried beneath
the heather.
er late husband’s portrait hung above the mantel, stern and unsmiling. Once, the eyes had
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seemed merely watchful; now they appeared accusatory, reflecting the shimmer of the dying
fire. “You can rest easy,” she murmured, “the house still stands.” But even as she spoke, a pane
rattled loose and a cold gust extinguished the last flicker of flame. For a moment, darkness
reigned—complete, absolute—until the moonlight crept through the cracked window like a
trespasser. Mrs. Ellison drew her shawl tight, not from chill but from the sudden certainty that
the house was remembering her, even as she tried to forget herself within it.
Questions
1. W
hich of the following best captures thecentral ideaof the passage?
(a) The endurance of material structures outlasting the fragility of human memory.
(b) The futility of nostalgia in confronting natural decay.
(c) The loneliness of age mirrored in the desolation of one’s surroundings.
(d) The triumph of human will over the inevitability of loss.
2. T
he phrase“the moonlight crept through the crackedwindow like a trespasser”
exemplifies whichliterary device?
(a) Metaphor (b) Simile (c) Personification (d) Irony
3. T
hetoneof the passage can best be described as—
(a) Reverential and celebratory
(b) Brooding and elegiac
( c) Detached and journalistic
(d) Bitterly satirical
4. In the context of the sentence“habit had hardenedinto ritual”, the wordritualmost
nearly means—
(a) Religious devotion
(b) A mechanical routine invested with meaning
(c) A ceremonial celebration
(d) A formal prohibition
Passage (Q.5 – Q.8)
he telegram reached Calcutta an hour before dusk. Its arrival caused a flurry among the
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servants, who had never before witnessed a message borne on such official paper. Within the
stately drawing room of the Basu household, the patriarch read it twice before placing it upon
the teak table with a sigh that seemed to echo the slow collapse of an era. “The viceroy has
accepted the resignation,” he said simply. His sons exchanged glances—one of relief, the other
of dread.
or thirty years, Basu & Sons had supplied indigo dyes to the colonial administration. Now, with
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the British departure imminent, the markets trembled like a ship in rough monsoon waters. The
younger son, Arjun, had returned from Oxford aflame with talk of socialism and self-reliance.
The elder, Pratap, spoke of stability, of keeping the old contracts alive under Indian officers who
would surely value “continuity.” Between them sat their father, silent, his fingers tracing the faint
blue stains that years of commerce had pressed into his skin.
utside, the street swelled with the restless noise of independence—conch shells, slogans, and
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the confused laughter of a people tasting freedom for the first time. Arjun stepped to the
balcony, the tricolor fluttering above his head. “This is the new dawn,” he declared. But his
father’s gaze followed the smoke rising from the factory chimneys beyond the river. “Dawn,” he
murmured, “is only beautiful until you must work beneath it.”
hen darkness fell, the house remained divided not by affection but by purpose. In the stillness,
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the telegram lay where it had fallen, its crisp folds slowly loosening in the humidity—an emblem
of a country itself uncoiling from the grip of another’s hand.
Questions
5. W
hich of the following best expresses thecentralconflictin the passage?
(a) A generational struggle between tradition and transformation at the threshold of
independence.
(b) A political dispute between colonial officers and Indian industrialists.
(c) A moral debate about the fairness of foreign trade laws.
(d) An internal rebellion against British military control.
6. T
he imagery of“the markets trembled like a ship inrough monsoon waters”primarily
serves to—
(a) Depict the decline of maritime commerce in Bengal.
(b) Symbolize the instability of economic transition.
(c) Criticize the greed of the merchant class.
(d) Emphasize the dangers of industrial pollution.
7. T
he author’stonetoward the patriarch is best describedas—
(a) Mocking yet affectionate.
(b) Respectful but elegiac, evoking quiet resignation.
(c) Coldly analytical, focusing on business logic.
(d) Indignant and accusatory.
8. In the sentence“an emblem of a country itself uncoilingfrom the grip of another’s hand,”
the worduncoilingmost nearly conveys—
(a) Gradual liberation from restraint.
(b) A violent overthrow of authority.
(c) Physical separation without freedom.
(d) Regression into chaos.
Passage 3 – Modern Non-fiction (Analytical / Philosophical)
uman cognition, in its inexorable pursuit of coherent meaning, perpetually oscillates between
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the solace proffered by deterministic paradigms and the vertiginous abyss of existential
indeterminacy. The dialectic between Cartesian dualism and contemporary neurophilosophical
inquiry elucidates an enduring ontological tension: the reconciliation of subjective
phenomenology with ostensibly objective causal processes. Determinism, in its multitudinous
iterations, affords predictive elegance yet imperils the conceptual edifice of moral responsibility;
by contrast, the acknowledgment of ontological contingency amplifies ethical stakes, compelling
a relentless interrogation of agency, consequence, and authenticity. Within this liminal nexus,
modern epistemology flourishes, interrogating the paradoxical interplay of freedom and
constraint, certainty and ambiguity, knowledge and the ineffable. The intellectual challenge
resides not merely in apprehending these abstractions but in negotiating their practical
implications for human conduct in a world simultaneously governed by laws and permeated by
randomness.
Questions:
1. W
hich philosophical dilemma is central to the passage?
A. Reconciling determinism with ethical responsibility
B. Integrating phenomenology with postmodernism
C. Aligning Cartesian metaphysics with social epistemology
D. Evaluating neural mechanics against moral relativism
2. T
he “liminal nexus” primarily refers to:
A. A physical threshold between experience and cognition
B. The conceptual space mediating freedom and determinism
C. A neural correlate of subjective awareness
D. A deterministic framework for ethical decision-making
3. H
ow does the author contrast determinism and ontological contingency?
A. Determinism simplifies ethics; contingency complicates epistemology
B. Determinism offers predictability but diminishes moral agency; contingency heightens
ethical responsibility
C. Contingency supports dualism; determinism undermines it
D. Both are equally reconcilable within neurophilosophy
4. T
he passage implies that understanding these philosophical tensions is important
because:
A. It facilitates mastery over subjective consciousness
B. It provides insight into practical human conduct under uncertainty
C. It resolves the Cartesian mind-body problem
D. It eliminates randomness from moral deliberation
Passage 4 – Reflective / Motivational Personal Essay
here are rare interstices in quotidian existence wherein the ostensibly mundane transmutes
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into a locus of profound revelation. On a morning saturated with the delicate scent of dew and
the latent melancholy of pre-dawn stillness, I experienced a subtle lucidity—a cognizance not of
sweeping epistemic truths, but of the ineffable elegance embedded within ephemeral quotidian
patterns. Such revelations, often imperceptible amidst the cacophony of deliberate ambition,
underscore a persistent paradox: the profundity of life is less a function of extraordinary events
than an acute attunement to ordinary occurrences. The cultivation of such perceptual acuity
demands an attentiveness that is both deliberate and paradoxically effortless; one must oscillate
between active engagement and receptive passivity, permitting experience to impart its insights
without succumbing to compulsive analysis. In recognizing the intrinsic significance of otherwise
trivial phenomena, one apprehends a form of agency distinct from conventional exertion—a
quiet, reflective mastery over perception itself.
Questions:
1. T
he passage primarily emphasizes:
A. The pursuit of monumental achievements
B. The ethical imperative of deliberate action
. The recognition of subtle profundity in ordinary experiences
C
D. The inefficacy of human cognition in everyday life
2. T
he paradoxical attentiveness described implies:
A. Analytical reasoning is incompatible with reflection
B. Both deliberate engagement and receptive passivity are necessary for insight
C. Reflection negates ordinary experience
D. Extraordinary events are prerequisites for lucidity
3. T
he “form of agency” mentioned in the passage refers to:
A. External control over events
B. Cognitive mastery over perception and awareness
C. Ethical decision-making in social contexts
D. Physical exertion towards meaningful goals
4. W
hich of the following best captures the author’s perspective on ordinary experiences?
