CR- WEAKEN THE ARGUMENT || Verbal Ability || CAT 2021 || 15 June

Direction: Read the information given and answer the question that follows.

The road bridge collapsed due to heavy rains completely cutting of road transport between City A and City B. "There is no way of restoring the bridge within a week, therefore, arrangements will have to be made to air-drop relief packets to City B"- Mayor of city B.

Direction: Read the following information and answer the given question.

David: When a country has an aging population there is a direct impact on living preferences. Elderly people generally do not prefer to live in harsh climates characterized by extreme temperatures. Hence the population is likely to grow in region X, which is a coastal region with moderate temperatures all through the year.

John: I disagree. Regions, where the climate is harsh, are characterized by comparatively low living costs, a compelling factor for retired people with limited savings and on fixed incomes. Real estate prices in region X have been increasing for the last few years.

Direction: Each set of questions in this section is based on the reasoning and arguments set out in the preceding passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage

Passage

Research has now found that the key to a long life lies not in medicine but in museums. A study conducted by researchers at University College London says on the basis of its examination of a sample of 6,000 adults in the United Kingdom aged 50 years and above that frequent trips to the museum and sites of art — concerts, opera, exhibition galleries — can play an instrumental role in prolonging life. The findings complement earlier research, which argued that engaging with community art projects helps battle serious health conditions such as depression, chronic pain and even dementia. It seems that investments in creative pursuits — watching, appreciating or critiquing art — could have therapeutic consequences for cognitive ability. It would be unwise to scoff at these inferences. For data seem to bear out the hypothesis. The life expectancy at birth in the UK is nearly 80 years for men and almost 83 for women, while the corresponding figures for India are 67.8 and 70.4. This difference can be attributed to the fact that a lot many people visit the UK’s museums, which are stupendous repositories of not just the past but also culture.

[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “History for health”, Editorial, The Telegraph, https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/history-for-health/cid/1729241.]

Legislation has been discussed in many states that would make smoking tobacco illegal. Critics of these new legislation remember that, as long as that behavior causes no harm to others, citizens should be free to participate in some activity in the United States. Based on this, opponents conclude that it should be legal to smoke tobacco.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the given questions.

It is a principle of criminal law that it is preferable to exonerate 10 criminals to condemning even a single innocent. The legal procedure by which a convict is sent to his death is complex and packed with safeguards. Thus, a trial court may pronounce the death sentence only in the “rarest of the rare” cases — and such a sentence is automatically referred to the High Court for confirmation. A warrant of execution may only be issued once the sentence has been confirmed by the High Court. The convict then has the option of approaching the Supreme Court against the High Court’s decision. After the Supreme Court’s decision, the convict may file a review petition and a separate curative petition before the Supreme Court. Both are standard legal processes, meant to rectify egregious errors in judgments. Thereafter, a mercy petition before the President may be filed. Such a petition is disposed of after a process involving a recommendation from the relevant state government, and sanction from the Home Ministry. The convict may then approach the Supreme Court again by filing a petition questioning the legitimacy of the President’s decision in the mercy petition. The disposal of this petition ends the process, and the death sentence may be executed thereafter. This adds up to four separate petitions available to a convict even after the Supreme Court has confirmed the conviction. Thus, while a death warrant may be issued once the High Court has confirmed the sentence, it may not be executed until all these remedies have been exhausted.

Direction: Read the passage carefully and answer the given questions.

Traditionally schools in India have long school hours and rigorous schedules for students. In many cities students commute long distances to attend school. Since the COVID pandemic many schools including Nova High School began to use online computer instructions in all their academic subjects. The students of tenth and twelfth grade have reported some impressive improvement in their overall grades. Therefore, in future budgets the school board should use a greater portion of the available finds on online mode of instruction, and all schools in the district should adopt online computer instruction throughout the curriculum.

After being heated to 50 degrees Celsius in a microwave oven, a cup of raw milk retains half the original concentration of lysozyme, a special enzyme. However, if, by proximity to a traditional heat supply of 50 degrees Celsius, the milk exceeds that temperature, it can produce almost all of its original enzyme concentration. Therefore, not heat but microwaves, which emit heat, are what kills the enzyme.

An electrocardiograph (EKG) is also used to assess the disease when people show symptoms of getting a heart attack. In a report, a very qualified, highly professional cardiologist was pitted against a computer program for EKG diagnosis of heart attacks. A far greater percentage of the cases that were later found to be heart attacks were properly identified by the service than by the cardiologist. Accordingly, decoding EKG data should be left to computer programs.

Direction: Each set of questions in this section is based on the reasoning and arguments set out in the preceding passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage

Passage

The magnetic North Pole, it turns out, is shifting eastwards at an unprecedented pace. About 15 years ago, this would have made little difference to the daily lives of people and even Google Maps relies largely on satellite imaging, which is mostly unaffected by this shift. But now, in addition to its implications for industries and sectors that rely on the magnetic north — airports, defence, drilling — it will affect smartphones as well. Most contemporary phones have three magnetic sensors that tell the direction the user is facing. This feature could be compromised with the pole shifting, and people would be, quite literally, direction-less. They will thus have to ask other people for directions.

But learning to navigate by memory, and, more importantly, asking for directions may not be a terrible development. In fact, in India, it is a necessary skill. The spate of frequent internet shutdowns means that Google is of erratic help across cities in India.

[Extracted, with edits and revisions, from “Where I Am”, Editorial, The Indian Express, https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/navigation-sytems-google-maps-where-i-am-north-pole-shifting-6184815/.]

Direction: Which one of the following, if it were to happen, weakens the conclusions drawn from the above passage the most?