IIFT 2015 Question Paper

1. The internal evaluation for Economics course in an Engineering programme is based on the score of four quizzes. Rahul has secured 70, 90 and 80 in the first three quizzes. The fourth quiz has ten True-False type questions, each carrying 10 marks. What is the probability that Rahul’s average internal marks for the Economics course is more than 80, given that he decides to guess randomly on the final quiz?
A. 12/1024
B. 11/1024
C. 11/256
D. 12/256

2. In 2004, Rohini was thrice as old as her brother Arvind. In 2014, Rohini was only six years older than her brother. In which year was Rohini bom?
A. 1984
B. 1986
C. 1995
D. 2000

3. If p, q and r are three unequal numbers such that p, q and r arc in A.P., and p, r-q and q-p are in G.P., then p:q:r is equal to:
A. 1:2:3
B. 2:3:4
C. 3:2:1
D. 1:3:4

4. If log255 = a and log2515 = b, then the value of log2527 is:
A. 3(b+a)
B. 3(1-b-a)
C. 3(a+b-l)
D. 3(1 -b+a)

5. During the essay writing stage of MBA admission process in a reputed B-School, each group consists of 10 students. In one such group, two students are batch mates from the same IIT department. Assuming that the students are sitting in a row, the number of ways in which the students can sit so that the two batch mates are not sitting next to each other, is:
A. 3540340
B. 2874590
C. 2903040
D. None of the above

6. The pre-paid recharge of Airtel gives 21% less talk time than the same price pre-paid recharge of Vodafone. The post-paid talk time of Airtel is 12% more than its pre-paid recharge, having the same price. Further, the post-paid talk time of same price of Vodafone is 15% less than its pre-paid recharge. How much percent less / more talk time can one get from the Airtel post-paid service compared to the post-paid service of Vodafone?
A. 3.9% more
B. 4.7% less
C. 4.7% more
D. 2.8% less

7. As a strategy towards retention of customers, the service centre of a split AC machine manufacturer offers discount as per the following rule: for the second service in a year, the customer can avail of a 10% discount; for the third and fourth servicing within a year, the customer can avail of 11% and 12% discounts respectively of the previous amount paid. Finally, if a customer gets more than four services within a year, he has to pay just 55% of the original servicing charges. If Rohan has availed 5 services from the same service centre in a given year, the total percentage discount availed by him is approximately:
A. 16.52
B. 20.88
C. 22.33
D. 24.08

8. A tank is connected with both inlet pipes and outlet pipes. Individually, an inlet pipe can fill the tank in 7 hours and an outlet pipe can empty it in 5 hours. If all the pipes arc kept open, it takes exactly 7 hours for a completely filled-in tank to empty. If the total number of pipes connected to the tank is 11, how many of these are inlet pipes?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 5
D. 6

9. In a certain village, 22% of the families own agricultural land, 18% own a mobile phone and 1600 families own both agricultural land and a mobile phone. If 68% of the families neither owm agricultural land nor a mobile phone, then the total number of families living in the village is:
A. 20000
B. 10000
C. 8000
D. 5000

10. In the board meeting of a FMCG Company, everybody present in the meeting shakes hand with everybody else. If the total number of handshakes is 78, the number of members who attended the board meeting is:
A. 7
B. 9
C. 11
D. 13

11. A firm is thinking of buying a printer for its office use for the next one year. The criterion for choosing is based on the least per-page printing cost. It can choose between an inkjet printer which costs Rs. 5000 and a laser printer which costs Rs. 8000. The per-page printing cost for an inkjet is Rs. 1.80 and that for a laser printer is Rs. 1.50. The firm should purchase the laser printer, if the minimum number of pages to be printed in the year exceeds
A. 5000
B. 10000
C. 15000
D. 18000

12. If in the figure below, angle XYZ = 90° and the length of the arc XZ = 10π. then the area of the sector XYZ is:

A. 10 π
B. 25 π
C. 100 π
D. None of the above

13. A chartered bus carrying office employees travels everyday in two shifts – morning and evening. In the evening, the bus travels at an average speed which is 50% greater than the morning average speed; but takes 50% more time than the amount of time it takes in the morning. The average speed of the chartered bus for the entire journey is greater / less than its average speed in the morning by:
A. 18% less
B. 30% greater
C. 37.5% greater
D. 50% less

14. If a right circular cylinder of height 14 is inscribed in a sphere of radius 8. then the volume of the cylinder is:
A. 110
B. 220
C. 440
D. 660

15. Seema has joined a new Company after the completion of her B.Tech from a reputed engineering college in Chennai. She saves 10% of her income in each of the first three months of her service and for every subsequent month, her savings are Rs. 50 more than the savings of the immediate previous month. If her joining income was Rs. 3000, her total savings from the start of the service will be Rs. 11400 in:
A. 6 months
B. 12 months
C. 18 months
D. 24 months

16. Sailesh is working as a sales executive with a reputed FMCG Company in Hyderabad. As per the Company’s policy, Sailesh gets a commission of 6% on all sales upto Rs. 1,00,000 and 5% on all sales in excess of this amount. If Sailesh remits Rs. 2,65,000 to the FMCG company after deducting his commission, his total sales were worth:
A. Rs. 1,20,000
B. Rs. 2,90,526
C. Rs. 2,21,054
D. Rs. 2.80,000

17. Three carpenters P, Q and R arc entrusted with office furniture work. P can do a job in 42 days. If Q is 26% more efficient than P and R is 50% more efficient than Q, then Q and R together can finish the job in approximately:
A. 11 days
B. 13 days
C. 15 days
D. 17 days

18. There arc two alloys P and Q made up of silver, copper and aluminium. Alloy P contains 45% silver and rest aluminium. Alloy Q contains 30% silver, 35% copper and rest aluminium. Alloys P and Q are mixed in the ratio of 1:4.5. The approximate percentages of silver and copper in the newly formed alloy is:
A. 33% and 29%
B. 29% and 26%
C. 35% and 30%
D. None of the above

