PGDBA 2020

VERBAL ABILITY

Q.1. Each of the following four sentences has two words within brackets. The which
has been highlighted has been used as the most appropriate word for the sentence.
In one of the sentences, the wrong word has been highlighted. Identify that sentence
and indicate that option as your answer .

(A) The regional rules had to (profligate/propitiate) the Kings and Emperors in
order to survive and prosper.
(B) Inculturation always runs the risk of (syncretism/symbolism), in all culture
without exception.
(C) The family was destitute as its sole breadwinner was an
(inverterate,invigorate) gambler.
(D) Classes where children from different economic backgrounds are
(integrated/ingratiated) might be a good way of developing empathy in children.

Q.2. Arrange the sentences in the most logical order to form a coherent paragraph.
From the given options choose the most appropriate option.

a. Hillary Clinton famously used children as her signature cause when she was
first lady, publishing in 1996, when her public image was mired in scandal.
b. “Think of the children!” has thus been a rallying cry for everyone from anti-
nuclear activists to crusaders against gay marriage or abortion.
c. Adults with wildly varying agendas have long used kids to serve their own
political interests.
d. As a political strategy, this makes some sense; whatever their politics, most
adults are distressed when “children,” as an amorphous group, appear to be in
trouble.

(A) adbc
(B) bcda
(C) cdba
(D) dabc

Q.3. Each of the following four sentences has two words within brackets. The word
which has been highlighted has been used as the most appropriate word for the
sentence. In one of the sentences, the wrong word has been highlighted. Identify
that sentence and indicate that option as your answer.
 (A) Long years of neglect had left the roof of the historic building in a
(precarious/precautions) condition.
(B) Letters of congratulation (decanted/descended) on the winning team like
snowflakes.
(C) From a distance he could see the cow (foraging/foregoing) in the pasture at a
distance from the herd.
(D) The speaker was becoming more and more aggressive as the crowd
(goaded/girded) him on .

Q.4. Arrange the sentences in the most logical order to form a coherent paragraph.
From the given options choose the most appropriate option.

a. The process of state building has often seen the exploitation of

environmental and natural resources.
b. They become low paid labour in, or destructive scavengers eking out a living
from the remnants of, corporate forestry even as forest resources were being
depleted.
c. In most of the countries in ASEAN, unbridled exploitation of forest resources
occurred while civil society actors, mainly forest-based communities, were
either marginalized or co-opted.
d. In the history of ASEAN countries, this process led not only to political and
economic marginalization of many civil society sectors but also to the resource
capture and ecological marginalization of forest resources.

(A) dbca
(B) Dcab
(C) badc
(D) bdca

Case Study Q.6 - Q.10.

The orientals and occidentals think in different ways is not mere prejudice. Many
psychological studies conducted over the past two decades suggest Westerners have
more individualistic, analytic and abstract mental life than do East Asians. Several
hypotheses have been put forward to explain this.

One, that modernisation promotes individualism, falls at the first hurdle: Japan, an
ultra - modern country whose people have retained a collective outlook. A second,
that a higher prevalence of infectious diseases in a place makes contact with
strangers more dangerous, and causes groups to turn inward, is hardly better.
Europe has had its share of plagues; probably more than either Japan or Korea. And
though southern China is notoriously a source of infection (influenza pandemics
often start there), this is not true of other parts of that enormous country.
That led Thomas Talhelm of the University of Virginia and his colleagues to look into
a third suggestion: that the crucial difference is agricultural. The West’s staple is
wheat; the East’s, rice. Before the mechanisation of agriculture a farmer who grew
rice had to expend twice as many hours doing so as one who grew wheat. To deploy
labour efficiently, especially at times of planting and harvesting, rice growing
societies as far apart as India, Malaysia and Japan all developed co-operative labour
exchanges which let neighbours stagger their farms’ schedules in order to assist each
other during these crucial periods. Since, until recently, almost everyone alive was a
farmer, it is a reasonable hypothesis that such a collective outlook would dominate a
society’s culture and behaviour, and might prove so deep-rooted that even now,
when most people earn their living in other ways, it helps to define their lives.

Mr. Talhelm realized that this idea is testable. Large swathes of China, particularly in
the north, depend not on rice, but on wheat. That, as he explains in a paper in
Science, let him and his team put some flesh on this theory’s bones.

