Comprehension
Direction for Reading Comprehension: The passages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage.
Today we can hardly conceive of ourselves without an unconscious. Yet between 1700 and1900, this notion developed as a genuinely original thought. The “unconscious” burst the shell of conventional language, coined as it had been to embody the fleeting ideas and the shifting conceptions of several generations until, finally, it became fixed and defined in specialized terms within the realm of medical psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis.
The vocabulary concerning the soul and the mind increased enormously in the course of the nineteenth century. The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords. At the same time, once coined, powerful new ideas attracted to themselves a whole host of seemingly unrelated issues, practices, and experiences, creating a peculiar network of preoccupations that as a group had not existed before. The drawn-out attempt to approach and define the unconscious brought together the spiritualist and the psychical researcher of borderline phenomena (such as apparitions, spectral illusions, haunted houses, mediums, trance, automatic writing); the psychiatrist or alienist probing the nature of mental disease, of abnormal ideation, hallucination, delirium, melancholia, mania; the surgeon performing operations with the aid of hypnotism; the magnetizer claiming to correct the disequilibrium in the universal flow of magnetic fluids but who soon came to be regarded as a clever manipulator of the imagination; the physiologist and the physician who puzzled oversleep, dreams, sleepwalking, anesthesia, the influence of the mind on the body in health and disease; the neurologist concerned with the functions of the brain and the physiological basis of mental life; the philosopher interested in the will, the emotions, consciousness, knowledge, imagination and the creative genius; and, last but not least, the psychologist.
Significantly, most if not all of these practices (for example, hypnotism in surgery or psychological magnetism) originated in the waning years of the eighteenth century and during the early decades of the nineteenth century, as did some of the disciplines (such as psychology and psychical research). The majority of topics too were either new or assumed hitherto unknown colors. Thus, before 1790, few if any spoke, in medical terms, of the affinity between creative genius and the hallucinations of the insane . . .
Striving vaguely and independently to give expression to a latent conception, various lines of thought can be brought together by some novel term. The new concept then serves as a kind of resting place or stocktaking in the development of ideas, giving satisfaction and a stimulus for further discussion or speculation. Thus, the massive introduction of the term unconscious by Hartmann in 1869 appeared to focalize many stray thoughts, affording a temporary feeling that a crucial step had been taken forward, a comprehensive knowledge gained, a knowledge that required only further elaboration, explication, and unfolding in order to bring in a bounty of higher understanding. Ultimately, Hartmann’s attempt at defining the unconscious proved fruitless because he extended its reach into every realm of organic and inorganic, spiritual, intellectual, and instinctive existence, severely diluting the precision and compromising the impact of the concept.
Question: 1

Which one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about?

Updated On: Oct 10, 2024
  • The collating of diverse ideas under the single term: unconscious.
  • The identification of the unconscious as an object of psychical research.
  • The discovery of the unconscious as a part of the human mind.
  • The growing vocabulary of the soul and the mind, as diverse processes.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The correct answer is (A): The collating of diverse ideas under the single term: unconscious.

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Question: 2

All of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage, EXCEPT:

Updated On: Jul 22, 2025
  • New conceptions in the nineteenth century could provide new knowledge because of the establishment of fields such as anaesthesiology.
  • Unrelated practices began to be treated as related to each other, as knowledge of the mind grew in the nineteenth century.
  • Without the linguistic developments of the nineteenth century, the growth of understanding of the soul and the mind may not have happened.
  • Eighteenth century thinkers were the first to perceive a connection between creative genius and insanity.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

The objective here is to identify the statement that cannot be inferred from the passage. Let's evaluate each statement in relation to the comprehension provided:

Statement 1: "New conceptions in the nineteenth century could provide new knowledge because of the establishment of fields such as anaesthesiology." This statement is not supported by the passage. The text discusses how concepts like the "unconscious" led to new insights in various fields, including psychoanalysis, but it does not link new conceptions directly to fields such as anaesthesiology.

Statement 2: "Unrelated practices began to be treated as related to each other, as knowledge of the mind grew in the nineteenth century." The passage does support this, as it explains how new ideas connected seemingly unrelated practices, leading to a network of related preoccupations.

Statement 3: "Without the linguistic developments of the nineteenth century, the growth of understanding of the soul and the mind may not have happened." The passage implies that linguistic developments were essential for the advancement of understanding in these areas, making this a valid inference.

Statement 4: "Eighteenth century thinkers were the first to perceive a connection between creative genius and insanity." This is supported as the passage indicates that before 1790, such connections in medical terms were not commonly spoken of.

The correct answer is the first statement as it is the only one that cannot be directly inferred from the given passage.

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Question: 3

Which one of the following sets of words is closest to mapping the main arguments of the passage?

Updated On: Jul 22, 2025
  • Language; Unconscious; Psychoanalysis.
  • Unconscious; Latent conception; Dreams.
  • Literary language; Unconscious; Insanity.
  • Imagination; Magnetism; Psychiatry.
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The Correct Option is A

Solution and Explanation

To determine which set of words maps the main arguments of the passage, we need to analyze the key themes discussed. The passage primarily revolves around the development of the concept of the "unconscious" and its impact on language and psychoanalysis over time. Here's a breakdown:
  • Language: The passage discusses how the concept of "unconscious" influenced the vocabulary related to the mind, leading to a vast enrichment of literary and intellectual language.
  • Unconscious: Central to the passage, it discusses the evolution of "unconscious" as a concept and its eventual definition in medical psychology and Freudian psychoanalysis.
  • Psychoanalysis: The passage mentions this as a specialized field where the unconscious became fixed and defined.
The other options do not encapsulate all these central themes discussed in the passage. Therefore, the correct set of words that closely maps the main arguments of the passage is:
Language; Unconscious; Psychoanalysis.
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Question: 4

“The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords.” Which one of the following interpretations of this sentence would be closest in meaning to the original?

Updated On: Jul 22, 2025
  • Time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords were enriched by literary and intellectual language.
  • The meanings of time-honored expressions were changed by innovations in literary and intellectual language.
  • All of the options listed here.
  • Literary and intellectual language was altered by time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords.
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The Correct Option is B

Solution and Explanation

The given sentence, “The enrichments of literary and intellectual language led to an altered understanding of the meanings that underlie time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords,” is asking us to identify how the development in language impacted traditional phrases. The sentence indicates that changes and advancements in literary and intellectual language resulted in a shift in how we comprehend the meanings of established expressions and sayings. Reviewing the options:
  • Option A: "Time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords were enriched by literary and intellectual language." This suggests enrichment of the expressions themselves, not necessarily an altered understanding of meanings.
  • Option B: "The meanings of time-honored expressions were changed by innovations in literary and intellectual language." This aligns closely with the original sentence, as it emphasizes that the meanings underlying these expressions were what changed due to the language developments.
  • Option C: "All of the options listed here." This cannot be correct because Option D directly contradicts the premise.
  • Option D: "Literary and intellectual language was altered by time-honored expressions and traditional catchwords." This reverses the causation by suggesting the language changes were due to expressions, which is not supported by the sentence.
Therefore, Option B “The meanings of time-honored expressions were changed by innovations in literary and intellectual language” is the correct interpretation as it accurately reflects the causality expressed in the sentence.
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