SSCCGL English Language And Comprehension

Question 46

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the following question out of the four alternatives.
The critical faculty is the most potent one in the human make-up. Its pervasiveness and force have not properly been recognized because like breathing, it is so much a part and parcel of human activity. The difference between a simpleton and an intelligent man, according to the man who is convinced that he is of the latter category, is that the former wholeheartedly accepts all things that he sees and hears while the latter never admits anything except after a most searching scrutiny. He imagines his intelligence to be a sieve of closely woven mesh through which nothing but the finest can pass.
 
The critical sense is essential for keeping social transactions in a warm state. Otherwise life would become very dull and goody-goody. The critical faculty is responsible for a lot of give and take in life. It increases our awareness of our surroundings; it sounds dignified no doubt but it seems also to mean that we can watch someone else’s back better than our own! We never know our own defects till they are pointed out to us and even, then we need not accept them. We always question the bonafides of the man who tells us unpleasant facts. On the surface it is all very well to say, ‘I want an honest criticism: that will help me, not blind compliments.’ I wish people would mean it.
What, according to the writer, is the essential link between breathing and the critical faculty?

  • Both are required in social relations

  • Both are exercised by human beings

  • Both grow with age

  • Both stop with death

Solution

B.

Both are exercised by human beings

Question 47

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the following question out of the four alternatives.
The critical faculty is the most potent one in the human make-up. Its pervasiveness and force have not properly been recognized because like breathing, it is so much a part and parcel of human activity. The difference between a simpleton and an intelligent man, according to the man who is convinced that he is of the latter category, is that the former wholeheartedly accepts all things that he sees and hears while the latter never admits anything except after a most searching scrutiny. He imagines his intelligence to be a sieve of closely woven mesh through which nothing but the finest can pass.
 
The critical sense is essential for keeping social transactions in a warm state. Otherwise life would become very dull and goody-goody. The critical faculty is responsible for a lot of give and take in life. It increases our awareness of our surroundings; it sounds dignified no doubt but it seems also to mean that we can watch someone else’s back better than our own! We never know our own defects till they are pointed out to us and even, then we need not accept them. We always question the bonafides of the man who tells us unpleasant facts. On the surface it is all very well to say, ‘I want an honest criticism: that will help me, not blind compliments.’ I wish people would mean it.
The self-defined intelligent man defines himself on the basis of

  • his obvious divergence from the simpleton

  • his superior intelligence as a whole

  • his possession of the critical faculty

  • his heightened awareness of his surroundings

Solution

C.

his possession of the critical faculty

Question 48

In the following question, a sentence is given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for the given question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four.
A chill wind blew (a)/ and icy fingers of death (b)/ crept up my spine. (c)/ No error (d)

  • A chill wind blew

  • and icy fingers of death

  • crept up my spine

  • No error

Solution

C.

crept up my spine

Here 'crept up on my spine' should be used in third part of the sentence.

Question 49

In the following question, a sentence is given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for the given question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four.
IIM Calcutta's MBA Programme (a)/ is regarded (b)/ as the finest in the country (c)/ No error

  • IIM Calcutta's MBA Programme

  • is regarded

  • as the finest in the country

  • No error

Solution

A.

IIM Calcutta's MBA Programme

It should be 'The MBA programme of IIM Calcutta'.

Question 50

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to the following question out of the four alternatives.
The critical faculty is the most potent one in the human make-up. Its pervasiveness and force have not properly been recognized because like breathing, it is so much a part and parcel of human activity. The difference between a simpleton and an intelligent man, according to the man who is convinced that he is of the latter category, is that the former wholeheartedly accepts all things that he sees and hears while the latter never admits anything except after a most searching scrutiny. He imagines his intelligence to be a sieve of closely woven mesh through which nothing but the finest can pass.
The critical sense is essential for keeping social transactions in a warm state. Otherwise life would become very dull and goody-goody. The critical faculty is responsible for a lot of give and take in life. It increases our awareness of our surroundings; it sounds dignified no doubt but it seems also to mean that we can watch someone else’s back better than our own! We never know our own defects till they are pointed out to us and even, then we need not accept them. We always question the bonafides of the man who tells us unpleasant facts. On the surface it is all very well to say, ‘I want an honest criticism: that will help me, not blind compliments.’ I wish people would mean it.
People who solicit others opinions (about themselves) generally want

  • effusive compliments

  • honest criticism

  • harsh facts

  • precise feedback

Solution

B.

honest criticism