The team gathered almost 1,200 volunteers from all over China and asked them
questions to assess their individualism or collectivism. The answer bore little relation
to the wealth of volunteer’s place of origin, which Mr. Talhelm saw as a proxy for
how modern it was, or to its level of public health. There was a striking correlation,
though, with whether it was rice-growing or a wheat-growing area. This difference
was marked even between people from neighbouring countries with different
agricultural traditions. His hypothesis that the different psychologies of East and
West are, at least in part, a consequence of their agriculture thus looks worth further
exploration. And such exploration is possible - for India, too, has rice - growing and
wheat - growing regions.

How resilient Asia’s collectivist cultures will be as they lose their rural roots remains
to be seen. But the message from Japan, and also from more recently modernized
places such as Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, seems to be “quite
resilient”. For some, Asian values - with their tenets of Solidarity and collective
action - are cause for celebration. For others, they are stifling and a barrier to social
progress. But whichever side you take, if Mr. Talhelm is correct they are only “Asian”
because, back in the neolithic, farmers in many parts of that continent found Oryza a
more congenial crop to grow that Triticum .

Q.6. In the context of the passage, the author’s assertion that the notion that
‘modernisation promotes individualism, falls at the first hurdle’ refers to the fact
that :

(A) Japan is a modern country despite its people having a collective outlook.
(B) People in Japan have a collective outlook, and as a consequence it has
become a modern nation.
(C) People in Japan have a collective outlook despite the fact that it has become
a modern nation.
(D) Japan is a modern country and hence its people have a collective outlook.
Q.7. In the context of the passage the hypothesis that a ‘higher prevalence of
infectious disease in a place makes contact with strangers more dangerous’ and
hence people more individualistic , would have been supported if :

(A) Only Europe, and not East Asia , had suffered from plagues and infectious
diseases.
(B) Both East Asia and Europe had suffered from plagues and infectious
diseases.
(C) Only East Asia, and not Europe, had suffered from plagues and infectious
diseases.
(D) East Asia and Europe had not suffered from plagues and infectious
diseases.

Q.8. Which of the following, if true, would invalidate the main argument of Thomas
Talhelm and his colleagues that agricultural traditions are the cause of differences in
thinking between East Asians and Europeans ?

(A) Wheat production in Europe was never mechanized.

(B) Rice rather than wheat was part of the daily diet of Europeans.
(C) Wheat production in Europe was mechanized .
(D) Rice rather than wheat was the main European crop.

Q.9. The author’s assertion that Asia’s collectivist cultures are ‘quite resilient’ is
based partly on the fact that :

(A) Taiwan has a collectivist culture.

(B) Northern China has collectivist culture.
(C) India has a collectivist culture.
(D) Southern China has a collectivist culture.

Q.10. Based on the claims made by the passage, if Oryza had been cultivated in
Europe and Triticum in Asia , then :

(A) The Germans might have developed and retained a collectivist

culture, but Germany may not have become a modern nation.
(B) The French might have developed and retained an individualist
culture, even after France became a modern nation.
(C) The Chinese might have developed and retained an individualistic
culture, but it may not have become a modern nation.
(D) The Japanese might have developed an individualistic culture and
retained it even after Japan became a modern nation.
Case study Q.11 - Q.15

For the film, what matters primarily is that the actor represents himself to the public
before the camera, rather than representing someone else. One of the first to sense
the actor’s metamorphosis by this form of testing was Pirandello. Though his
remarks on the subject in his novel Si Gira were limited to the negative aspects of
the question and to the silent film only, this hardly impairs their validity. For in this
respect, the sound film did not change anything essential. What matters is that the
part is acted not for an audience but for a mechanical contrivance - in the case of the
sound film, for two of them. “The film actor,” wrote Pirandello, “fells as if in exile -
exiled not oly from the stage but also from himself. With a vague sense of discomfort
voice, and the noises caused by his moving about, in order to be changed into a
mute image, flickering an instant on the screen, then vanishing into silence … The
projector will pay with his shadow before the public, and he himself must be content
to play before the camera”. This situation might also be characterized as follows : for
the first time - and this is the effect of the film - man has to operate with his whole
living on the stage, emanates from Macbeth, cannot be separated for the spectators
from that of the actor. However, the singularity of the shot in the studio is that the
camera is substituted for the public. Consequently, the aura that envelops that actor
vanishes, and with it the aura of the figure he portrays.