19. A ladder of 7.6 m long is standing against a wall and the difference between the wall and the base of the ladder is 6.4 m. If the top of the ladder now slips by 1.2 m, then the foot of the ladder shifts by approximately:
A. 0.4 m
B. 0.6 m
C. 0.8 m
D. 1.2 m

20. The value of x for which the equation  will be satisfied, is:
A. 1
B. 2
C. 3
D. 4

21. The simplest value of the expression 
A. 4
B. 8
C. 4P
D. 8p

22. In a reputed engineering college in Delhi, students are evaluated based on trimesters. The probability that an Engineering student fails in the first trimester is 0.08. If he does not fail in the first trimester, the probability that he is promoted to the second year is 0.87. The probability that the student will complete the first year in the Engineering College is approximately:
A. 0.8
B. 0.6
C. 0.4
D. 0.7

SECTION-2 (Part-1)

Directions for questions 23-27: Solve the questions based on the information provided in the passage below:
Six engineers Anthony, Brad, Carla, Dinesh, Evan and Frank are offered jobs at six different locations – England, Germany, India, Australia, Singapore and UAE. The jobs offered are in six different branches, and are based on their competence as well as preference. The branches are IT; Mechanical, Chemical, Electronics, Metallurgy and Electrical, though not necessarily in the same order. Their placements are subject to the following conditions:
i. The engineer in the Electrical Department is not placed in Germany.
ii. Anthony is placed in Singapore while Dinesh in UAE.
iii. Frank is not in the Metallurgy Department but Brad is in the Chemical Department.
iv. Evan is placed in the Mechanical Department while Frank is offered a job in Australia.
v. The only department offering jobs in India is the Chemical Department while there are no vacancies for IT in Singapore.
vi. Anthony is interested in IT and Electrical Department while Frank is interested in IT and Mechanical Department. Both of them settle for the options available based on their interests in the locations allotted to them.
vii. In recent years, UAE has emerged as a hub for metallurgy exports and thus recruitment is done for the same while all mechanical posts arc in England.

23. Who joined the Electronics Department?
A. Dinesh
B. Anthony
C. Carla
D. Brad

24. The person placed in UAE is in the ____ Department
A. Electronics
B. Mechanical
C. Metallurgy
D. Chemical 7

25. Out of the following, which is the correct combination?
A. Anthony-Germany-Electrical
B. Brad-India-Chemical
C. Evan-England-Electronics
D. Frank-Australia-Metallurgy

26. Who joined the IT Department in Australia?
A. Frank
B. Carla
C. Evan
D. Brad

27. Which combination is true for Dinesh?
A. India-Electrical
B. UAE-Electronics
C. England-Metallurgy
D. UAE-Metallurgy

28. Based on the given statement, choose the right conclusion:
‘If the breakfast doesn’t have eggs, I will not go for a walk and will not have lunch.’
A. If I went for a walk and didn’t have lunch, the breakfast didn’t have eggs.
B. If I went for a walk or I had lunch, the breakfast had eggs.
C. If 1 went for a walk and had lunch, the breakfast had eggs.
D. If I didn’t go for a walk and had lunch, the breakfast had eggs.

Directions for question 29-32: Read the details below and answer the questions that follow.
Due to astrological reasons, a mother named all her daughters with the alphabet ‘K’ as Kamla, Kamlesh. Kriti, Kripa, Kranti and Kalpana.
i. Kamla is not the tallest while Kripa is not the most qualified.
ii. The shortest is the most qualified amongst them all.
iii. Kalpana is more qualified than Kamlesh who is more qualified than Kriti.
iv. Kamla is less qualified than Kamlesh but is taller than Kamlesh.
v. Kalpana is shorter than Kriti but taller than Kranti.
vi. Kriti is more qualified than Kamla while Kamlesh is taller than Kriti.
vii. Kripa is the least qualified amongst the daughters.

29. Who is the third tallest starting in decreasing order of height?
A. Kamla
B. Kamlesh
C. Kriti
D. Kranti

30. Who is the most qualified?
A. Kamlesh
B. Kriti
C. Kripa
D. Kranti

31. What is the rank of Kriti in increasing order of qualification?
A. 2
B. 3
C. 5
D. 4

32. What is the rank of Kamla in increasing order of height?
A. 3
B. 5
C. 4
D. 2

33. Based on the number series given, fill in the missing number.
18, 37, 76, 155,_____  ,633, 1272
A. 322
B. 314
C. 341
D. 250

Directions for questions 34-36: Based on the conditions stated in the passage below, answer the questions that follow.
There are three countries, USA, UAE and UK. An exporter can select one country or two countries or all the three countries subject to the conditions below:
Condition 1: Both USA and UAE have to be selected.
Condition 2: Either USA or UK, but not both have to be selected.
Condition 3: UAE can be selected only if UK has been selected.
Condition 4: USA can be selected only if UK is selected.

34. How many countries can be selected if no condition is imposed?
A. 6
B. 4
C. 7
D. 8

35. 1 low many countries can be selected to meet only condition 1?
A. 0
B. 2
C. I
D. 3

36. How many countries can be selected to meet only conditions 2 and 3?
A. 0
B. 2 or I
C. 0 or 1
D. None of these

37. Based on the following relations, which of the given options indicate that W is the niece of X?
A+B means that A is the brother of B.
A*B means that A is the father of B.
A-B means that A is the sister of B.
A. X+Y+Z-W
B. Z-W*Y+X
C. X+Y*W-Z
D. X*Y+W-Z

38. Alex walks 1 mile towards East and then he turns towards South and walks further 5 miles. After that he turns East and walks 2 miles further. Finally he turns to his North and walks 9 miles. How far is he from the starting point?
A. 25 miles .
B. 2 miles
C. 5 miles
D. 4 mile

39. From the given statements, choose the conclusions which follow logically:
Statements:
i. Some iphones are mobiles
ii. Some mobiles are ipads
iii. Some ipads are tablets
Conclusions:
i. Some tablets are iphones
ii. Some mobiles are tablets
iii. Some ipads are iphones
iv. All iphones are tablets
A. Only I & II follow
B. Only I, II & III follow
C. Only II & III follow
D. None of these

Directions for questions 40-42: Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow.
Export cargo of a trader can go through seven cities P, Q. R, S, T, U and V. The following cities have a two way connection i.e.. Cargo can move in both directions between them; S and U, P and Q, Q and R, V and T, R and T, V and U. Cargo can move only in one direction from U to Q.

