Topic-Wise Bundle Course 2024

Mains Topic wise Statements and assumptions 2024 Set -1

1. Questions

Study the following information carefully and answer the question given below:

The most obvious way to encourage energy efficiency, reduce automobile pollution and cut subsidies is to
reduce the subsidy on diesel, particularly when the owners of luxury cars and SUVs are becoming
unintended beneficiaries of the subsidy. The other obvious way is to subsidise – not just charge lower
excise duties – the sale of buses. There can be other innovative ways of serving the same goal. Attractive
prizes can be announced for the design of more energy-efficient, robust and comfortable passenger three-
wheelers which are an important mode of public transport on rural roads as well as narrow city lanes.

Which of the following is an assumption which is implicit in the facts stated in the above
paragraph?

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a. There is a desire for promoting energy efficiency and cutting pollution level

b. Energy efficient automobiles are not available in the market

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c. Government wants to replace cars with energy-efficient three-wheelers

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d. Rural roads need to be refurbished

e. None of these @
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2. Questions
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Men are now being advised to slow down amid growing concern that high-pressure living, exciting
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though it might seem, is a silent killer, and is one of the reasons for the low life-expectancy among
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men, compared to women. Ironically, however, just when men are being told to take it easy, more
and more career-driven women are fast acquiring some of the same "killer" habits and in the
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process losing the edge they have had over men in the "longevity" stakes. The conclusion drawn
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above is based on the assumption that:

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a. The sole culprit behind the life-expectancy gender gap between men and women is high-pressure
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living
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b. Although women continue to outlive men, the life-expectancy gender gap has narrowed significantly
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in recent years
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c. Long business hours, energy-sapping "bonding" sessions, non-stop "power" partying, hard drinking
and heavy smoking, are the silent killer habits that have now been taken on rampantly by women

d. Women are not being advised the slow-down that men are being advised

e. There is a rising trend of career-driven women to take on the high pressure life style

3. Questions

Study the following information carefully and answer the given questions:

Statement: Leibniz, the seventeenth-century philosopher, published his version of calculus before Newton
did. Butthen Newton revealed his private notebooks, which showed he had been using these ideas for at
least a decadebefore Leibniz’s publication. Newton also claimed that he had disclosed these ideas to

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Mains Topic wise Statements and assumptions 2024 Set -1

Leibniz in a letter shortlybefore Leibniz’s publication. Yet close examination of the letter shows that
Newton’s few cryptic remarks did notreveal anything important about calculus. Thus, Leibniz and Newton
each independently discovered calculus.

Which one of the following is an assumption required by the historian’s argument in the given
statement?

a. Leibniz did not tell anyone about calculus prior to publishing his version of it.

b. No third person independently discovered calculus prior to Newton and Leibniz.

c. Newton believed that Leibniz was able to learn something important about calculus from his letter to
him

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d. Neither Newton nor Leibniz knew that the other had developed a version of calculus prior to

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Leibniz’s publication

e. Neither Newton nor Leibniz learned crucial details about calculus from some third source

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4. Questions

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Statement: Adults should be careful about consuming alcohol in front of children. Children have an
impressionable mind and will grow up thinking that consuming alcohol is healthy. Alcohol has known
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negative health effects and to protect the health and wellbeing of children, adults drinking in front of
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children should be penalized.
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Which of the following assumptions, if true, weakens the given statement ?

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a. Alcohol consumption is harmful, but you cannot stop adults from drinking.
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b. It is not practical to stop adults from drinking in front of children. This means that parents have to
go outside the house to drink.
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c. Adults and parents should be educated about their duties.

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d. The act of adults drinking in front of children may be wrong, but they cannot be penalized as this
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will infringe on their freedom.

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e. none of the above

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5. Questions

Statement: Literature has witnessed the roles of women evolving through ages, but until recent times,
most of the published writers were men and the portrayal of women in literature was without doubt biased.
A lot of it has to be blamed on the fact that in the ancient world, literacy was strictly limited, and the
majority of those who could write were male.Because most references to women characters in Shekhar’s
plays are derogatory, it has been argued that Shekhar did not like women.

Which of the following assumptions is the strongest objection to the statement above?

a. Characters in play by Shekhar’s contemporaries make laudatory references towomen

b. There is no record of Shekhar’s having owned a dog.

c. Character in a play says need not reflect the author’s own feelings.

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Mains Topic wise Statements and assumptions 2024 Set -1

d. The characters making the derogatory references are the minor ones.

e. none of these

6. Questions

Statement: Despite India agreeing in Rules to buy bomber aircraft from France, as the contract with
France has not yet been finalised, the British wants to carry on making the case for their bombers.

Which of the following is the assumption implicit in the above statement?

a. The British bombers are better than the French ones.

b. The British bombers are cheaper than the French ones.

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c. The French bombers are technically inferior to the British bombers.

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d. India may change its mind regarding purchasing French bombers.

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e. none of the above

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7. Questions

Statement: While there are certain dog–training techniques that generally tend to be effective for most
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dogs, it is important to keep in mind that each dog will respond particularly well to certain techniques that
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other dogs might not be receptive to. Therefore, the best practice is to keep general principles in mind
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when training dogs, while tailoring their educations to their particular traits.
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Which of the following assumptions does this statement above most closely conform to?
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a. Unique individuals and unique circumstances call for specialized training to meet their needs.
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b. While a general set of principles exist for accomplishing a goal, it is important to acknowledge the
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unique circumstances or qualities that may exist, and to take them into consideration.
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c. Even though general principles are broad enough to encompass most individuals or circumstances,
there will always be outliers that require special attention.
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d. Although dogs are different, they are similar enough that a basic set of training principles can be
applied to them universally, with slight room for variation.
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e. none of the above

8. Questions

Statement: University officials have tried to suppress the amount of drugs used by students. However, one
has to only look at the decline in the success rate of students during the last decade to realize the full extent
of the drug problem in campuses.