It is not surprising that it should be a dramatist such as Pirandello who , in

characterizing the film, inadvertently touches on the very crisis in which we see the
theater. Any thorough study proves that there is indeed no greater contrast than
that of the stage play to a work of art that is completely subject to or, like the film,
founded in, mechanical reproduction. Experts have long recognized that in the film
“the greatest effects are almost always obtained by ‘acting’ as little as possible…” In
1932 Rudolf Arnheim saw “the latest trend …in treating the actor as a stage prop
chosen for its characteristics and … inserted at the proper place.” With this idea
something else is closely connected. The stage actor identifies himself himself with
the character of his role. The film actor very often is denied this opportunity. His
creation is by no means all of a piece; it is composed of many separate performances.
Besides certain fortuitous consideration, such as cost of studio, availability of fellow
players, decor , etc.. , there are elementary necessities of equipment that split the
actor’s work into a series of mountable episodes. In particular, lighting and its
installation require the presentation of an event that, on the screen, unfolds as a
rapid and unified scene, in a sequence of separate shootings which may take hours
at the studio; not to mention more obvious montage. Thus jump from the window
can be shot in the studio as a jump from a scaffold, and the ensuing flight, if need be,
can be shot weeks later when outdoor scenes are taken. Far more paradoxical cases
can be easily be construed. Let us assume that an actor is supposed to be startled by
a knock at the door. If his reaction is not satisfactory, the director can resort to an
expedient : when the actor happens to be at the studio again he has a shot fired
behind him without his being forewarned of it. The frightened reaction can be shot
now and be cut into the screen version. Nothing more strikingly shows that art has
left the realm of the “beautiful semblance” which , so far ,had been taken to be the
only sphere where art could thrive.

Q.11. When the author says “that art left the realm of the ‘ beautiful semblance’
which , so far, had been taken to be the only sphere where art could thrive,” in the
light of the entire passage, what is indicate ?

(A) Art is predominantly imitative.

(B) Technology constrains artistic innovation.
(C) Art loses its value with technology.
(D) Technology enables artistic innovation

Q.12. On ruminating on silent films, the author states that “man has to operate with
his whole living person, yet forgoing its aura.” We can decipher a transition from

(A) Theatre to Movies.

(B) Art to Technology.
(C) Personalities to Commodities.
(D) Spirit to body.

Q.13.The author says : “It is not surprising that it should be a dramatist such as
Pirandello who, in characterizing the film, inadvertently touches on the very crisis in
which we see the theatre.” Why is it not surprising?

(A) Because as a dramatist he understood the impact of technology on the

theatre.
(B) Because as a dramatist he understood the power of technology.
(C) Because as a dramatist he understood movie production technology.
(D) Because as a dramatist he understood the impact of theatre on movies.

Q.14. The passage through the following statements indicates a new trend in
performance art. “Besides certain fortuitous considerations, such as cost of studio,
availability of fellow players, decor, etc., there are elementary necessities of
equipment that split the actor’s work into a series of mountable episodes.” Which of
the following best reflects that trend?

(A) Decimation of traditional theatre.

(B) Aesthetization of movie-making technology.
(C) Disassembling of artistic processes.
(D) Technologization of movie making.

Q.15. An appropriate title for the passage could be :

(A) Death of theatre in the age of mechanical reproduction.

 (B) Theatre, films and mechanical reproduction.
(C) Art in the age of mechanical reproduction.
(D) Rise of motion picture technology and the destruction of theatre.

LOGICAL REASONING

Case Study - Q1 - Q5

A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H are eight students registered for the PGDBA program, with
graduation in exactly one of the three discipline: Engineering, Science and
Humanities. Of the eight students, not more than three are graduates from the
same discipline. There are eight electives on offer, namely, Finance, Economics ,
Marketing, Programming, Operations , Algorithms, Communications and Statistics.
Each student subscribes to exactly one elective and no elective remains
unsubscribed.

Use the following additional information to answer the question below:

i. D is a graduate in Science , and subscribes to neither Finance nor Economics.

ii. A and F are the only graduates in Humanities.
iii. A subscribes to Statistics and H does not subscribe to Economics.
iv. E and H are not graduates from the same discipline as D.
v. C subscribes to communications, and is not an Engineer.
vi. G is not a graduate from the Science discipline, and subscribes to neither
Economics nor Programming.
vii. One of the students from the Science discipline subscribes to Finance.
viii. One of the students from the Humanities discipline subscribes to Marketing.
ix. No student from the Science discipline subscribes to either Programming or
Operations.

Q.1. Which of the following students are graduates from the Science discipline ?

(A) E, F and H
(B) E and H
(C) B, D and G
(D) B, C and D

Q.2. Which of the following students subscribe to Finance ?

(A) D
(B) B
(C) F
(D) H
Q.3. Which of the following electives is subscribed by E ?