40. If the trader wants the cargo to move from City S to City T then excluding cities S and T, what is the minimum number of cities that the cargo has to cross in transit?
A. 4
B. 3
C. 2
D. 5

41. It the trader wants the cargo to go to City U from City P through the longest route, how many cities will he be required to cross (excluding cities P and U)?
A. 2
B. 4
C. 3
D. 5

42. To move cargo from City P to City U, which of the following statements will minimise the number of cities to be crossed in transit?
A. Connect cities U to R with a two way connection
B. Connect cities P to S with a one way connection from cities S to P
C. Connect cities U to Q with a two way connection
D. Connect cities R to V with a two way connection

SECTION-2 (Part-2)
Directions for questions 43-47: Read the following information and tables and answer the questions that follow.
Torrent Enterprises sells air conditioners of Eagle Brand in the retail market of Delhi. The month-wise total number of Window Air Conditioner (WAC) units sold by Torrent during April 2014 to March 2015 are shown below in Table A. Table B shows the share of different types of WACs in total monthly sales for the said period.

43. What is the closest average number of 1 ½ ton Window ACs sold by Torrent Enterprises during April 2014 – March 2015?
A. 342
B. 338
C. 350
D. 330

44. The absolute difference between average annual sales (in units) of which pair of WACs type is the highest
A. 1 Ton and ½ Ton
B. 1 Ton and 2 Ton
C. 2 Ton and ½ Ton
D. 1 ½ Ton and ½ Ton

45. Which type of WAC has performed the second best in Half Yearly Sales Performance?
A. ½ Ton
B. 1 Ton
C. 1 ½ Ton
D. 2 Ton

46. In which of the months given below, the total WAC Monthly Sales Performance was the highest?
A. May 2014
B. June 2014
C. October 2014
D. February 2015

47. Which type of WAC has the least Sales Volatility?
A. ½ Ton
B. I Ton
C. 1 ½ Ton
D. 2 Ton

Directions for questions 48-52: Read the following information, graph and table and answer the questions that follow.
Ellen Inc. is a Mumbai based company which sells five products branded as A, B, C, D and in India. Anita looks after entire sales of North India working from regional office in Delhi. She was preparing for annual review meeting scheduled next day in Mumbai. She was attempting to analyse sales in North India for the seven year period from 2009 to 2015. She first calculated average sales in rupees of all the five brands and constructed a table exhibiting the difference between average sales of each pair of brands as shown in the following table:

After taking a print out of the above table, she attempted to look at the trend of sales and plotted a graph in MS Excel. Later she took a print out of the graph and left for a meeting. While on her way she figured out that due to some printer cartridge problem sales of Product A in 2013, Product C in 2010, and Product D in 2012 were not visible in the graph as reproduced below. Anita had to make some quick calculations to arrive at the information outlined in the following questions:

48. What are the sales of Product A in 2013, Product C in 2010 and Product D in 2012?
A. Rs. 550 Crores, Rs. 800 Crores and Rs. 500 Crores
B. Rs. 500 Crores, Rs. 700 Crores and Rs. 600 Crores
C. Rs. 500 Crores, Rs. 800 Crores and Rs. 600 Crores
D. Rs. 400 Crores, Rs. 800 Crores and Rs. 600 Crores

49. Annual sales average of all products is the least in which year?
A. 2010
B. 2011
C. 2012
D. 2013

50. Which product has the least average sales for the seven year period 2009-15?
A. Product A
B. Product B
C. Product D
D. Product F.

51. The difference between average sales of products for the period 2009-15 is the least for which pair of products?
A. Product A and Product B
B. Product B and Product C
C. Product C and Product D
D. Product D and Product E

52. If Year on Year (YoY) Growth is 
then the YoY growth of combined sales of all products has suffered maximum decline in which year?
A. 2010
B. 2011
C. 2013
D. 2015

Directions for questions 53-56: Read (he following information and graph, and answer the questions that follow.
An International Organisation produces a Competitive Index of countries every two years based on eight factors (Institutions. Infrastructure. Macroeconomic Environment, Higher Education, Market Efficiency. Technological Readiness. Business Sophistication and Innovation). The last three indices were developed in 2010, 2012 and 2014. The scores for all eight factors of XYZ country are shown in the graph below:

53. If Factor performance is measured as 0.30 x Factor Score in 2014 + 0.35 x Factor Score in 2012 + 0.35 x Factor Score in 2010, then which of the following has best Factor Performance?
A. Innovation
B. Business Sophistication
C. Infrastructure
D. Macroeconomic Environment

54. If Factor Performance is measured as 
then which of the following has best Factor Performance?
A. Innovation
B. Business Sophistication
C. Infrastructure
D. Macroeconomic Environment

55. Which of the following factors has the highest average score across indices of 2010, 2012 and 2014?
A. Infrastructure
B. Institutions
C. Technological Readiness
D. Market Efficiency

56. Which among the following factors had the least growth rate in 2014 versus scores of 2010?
A. Business Sophistication
B. Institutions
C. Technological Readiness
D. Infrastructure

Directions for questions 57-60: Read the following information and the accompanying graphs to answer the questions that follow.
spent $ 5,57.000 during last 12 months for online display advertisements, also called impressions, on five websites (Website A, Website B, Website C, Website D and Website E). In this arrangement, is the Destination Site, and the five websites are referred to as the Ad Sites. The allocation of online display advertising expenditure is shown in Graph A. The online display advertisements helped to get visitors on its site. Online visitors, visiting the Ad Sites, are served display advertisements of and on clicking they land on the Destination Site (Graph B). Once on the Destination Site, some of the visitors complete the purchase process (Graph C).