Which of the following assumptions, if true, weakens the statement above for decline in successrate
of students independent of drug use by students?

a. Present day students are far less able than their counterparts a decade ago.

b. Abstention from classes has increased during the decade.

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Mains Topic wise Statements and assumptions 2024 Set -1

c. Students are not motivated as before.

d. There is a general decline in standards everywhere.

e. none of these

9. Questions

Statement:Cigarettes constitute a mere 20% of tobacco consumption in India, and fewer than 15% of the
200 million tobacco users consume cigarettes., Yet these 15% contribute nearly 90% of the tax revenues to
the Exchequer from the tobacco sector. The punitive cigarette taxation regime has kept the tax base
narrow, and reducing taxes will expand this base.

Which one of the following assumptions best bolsters the fact that reducing duties will expand the

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tax base'?

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a. The cigarette manufacturers’ association has decided to indulge in aggressive promotion

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b. There is a likelihood that tobacco consumers will shift to cigarette smoking if cigarette prices were
to reduce

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c. The cigarette manufacturers are lobbying for a reduction on duties
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d. An increase in duties on non-cigarette tobacco may lead to a shift in favor cigarette smoking
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e. none of these
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10. Questions
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Statement: The government should make carrying Aadhaar card compulsory for everyone. This will
ensure that everyone can be identified and his/her details accessed whenever needed. This is akin to an
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identity card which most schools and offices have made mandatory.
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Which of the following assumptions, if true, weakens the statement above?

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a. The government should issue an advisory to everyone about carrying an identity card. However, it
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should not be made compulsory.

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b. Everyone should not be required to carry Aadhaar card. This will be draconian in nature.
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c. A person should have the right to not identify himself/herself unless mandated by law or court.
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d. It will be tiresome for authorities to check if everybody is carrying Aadhaar cards.

e. none of the above

Explanations:
1. Questions

Answer: A

The best approach here is working backwards from the options!

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Mains Topic wise Statements and assumptions 2024 Set -1

(b) → If we suppose that energy efficient automobiles are not available in the market, what is the use of
giving subsidies, prices etc for something that does not even exist? So, (b) is ruled out

(c) → Even if we suppose that the government wants to replace the cars, it will be a part of a bigger aim
under which it will be done. Also, the paragraph talks about sale of buses so this eliminates (c) as well

(d) → Can’t make a direct relation with what is being talked about so eliminated

(a) → When we suppose that the government is willing to promote energy-efficiency and cut pollution, we
can easily relate the steps being given in the paragraph as a part of the government’s execution plan. So,
this stands to be the best assumption.

2. Questions

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Answer: A

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Option (b) puts forth additional information, which may or may not be true. This renders it unsound as an
assumption behind the passage. Option (c) again, though carries possibly relevant information, cannot be

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safely selected as an assumption. Option (d) would be far-fetched vis-à-vis option (a) which gives the clear

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assumption behind the passage. Thus option (a) is the answer.

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3. Questions

Answer: E
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Answer choice (E): This is the correct answer. The answer can be difficult because it is somewhat similar
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to answer choice (B), which many people already eliminated by the time they reached this answer. Answer
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(E) is different from answer (B) because it involves learning details from a third source. This is important
because the conclusion references the independent discovery of calculus, and so the author must believe
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that neither Newton nor Leibniz learned anything substantial about calculus from other sources. This
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elimination of an idea that weakens the argument is the essence of a Defender answer choice. To further
confirm the answer, consider the negation of this answer choice (“neither...nor” becomes “either...or”):
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“Either Newton or Leibniz learned crucial details about calculus from some third source.” This negated
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answer undermines the assertion that Leibniz and Newton each independently discovered calculus.
Consequently, this is the correct answer
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4. Questions
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Answer: D
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a, b and c do not address the statement and do not weaken it. D weakens it.

5. Questions

Answer: C

Character in a play says need not reflect the author’s own feelings.

This is the exact assumption for the given statement.

6. Questions

Answer: D

India may change its mind regarding purchasing French bombers.

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Mains Topic wise Statements and assumptions 2024 Set -1

7. Questions

Answer: B

The correct answer most closely conforms with the statement.

The incorrect answers are wrong for the following reasons:

Saying that dogs should be treated the same with “slight room for variation” emphasizes continuity over
individualization, and therefore is wrong.“Unique individuals and unique circumstances call for specialized
training to meet theirneeds” exaggerates the need for individualization.The concept of “outliers” is not
present in the statement, a red flag that this is an incorrectanswer choice.

8. Questions

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Answer: A

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Present day students are far less able than their counterparts a decade ago.

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This is the exact assumption for the given statement.

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9. Questions

Answer: B
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There is a likelihood that tobacco consumers will shift to cigarette smoking if cigarette prices were to
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reduce.
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This is the exact assumption for the given statement

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10. Questions
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Answer: C
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Option (a) does not present any logic to weaken the statement. Option (b) is incorrect because it does not
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give any reason why it will be a draconian measure. Option (c)weakens the statement. Option (d) doesn’t
weaken the statement.
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