(A) Programming
(B) Operations
(C) Economics
(D) Algorithms

Q.4.Which of the following electives is subscribed by G ?

(A) Algorithms
(B) Operations
(C) Economics
(D) Programming

Q.5. Which of the following combination of (Student, Graduation Discipline,

Subscribed Elective ) is correct ?

(A) (E, Science, Economics)

(B) (H, Engineering, Operations)
(C) (F, Humanities, Operations)
(D) (D, Science, Algorithms)

DATA INTERPRETATION AND DATA VISUALIZATION

Instruction : Below 5 question for Data interpretation and data visualization are
the replacement of 5 wrong questions on PGDBA 2020 actual question paper.

Direction for question 1 to 5: Refer to the following table and solve the questions
based on it.
The following table gives some incomplete information on the marks obtained by
four students
Amit, Binit, Charu and Dilip in four different subjects
Physics Chemistry Maths English Total
Amit 80 70 80 -
Binit 60 - 60 - -
Charu - - 60 - 220
Dilip 90 - 70 60 -
(i) Amit’s average marks were 72.5 in all the four subjects
(ii) The average mark in Physics for all four students were 6 7.5
(iii) Binit’s average marks for all four subjects were 1.5 times of Charu’s marks in
physics
(iv) Binit and Dilip scored the same marks in English; the average English marks were
the same as average Physics marks
(v) The total marks in Chemistry were 10 less than the total marks in Physics for all
four students

Q1. Who scored the lowest total?

(A) Amit (B) Binit (C) Charu (D) Dilip

Q2. The average marks for all four persons (for all four subjects) are
(A) 65.625 (B) 262.5 (C) 80 (D) 75

Q3. Who is the highest scorer in Chemistry?

(A) Amit (B) Binit (C) Charu (D) Dilip

Q4. Who is lowest scorer in Physics?

(A) Amit (B) Binit (C) Charu (D) Dilip

Q5. Who is the highest scorer in English?

(A) Amit (B) Binit (C) Charu (D) Dilip

QUANTITATIVE APTITUDE

(𝑥 + 1)3 , 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≤ 1
Q.1. Let 𝑓(𝑥) = {
4 + (𝑥 − 3)2 , 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 > 1
The local extrema of f exist at

(A) x = 1,3
(B) x = -1,1
(C) x = -1,1,3
(D) x = -1,3

𝑐𝑜𝑠 𝐴 − 𝑐𝑜𝑠 5𝐴−𝑐𝑜𝑠9𝐴+𝑐𝑜𝑠13𝐴

Q.2. The value of is
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝐴−𝑠𝑖𝑛5𝐴+𝑠𝑖𝑛9𝐴−𝑠𝑖𝑛13𝐴

(A) cot 2A
(B) tan 2A
(C) cot 4A
(D) tan 4A
 𝜋 𝜋
Q.3. The sum of all solutions of the equations tan2θ = cotθ in the interval [− 2 , 2 ] is

(A) 0
𝜋
(B) 6
2𝜋
(C) 3
𝜋
(D) 2

Q.4. The area enclosed by the curves 𝑥 2 = 2𝑦 and 𝑦 2 = 16𝑥 is

(A) 31/3
(B) 32/3
(C) 35/3
(D) 34/3

Q.5. The number of real roots of the equation 2𝑥 + 2−𝑥 = 2 − (𝑥 − 2)2 is

(A) 2
(B) 1
(C) 0
(D) Infinite

Q.6. If α, β are the roots of 𝑥 2 + 2𝑥 + 2 = 0 then the equation whose roots are
𝛼 4 , 𝛽 4 is

(A) 𝑥 2 − 8𝑥 + 16 = 0
(B) 𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 + 16 = 0
(C) 𝑥 2 − 8𝑥 − 16 = 0
(D) 𝑥 2 + 8𝑥 − 16 = 0

Q.7. Let f be a differentiable function with f(0) = 1, f’ (0) = 2, and f(a+b) = f(a)f(b), for
all real numbers a and b. Which of the following option is correct ?

(A) 3f(x) - f’ (x) = 2

(B) f(x) - f’ (x) = 0
(C) f’ (x)f(x) = 1
(D) 2f(x) - f’ (x) = 0

Q.8. Let S = {1, 2, …, 300}. The number of elements of S which are divisible by at least
one of 7 and 11 equals

(A) 67
(B) 68
(C) 66
(D) 69
 1
Q.9. The function f(x)=2 𝑥 2 − 𝑥

(A) decreases monotonically in (2, ∞)

(B) attains its maximum value at x = 1
(C) attains its minimum value at x = 1
(D) Increases monotonically in (−∞, 0)

Q.10. Corners are cut off from an equilateral triangle to produce a regular hexagon.
Then the ratio of the area of the hexagon and the triangle is

(A) 1 : 2
(B) 2 : 3
(C) 3 : 4
(D) 1 : 3

Q.11. Let P, Q be n x n matrices. Let O and I be the zero and identify matrices of
order n respectively . Suppose
P+Q = I and PQ = O.
Then which of the following options is always correct ?

