Demo Tutorials - Verbal Ability

In this tutorial, we will focus on four main areas in the Verbal Ability section of CAT, which forms more than 80% of the
entire section
1) Reading Comprehension
2) Jumbled Paragraphs
3) Critical Reasoning
PART 1- Reading Comprehension
Passage- 1
Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow
At the core of the whole universe is the One, the origin of everything and to which everything will one day return.
However, the one is beyond knowledge and description, and for it to connect with mortals it mediates through an
intelligible realm comprising Intellect and Soul. Intellect is in a state of eternal contemplation of the One, holding
perfectly together all intelligible thought, but its role is also active because it creates the Soul. The soul contemplates
intellect and is an intermediary link between the intelligible realm and that of humans; it too fulfills a creative role
bringing forth all worldly things as well as the souls of individual beings; it is thus eternal but operates in time and
history.
Plotinus argues that humans are weakened and estranged from the One but they can participate in Intellect and Soul
and this stirs in them a yearning to return to the One following a route that is the pathway of art. Beauty emanates from
the One similar to the way that a star discharges light that loses energy as it travels vast distances through different
atmospheres before finally diffusing in its weakened state on earthly matter.
Like Plato and Aristotle, Plotinus inherited the Pythagorean definition of beauty which comprises order, harmony,
measure and proportion. Plotinus took issue with this by asking how Pythagoras theory could be applied to compound
entities without parts, such as color or light, because unlike material objects they cannot be described in terms of
symmetry; yet they can be described as beautiful. This conclusion clearly parallels Plato, who in his Philebus argued at
51c-d that non-composite things like colors import their own kind of pleasures and are by their very nature forever
beautiful by themselves. Plotinus extended his argument to include spiritual qualities such as virtue and truth. Virtue
can be beautiful, but how can it be symmetrical or depend on symmetry to account for its beauty? Plotinus concluded
from this that beauty must essentially be different from symmetry (Ennead). Plotinus considers that in a beautiful face
where symmetry is a prominent feature, symmetry is only one manifestation of beauty, not its cause. Beauty, therefore,
is a quality.
Redin/Santoro Brienza concludes that for Plotinus, the primordial quality and fundamental metaphysical attribute of all
reality is unity. Beauty also as a universal characteristic of all reality consists in unity. Beauty cannot, therefore, come
from matter, as matter, just like symmetry, has no metaphysical unity in and of itself. It is rather the Soul that makes
beautiful the bodies which are spoken of as beautiful; for since it is a divine thing and a kind of part of beauty, it makes
everything it grasps and masters as beautiful (Ennead I.6.6.). Beauty thus gives a spiritual charge to matter, imbuing it
with its ideal form.
Plotinus thus appears to be close to Plato in the sense that the soul inside humans desires to be united with the Good
or the One, a state in which Beauty is apprehended. Plotinus at times uses language that is directly influenced by
passages from Plato, like the following one which is indebted to the Symposium (203b). Plotinus talks about the state of
pure apprehension of beauty as like being drunk with wine, filled with the nectar, all their soul penetrated with this
beauty (Ennead 5.8.10). In the Phaedrus 251a-256e, Plato also considered the reaction of the soul in the presence of
beauty, viewing it like a recollection of Beauty itself which had once been seen by the soul in a previous existence.
Participating in the form of beauty stirs a remembrance of a former happy state when the absolute form was once
apprehended. But, as OMeara asserts, Plotinus sees soul as recalling, not just one Form [i.e. of beauty], but the
whole world of Forms, or in other words that which perfectly holds all the forms: the One, or in Platos terms, the Good.
The experience of beauty in the earthly realm, then, rather than be a potential distraction or a danger as Plato argued,
becomes for Plotinus a distraction of a noble and good sort, because it carries us immediately away from ugliness and
other base qualities into the heart of perfection itself, where virtue and beauty co-mingle.
It is clear that Plotinus was fully committed to elevating the status of art. Arts mimetic qualities cannot therefore be
understood in a restrictive Platonic sense advocated in the Republic, whereby art merely imitates ultimate reality in an
inferior way. In Plotinian terms, because art manifests beauty in the physical world, this emphasizes its autonomy.
Plotinus states that the arts do not simply imitate what they see, but they run back up to the forming pri nciples from
which nature derives; then also they do a great deal by themselves, and, since they possess beauty, they make up
what is defective in things.(Ennead 5.8.1). Plotinus interest in looking at and analyzing the teleological dynamism of
human experience draws him closer to Aristotles ideas of art mimesising nature. This influence is also clear in the
following passage, which for some has been viewed as a summation of Plotinus ideas about art.
Let us suppose a couple of great lumps of stone lying side by side, one shapeless and untouched by art, the other
which has been already mastered by art and turned into a statue of a god or of a man and if of a man not just of any
man but of one whom art has made up out of every sort of human beauty. The stone which has been brought to beauty
of form by art will appear beautiful not because it is a stone but as a result of the form which art has put into it. Now
the material did not have this form, but it was in the man who had it in his mind even before it came into the stone; but it
was in the craftsman, not in so far as he had hands and eyes, but because he had some share of art. So this beauty
was in the art (Enneads 5.8.1).
This seems to point to the same conclusion that Plato reached in the Phaedrus, at least by implication, that when an
artist is drunk with divine nectar his philosophical systems are over-ridden and are replaced by a pure communication
between him and God. Plotinus implies here that this communion is achieved through the artists intimate connection
with nature. In going back to the Reason-Principles or the forming principles of nature, Plotinus believed that the
pathway of art allows one to travel on a metaphysical journey. The created piece of work becomes one point on a
series of interconnected pathways that, to use the words of Eco, have a spiritual luminous current running through
them. It is thus the purity of arts relationship with the One that accounts for Plotinus high regard of art.
Courtesy: The passage is an excerpt of A comparison of Plotinus philosophy of art and beauty with that of Plato by
Andrew Watson, Pathways- School of Philosophy
Questions:
1. What is the gist of the passage?
A. Soul ultimately wants to reach the one and this can be done with the help of beauty. Beauty lies within Art; hence Art
can help soul to reach the one.
B. One is the centre of the universe and one connects with mortals through soul and intellect.
C. Plotinus believed that beauty is different from symmetry, order, harmony, measure and proportion.
D. Art merely mimics ultimate realty in an inferior way and make up what is defective in things.
2. Give the relationship between Unity/Beauty/Soul/Matter.
A. Matter makes soul beautiful and with this beauty soul attains unity.
B. Soul makes matter beautiful and with this beauty matter attains unity.
C. Matter and soul can only be beautiful together and hence attain unity together.
D. Matter and soul are different manifestations of the beauty of the one (unity).
3. Why beauty gives spiritual charge to matter?
A. Because beauty is an aspect of the soul
B. Because matter has no metaphysical symmetry without beauty
C. Because with beauty, matter enters unifies with one.
D. Because beauty gives matter a metaphysical unity.
4. How are Art and beauty related?
A. Art is a manifestation of beauty.
B. All art forms are beautiful.
C. The art form of man/god is more beautiful than the lump of bare stones.
D. Beauty is encompasses in art or art is a way of attaining beauty.
5. Where is Plotinus not closer to Plato? