Wednesday 14 October 2015

RC 14.10 SERIES OA (1-2 )

01


1. (Note that the opening phrase is 'According to the passage, ...." So, this is a 'specific fact' question in
which the key phrase is 'two ideals'.) In the last sentence of the first para, the author says that photography has
two antithetical ideals. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, he says that 'one (ideal) or the other is
always being rediscovered and championed', meaning that these two ideals score ever each other periodically
and alternately. Among the choices, it is (B) which states this, and is the answer.
2. (The phrase used is '"The author is primarily concerned with ...", which means that this is a 'main idea'
question. Remember that the 'main idea' of a passage is one which is touched upon repeatedly in the passage, and
which can often be answered with reference to the opning sentences of the passage.) The very first sentence of the
passage says that picture-taking is a technique with two aims - (i) annexing the objective world and (ii) expressing
the singular self. The last sentence of the first paragraph says that photography has two antithetical ideals,
and explains them. The second paragraph opens with a reference to these 'conflicting ideals' and analyzes them.

The next paragraph opens with a reference to the 'co-existence of these two ideals' and elaborates on that theme.
Among the choices, it is only (B) which mentions 'photographic ideals' and is the answer.
3.(This is an 'EXCEPTION' question dealing with specific facts, and we must arrive at the answer thorugh
a process of elimination.) 'Cropped reality - (A)' is mentioned in line 5.
'Extraordinary informativeness - (B)' is mentioned in lines 21-22.
'Photographer's temperament - (C)' is mentioned in line 4.
'Imaginative formal beauty - (D)' is mentioned in line 22.
It is 'viewers' sensibilities - (E)' which is not mentioned anywhere in the passage, and is the answer.
4. (Note that the phrase used is 'The author mentions'. So, this is also a 'specific fact' question, with 'the
work of Harold Edgerton' as the key phrase.) Harold Edgerton's work is mentioned in the third sentence of para
3, as an example of 'the steady growth of the power of the camera as a machine to make possible the extraordinary
informativeness and imaginative formal beauty of photographs taken with it'.
Among the choices, (D) best summarises this statement, and is the answer.
5. (The phrase used in this question is 'The passage suggests ....'. So, this is an 'inference question' and the
correct answer must be obtained by logically extending a statement specifically mentioned in the passage.) The
key-word in this question is 'Walker Evans', and the only place where his name occurs is line 30. We must
therefore look for the answer to this question in the few lines above and below it. The first of these state, "....
some photographers are tempted to disarm themselves or to suggest that they are not really armed, preferring to
submit themselves to the limits imposed by premodern camera technology, because a cruder, less high powered
machine is thought to give more interesting or emotive results, to leave more room for creative accident". Walker
Evans is then mentioned as an example of such photographers. We can therefore infer that these photographers
wish to produce interesting and emotive photographs without depending upon the capabilities of modern cameras.
Among the choices, it is (E) which means this, and is the answer.
6. (The phrase used here is 'According to the passage'. So, this is a 'specific fact' question) The key phrase in
this question is 'the two antithetical idesls of photography'. Since this phrase occurs in the last sentence of the
first paragraph, we must look for the answer hereabouts. This phrase is elaborated in this sentence as: "in the
first, photography is about the world and the photographer is a mere observer who counts for little; but in the
second, photography is the instrument of intrepid, questing subjectivity, and the photographer is all". So the
main difference between the two ideals is that the photographer counts for little in the first case, but he is all in
the second case. In other words, the two antithetical ideals define the role of the photographer totally differently.
Among the choices, it is (E) which IS BEST

7. (This is a 'next sentence' question, and the answer choice must be one which logically follows from the last
sentence in the light of what precedes it.) The second sentence of the last para says, 'The cult of the future
alternates over time with the wish to return to a purer past - when images had a handmade quality', implying
that the each of the two antithetical ideals mentioned earlier scores over the other cyclically. In the next sentence,
he says that the current favourite is 'the nostalgia for some pristine (or pure) state of photographic enterprise'.
We can therefore infer that the next sentence will talk of a future period when technology will again gain preeminence.
Among the choices, it is only (C) which indicates this, and is the answer.



2



1. (This is a 'Main Idea' question, and you should answer it on the basis of the theme that flows throughout
the entire passage.) The passage first refers to the birth of the Niagara movement in 1905, the reason why it was
born, its main aims, why some others among the Blacks disagreed with its aims, and the reasons for its not
growing in strength. It also describes how, even though the movement itself did not gather strength but died a
natural death within ten years, even its opponents had slowly come closer to its views and how, after its ceasing
to exist, NACCP, which later played an important role in the fight for civil rights, was born. In the last paragraph,
it notes the importance of this short-lived movement in a historical context.
Thus, (D) is the correct answer.
Each of the other choices is an individual element in the narration of the history of the Niagara movement,
and cannot be considered to be the primary purpose of the entire passage.