Quality traffic = No. of site visitors who start purchase on destination site/No. of visitors who click the online display advertisement
Leakage in online buying = 1 – Complete buying on the destination website/Start buying on the destination website
Efficiency of online display advertising expenditure on an Ad Site = No. of visitors from the Ad Site who complete the purchase process/Amount spent on the Ad Site

57. Which of following Ad Sites provide facility of least cost per advertisement?
A. Website A
B. Website B
C. Website D
D. Website E

58. Which Ad Site has provided maximum quality traffic?
A. Website A
B. Website B
C. Website D
D. Website E

59. Which Ad Site sent traffic to with maximum leakage?
A. Website B
B. Website C
C. Website D
D. Website E

60. On which Ad Site is the advertising budget spent most efficiently?
A. Website A
B. Website B
C. Website C
D. Website E

SECTION-3 (Part-1)

Directions for questions 61-76: Read the following passages carefully and answer the questions given at the end of each passage.

Passage 1
Because of the critical role played by steel in economic development, the steel industry is often considered, especially by the governments, which traditionally owned it, to be an indicator of economic prowess. World production has grown exponentially, but there were big highs and equally big lows all through the 1900s and up to 2002. Recovery from the two World Wars and the Great Depression of the 1930s caused massive disruption and lay-offs.
Over-capacity and low steel prices continued to play havoc through the 1970s and 1980s and politicians began to lose their belief that the wealth of a nation was directly coupled to its steel production.
This led to a wave of privatisations, as state-owned enterprises shed their financial liabilities to hungry capitalists. A whole new breed of steel-makers came into being using a new technology, the mini-mill. This used a smaller electric-arc furnace fed that just melts down ‘cold’ scrap. It was a cheaper process than the traditional ‘hot metal integrated mills’ with their mountains of ore and coal and monumental machinery, but it was used almost exclusively for lower-grade building and other ‘long’ products. By the beginning of 2005, the world steel industry was on a high, after decades of moving from apocalypse to break-even and then back to apocalypse. Since 2003, when a staggering 960 million tonnes were produced – compared to 21.9 million tonnes for aluminium – there had been unprecedented demand, mainly from China and India. China was both the biggest producer, the first country to exceed 200 million tonnes of crude steel in a year, and also its biggest consumer at 244 million tonnes. The global economy was also booming, but this was creating production bottlenecks for all steel-makers and by 2004 steel had for the first time hit an average of $650 per tonne shipped. Profit margins were better, but where was the growth to come from? In tandem, the costs of essential raw materials for steel-making – iron ore and coking coal – had gone through the roof, along with bulk shipping costs. The key to future growth was to secure plants in emerging markets where ore and coal were close to production sites, labour costs were much lower and where technology and investment could spur greater savings. But the central issue was that globally the industry remained a very fragmented one. No single company was producing 100 million tonnes a year, or 10 per cent of total world production. The name of the game was consolidation into fewer, bigger players. With this would come the chance for steel-makers to gain greater pricing power, increasing their profitability and the value of their shares. Two groups had begun to move ahead of the pack. One was Mittal Steel with its operational headquarters in London’s prestigious Berkeley Square. Mittal Steel was the world’s biggest producer of’long’ products. It was young, aggressive, fast, and a big risk-taker, fuelled by its founder Lakshmi Mittal’s visionary zeal to consolidate the industry. It’s nearest rival. Arcelor the world’s most profitable steel company, focusing on ‘flat* products – was headed by the Frenchman Guy Dolle. and was a combination of three former state-owned European steel plants: Arbed of Luxembourg, Usinor from France and Spain’s Aceralia. These three were now merged, restructured and administered from the grandiose, chateau-like former Arbed headquarters in Luxembourg’s Avenue de la L’berte. Both groups were passionate about steel. Mittal, already dubbed ‘the Carnegie from Calcutta’, had a clearer vision of the need to streamline steel, but Arcelor was determined to become the biggest as well as the best Dominating the market would enable either firm to increase its pricing position with customers, the car-makers, ship-builders and construction firms, as well as chasing growth in the new markets of Asia, South America and Eastern Europe. Guy Dolle could hear the clump of Mittal’s feet marching ahead, and it hurt. Arcelor was Europe’s reigning steel champion and was arrogantly proud of it. It had a commanding market share of the specialised high-strength steel supplied to European car-makers and a total overall production approaching 50 million tonnes a year, all with state-of-the-art technolog). The group had repaired its consolidated balance sheet, ravished by decades of downturns and continual restructuring costs. It had invested heavily in the quest for best technolog) and had also acquired companies in Brazil, set up joint ventures in Russia, Japan and China and now was eagerly eyeing gateways to the North American car market. And to its long-suffering shareholders, starved of decent dividends. Arcelor was at last moving in the right direction, after the blood, sweat and tears of shifting from public to private sector. The Luxembourg group was clearly on a wake-up cali. gunning to overtake Mittal Steel and keep it at bay. By 2005. the battle for supremacy had begun to heat up. Two projected state sell-offs by public auction, in Turkey and Ukraine, were particularly attractive commercially. Both auctions were taking place in October, w ithin three weeks of each other. The first, in Turkey, was for the 46.3 percent of government-owned shares in Erdemir, a steel-maker producing 3.5 million tonnes a year for car-makers and other industrial clients in a country of seventy million people shaping up to join the European Union. Mittal and Arcelor both already owned minority stakes in the Turkish company and were eager to get majority control.

