Question – 1
1. Which of the following cannot be attributed as a characteristic of the Organization Men as brought out in the passage?
- A. They joined and retired from the same company
- B. They were of the firm opinion that their entire career was confined to one company
- C. They were mostly women
- D. Their promotions were slower as compared to contemporary executives
- E. As compared to the present executives in the same stage, they were much older
- Answer:C
- Answer Explanation:It has been clearly brought out that the Organization Man was someone who was a lifelong employee for the company and who was of the opinion that his entire career was confined to a single organization. This implies that A and B have been brought out as the characteristics of an Organization Man. It has been brought out that today’s executives are younger and they make their way to the executive suite about four years faster than their counterparts in 1980. This implies that D and E are also incorrect answer options to the question asked as both of them refer to characteristics of the Organization Man. The only option left is C, which is obviously correct as nowhere in the passage has it been suggested that the Organization Men were mostly women; rather it has been brought out that women are increasingly being seen as executives in today’s world.
Question – 2
2. Peter Capelli and Monika Hamori have postulated that women are now
- A. more suitable for executive positions as compared to men
- B. increasingly becoming aggressive and showing the door to men
- C. becoming aware of the career opportunities offered in the business world
- D. being preferred for executive positions over those employees who have been working for the company for a long time
- E. more career conscious as compared to the women executives belonging to the previous generation
- Answer:D
- Answer Explanation:The documentation of Peter Capelli and Monika Hamori concentrates on discussing the characteristics of today’s executives and the methods they employ to reach high ranking positions in comparison to their counterparts of the past. They have found that women are increasingly holding executive positions in companies and they are being preferred over the lifelong corporate employees. They have not postulated that women are more suitable than men for holding executive positions and neither have they put forward any of the statements mentioned at B, C and E. In view of the above, it is evident that D is the correct answer.
Question – 3
3. Going by the information provided by the author, it would be erroneous to conclude that
- A. the methods adopted to become executives have changed drastically over the years
- B. the present day executives have low morals and they stop at nothing to achieve success in their careers
- C. the characteristics of today’s executives are nowhere close to those of their counterparts in the past
- D. women are proving their worth in the business world
- E. today’s executives believe in switching companies for enhancing their professional success
- Answer:B
- Answer Explanation:The correct answer would be the option that refers to a conclusion that cannot be drawn based on the information provided in the passage. The entire passage deals with the core issue of how the road to the executive suite has changed over the years. So A and C refer to valid conclusions and so they both are incorrect answers to the question asked. D and E refer to facts that have been clearly brought out in the passage and hence, they are justified as conclusions based on the contents of the passage. The morals of today’s executives have not been referred to anywhere in the passage and hence, B is an unwarranted conclusion and also the correct answer option.
Question – 4
4. The people who are most likely to benefit from the new model being discussed will be those who
- A. do not have an independent profile
- B. spend their entire lives in one company
- C. do not have professional competence but know how to promote themselves
- D. try to fit into the needs of the organization and change themselves accordingly
- E. know how to make themselves stand out among everyone else
- Answer:E
- Answer Explanation:The end of the passage clearly brings out the type of executives who are likely to use the new model to their advantage and benefit from it. It has been stated that ‘people who can promote themselves clearly win’. This implies that the people who are aware of the ways and means to project their skills and talents will be able to taste success in this model. Option E refers to this type of people. C also refers to this type of people, but it is not mentioned anywhere in the passage that such people will be professionally incompetent; rather it has been brought out that people who have merit are the ones who will have the advantage in this model. All the other options refer to people who do not belong to the new executive model and therefore, will not be able to benefit from this model. In view of the above, it is evident that E is the correct answer.
Question – 5
5. Based on the information provided in the passage it would be justified to conclude that
- A. the percentage of ‘lifers’ in companies has not seen much change
- B. ‘lifers’ no longer exist in companies
- C. ‘lifers’ do not belong to the Organization Man era
- D. the percentage of ‘lifers’ in companies is abating
- E. today’s younger companies are finding it easier to convert executives into ‘lifers’
- Answer:D
- Answer Explanation:The option that highlights a justified conclusion based on the contents of the passage will be the correct answer choice. The statistics of ‘lifers’ in 1980 and in 2001 and those on young companies make it amply clear that although the percentage of ‘lifers’ in companies has seen a significant change, ‘lifers’ still exist in companies. Therefore, A and B are both incorrect. The beginning of the passage clearly brings out that executives rarely left their companies and the statistics provided make it clear that ‘lifers’ were in a higher percentage in the Organization Man era and hence, C is also incorrect. The percentage of ‘lifers’ in young companies is the lowest as per the statistics provided and so E is incorrect. A careful study of the content of the passage makes it clear that D is the correct answer.