A. They are inherently insignificant
B. They require philosophical abstraction to be meaningful
C. They harbor subtle, often overlooked profundity
D. They are less instructive than deliberate ambition
Passage 5 – Satirical / Persuasive Opinion Piece
In the contemporary theatre of public discourse, one observes a peculiar alchemy
whereby reason is frequently transmuted into spectacle, and substantive debate
succumbs to performative verbiage. Political actors, journalists, and social
commentators alike seem enraptured by the aesthetics of outrage, exploiting visceral
reaction in lieu of dialectical rigor. This phenomenon, paradoxically, renders the
populace simultaneously omniscient and infantilized: inundated with information yet
incapable of discerning veracity, informed yet inured to the exigencies of critical thought.
The consequences extend beyond ephemeral indignation; they engender a cultural
milieu wherein truth becomes negotiable, ethical standards pliable, and civic
engagement performative. One might posit, tongue in cheek, that the age of
enlightenment has been supplanted by an epoch of rhetorical gladiatorship, wherein the
efficacy of argument is measured less by its veracity than by the velocity with which it
provokes emotional contagion. Thus, the persuasive imperative of contemporary
discourse is not to elucidate but to astonish, not to illuminate but to captivate, leaving
the discerning reader to navigate a labyrinth of artifice and hyperbole.
Questions:
1. T
he author’s central concern about contemporary discourse is that:
A. It is excessively logical and unemotional
B. Spectacle often supplants reason and truth
. Journalistic standards are overly rigid
C
D. Civic engagement is overly analytical
2. T
he phrase “omnipresent yet infantilized” implies:
A. The public is both informed and intellectually incapacitated
B. Citizens have complete autonomy over knowledge
C. Information dissemination has declined
D. Reason has replaced emotional response
3. W
hat does the author suggest about the role of emotion in modern
argumentation?
A. Emotion is subordinated to empirical evidence
B. Emotional provocation has become a measure of rhetorical success
C. Emotional response is irrelevant to persuasion
D. Emotion and reason coexist harmoniously
4. T
he “labyrinth of artifice and hyperbole” refers to:
A. The complex architecture of logical discourse
B. The difficulty of discerning truth amid rhetorical exaggeration
C. Ethical frameworks guiding civic engagement
D. Objective analysis of journalistic content
Passage 6 – Contemporary Cultural / Psychological Reflection
odernity, for all its technological triumphs and ostensible rationality, has paradoxically
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precipitated a widespread psychological malaise, a pervasive sense of alienation that
belies the veneer of connectivity. Social networks, streaming media, and ceaseless
informational influx ostensibly promise engagement, yet the resultant experience is
frequently a simulacrum: a curated identity imposed upon the self, a perpetual
performance that obscures authentic relational and introspective encounters. The
individual is caught between two antagonistic imperatives: the compulsive
documentation of existence and the yearning for unmediated experience, leading to a
fragmentation of attention and a subtle erosion of existential coherence. Cognitive
scientists have begun to observe the attendant consequences: diminished capacity for
sustained reflection, heightened anxiety, and an attenuated sense of agency. Yet within
this maelstrom, there exists the possibility of resistance: deliberate disengagement,
mindfulness, and an intentional cultivation of meaningful experience may restore a
measure of cognitive and emotional equilibrium. Modern culture, then, is both a crucible
of distraction and an arena for the cultivation of selfhood, demanding unprecedented
discernment in the navigation of perception, desire, and identity.
Questions:
1. A
ccording to the passage, modern technology paradoxically:
A. Enhances genuine psychological well-being
B. Creates both connection and alienation
C. Reduces information overload
D. Strengthens sustained attention
2. T
he phrase “perpetual performance” most likely refers to:
A. Continuous artistic creation
B. The curation of one’s identity for social validation
C. Routine professional obligations
D. Automatic cognitive processing
3. W
hat is the primary consequence of the tension between documentation and
unmediated experience?
A. Increased social cohesion
B. Fragmentation of attention and erosion of existential coherence
C. Enhanced mindfulness
D. Elimination of anxiety
4. T
he author suggests that restoring equilibrium requires:
A. Complete rejection of modern technology
B. Deliberate engagement in authentic experiences and mindfulness
C. Increased consumption of media content
D. Acceptance of perpetual distraction as inevitable