61. Which of the following statements is true?
A. In 2003, China consumed more steel than it produced
B. Mittal Steel was the world’s most profitable steel company in mid 2000s
C. Arcelor was a bigger producer of steel than Mittal
D. All of the above

62. Which among the following is the common objective both Mittal and Arcelor had for aspiring to become bigger steel-makers?
A. To consolidate the rather fragmented steel industry
B. To facilitate privatisation initiatives of the government
C. To have 10% of the industry1 share
D. To increase pricing position with customers

63. From the above passages, it clearly emerges that:
A. Arcleor had delivered good returns to its shareholders
B. Mittal Steel was Arcelor’s nearest competitor
C. By 2005, steel industry was in recession
D. A nation’s steel production continues to be a good indicator of its wealth

64. What are the plausible reasons for privatisation in steel industry?
A. Slow growth in world production
B. Lobbying by the capitalists
C. Havoc played by over-capacity and falling steel prices
D. Introduction of the ‘mini-mill’

Passage 2
In the decades that Otlet’s papers had sat gathering dust, his dream of a universal knowledge of network had found a new expression across the Atlantic, where a group of engineers and computer scientists laid the groundwork for what would eventually become the Internet. Beginning during the Cold War, the United States poured money into a series of advanced research projects that would eventually lead to the creation of the technologies underpinning the present-day Internet. In the 1990s. the World Wide Web appeared and quickly attracted a widespread audience, eventually establishing itself as the foundation of a global knowledge- sharing network much like the one that Otlet envisioned. Today, the emergence of that network has triggered a series of dramatic – perhaps even “axial” – transformations. In 2011, the world’s population generated more than 1.8 zettabytes of data, including documents, images, phone calls, and radio and television signals. More than a billion people now use Web browsers, and that number will almost certainly increase for years to come. In an era when almost anyone with a mobile phone can press a few keys to search the contents of the world’s libraries, when millions of people negotiate their personal relationships via online social networks, and when institutions of all stripes find their operations disrupted by the sometimes wrenching effects of networks, it scarcely seems like hyperbole – and has even become cliche – to suggest that the advent of the Internet ranks as an event of epochal significance. While Otlet did not by any stretch of imagination “invent” the Internet – working as he did in an age before digital computers, magnetic storage, or packet-switching networks – nonetheless his vision looks nothing short of prophetic. In Otlet’s day, microfilm may have qualified as the most advanced information storage technology, and the closest thing anyone had ever seen to a database was a drawer full of index cards. Yet despite these analog limitations, he envisioned a global network of interconnected institutions that would alter the tlow of information around the world, and in the process lead to profound social, cultural, and political transformations. By today’s standards, Otlet’s proto-Web was a clumsy affair, relying on a patchwork system of index cards, file cabinets, telegraph machines, and a small army of clerical workers. But in his writing he looked far ahead to a future in which networks circled the globe and data could travel freely. Moreover, he imagined a wide range of expression taking shape across the network: distributed encyclopaedias, virtual classrooms, three-dimensional information spaces, social networks, and other forms of knowledge that anticipated the hyperlinked structure of today’s Web. He saw these developments as fundamentally connected to a larger utopian project that would bring the world closer to a state of permanent and lasting peace and toward a state of collective spiritual enlightenment. The conventional history of the Internet traces its roots through an Anglo-American lineage of early computer scientists like Charles Babbage. Ada Lovelace, and Alan Turing; networking visionaries like Vinton G. Cerf and Robert E. Kahn; as well as hypertext seers like Vannevar Bush, J.C.R. Licklider, Douglas Engelbart, Ted Nelson, and of course Tim Berners-Lee and Robert Cailliau, who in 1991 released their first version of the World Wide Web. The dominant influence of the modem computer industry has placed computer science at the centre of this story. Nonetheless Otlet’s work, grounded in an age before microchips and semiconductors, opened the door to an alternative stream of thought, one undergirding our present-day information age even though it has little to do with the history of digital computing. Well before the first Web servers started sending data packets across the Internet, a number of other early twentieth-century figures were pondering the possibility of a new, networked society: H.G. Wells, the English science fiction writer and social activist, who dreamed of building a World Brain, Emanuel Goldberg, a Russian Jew who invented a fully functional mechanical search engine in 1930s Germany before fleeing the Nazis; Scotland’s Patrick Geddes and Austria’s Otto Neurath, who both explored new kinds of highly designed, propagandistic museum exhibits designed to foster social change; Germany’s Wilhelm Ostwald, the Nobel Prize- winning chemist who aspired to build a vast new ‘brain of humanity’; the sculptor Hendrik Andersen and the architect Le Corbusier, both of whom dreamed of designing a World City to house a new, one-world government with a networked information repository at its epicentre. Each shared a commitment to social transformation through the use of available technologies. They also each shared a direct connection to Paul Otlet, who seems to connect a series of major turning points in the history of the early twentieth-century information age, synthesizing and incorporating their ideas along with his own, and ultimately coming tantalizingly close to building a fully integrated global information network.

65. What is the remark that the author of this passage considers a defensible one. Rather than a hyperbole?
A. That the number of people who will use Internet will increase for the years to come
B. That the advent of the Internet is an event of epochal significance
C. That millions of people negotiate their personal relationships via online social networks
D. That more than a billion people now use web browsers

66. In the above passage, Otlet is being credited with
A. Inventing the Internet
B. Co-developing the Internet
C. Prophesising the Internet
D. All of the above

67. What has been said as the common commitment shared by the early twentieth-century figures who imagined and worked tor a networked society?
A. Designing a World City with a networked information repository at its epicentre
B. Achieving social transformation through the use of available technologies
C. Building a vast new “Brain of Humanity
D. Bringing world peace through online social networks

