CAT 2002 — VARC Question 46
Fill the gaps in the passage below with the most appropriate word from the options given for each gap. The right words are the ones used by the author. Be guided by the author's overall style and meaning when you choose the answers.
In a large company, ______1______ people is about as common as using a gun or a switch-blade to ______2_______ an argument. As a result, most managers have little or no experience of firing people, and they find it emotionally automatic, as result, they often delay the act interminably, much as an unhappy spouse will prolong a bad marriage. And when the firing is done, it's often done clumsily, with far worse side effects than are necessary.
Do the world-class software organizations have a different way of firing people? No. But they do the deed swiftly, humanely, and professionally.
The key point here is to view the fired employee as a "failed product" and to ask how the process ______3_______ such a phenomenon in the first place.
For every word a sentence is given, you have to find out the option which represents the similar meaning to the given word.
OPPROBRIUM - The police had to bear the opprobrium generated by their blatant partisan conduct.
Answer & solution
Harsh criticism
- B
Acute distrust
- C
Bitter enmity
- D
Stark oppressiveness
Opprobrium is ‘a case of shame and disgrace’. From the options, although 2 and 3 may fit the context but 1 is the most appropriate. Partisan conduct is being partial. That can generate criticism and where police or the legal guardians are concerned, harsh criticism.
Stark oppressiveness (option 4) does not fit the context.
Hence, the correct answer is option 1.