Fact, Inference & Judgement — CAT Previous-Year Questions

Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:

A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)

Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.

1. So much of our day-to-day focus seems to be on getting things done, trudging our way through the tasks of living- it can feel like a treadmill that gets you nowhere; where is the childlike joy?
2. We are not doing the things that make us happy; that which brings us joy; the things that we cannot wait to do because we enjoy them so much.
3. This is the stuff that joyful living is made of – identifying your calling and committing yourself wholeheartedly to it.
4. When this happens, each moment becomes a celebration of you; there is a rush of energy that comes with feeling completely immersed in doing what you love most.

Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:

A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)

Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.

1. Given the poor quality of service in the public sector, the HIV/AIDS affected should be switching to private initiatives that supply anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) at a low cost.
2. The government has been supplying free drugs since 2004, and 35000 have benefited up to now - though the size of the affected population is 150 times this number.
3. The recent initiatives of networks and companies like AIDS Care Network, Emcure, Reliance-Cipla-CII, would lead to availability of much-needed drugs to a larger number of affected people.
4. But  how ironic  it is  that  we should face a  perennial  shortage  of  drugs  when India  is  one of  the world‘s largest suppliers of generic drugs to the developing world.

Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:

A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)

Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.

1. According to all statistical indications, the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan has managed to keep pace with its ambitious goals.
2. The Mid- day Meal Scheme has been a significant incentive for the poor to send their little ones to school, thus establishing the vital link between healthy bodies and healthy minds.
3. Only about 13 million children in the age group of 6 to 14 years are out of school.
4. The goal of universalisation of elementary education has to be a pre-requisite for the evolution and development of our country.

Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:

A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)

Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.

1. We should not be hopelessly addicted to an erroneous belief that corruption in India is caused by the crookedness of Indians.
2. The truth is that we have more red tape - we take eighty-nine days to start a small business, Australians take two.
3. Red tape leads to corruption and distorts a people‘s character.
4. Every red tape procedure is a point of contact with an official, and such contacts have the potential to become opportunities for money to change hands.

Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:

A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)

Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.

1. Inequitable distribution of all kinds of resources is certainly one of the strongest and most sinister sources of conflict.
2. Even without war, we know that conflicts continue to trouble us - they only change in character.
3. Extensive disarmament is the only insurance for our future; imagine the amount of resources that can be released and redeployed.
4. The economies of the industrialized western world derive 20% of their income from the sale of all kinds of arms.

Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.

According to McNeill, a Brahmin priest was expected to be able to recite at least one of the Vedas. The practice was essential for several centuries when the Vedas had not yet been written down. It must have had a selective effect, since priests would have been recruited from those able or willing to memorize long passages. It must have helped in the dissemination of the work, since a memorized passage can be duplicated many times.

Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage?

Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.

Animals, in general, are shrewd in proportion as they cultivate society. Elephants and beavers show the greatest signs of this sagacity when they are together in large numbers, but when man invades their communities they lose all their spirit of industry. Among insects, the labours of the bee and the ant have attracted the attention and admiration of naturalists, but all their sagacity seems to be lost upon separation, and a single bee or ant seems destitute of every degree of industry. It becomes the most stupid insect imaginable, and it languishes and soon dies.

Which of the following can be inferred from the above passage?

Efficiency is all right in its place, in the shop, the factory, the store. The trouble with efficiency is that it wants to rule our play as well as our work; it won't be content to reign in the shop, it follows us home.

It can be inferred from the above passage that

In order to ease the traffic congestion, the transport planners decided to have a sophisticated system of elevated monorail travel in the city. However, it was pointed out by somebody that a metro rail system would be a more effective solution to the traffic problem. The plan was thus stalled. Moreover, since a budget had not been drawn up for the project, it was deemed fit to stall the work of the monorail for some time. In the meanwhile, the traffic planners of the city decided to build an efficient system of subways and flyovers in the city with the aim of easing the same problem. At the instant when the planners were preparing to award the contracts to the concerned parties, the transport planners came up with the contention that the subways interfered with the site of a pillar of the monorail system. The traffic planners had to give up the idea and think of other possible solutions.
Which of the following can we infer from the above passage?

The company encourages its managers to interact regularly, without a pre-set agenda, to discuss issues concerning the company and society. This idea has been borrowed from the ancient Indian concept of religious congregation, called satsang. Designations are forgotten during these meetings; hence, it is not uncommon in these meetings to find a sales engineer questioning the CEO on some corporate policy or his knowledge of customers.

Based on the information provided in the above passage, it can be inferred that

From Cochin to Shimla, the new culture vultures are tearing down acres of India's architectural treasures. Ancestral owners are often fobbed off with a few hundred rupees for an exquisitely carved door or window, which fetches fifty times that much from foreign dealers, and yet more from the drawing room sophisticates of Europe and the US. The reason for such shameless rape of the Indian architectural wealth can perhaps, not wrongly, be attributed to the unfortunate blend of activist disunity and the local indifference.

It can be inferred from the above passage that

Deepa Metha's Fire is under fire from the country's self-appointed moral police. Their contention is that the film is a violation of the Indian cultural mores and cannot be allowed to influence the Indian psyche. According to them, such films ruin the moral fabric of the nation, which must be protected and defended against such intrusions at all cost, even at the cost of cultural dictatorship.

Based on the information in the above passage, it can be inferred that

The dominant modern belief is that the soundest foundation of peace would be universal prosperity. One may look in vain for historical evidence that the rich have regularly been more peaceful than the poor, but then it can be argued that they have never felt secure against the poor; that their aggressiveness stemmed from fear; and that the situation would be quite different if everybody were rich.

It can be inferred from the above passage that

The effect produced on the mind by travelling depends entirely on the mind of the traveller and on the way in which he conducts himself. The chief idea of one very common type of traveller is to see as many objects of interest as he possibly can. If he can only after his return home say that he has seen such and such temple, castle, picture gallery, or museum, he is perfectly satisfied. Far different is the effect of travels upon those who leave their country with a mind prepared by culture to feel intelligent admiration for all the beauties of nature and art to be found in foreign lands. When they visit a new place, instead of hurrying from temple to museum to picture gallery, they allow the spirit of the place to sink into their minds, and only visit such monuments as the time they have at their disposal allows them to contemplate without irreverent haste.

It can be inferred from the above passage that

Whether we look at the intrinsic value of our literature, or at the particular situation of this country, we shall see the strongest reason to think that of all foreign tongues, the English tongue is that which would be the most useful to our native subjects.

It can be inferred that

Where the film Bombay loses out is where every commercial film congenitally goes awry — becoming too simplistic to address serious issues and failing to translate real life to reel.

Which of the following can be inferred from the above line?

Aspiration is nothing new. Neither is the debate over what the Indian middle class is, what it wants and what it buys. Since the mid-80s, that has been the focus of the economic policy papers so called pro- and anti-poor budgets and marketing strategies that have successfully broken the barrier of urban selling and reached deeper into rural India with increasing income levels and aspirations. 
Based on the above passage, it can be inferred that