68. Otlet’s original idea of the network can be described as:
A. Futuristic
B. Visionary
C. Utopian
D. All of the above

Passage-3
Every loan has a lender and a borrower; both voluntarily engage in the transaction. If the loan goes bad, there is at least a prima facie case that the lender is as guilty as the borrower. In fact, since lenders are supposed to be sophisticated in risk analysis and in making judgements about a reasonable debt burden, they should perhaps bear even more culpability. Does it make a difference if we say there is over-lending rather than over-borrowing? The difference in where we see the problem affects where we seek the solution. Is the problem more on the side of the lenders, that they are not exercising due diligence in judging who is creditworthy? Or on the borrowers, being profligate and irresponsible? If we consider the problem to be over borrowing, then we naturally think of making it more difficult for borrowers to discharge their debts; on the contrary, if the problem is over lending, we focus on strengthening incentives for lenders to exercise due diligence. The political economy of over-borrowing is easy to understand. The current borrowing government benefits and later governments have to deal with the consequences. But why have sophisticated, profit maximizing lenders so often over-lent? Lenders encourage indebtedness because it is profitable. Developing country governments are sometimes even pressured to over-borrow. There may be kickbacks in loans, or even more frequently in the projects that they finance. Even without corruption, it is easy to be influenced by Western businessmen and financiers. They wine and dine those responsible for borrowing as they sell their loan packages, and tell them why this is a good time to borrow, why their particular package is attractive, why this is the right time to restructure debt? Countries that are not sure that borrowing is worth the risk are told how important it is to establish a credit rating; borrow even if you really don’t need the money. Excessive borrowing increases the chance of a crisis, and the costs of a crisis are borne not just by lenders but by all of society. In recent years, IMF programs may have resulted in significant further distortions in lenders’ incentives. When crisis occurred, the IMF lent mone> in what was called a ‘bail-out’- but the money was not really a bail-out for the country; it was a bail out for Western banks. In both East Asia and Latin America, bail-outs provided money to repay foreign creditors, thus absolving creditors from having to bear the costs of their mistaken lending. In some instances, governments even assumed private liabilities, effectively socializing private risk. The creditors were left off the hook, but the IMF’s money wasn’t a gift, just another loan- and the developing country was left to pay the bill. In effect, the poor country’s taxpayers paid for rich country’s lending mistakes. The bail-outs give rise to the famous ‘moral hazard’ problem. Moral hazard arises when a party does not bear all the risks associated with his action and as a result does not do everything he can to avoid risk. The term originates in the insurance literature; it was deemed immoral for an individual to take less care in preventing a fire simply because he had insurance coverage. It is, of course, simply a matter of incentives: those with insurance may 27not set their houses on fire deliberately, but their incentive to avoid a fire is still weakened. With loans, the risk is default, with all of its consequences; lenders can reduce that risk simply by lending less. If they perceive a high likelihood of a bail-out, they lend more than they otherwise would. Lending markets are also characterized by. in the famous words of former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Alan Greenspan, ‘irrational exuberance*, as well as irrational pessimism. Lenders rush into a market in a mood of optimism, and rush out when the mood changes. Markets move in fads and fashions, and it is hard to resist joining the latest fad. If only one firm were affected by a mood of irrational optimism, it would have to bear the cost of its mistake; but when large numbers share the same mood, in a fad, there are macro- economic consequences, potentially affecting everyone in the country.

69. The author is trying to find the underlying cause of:
A. Financial crisis in the economy
B. Under development in the developing world
C. Bargaining power asymmetry between lenders and borrowers
D. Inequalities in the world economy

70. The ‘moral hazard* arises because:
A. The insured takes less precaution to avoid a risk because the risk is covered by insurance
B. The insured takes less precaution to avoid a risk because he is unaware about the risk
C. The insured takes less precaution to avoid risk because he tends to benefit from the risk
D. The amount spent on insurance is seen as a waste because the risk is unlikely or minimum

71. According to the author the IMF bail-outs for the countries in crisis have been in effect:
A. The bail-out for the governments of the borrowing countries
B. The bail-out for the banks in the borrowing country
C. The bail-out for the lending foreign banks
D. The bail out for the governments of the countries of the creditors

72. The author believes that the cost of the crisis is ultimately borne by:
A. The lending banks
B. The IMF
C. The tax payers of the borrowing country
D. The rich countries

Passage- 4
The mass media have been recognized as politically significant since the advent of mass literacy and the popular press in the late nineteenth century. However, it is widely accepted that, through a combination of social and technological changes, the media have become increasingly more powerful political actors and, in some respects, more deeply enmeshed in the political process. Three developments are particularly noteworthy. First, the impact of the so-called ‘primary’ agents of political socialization, such as the family and social class, has declined. Whereas once people acquired, in late childhood and adolescence in particular, a framework of political sympathies and leanings that adult experience tended to modify or deepen, but seldom radically transformed, this has been weakened in modem society by greater social and geographical mobility and by the spread of individualist and consumerist values. Abiding political allegiances and habitual voting patterns have thus given way to a more instrumental approach to politics, in which people make political choices according to a calculation of personal self-interest based on the issues and policy positions on offer. This, in turn, widens the scope for the media’s political influence, as they are the principal mechanism through which information about issues and policies, and therefore political choices, is presented to the public. Second, the development of mass television audience from the 1950s onwards, and more recently the proliferation of channels and media output associated with the ‘new’ media, has massively increased the mass media’s penetration into people’s everyday lives. This means that the public now relies on the mass media more heavily than ever before: for instance, television is a much more important source of news and current affairs information than political meetings; many more people watch televised sport than participate in it; and even shopping is increasingly being carried out through shopping channels and the internet. Third, the media have become more powerful economic actors. Not only have major media corporations become more powerful global players, but also a series of mergers has tended to incorporate the formerly discrete domains of publishing, television, film, music, computers and telecommunications into a single massive ‘infotainment’ industry. Media businesses such as Microsoft, AOL-Time Warner, Disney and Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation have accumulated so much economic and market power that no government can afford to ignore them. Few commentators doubt the media’s ability to shape political attitudes and values or, at least, to structure political and electoral choice by influencing public perceptions about the nature and importance of issues and problems, thereby. However, there is considerable debate about the political significance of this influence. A series of rival theories offer contrasting views of the media’s political impact. The pluralist model of the mass media portrays the media as an ideological marketplace in which wide range of political views are debated and discussed. While not rejecting the idea that the media can affect political views and sympathies, this nevertheless suggests that their impact is essentially neutral in that they reflect the balance of forces within the society at large. The pluralist view nevertheless portrays the media in strongly positive terms. In ensuring the ’informed citizenry’, the mass media both enhance the quality of democracy and guarantee that government power is checked. This ‘watchdog’ role was classically demonstrated in the 1974 Washington Post investigation into the Watergate scandal, which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon as US President. Some, moreover, argue that the advent of the ‘new’ media, and particularly the Internet, has strengthened pluralism and political competition by giving protest groups a relatively cheap and highly effective means of disseminating information and organizing campaigns. The dominant ideology’ model portrays media as a politically conservative force that is aligned to the interests of economic and social elites, and serves to promote compliance or passivity amongst the masses. The ownership ultimately determines the political and other views that the mass media disseminate, and ownerships are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of global media corporations. The elite-values model shifts attention away from the ownership of media corporations to the mechanism through which media output is controlled. This view suggests that editors, journalists and broadcasters enjoy significant professional independence, and that even the most interventionist of media moguls is able only to set a broad political agenda but not the day-to-day editorial decision-making. The media’s political bias therefore reflects the values of groups that are disproportionally represented amongst its senior professionals. The market model of the mass media differs from the other models in that it dispenses w 1th the idea of media bias: it holds that newspaper and television reflect, rather than shape, the views of general public. This occurs because, regardless of the personal views of media owners and senior professionals, private media outlets are first and foremost businesses concerned with profit maximization and thus with extending market share. The media therefore give people ‘what they want’, and cannot afford to alienate existing or potential viewers and readers by presenting political viewpoints with which they may disagree.

