Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer for each question.
To teach is to create a space in which obedience to truth is practiced. Space may sound a vague, poetic metaphor until we realize that it describes experiences of everyday life. We know what it means to be in a green and open field; we know what it means to be on a crowded rush hour bus. These experiences of physical space have parallels in our relations with others. On our jobs we know what it is to be pressed and crowded, our working space diminished by the urgency of deadlines and competitiveness of colleagues. But then there are times when deadlines disappear and colleagues cooperate, when everyone has a space to move, invent and produce with energy and enthusiasm. With family and friends, we know how it feels to have unreasonable demands placed upon us, to be boxed in by the expectations of those nearest to us. But then there are times when we feel accepted for who we are (or forgiven for who we are not), times when a spouse or a child or a friend gives us the space, both to be and to become. Similar experiences of crowding and space are found in education. To sit in a class where the teacher stuffs our minds with information, organizes it with finality, insists on having the answers while being utterly uninterested in our views, and focus us into a grim competition for grades – to sit in such a class is to experience a lack of space for learning. But to study with a teacher, who not only speaks but also listens, who not only answers but asks questions and welcomes our insights, who provides information and theories that do not close doors but open new ones, who encourages students to help each other learn – to study with such a teacher is to know the power of a learning space.
A learning space has three essential dimensions: openness, boundaries and an air of hospitality. To create open learning space is to remove the impediments to learning that we find around and within us; we often create them ourselves to evade the challenge of truth and transformation. One source of such impediments is our fear of appearing ignorant to others or to ourselves. The oneness of a space is created by the
firmness of its boundaries. A learning space cannot extend indefinitely; if it did, it would not be a structure for learning but an invitation for confusion and chaos. When space boundaries are violated, the quality of space suffers. The teacher who wants to create an open learning space must define and defend its boundaries with care. Because the pursuit of truth can be painful and discomforting, the learning space must be
hospitable. Hospitable means receiving each other, our struggles, our new-born ideas with openness and care. It means creating an ethos in which the community of truth can form and the pain of its transformation be borne. A learning space needs to be hospitable not to make learning painless, but to make painful things possible, things without which no learning can occur, things like exposing ignorance, testing tentative hypotheses, challenging false or partial information, and mutual criticism of thought.
The task of creating learning space with qualities of openness, boundaries and hospitality can be approached at several levels. The most basic level is the physical arrangement of the classroom, Consider the traditional classroom setting with row of chairs facing the lectern where learning space is confined to the narrow alley of attention between each student and teacher. In this space, there is no community of truth, hospitality of room for students to relate to the thoughts of each other. Contrast it with the chairs placed in a circular arrangement creating an open space within which learners can interconnect. At another level, the teacher can create conceptual space-space with words in two ways. One is through assigned reading; the other is through lecturing, assigned reading, not in the form of speed reading several hundred pages but contemplative
reading which opens, not fills, our learning space. A teacher can also create a learning space by means of lectures. By providing critical information and a framework of interpretation, a lecturer can lay down boundaries within which learning occurs.
We also create learning space through the kind of speech we utter and the silence from which true speech emanates. Speech is a precious gift and a vital tool, but too often our speaking is an evasion of truth, a way of buttressing our self-serving reconstructions of reality. Silence must therefore be an integral part of learning space. In silence, more than in arguments, our mind made world falls away and we are open to the truth that seeks us. Words often divide us, but silence can unite. Finally teachers must also create emotional space in the class-room, space that allows feelings to arise and be dealt with because submerged feelings can undermine learning. In an emotionally honest learning space, one created by a teacher who does not fear dealing with feelings, the community of truth can flourish between us and we can flourish in it.
The best remedy for shortage lies in
Show Hint
- putting up more pumps in rural areas.
- cleaning up polluted water.
- reducing the waste level of 25-30 percent of the total flow of water.
- constructing large sized dams.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
but improving the usability of existing sources by cleaning up polluted water.
