LSAT Reading Comprehension Practice Test 2

Question – 1



1. Which of the following is the paradox being referred to by the author?

  • A. ‘companies also need to distinguish between interplay and homogeneity’

  • B. ‘Corporations tend to assume that cultures are melding together thanks to globalization, but then they’re surprised to encounter resistance’

  • C. ‘speedy, inexpensive communications channels like the Internet are shattering time- distance barriers’

  • D. ‘enabling disparate cultures to engage in a way that was perhaps never before possible’

  • E. ‘The value of global sales continues to grow’

  • Answer:B

  • Answer Explanation:A paradox is used to refer to a statement that contradicts itself despite being true when seen in totality. A careful study of all the given answer options brings out that B is the only option that meets the definition of a paradox. Moreover, this is the paradox that is being referred to by the author in the given passage. Therefore, B is the correct answer.


Question – 2



2. The phrase, ‘metaphysical foundations of technological change’ has been used to define

  • A. the physical foundations of the technology which is undergoing a change

  • B. the basis on which a change in the current technology is being implemented

  • C. the thought process of the managers of technology

  • D. the basis on which the managers of technology are trying to understand the situation

  • E. the philosophy based on which a technological change is about to be implemented

  • Answer:E

  • Answer Explanation:The term, ‘metaphysics’ is used to refer to philosophical aspects or the underlying principles of any field of study. In this case the field of study is the technological change that is to be implemented. This makes it obvious that the ‘metaphysical foundation’ would be the basic principle or the philosophy based on which the technological change is to be brought about. Out of all the given answer options, only B, D and E are close to the literal meaning of ‘metaphysical foundations of technological change’. B and D fail in specifying the exact nature of the basis being discussed whereas E clearly brings it out as the philosophical basis. In view of the above, it is evident that E is the correct answer.


Question – 3



3. According to the author, studying how a company responds to the change in principles and beliefs

  • A. is of no use if the company refuses to adapt itself accordingly

  • B. cannot be deemed as a necessity for bringing about a technological change

  • C. is a paradox in today’s global marketplace

  • D. is necessary if one is interested in investing in that company

  • E. is the reason why cultures are melding together

  • Answer:D

  • Answer Explanation:The author has brought out the part about studying how a company responds to the changes in principles and beliefs in the beginning of the passage with the statement, ‘an investor must also look at how a company interprets its technological assets and adapts to changing belief systems around it’. This statement has been made to emphasize on the fact that investors need to study this aspect before investing in technology intensive companies. Therefore, out of all the given answer options, it is evident that D is the only option that provides the correct answer.


Question – 4



4. Which of the following has not been highlighted as a necessity for propagation and enhancement of IT services in the country?

  • A. Telecom Infrastructure

  • B. Internet saturation

  • C. Bandwidth availability

  • D. Software exports

  • E. Telephone density

  • Answer:D

  • Answer Explanation:The first sentence of the passage makes it amply clear that telecom infrastructure is essential for growth of IT software and so A is an incorrect answer to the question asked. The last sentence of the passage brings out that Internet saturation, telephone density and bandwidth availability are all prerequisites for enhancement of IT services and marketplace. Therefore, B, C and E are all incorrect answer options. Software exports have been discussed to stress on the importance of establishing a robust telecom infrastructure. There is no indication of the importance of software exports for propagation of IT services within the country and so D is the correct answer.


Question – 5



5. Which of the following has been used to substantiate the claim that the country’s telecom network needs to be improved?

  • A. ‘a robust and reliable telecom infrastructure has become a priority’

  • B. ‘Government has already taken substantial steps to deregulate the telecom environment’

  • C. ‘Nasscom has in fact been lobbying with the Government’

  • D. ‘liberalizing the Internet environment’

  • E. ‘Issues such as telephone density are important for enhancing Internet saturation’

  • Answer:E

  • Answer Explanation:The entire passage deals with the necessity of improving the telecom infrastructure in order to ensure the growth of IT services in the country. One of the reasons for improving the telecom infrastructure is that telephone density is important for enhancing the Internet saturation which in turn is pivotal in improving the domestic software and services market. A and E seem to be the correct answers, but a careful study of both these answer options brings out that A is simply reiterating the fact that it is important to improve the telecom infrastructure whereas E clearly highlights the reason why it is so. Therefore, E is the correct answer.


Question – 6



6. The consequences of introducing the ISP policy would have the least effect on

  • A. Internet saturation

  • B. software development

  • C. the telecom environment

  • D. the telecom infrastructure

  • E. the IT software and services marketplace

  • Answer:B

  • Answer Explanation:The correct answer to this question can be identified only after understanding the implications of the ISP policy. It has been stated that liberalising the internet environment can be achieved by introducing the ISP policy and this would be a step in the direction of deregulating the telecom environment. Deregulation of the telecom environment will lead to the improvement of telephone density and enhancement of internet saturation. Out of all the given answer options, software development is an aspect of IT services which will be least affected by the introduction of the ISP policy. Therefore, B is the correct answer.