73. Which of the follow ing is the most appropriate title for the passage?
A. Mass media and political communication
B. Mass media and economic development
C. Mass media and social development
D. Mass media and cultural development

74. Who. according to the author, are the primary agents of political socialization?
A. Media moguls
B. Political parties
C. The family and social class
D. Journalists

75. According to the author the mass media is a powerful political actor because:
A. The impact of primary agents of socialization has reduced
B. The technology has increased the penetration of mass media in everyday life
C. Infotainment industry has emerged as a big economic force
D. All of the above reasons

76. Which of the following rival theories discussed in the passage portrays the media in a more positive light in terms of its role in the society?
A. The Market Model
B. The Elite Values Model
C. The Pluralist Model
D. The Dominant Ideology Model

SECTION- 3 (Part-2)
Directions for questions 77-78: The first line (SI) of each question is fixed. Arrange the other four lines P, Q. R and S in a logical sequence.

77. SI: The beginning of the universe had, of course, been discussed for a long time.
P: One argument of such a beginning was the feeling that it was necessary to have a first cause to explain the existence of the universe.
Q: He pointed out that civilization is progressing, and we remember who performed this deed or developed that technique;
R: According to a number of early cosmologies in the Jewish/Christian/Muslim tradition, the universe started at a finite and not very distant time in the past.
S: Another argument was put forward by St. Augustine in his book. The City of God.
A. QRSP
B. RPSQ
C. PSQR
D. SQPR

78. SI: I was so eager not to disappoint my parents that I ran errands for anyone.
P: On the way a boy on a bicycle crashed into me and my left shoulder hurt so much that my eyes watered.
Q: Only then did I cry
R: But I still went and bought the maize, took it to my neighbours and then went home.
S: One day my neighbours asked me to buy some maize for them from the bazaar
A. SPRQ
B. PQSR
C. QRPS
D. RSQP

Directions for questions 79-80: Identify the option which gives the correct meaning of the Idiom/Phrase given below:

79. To drive home
A. To find one’s roots
B. To return to place of rest
C. To lose all money in betting
D. To emphasize

80. To have an axe to grind
A. To have a private end to serve
B. To fail to arouse interest
C. To have no result
D. To work for both sides

Directions for questions 81-82: In each of the following options, the same word has been used in different sentences in different ways. Choose the option where the word has been used incorrectly.

81.
A. He got carried away with the unruly mob and indulged in stone pelting.
B. She carried on with life in spite of her personal difficulties.
C. It will be difficult to carry out the plan now.
D. If they get carried on with their overspending, they will soon be bankrupt.

82.
A. Hang over for a minute, and 1 will attend to you.
B. He decided to hang up his boots after his poor form in the last season.
C. Please do not hang around outside our gate.
D. She was hanging on to each word I spoke.

Directions for questions 83-84: Each of the following questions has a sentence with two blanks. Given below in the options are four pairs of words. Choose the pair that best completes the sentence.

83. Not for the last time, the British had grossly______ the toughness of local fighters, and the very _____kind of terrain from Europe.
A. misrepresented; mild
B. underestimated; different
C. miscalculated; similar
D. understood; hostile

84. The complicated processes, which often ____reason, forced us to become very creative in finding ways to work ____the challenges.
A. explained; out
B. reflected; over
C. defied; around
D. beyond; about

Directions for questions 85-86: Given below are some French words commonly used in English language. What is the meaning of these French words?

85. Milieu
A. Millennium
B. Century
C. Social Environment
D. Feudal

86. Gaffe
A. Blunder
B. Loud laughter
C. Iron hook
D. House

Directions for questions 87-88: In the following sentences, fill in the blank space with the correct word from the options provided.

87. During the winter, many deer become ____and die because of a food shortage.
A. emancipated
B. enunciated
C. elevated
D. emaciated

88. Though fictional, the story of Shylock is not entirely removed_____ Venetian reality’.
A. of
B. with
C. from
D. through

89. Choose the option closest in meaning to the word ‘Qualm’
A. Concavity
B. Misgiving
C. Amplitude
D. Repute

Directions for questions 90-91: Choose the correct option to fill in the blank spaces in the given sentences

90. Pipes arc not a safer_______ to cigarettes because, though pipe smokers do not inhale, they are still_____ higher rates of lung and mouth cancers than non- smokers.
A. option likely to
B. answer responsible for
C. alternative subject to
D. preference….involved with

91. The conspirators met____ in order to plot a(n)____ against the oppressive governance of Julius Caesar.
A. aggressively….referendum
B. clandestinely revolt
C. wittily….upheaval
D. wickedly….invocation

Directions for questions 92-93: Identify the oxymoron

92.
A. Behave properly
B. Act naturally
C. Speak honestly
D. Drive slowly

93.
A. Original Copy
B. Small Crowd
C. Open Secret
D. All of the Above

94. A part of the following sentence is left unfinished. From the alternatives given to complete the sentence, choose the best alternative.
Although these injuries are not fatal,______.
A. they are not ranked among the top causes of death.
B. they are certainly incapacitating and tragic.
C. there is no proof of the same.
D. they do not get reported.