2. (This is an 'Exception' question relating to the technique of presentation. You should therefore arrive at
the answer through a process of elimination.) In his narration of the passage, the author chronologically covers
the period from 1905 to 1915. So, (A) is not the answer.
He also compares and contrasts the attitude of hardliners (represented by Du Bois) and the softliners
(represented by Washington). So, (B) is not the answer.
In para 2, he also quotes directly from Du Bois. So, (C) is not the answer.
He also states that the effect of the movement was that Washington ceased to be the sole spokesman of the
Blacks, that he had to watch his words more carefully, and that, over a period of time, even he had to move
towards the movement's main principles. Thus, the passage includes a description of cause and effect also. So,
(D) is not the answer.
The passage does not provide an analogy to the Niagara movement either within the American history or
the history of any other country. So, (E) is what is not attempted by the author, and is the answer.
3. (From the phrase 'According to the passage ....', we immediately know that this is a 'specific fact' question.
The key word in the question is 'Du Bois', and it occurs first in the middle of the second paragraph. We must
therefore look for the answer to this question here.) The answer (B) is got from Du Bois' own words quoted here
"......; until we get all these rights, we will never cease to protest and assail the ears of America".
4. (From the phrase "which of the following .... does the passage best support?", we can decide that this is not
a 'Specific Fact' question, but is an 'Inference' question. The key phrase 'Niagara movement' occurs in a number of
places in the passage, and we must refer to each of them for answering this question.) In lines 5-6 of the second
paragraph, Washington's view that Blacks must progressively acquire all the rights of citizenship through hard
work has been mentioned. The view of Du Bois (the leader of the Niagara movement) is then contrasted with
this view and it says that Du Bois held that the Blacks were born with these rights just as any white man, and
that they do not have to earn them. So, (A) itself is the answer.
(B) is incorrect, since the passage says that Niagara movement never enlisted the support of more than a
small group of Black leaders (line 6 of para 1), and Washington's leadership of the Blacks was not immediately
threatened by the Niagara movement. (Lines 1-2 of para 3).
(C) is wrong because Washington's attitude from the beginning was to be compliant in relation to White
society, and the impact of the Niagara movement was in fact to slowly shift him away from that position.
(D) is also wrong for the reason mentioned for (B).
(E) is wrong, because it is stated in the second sentence of the last paragraph that Niagara movement was
the first organization since Reconstruction to protest against the way the Blacks were treated, meaning that this
movement was born long after and not during, the Reconstruction period.

5. (This is an 'Exception' question, and you should arrive at the answer through a process of elimination.)
(A) is mentioned in the second sentence of para 3, and is not the answer.
(C) can be inferred from the view of Du Bois quoted in the penultimate sentence of para 2, and is not the
answer.
The very second sentence of the passage says that one of the aims of Niagara Movement was to 'oppose
Booker T. Washington's moderate and conciliatory policy'. So, (D) can also be inferred from the passage, and is
not the answer.
From the statement of Du Bois "We claim for ourselves every right that belongs to a free-born American -
political, civil, and social" quoted in the penultimate sentence of para 2, we can infer (E) also.
The last two sentences of para 1 say that the Niagara movement never enlisted the active support of more
than a small group of Black leaders. But this was not because its leaders wanted it that way, but because of
opposition from Washington and all his powerful friends, and because young Blacks who wanted to help the Black
community thought that it was not politically wise to be associated with this new organization. So, it is (B) which
was not the aim of Du Pois and his cohorts in the Niagara Movement. So, (B) is the answer.

6. (This is a 'Roman Numerals' question relating to inference, and we should examine each of the numbered
statements for its validity and choose the answer on that basis.) In the third paragraph, the passage says that,
though Washington's overall leadership of the Black people was not affected by the Niagara movement, he had to
watch his words more and more because of the movement. It also says that, by the time of his death, Washington's
views had themselves become closer to those of his critics (namely Du Bois and others). Thus, I is answered from
the information in the passage.
In para 3, the author says that the Niagara movement had an impact even on the moderates. He abruptly
says in the first sentence in para 4 that, by the year 1910, the movement had ceased to be a serviceable organization,

but he does not explain why it had become so. So, II is not answered from the information in the passage.
The Niagara movement was the first to 'protest' against racial discrimination in the US. NACCP was
founded just about the time that the Niagara movement died ("By this time, the stage was set ...."), and had, as
its main plank, opposition to racial discrimination. NACCP could therefore be considered to be a successor of the
Niagara movement in continuing the protest against racial discrimination. Thus, III is also answered from the
information in the passage.
Thus, only I and III are answered in the passage, while II is not answered.
So, (C) is the answer.
7. (This is a repetition of the 'main idea' question in different words, and can be answered as (B) with
reference to our analysis of Qn. No. 1.) Another way of spotting the correct answer is to note that, while the entire
passage is about the Niagara movement, the choices (A), (C), (D) and (E) do not even mention this name, enabling
us to discard all of them for that reason alone, and choose (B) as the ready answer.


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