All 24 VARC questions in exam order, with the passage topic, what each question asks, the answer and the reasoning.
VA mix: 3 para summary, 3 para jumbles, 2 odd sentence out, 0 sentence placement. RC themes: Philosophy, Psychology & Culture; History, Politics & Society; Science & Nature.
Q1–Q4 · 4 questions · Strengthen / weaken, Purpose of example, Application & analogy, Except / NOT
AsksWhich fact about the Classic Maya would undercut the point made with the smartphone example.
Correct option: That the personhood of objects like an incense burner depended on their usefulness to humans.
The example argues that non-human personhood doesn't come from a link to humans, so a usefulness-based personhood contradicts it. The fact that many Maya objects "communicated" is already in the passage and doesn't touch that point.
AsksThe extra complexity the incense-burner example adds.
Correct option: A third category (tree) relating to the others in the same porous way.
The burner is a person and also a tree, adding a layer with the same porous boundaries. It adds complexity rather than being an exception, and the new relation is similar, not dissimilar.
AsksWhich worldview today comes closest to the Maya view of personhood.
Correct option: A tribe that sees plants as persons because they have needs and roles in an ecosystem.
B matches the passage's two marks of personhood, bodily needs and community roles, with no dependence on human use. A functionality-based view ties personhood to usefulness.
AsksWhich statement, if true, would NOT undermine the democratising potential of the Maya worldview.
Correct option: Healers being depicted with features of medicinal plants.
This concerns only how humans are shown and leaves the framework of personhood intact. The tempting option would undercut the idea that objects can be persons while staying themselves.
TopicTwo poles of a literary work
AsksArrange four sentences on the two poles of a literary work.
Logic: The work has two poles, artistic and aesthetic (4) → "from this polarity" it lies between text and realisation (3) → it comes alive only through the reader (1) → the convergence of text and reader is the work (2).
Sentence 4 introduces the poles, and sentence 3 picks them up. Sentence 1 explains the reader's role, and sentence 2 completes the idea of convergence.
TopicGlobal warming and trees
AsksArrange four sentences on global warming and planting trees.
Logic: Warming will pass two degrees (2) → a common response: plant more trees (1) → because trees absorb carbon dioxide (4) → burning them releases it, hence the coverage of forest fires (3).
Sentence 2 states the concern, and sentence 1 gives the typical reaction. Sentence 4's "this is because" justifies it, and sentence 3 ("burning them") follows from that.
Q7–Q10 · 4 questions · Application & analogy, Except / NOT, Inference
AsksWhich modern marketing mirrors the passage's blend of consumption and virtue.
Correct option: Sustainably farmed food: good for the buyer and the world.
The passage's pattern is a product that serves the buyer while advancing a moral cause. Health supplements promise only a personal benefit.
AsksThe claim about tea the reviewer is least likely to support.
Correct option: That tea was Britain's leading drink in the nineteenth century.
The review supports tea becoming a social ritual, fostering community and being promoted as patriotic in wartime. The claim about its rank in the nineteenth century is never addressed.
AsksWho is NOT named as promoting tea drinking in Britain besides marketers.
Correct option: Consumers lobbying for a wider range of products.
Industrialists arguing for free trade, the temperance movement and factory owners wanting sober workers are all mentioned. Consumer lobbying is not.
AsksWhat sets tea apart from other "moral" products, according to the historian.
Correct option: Its moral claims had real, beneficial effects on social life.
The review says tea's promoters arguably advanced civilisation and community, not just a feeling of virtue. Being widely marketed is true of other moral products too.
Q11–Q14 · 4 questions · Inference, Except / NOT, Main idea & summary
AsksWhich feature the passage links to utopian societies.
Correct option: Institutions monitoring every individual for security and welfare.
Utopian conduct is enforced through institutions and customs, and security comes at the cost of privacy. Rewarding merit with power contradicts the passage's point that utopias curb the desire for public power.
AsksWhich argument the passage does NOT make.