95. The words in the following pair have a certain relationship with each other. Given in the options are four pairs of related words. Select the pair with the same relationship as the given pair.
Cacophony: Euphony::
A. Belligerent: Serene
B. Loneliness: Peace
C. Horrific: Sympathetic
D. Nocturnal: Diurnal

96. Choose the option which is the antonym of the word ‘Blasphemous’
A. Ascetic
B. Reverent
C. Inferior
D. Blarney

SECTION- 4

97. which multilateral development bank has been set up by BRICS as an alternative to the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund?
A. The New Development Bank
B. The Asian Development Bank
C. The Bank for Emerging Nations
D. The Economic Cooperation Bank

98. Given below are some popular stock indices of the world. Match the stock index with the country and stock market it represents

A. I-d; Il-b; Ill-a; IV-c
B. I-b; Il-d; HI-c; IV-a
C. I-a; 11-c; 111-b; lV-d
D. I-c; I I-a; Ill-d; IV- b

99. The remains of which ancient civilization can be seen at the site of Machu Pichu in Peru?
A. Incas
B. Aztecs
C. Mayans
D. Indians

100. Who is acknowledged as the creator of Chandigarh’s Rock Gardens?
A. E. Sridharan
B. Nek Chand Saini
C. Charles Correa
D. Geoffrey Bawa

101. Which is the first Eurozone nation to exit its bailout package?
A. Portugal
B. Italy
C. Ireland
D. Spain

102. Match the name of the city with on the river on whose blanks it is locked

A. I-d; 11-a; Ill-b; IV-c
B. I-b; 11-c; Ill-d; IV-a
C. I-c; Il-d; Ill-a; IV-b
D. I-a; Il-b; 111-c; IV-d

103. What is the motto of the 2016 Summer Olympics to be held in Rio de Janeiro?
A. Live Your Passion
B. One World, One Dream
C. Friends Forever
D. Harmony and Progress

104. Which film won the 2015 Oscar Award for the “Best Animated Feature Film”?
A. Song of the Sea
B. How to train your Dragon 2
C. Big Hero 6
D. The Boxtrolls

105. Who among the following has won the maximum all time Grand Slam Women’s Singles title?
A. Serena Williams
B. Margaret Court
C. Steffi Graf
D. Martina Navratilova

106. Match the name of the Multinational Firm with whom the following Indians are/ have been associated as CEO

A. I- c; ll-d; Ill-a; IV- b
B. I-b; Il-a; Ill-c; IV-d
C. I-d; II-c; Ill-b; IV-a
D. I-a; ll-b; Ill-d; IV-c

107. A person with ‘AB’ blood group is also called a universal recipient because of the
A. Lack of antigens in the blood
B. Lack of antibodies in the blood
C. Lack of both antigens and antibodies in the blood
D. Presence of both antigens and antibodies in the blood

108. Who is the Vice Chairman of the N1TI Aayog?
A. Arvind Panagariya
B. Arun Maira
C. Raghuram Rajan
D. Arvind Subramaniam

109. The first Export Processing Zone of Asia was set up in
A. Singapore
B. Kandla
C. Shanghai
D. Dubai

110. Who launched a ‘crowd funding’ campaign to raise funds for bailing out Greece?
A. Thomas Feeney
B. Thomas Friedman
C. Thomson Reuters
D. Thomas Edison

111. Match the name of the book with its author.

A. I-a; Il-b; Ill-d; IV-c
B. 1-d; Il-a; 111-b; IV-c
C. I-d; II-c; Ill-a; IV-b
D. I-a; ll-d; HI-c; IV-b

112. The U.S. recently announced that its redesigned ten-dollar bill, to be issued in 2020, will include the
A. Face of a Lion
B. Face of an Elephant
C. Face of a Woman
D. Face of a Dragon

113. The new Centre-State tax sharing model promised a 10% increase in the State’s share. This 10% increase will result from increasing the share from
A. 32% to 42%
B. 22% to 32%
C. 42% to 52%
D. None of the above

114. Which of the following countries is not a member of European Union?
A. Sweden
B. Finland
C. Norway
D. Denmark

115. As per the monetary policy agreement between RBI and the Finance Ministry, the RBI is required to maintain inflation in the range of;
A. 2% to 6%
B. 4% to 10%
C. 3% to 9%
D. 5% to 8%

116. 1Who discovered ‘Pluto’ in the year 1930?
A. Clyde Tombaugh
B. Albert Einstein
C. Carl Sagan
D. Jacques Cousteau

117. According to the World Investment Report 2015 published by UNCTAD, which of the following countries was the largest recipient of FDI inflows in 2014?
A. China
B. India
C. USA
D. Singapore

118. Euro dollars are
A. A currency issued by European Union
B. Special currency issued by the Federal Government of USA for Europe
C. US dollars held in Europe
D. European currencies exchanged for the US dollar in US

119. Match the Prime Ministers and Presidents of India who have been contemporaries in Office

A. I-a; Il-b; III-c; IV-d
B. I-b; Il-a; Ill-d; IV-c
C. I-a; II-c; Ill-b; IV-d
D. I-b; Il-d; Ill-a; IV-c

120. Mark the wrong combination
A. James Watt: Steam Engine
B. A.G. Bell: Telephone
C. J.L. Baird: Television
D. J. Perkins: Penicillin

121. Mother Teresa was bom in
A. Switzerland
B. India
C. Germany
D. Macedonia

122. In 1985-86. an official policy introduced by Gorbachev in Soviet Union that stressed on honest discussion about the country’s social issues and concerns was called
A. Glasnost
B. Gosplans
C. Irrcdentism
D. Oligarchs

123. The British C’osmologist Stephen Hawking and the Russian entrepreneur Yuri Milner have launched a project to search for the extra terrestrial life. This project is called:
A. The Breakthrough Listen Project
B. The Cosmic Breakthrough Project
C. The Extra Terrestrial Project
D. The Edge of the Universe Project

124. Match the name of the organization with the name of the city in which it is headquartered

A. I-d; ll-c; Ill-a; IV-b
B. I-a; Il-b; III-d; IV-c
C. I-c: 11-a; Ill-b; IV-d
D. I-b; II-d; III-c; IV-a