Question – 6
6. Which of the following types of executives do not fall in the new corporate executive model as elucidated in the passage?
- A. Executives who will succeed in going up the success ladder in a company on the basis of their merit
- B. Executives who will leave a company only if the growth in career as promised by the company was not granted eventually
- C. Executives who know how to advertise their talents and skills
- D. Executives who are insensitive and ignorant of organizational needs
- E. Executives who are or at least appear meritorious
- Answer:B
- Answer Explanation:The end of the passage clearly elucidates the type of executives who fall in the new model as they are the ones who will benefit from this model the most. These executives would be the ones who will go up the success ladder on the basis of their merit and also on the basis of their abilities to promote themselves. Therefore, options A, C and E refer to executives who fall in the new corporate executive model. D has not been referred to anywhere in the passage while B has clearly been highlighted as a characteristic of the executives who existed in the past. Therefore, on comparing B and D, it can be seen that B is the correct answer.
Question – 7
7. The crux of the issue being discussed by the passage is best described by which of the following?
- A. The meaning of technology.
- B. Technology and philosophy
- C. Role of technology in the success of a company
- D. The philosophy of the use of technology
- E. Technology used in developing a product
- Answer:D
- Answer Explanation:The passage starts on the note that a company’s success depends upon how well it is able to understand its customers’ philosophical outlook. The passage deals with the importance of understanding philosophy and it finally ends on the note that companies need to understand how technology is interpreted by each section of the market or each type of consumer and then they need to decide how to market their technology-based product. This implies that the entire passage is dealing with the main issue of how technology needs to be interpreted in terms of the philosophy for using it. Out of all the given answer options, B and D highlight this issue. However, on comparing these two options it can be seen that D is the correct answer as it gives a better description of the crux of the issue being discussed in the passage.
Question – 8
8. What, according to the author, are the two most important factors that control the success of a company?
- A. Technology and R&D
- B. Technical assets and the viewpoints regarding the use of these assets
- C. Technology and development of new products
- D. Understanding the consumers’ viewpoints and rejecting technology
- E. Understanding the meaning of technology and making it a core-asset
- Answer:B
- Answer Explanation:It has been brought out in the beginning of the passage that the success of a company largely depends upon technology which results in a winning company. It has also been brought out that a company’s ability to understand its customers’ philosophical outlook is equally important for its success. Therefore, the first factor that controls the success of a company is the use of technology and the second factor is understanding the consumers’ viewpoints. Options A, B and E are all incorrect as they refer to only one of these factors. D is incorrect as it has not been brought out anywhere in the passage that rejecting technology will lead to success for a company. B clearly highlights both the factors and is therefore, the correct answer.
Question – 9
9. Apart from utilizing technology to develop new products, companies will now have to
- A. start functioning in a global environment
- B. make efforts to ensure that technology co-exists with its different meanings
- C. market their products depending upon how consumers’ philosophy is related to technology
- D. ensure that their technological assets contribute to the company’s success
- E. decide whether to embrace technology or not
- Answer:C
- Answer Explanation:It has been brought out that more companies now operate in the global environment and there is no indication of the fact that companies that do not do so will now have to start doing it apart from utilizing technology and so A is incorrect. It has been indicated that different meanings to a given technology can co-exist and that technological assets contribute to the company’s success, but there is no mention of the fact that both of these need to be ensured and so B and D are both incorrect. E is clearly incorrect as this decision is not required to be made by the companies apart from utilising technology. The last portion of the passage brings out that ‘companies need to to consider what technology means to each segment of the market and accordingly, how to position the technology-based product’. This implies that C is the correct answer.
Question – 10
10. The example that it was the Americans and not the Europeans who took the lead in powered flight has been used to substantiate which of the following?
- A. ‘field of the philosophy of technology is relatively young’
- B. ‘Europe had all it took to become the home of the first powered flight – but it didn’t’
- C. ‘a given field of technological innovation is shaped by its social environment’
- D. ‘a reverse direction of the causal arrow’
- E. ‘it loses its sensitivity to the external social forces and becomes driven primarily by technological considerations’
- Answer:E
- Answer Explanation:The author has stated that Europe had all that was required to make it the home of the first powered flight. This means that the society had the requisite knowledge and the technology; in other words, the social environment was conducive for the development of technology, however the technological innovation completed its life cycle in America despite being triggered in Europe. This makes it evident that this example has been provided to substantiate the claim that after maturing, the field of technological innovation is no longer sensitive to its social environment, but it starts being driven by technological considerations. In view of the above, it is evident that E is the correct answer as it refers to the statement which has been substantiated by the given example.