Correct option: That the restraints were unnecessary in More's time.
The author says only that the restraints would have seemed reasonable to many then, which is different. The points about voluntary communities, suppressing wickedness and required homogeneity are all made.
AsksThe sequence of words that best traces the passage's argument.
Correct option: Utopia → security → homogeneity → intentional community.
The passage moves from utopia, to the security it offers at the cost of privacy and diversity, to the homogeneity of utopian tradition, ending with voluntary communities that aren't dystopian. The option ending on dystopia and coercion treats the contrast as the conclusion.
AsksWhich statement cannot be inferred from the passage.
Correct option: That utopias and dystopias are definitely twins.
The passage only suggests the two may resemble each other, so A overstates it. That uniformity shaped early utopian thinking is supported.
TopicZebrafish neuron regeneration
AsksArrange four sentences on neuron regeneration in zebrafish.
Logic: The discovery (2) → "they" studied the escape-response cells once thought unable to regrow (3) → "however", regrowth depends on where the damage is (4) → in other animals, full regrowth is unconfirmed (1).
Sentence 2 introduces the researchers and finding, and sentence 3's "they" picks them up. Sentence 4 adds the qualification, and sentence 1 closes by comparing other species.
TopicPredatory journals
AsksFive sentences on predatory journals in India.
Logic: 1 → 4 → 3 → 2: a dark side of academic research → these journals' false claims → they look legitimate → pay and anything gets published.
The four sentences describe predatory journals specifically. Sentence 5 shifts to publishing fraud in general and its global victims, so it is the odd one.
TopicThe McGurk effect
AsksSummary of a paragraph on the McGurk effect.
Correct option: Mismatched lip movements can change what we hear, showing that sight and sound fuse in perception.
A names the illusion and what it shows. The closest option mentions replication and integration but drops the mismatch-driven illusion.
TopicBusiness innovation in developing countries
AsksSummary of a paragraph on business innovation in developing economies.
Correct option: Once suppliers of cheap labour, emerging economies now innovate in business models, climb the value chain and compete abroad.
A captures both the shift and the outward expansion. The closest option adds a claim about competing with former suppliers that the passage doesn't make.
TopicCommercial space law
AsksFive sentences on the law governing commercial space activity.
Logic: 2 → 5 → 1 → 3: old state-focused space law fits commercial ventures poorly → the focus is now private firms → mined materials' legal status is unclear → national rules protect only their own firms.
The four sentences describe gaps in law for commercial activity. Sentence 4 is about a diplomatic row over US authority, which doesn't address that inadequacy.
Q20–Q23 · 4 questions · Except / NOT, Strengthen / weaken, Application & analogy
AsksWhich is NOT a difference between the original and modified "marshmallow tests".
Correct option: A link between self-control and survival advantage.
Children versus cuttlefish, symbol-based training and long-term follow-up of children are all described. The passage never mentions survival advantages.
AsksWhich fact would best complement the study's findings.
Correct option: Cuttlefish live in large, sociable groups.
The passage notes that self-controlled species tend to have social lives, so sociable cuttlefish would fit. The options about food preference and shape recognition would undermine the experiment, and the waiting time is already reported.
AsksWhat cannot be inferred from the cuttlefish experiment.
Correct option: That intelligence is impossible without sociability.
The passage notes that the traits often occur together, not that one requires the other. The cuttlefish turning away to distract themselves is described.
AsksIn which setup the cuttlefish would show self-control.
Correct option: Its favourite live food is behind a delayed symbol while lesser foods are available at once.
It must pass up immediate lower-ranked food to wait for its favourite, which is the restraint tested. Choosing a top-ranked food that is already available shows preference, not restraint.
TopicForeign peacekeepers
AsksSummary of a paragraph on foreign peacekeepers.
Correct option: Their aloofness is partly justified, but they'd be more effective working closely with local communities.
D keeps both the partial justification and the remedy. The closest option blames lavish lifestyles outright and omits the solution.
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