Polluted rivers, lakes, and groundwater cannot be consumed without treatment,
and with a significant portion of India's water bodies being contaminated,
restoring these to usable condition is the quickest and most sustainable solution.
Option (a) only extracts more water, not addresses usability.
Option (c) is important but doesn't recover already polluted sources.
Option (d) involves long timelines and massive ecological consequences.
Hence, option (b) is the most practical and immediate remedy.
The task of creating learning space with qualities of openness, boundaries and hospitality is multidimensional. It involves operating at
Show Hint
- psychological and conceptual levels.
- physical, perceptual and behavioral levels.
- physical, conceptual and emotional levels.
- conceptual, verbal and sensitive levels.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The physical level refers to the layout, accessibility, and design of the learning space.
The conceptual level involves the ideas, pedagogy, and structure of the learning approach.
The emotional level ensures psychological safety, warmth, and openness, fostering true hospitality.
Only option (c) acknowledges this comprehensive and multidimensional approach.
Option (a) misses the tangible and affective dimensions.
Option (b) does not fully capture the abstract (conceptual) or affective (emotional) components.
Option (d) is too limited in scope and less precise.
The statement ‘the openness of a space is created by the firmness of its boundaries’ appears contradictory. Which of the following statements provides the best justification for the proposition?
Show Hint
- We cannot have a space without boundaries.
- Bounded space is highly structured.
- When space boundaries are violated, the quality of space suffers.
- A teacher can effectively defend a learning space without boundaries.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
but in practice, it reflects a deeper truth about structure and freedom.
Well-defined boundaries provide a safe, predictable environment where expression can thrive.
When these are violated, chaos or intrusion can occur, disrupting the space’s purpose.
Thus, the integrity of a space relies on its limits to preserve quality and inclusivity.
Option (c) best explains this balance between structure (boundaries) and expression (openness).
According to the author, learning is a painful process because
Show Hint
- it exposes our ignorance.
- our views and hypotheses are challenged.
- it involves criticizing the views of other.
- All of the above reasons.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
It forces us to confront our ignorance (a), question what we previously believed (b),
and occasionally enter into critique and disagreement with others’ views (c).
This internal and external friction makes learning a painful but necessary process for growth.
Option (d) captures the full emotional and intellectual challenge that learning entails.
Understanding the notion of space in our relations with other is
Show Hint
- to acknowledge the beauty of a poetic metaphor.
- exclusively rooted in our experiences of physical space.
- to accept a spiritual dimension in our dealings with our peers.
- to extend the parallel of physical space to our experiences in daily life.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
but as a way to understand how boundaries, openness, and interaction work in human relationships.
By paralleling physical space with emotional or conceptual space,
we can reflect on how we create respectful, inclusive, and meaningful interactions.
Option (d) best expresses this extension from the physical to the experiential.
Which of the following statements best describes the author’s conception of learning space?
Show Hint
- Where the teacher is friendly.
- Where there is no grim competition for grades.
- Where the students are encouraged to learn about space.
- Where the teacher provides information and theories which open new doors and encourages students to help each other learn.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
It is not merely about teacher friendliness or lack of competition,
but about nurturing intellectual growth through openness, guidance, and shared inquiry.
The teacher's role is to offer frameworks and ideas that stimulate curiosity,
while also fostering a supportive space where students collaborate and learn from one another.
Option (d) captures the depth and multidimensional quality of this space.
According to the author, silence must be an integral part of learning space because
Show Hint
- silence helps to unite us with others to create a community of truth.
- silent contemplation prepares us to construct our mind–made world.
- speaking is too often an exercise in the evasion of truth.
- speaking is too often a way of buttressing our self–serving reconstruction of reality.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
but as a shared contemplative state that enables deeper connection and reflection.
In silence, learners can engage more honestly with themselves and with each other.
This unity through quiet introspection fosters a communal search for truth,
where words are used more responsibly and insightfully when spoken.
Option (a) captures the unifying and purposeful role of silence in building a learning community.