(A) 𝑃2 − 𝑄 2 = 𝑂
(B) 𝑃2 + 𝑄 2 = 𝑂
(C) 𝑃2 + 𝑄 2 =I
(D) 𝑃2 − 𝑄 2 =I

Q.12. Let f(x) = 5|x|+ x(x - 2). Let S be the set of all real numbers x such that f(x)≥ 0.
Then S equals :

(A) {x : x≥ 2}
(B) {x : x≤ 0}
(C) set of all real numbers
(D) {x : x≥ 0}

Q.13. The smallest angle of the triangle with sides 3, 5, 7 is

13
(A) sin−1 (14)
11
(B) cos−1 (14)
13
(C) cos −1 (14)
6
(D) sin−1 (7)

𝑥2 𝑦2
Q.14. The perpendicular bisector of the chord of the hyperbola − 25 = 1 whose
16
midpoint is (5,3) is given by
 (A) 125x - 48y = 481
(B) 48x + 125y = 615
(C) - 48x + 125y = 135
(D) 125x + 48y = 769

Q.15. For any real number y, let [y] denote the greatest integer less than or equal to
y. The value of the integral
2
∫1 [𝑥 2 ]𝑑𝑥 is

(A) 5 − √3 + √2
(B) 5 + √3 − √2
(C) 5 + √3 + √2
(D) 5 − √3 − √2

Q.16. The following system of equations

x + 4y + kz = 0,
x + 3y + 2z = 0,
3x + 8y + 5z = 0
has a non-trivial solution for

(A) k ≠ 2
(B) k = 3
(C) K = 2
(D) k ≠ 3

Q.17. The value of sin 20𝑜 sin 40𝑜 sin 80𝑜 equals

(A) 1/8
√3
(B) 2
√3
(C) 8
√3
(D) 4

Q.18. If the line y = x + c touches the ellipse 2x 2 + 3y 2 = 1, then the possible values
of c are

4
(A) ±√5
5
(B) ±√6
2
(C) ±√3
 3
(D) ±√4

Q.19. The circles 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 𝑘𝑥 + 4𝑦 − 20 = 0 and 𝑥 2 + 𝑦 2 + 6𝑥 − 8𝑦 + 10 = 0

intersect orthogonally. Then k equals

(A) 2
1
(B) 4
1
(C) 2
(D) 4

π 𝜋
2 1 3 𝑥
Q.20. If I = ∫ π dx, then ∫
𝜋 𝑑𝑥
6
√cos x+√sin x 6
√cos 𝑥+√sin 𝑥
is equal to

(A) πl
𝜋𝑙
(B) 6
𝜋𝑙
(C) 4
𝜋𝑙
(D) 3

Q.21. The product of six numbers in geometric progression is 512. If the fourth
number is 4, then the third number is

(A) 8
(B) 2
(C) 1
(D) 1/2

Q.22. The coefficient of 𝑥 2 in the binomial expansion (1 − x − x 2 )10 is

(A) 120
(B) 35
(C) 10
(D) 45

Q.23. If the function

𝑥 + 2 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 < 2,
2
f(x)= {𝑎𝑥 − 𝑏𝑥 + 3 𝑖𝑓 2 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 3,
2𝑥 − 𝑎 + 𝑏 𝑖𝑓 𝑥 ≥ 3
is continuous , then the value of (a + b) is

(A) 1
 (B) 2
(C) 0
(D) 3

Q.24. Let
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
𝑆1 = − × 2 + × 3 − × +. .. and
3 2 3 3 3 4 34
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
𝑆2 = + × + × + × +. ..
4 2 42 3 43 4 44
Then

(A) 𝑆1 = 𝑆2
(B) 𝑆1 + 𝑆2 = 0
(C) 3𝑆1 = 4𝑆2
(D) 4𝑆1 = 3𝑆2

Q.25. The number of distinct real roots of the equation

1 2 1
(𝑥 + 𝑥) − (𝑥 + 𝑥) − 2 = 0
equals

(A) 2
(B) 3
(C) 0
(D) 1