Question – 7



7. The author highlights that Rahul Dravid may be India’s best batsmen, but at the same time he

  • A. is incapable of hitting hundreds like Tendulkar

  • B. has captained the team and saved them from many defeats

  • C. is not immune to being hit by the ball

  • D. knows to how maintain a steely resolve when it is least required

  • E. is unable to handle the short ball as well as Lara

  • Answer:C

  • Answer Explanation:The passage deals with various aspects of Rahul Dravid’s professionalism and skills as a cricketer. It has been brought out that Tendulkar may have a hundred hundreds to his credit at the end of his career, but it has not been implied anywhere that Rahul Dravid is incapable of achieving the same feat. Therefore, A is incorrect. Rahul Dravid has saved the team from several defeats but it is not mentioned anywhere that he was the captain of the team during those matches and so B is incorrect. It has been clearly stated that Dravid is a man whose mental resolve is ‘at its strongest when the situation is the direst’. This implies that D is incorrect. E is clearly incorrect and it has been explicitly stated that no one in contemporary cricket, including Lara ‘deals with the short ball with greater poise and equanimity than Dravid’. The author brings out that ‘Dravid has been hit a couple of times while trying to force the ball away’ and therefore, it is evident that C is the correct answer.


Question – 8



8. Which of the following has been provided as an example of an event that would hardly ever educe astonishment?

  • A. Hitting a four

  • B. Ducking in to a bouncer

  • C. Ending a cricketing career with a hundred hundreds

  • D. Avoiding getting out when a great ball is bowled

  • E. Responding to a sharp short ball with a fiery hook

  • Answer:D

  • Answer Explanation:‘Educe astonishment’ would mean the same as ‘elicits a sense of wonderment’ when seen in the context of their usage in the passage. Therefore it becomes apparent that the correct answer would be the option that refers to the event of ‘surviving a great ball’. Out of all the given answer options, D is the only option that refers to a similar event and therefore, D is the correct answer.


Question – 9



9. A study of the comparison between Rahul Dravid and other batsmen makes it amply clear that

  • A. Tendulkar can handle the short ball with better calmness and composure as compared to Dravid

  • B. Dravid is the best when it comes to handling the short ball

  • C. The others were incompetent when it came to saving the team from defeats

  • D. Dravid will always be remembered as the best Indian batsmen of all times

  • E. Tendulkar and Lara, unlike Dravid, do not belong to modern cricket

  • Answer:B

  • Answer Explanation:It has been brought out that Dravid was instrumental in saving the team from defeats, but this does not imply that the others were incapable of making the same contribution to the team’s success. Therefore, C is incorrect. It has been clearly brought out that ‘Tendulkar was India’s batsman of the l990s’. Dravid is being touted as the best batsman based on his performance in recent years. Therefore, it will be incorrect to assume that Dravid will be remembered as the best batsmen of ‘all times’ and hence, D is incorrect. The statement, ‘No one in contemporary cricket, Tendulkar and Lara included, deals with the short ball with greater poise and equanimity than Dravid’, makes it amply clear that A and E are clearly incorrect and B is the correct answer.


Question – 10



10. Which of the following has been brought out as a consequence of the United States withdrawing from the war?

  • A. Democracy will be achieved

  • B. United States will find it to be a very hard task

  • C. Dictatorship will be abolished

  • D. United States will have to give up its aim for which the war was being fought

  • E. The impending disaster will be amplified

  • Answer:D

  • Answer Explanation:The passage starts with a discussion on the various pros and cons of the United States pulling from the war. It has been brought out that pulling out from the war or losing it would be harder than winning the war. This cannot be labelled as a consequence of pulling put from the war. Moreover, it has been clearly stated that one should not expect democracy to be established by taking this step. Therefore, A and B are both incorrect. C is clearly incorrect as it has been brought out that in all likelihood dictatorship will rebound in this scenario. It has been stated that staying on would magnify the disaster. This obviously will not happen if United States does not stay on. Therefore, E is also incorrect. The beginning of the passage clearly states that losing the war will entail ‘relinquishing attractive fantasies’. As D is close to this in meaning and also, it is the only option left, it is the correct answer.


Question – 11



11. Vietnam has been provided as an example to support which of the following claims?

  • A. Democracy will not be established if the citizens battle for it

  • B. It is the choice of the citizens which determines whether democracy will be established or not

  • C. The leaders of a nation will have to be self-determined in order to become a democratic nation

  • D. Local people can always ensure the establishment of democracy

  • E. Democracy is an organic process

  • Answer:B

  • Answer Explanation:A careful study of the statement, ‘The creation of democracy is an organic process that must proceed from the will of the local people, sometimes that will is present, more often it is not.’, makes it amply clear that it is the will of the people that determines whether democracy will be created or not. Vietnam has been provided as an example of a nation whose people have fought for self-determination for so long, but still have not become a democracy. It has been indirectly implied that the people did not have the required will. Out of the all the given answer options, B and C are the closest to the arguments discussed above. However, it is ‘people’ and not the ‘leaders’ of a country who are being discussed here and therefore, it is evident that B is the correct answer.