Another way of describing the author’s notion of learning space can be summarized in the following manner
Show Hint
- It is vital that learning be accompanied by unlearning.
- Learning encompasses such elements as courage, dignity and endeavour.
- An effective teacher recognizes the value of empathy.
- Encourage good learners, discourage indifferent ones.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
but emotional awareness and mutual understanding.
Empathy becomes central to this view—students and teachers must relate to one another’s feelings and struggles.
An empathetic teacher nurtures openness, supports vulnerability, and sustains genuine inquiry.
Option (c) best reflects this humanistic and emotionally honest learning environment.
According to the author, an effective teacher does not allow
Show Hint
- feelings to arise within the learning space.
- silence to become an integral part of the learning space.
- learning space to be filled by speed reading of several hundred pages of assigned reading.
- violation of learning space boundaries.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
An effective teacher prioritizes reflective learning, dialogue, and emotional presence
rather than cramming large volumes of text without understanding.
Option (c) highlights the author's concern about mechanized education lacking meaningful engagement.
An emotionally honest learning space can only be created by
Show Hint
- a teacher committed to joining the community of truth.
- a teacher who is not afraid of confronting feelings.
- a teacher who takes care not to undermine the learning process.
- a teacher who worships critical silence.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
A teacher must be willing to engage with the emotional aspects of learning—
to recognize discomfort, fear, confusion, and help students work through them with courage and empathy.
Option (b) best represents the courage and sensitivity needed to build such a space.
Conceptual space with words can be created by
Show Hint
- assigned reading and lecturing.
- speed reading and written comprehension.
- gentle persuasion and deliberate action.
- creative extrapolation and illustrations.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
Assigned reading introduces foundational ideas, while lecturing helps in building organized understanding.
These methods are traditional yet effective in constructing the initial framework for concepts using language.
Option (a) emphasizes this disciplined approach to shaping thought and expression.
Options (b), (c), and (d) may support learning but don’t define the deliberate and structured nature
of creating conceptual clarity that the question highlights.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
- ”In recent years, technological advancements in AI and machine learning have fundamentally altered how we approach daily tasks. The growing reliance on these systems brings both challenges and opportunities, especially in areas like automation, healthcare, and customer service.”
What is the primary concern regarding the increased use of AI in daily tasks as mentioned in the passage?
- NMAT - 2025
- English Language Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
Meta is recalibrating content on its social media platforms as the political tide has turned in Washington, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing last week that his company plans to fire its US fact-checkers. Fact-checking evolved in response to allegations of misinformation and is being watered down in response to accusations of censorship. Social media does not have solutions to either. Community review — introduced by Elon Musk at X and planned by Zuckerberg for Facebook and Instagram — is not a significant improvement over fact-checking. Having Washington lean on foreign governments over content moderation does not benefit free speech. Yet, that is the nature of the social media beast, designed to amplify bias.
Information and misinformation continue to jostle on social media at the mercy of user discretion. Social media now has enough control over all other forms of media to broaden its reach. It is the connective tissue for mass consumption of entertainment, and alternative platforms are reworking their engagement with social media. Technologies are shaping up to drive this advantage further through synthetic content targeted precisely at its intended audience. Meta’s algorithm will now play up politics because it is the flavour of the season.
The Achilles’ Heel of social media is informed choice which could turn against misinformation. Its move away from content moderation is driven by the need to be more inclusive, yet unfiltered content can push users away from social media towards legacy forms that have better moderation systems in place. Lawmakers across the world are unlikely to give social media a free run, even if Donald Trump is working on their case. Protections have already been put in place across jurisdictions over misinformation. These may be difficult to dismantle, even if the Republicans pull US-owned social media companies further to the right.