Question – 11
11. According to the author, which of the following plays no role in determining the life cycle of a given technology?
- A. The field of the philosophy of technology
- B. The social environment
- C. Interaction between society and technology
- D. A social change
- E. External social forces
- Answer:A
- Answer Explanation:The author has discussed how the life cycle of a technological innovation is affected by its social environment in detail. Therefore, B, D and E all refer to factors that play an important role in determining the life cycle of a given technology and hence all three of them are incorrect answer options to the question asked. C is clearly an incorrect answer option as it has been discussed in detail as the main factor that determines the path that will be taken by a technological innovation during its life cycle. The field philosophy of technology deals with how a given technology will eventually develop. This is just a field of study that consists of theories surrounding the growth of a given technology. By itself, this field plays no role in determining the life cycle of any technological innovation and hence, A is the correct answer.
Question – 12
12. Which of the following cannot be attributed to any of the theories of the philosophy of technology as being discussed in the passage?
- A. A technological development is the trigger for social changes
- B. A social change is responsible for initiating a technological innovation
- C. In its early stages, a technological innovation is largely influenced by its social environment
- D. A field of technological innovation eventually moves away from the society where it was triggered
- E. Technological innovation is no longer influenced by its social environment as it matures
- Answer:D
- Answer Explanation:There are two main theories being discussed in the passage. One states that ‘technological change triggers historical processes’ and the other states that ‘it is social change that triggers technological innovation’. Therefore, A and B both refer to the theories of the philosophy of technology as being discussed in the passage and therefore, they both are incorrect answers to the question asked. These two theories have been combined into a new theory that stipulates ‘at the early, formative stage, – a given field of technological innovation is shaped by its social environment’ and it further states that ‘as the field matures, it loses its sensitivity to the external social forces’. This implies that C and E are also incorrect answer options. Although the fact mentioned at D is reflected in the example provided in the passage, but that does not imply that it can be attributed to the theories being discussed; especially since it has not been brought out anywhere as an aspect of any of the theories being discussed. Therefore, D is the correct answer.
Question – 13
13. The information provided in the passage makes it apparent that
- A. Americans lived in a society that was better organized than the European society
- B. the philosophy of consumers is not related to the success of any inventions
- C. technology and philosophy are not concomitant
- D. the social structure in America was not as organized as that in Europe
- E. technological inventions cannot be determined by social structures
- Answer:D
- Answer Explanation:It has been stated that the decision to introduce an invention involves a lot of work including a study of the consumers’ or market’s belief. This makes it amply clear that technology and philosophy is related and that the consumer’s beliefs are related to the success of an invention. This implies that both B and C are incorrect. The entire passage deals with the issue of how social structures and consumers’ philosophy affects technological inventions and therefore E is also incorrect. The passage starts on the note that Europe was socially structured whereas the American boys being referred to were living in an unstructured society. This implies that A is incorrect and D is the correct answer.
Question – 14
14. Which of the following does not reflect the ‘technology-metaphysics’ link as described in the passage?
- A. ‘Europeans saw air flight as a threat to the established social order’
- B. ‘That kind of missed opportunity could still occur today’
- C. ‘shed an unyielding philosophy that blocked a technological leap’
- D. ‘the art of marketing does make some room for customers’ abstract conceptions’
- E. ‘If people could fly, what would become of state sovereignty?’
- Answer:B
- Answer Explanation:The crux of the issue being dealt with in the passage is how technology is affected by philosophy and social structures. This relation is being referred to by the ‘technology-metaphysics’ link. The example of the Europeans and the Americans has been cited to reiterate the importance of this link. A, C and E are used to directly refer to the philosophy of the society that affected technological developments in their times. Therefore, all three of these options reflect the ‘technology-metaphysics’ link and are therefore incorrect answer options. D directly refers to the link between technology and consumers’ philosophy and is therefore an incorrect answer option. B is referring to the ‘missed opportunity’ and not to the philosophy or how it affected technology and therefore, B is the correct answer.
Question – 15
15. According to the author, introduction of any technological innovation
- A. will have issues in being established in Europe
- B. is not possible if one ignores the technology-metaphysics link
- C. needs to be backed by an understanding of what the society wants
- D. is independent of social pressures
- E. will show best results if initiated in America
- Answer:C
- Answer Explanation:The entire passage deals with how technological innovations are affected by social pressures and social acceptance. However, this does not imply that technological innovation is not possible at all. At the most it may not be successful but it can definitely be initiated. Therefore, B and D are both incorrect. The event that took place in the European and American societies has been cited as an example and it does not mean that this would hold true for all technological innovations. Hence, options A and E are also incorrect. C gives a clear and concise description of the main issue being discussed in the passage and therefore, C is the correct answer.