Question – 12



12. Based on the arguments and evidence provided by the author, it would be erroneous to conclude that

  • A. Withdrawal of the United States from the war does not ensure the establishment of Democracy in Iraq

  • B. Dictatorship or civil war in Iraq is imminent in the likelihood of the United States leaving the war

  • C. There is a bleak chance that the Iraqis may succeed in establishing a democracy

  • D. Establishing democracy in Iraq is beyond the powers of other peace keeping nations

  • E. United states is justified in staying on as that would ensure the establishment of Democracy in Iraq

  • Answer:E

  • Answer Explanation:The entire passage deals with the situation which may arise as an effect of United States withdrawing from the war. The statements, ‘no one should imagine that democracy will be achieved by this means’ and ‘a recrudescence of dictatorship or Civil War, or both’ have been made with reference to the withdrawal of the United states from Iraq. Therefore, both A and B are valid conclusions based on the content of the passage and hence, are incorrect answers to the question asked. It has been stated that, ‘it would also be wrong to categorically rule out the possibility that they will escape tyranny and create a democratic government for themselves’ which implies that C is also a valid conclusion and is an incorrect answer option. D is also incorrect based on the last couple of sentences of the given passage. The statement, ‘no one should imagine that democracy will be achieved by this means’ makes it amply clear that E is the correct answer.


Question – 13



13. According to the author, which of the following cannot be used to describe Dr. Jalan’s comments?

  • A. The financial situation can be best handled or understood by adopting a dogmatic policy

  • B. Dr. Jalan’s comments are in stark opposition to IMF’s perspective on the same issue

  • C. It is not possible to have an opinionated approach in respect of the economic policies

  • D. A fiscal deficit is not necessarily a disagreeable element for a nation’s economy

  • E. It is not mandatory that the same approach will hold true for all economic policies at all times

  • Answer:A

  • Answer Explanation:It has been brought out that IMF has a rule-bound approach to economic policies whereas Dr. Jalan’s speech implies that there can be no rule-bound approach to financial markets and economics. Therefore, B is a valid description of Dr. Jalan’s comments and hence, is an incorrect answer option for the question asked. The discussion on IMF’s stance on fiscal deficits brings out that it may be necessary at some other time for the same economy and hence D is an incorrect answer option. Going by the last sentence of the passage, it is evident that E is also a wrong answer choice. The statement, ‘There can be no doctrinaire, orthodox, rule-bound approach to the financial markets and economics and more generally the social sciences’ has been made with reference to Dr. Jalan’s comments and it makes it amply clear that C is incorrect and A is the correct answer to the question asked as C is a valid description and A is unwarranted.


Question – 14



14. The fact that IMF’s approach is doctrinaire has been supported by which of the following statements?

  • A. ‘India’s fiscal deficit being completely unsustainable and it being the root cause of all its economic malaise’

  • B. ‘There can be no doctrinaire, orthodox, rule-bound approach to the financial markets’

  • C. ‘A budget deficit while undesirable at a point in time for an economy becomes necessary some other time for the same economy’

  • D. ‘this line on fiscal deficits has been the standard of the IMF’

  • E. ‘its representatives almost instinctively parrot out the argument’

  • Answer:C

  • Answer Explanation:The word ‘doctrinaire’ means the same as ‘dogmatic’, which has been used to describe IMF’s stance in the statement, ‘almost obsessive rule-bound approach of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to economic policy issues’. This is followed by the statement that the IMF representatives still ‘parrot out the argument’ oblivious to the fact that this argument has been ‘turned on its head in the most convincing manner in many countries’. This implies that a fiscal deficit or a budget deficit may be undesirable at some point, but the same could be necessary at some other time for the same economy. This is the statement which is supporting the claim that the IMF’s stance on the subject is dogmatic. In view of the above, it is evident that C is the correct answer.


Question – 15



15. In Dr. Jalan’s view, the approach to financial markets and economics is

  • A. sensible and conventional

  • B. inflexible and rule-bound

  • C. logical but not practical

  • D. sensible but not conventional

  • E. practical and assertive

  • Answer:D

  • Answer Explanation:The word that has been used to describe the approach to financial markets and economics as per Dr. Jalan’s viewpoint is ‘pragmatic’. Therefore, the correct answer option would be the one that contains words like ‘sensible’ and practical’ as they would mean the same as ‘pragmatic’. It has also been brought out that the approach is not doctrinaire, orthodox or rule-bound. Therefore, a careful study of the available answer options makes it clear that D is the correct answer.


Score: 0/10

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