Media consumption is, in essence, evidence-based judgement that mediums must adapt to. Content moderation, not free speech, is the adaptation mechanism. Musk and Zuckerberg are not exempt- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
According to the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, commodities available for consumption are not inherently negative things. Baudrillard tried to interpret consumption in modern societies by engaging with the ’cargo myth’ prevalent among the indigenous Melanesian people living in the South Pacific. The Melanesians did not know what aeroplanes were. However,they saw that these winged entities descended from the air for white people and appeared to make them happy. They also noted that aeroplanes never descended for the Melanesian people. The Melanesian natives noted that the white people had placed objects similar to the aeroplane on the ground. They concluded that these objects were attracting the aeroplanes in the air and bringing them to the ground. Through a magical process, the aeroplanes were bringing plenty to the white people and making them happy. The Melanesian people concluded that they would need to place objects that simulated the aeroplane on the ground and attract them from the air. Baudrillard believes that the cargo myth holds an important analogy for the ways in which consumers engage with objects of consumption.
According to Baudrillard, the modern consumer ”sets in place a whole array of sham objects, of characteristic signs of happiness, and then waits for happiness to alight”. For instance, modern consumers believe that they will get happiness if they buy the latest available version of a mobile phone or automobile. However, consumption does not usually lead to happiness. While consumers should ideally be blaming their heightened expectations for their lack of happiness, they blame the commodity instead.
They feel that they should have waited for the next version of a mobile phone or automobile before buying the one they did. The version they bought is somehow inferior and therefore cannot make them happy. Baudrillard argues that consumers have replaced ’real’ happiness with ’signs’ of happiness. This results in the endless deferment of the arrival of total happiness. In Baudrillard’s words, ”in everyday practice, the blessings of consumption are not experienced as resulting from work or from a production process; they are experienced as a miracle”. Modern consumers view consumption in the same magical way as the Melanesian people viewed the aeroplanes in the cargo myth. Television commercials also present objects of consumption as miracles. As a result, commodities appear to be distanced from the social processes which lead to their production. In effect, objects of consumption are divorced from the reality which produces them.- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
CONVERSATION ANALYSIS: Read the following transcript and choose the answer that is closest to each of the questions that are based on the transcript.
Lucia Rahilly (Global Editorial Director, The McKinsey Podcast): Today we’re talking about the next big arenas of competition, about the industries that will matter most in the global business landscape, which you describe as arenas of competition. What do we mean when we use this term?
Chris Bradley (Director, McKinsey Global Institute): If I go back and look at the top ten companies in 2005, they were in traditional industries such as oil and gas, retail, industrials, and pharmaceuticals. The average company was worth about $250 billion. If I advance the clock forward to 2020, nine in ten of those companies have been replaced, and by companies that are eight times bigger than the old guards.
And this new batch of companies comes from these new arenas or competitive sectors. In fact, they’re so different that we have a nickname for them. If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, it’s wizards versus muggles.
Arena industries are wizardish; we found that there’s a set of industries that play by very different set of economic rules and get very different results, while the rest, the muggles (even though they run the world, finance the world, and energize the world), play by a more traditional set of economic rules.
Lucia Rahilly: Could we put a finer point on what is novel or different about the lens that you applied to determine what’s a wizard and what’s a muggle?
Chris Bradley: Wizards are defined by growth and dynamism. We looked at where value is flowing and the places where value is moving. And where is the value flowing? What we see is that this set of wizards, which represent about ten percent of industries, hog 45 percent of the growth in market cap. But there’s another dimension or axis too, which is dynamism. That is measured by a new metric we’ve come up with called the ”shuffle rate.” How much does the bottom move to the top? It turns out that in this set of wizardish industries, or arenas, the shuffle rate is much higher than it is in the traditional industry.
Lucia Rahilly: So, where are we seeing the most profit?
Chris Bradley: The economic profit, which is the profit you make minus the cost for the capital you employ is in the wizard industries. It’s where R&D happens; they’re two times more R&D intensive. They’re big stars, the nebulae, where new business is born.- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
- On the first day of January 2025, the Indian Meteorological Department [IMD] announced that 2024 was the hottest year on record. A study by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water shows that nearly eight out of ten Indians live in districts that are at risk of either a flood, a cyclone, or a drought. Nearly twenty three States in India are heatwave-prone. In the summer of 2024, India recorded more than 44,000 cases of heatstroke and over 300 heat-related mortalities, as per the bulletin of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Water reservoirs and the energy demand that keeps India powered are impacted too. During a ten-day long heatwave in Delhi, peak power demand was 16% higher than the previous year.
- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in CAT exam
- Let $x$, $y$, and $z$ be real numbers satisfying
\(4(x^2 + y^2 + z^2) = a,\)
\(4(x - y - z) = 3 + a.\)
Then $a$ equals ?- CAT - 2024
- Algebra
- The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Certain codes may, of course, be so widely distributed in a specific language community or culture, and be learned at so early an age, that they appear not to be constructed – the effect of an articulation between sign and referent – but to be ‘naturally’ given. Simple visual signs appear to have achieved a ‘near-universality’ in this sense: though evidence remains that even apparently ‘natural’ visual codes are culture specific. However, this does not mean that no codes have intervened; rather, that the codes have been profoundly naturalized. The operation of naturalized codes reveals not the transparency and ‘naturalness’ of language but the depth, the habituation and the near-universality of the codes in use. They produce apparently ‘natural’ recognitions. This has the (ideological) effect of concealing the practices of coding which are present.- CAT - 2024
- Para Summary
- There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: Comprehending a wide range of emotions, Renaissance music nevertheless portrayed all emotions in a balanced and moderate fashion.
Paragraph: A volume of translated Italian madrigals were published in London during the year of 1588. This sudden public interest facilitated a surge of English Madrigal writing as well as a spurt of other secular music writing and publication. ___(1)___. This music boom lasted for thirty years and was as much a golden age of music as British literature was with Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I. ___(2)___. The rebirth in both literature and music originated in Italy and migrated to England; the English madrigal became more humorous and lighter in England as compared to Italy. Renaissance music was mostly polyphonic in texture. ___(3)___. Extreme use of and contrasts in dynamics, rhythm, and tone colour do not occur. ___(4)___. The rhythms in Renaissance music tend to have a smooth, soft flow instead of a sharp, well-defined pulse of accents.- CAT - 2024
- Para Completion
- There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: Science has officially crowned us superior to our early-rising brethren. Paragraph: My fellow night owls, grab a strong cup of coffee and gather around: I have great news. ___(1)___. For a long time, our kind has been unfairly maligned. Stereotyped as lazy and undisciplined. Told we ought to be morning larks. Advised to go to bed early so we can wake before 5am and run a marathon before breakfast like all high-flyers seem to do. Now, however, we are having the last laugh. ___(2)___. It may be a tad more complicated than that. A study published last week, which you may have already seen while scrolling at 1am, suggests that staying up late could be good for brain power. ___(3)___. Is this study a thinly veiled PR exercise conducted by a caffeine-pill company? Nope, it’s legit. ___(4)___. Research led by academics at Imperial College London studied data on more than 26,000 people and found that “self-declared ‘night owls’ generally tend to have higher cognitive scores”.- CAT - 2024
- Para Completion
- There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: Understanding central Asia’s role helps developments make more sense not only across Asia but in Europe, the Americas and Africa.
Paragraph: The nations of the Silk Roads are sometimes called ‘developing countries’, but they are actually some of the world’s most highly developed countries, the very crossroads of civilization, in advanced states of disrepair. ___(1)___. These countries lie at the centre of global affairs: they have since the beginning of history. Running across the spine of Asia, they form a web of connections fanning out in every direction, routes along which pilgrims and warriors, nomads and merchants have travelled, goods and produce have been bought and sold, and ideas exchanged, adapted and refined. ___(2)___ .They have carried not only prosperity, but also death and violence, disease and disaster. ___(3)___. The Silk Roads are the world’s central nervous system, connecting otherwise far-flung peoples and places…. ___(4)___. It allows us to see patterns and links, causes and effects that remain invisible if one looks only at Europe, or North America.- CAT - 2024
- Para Completion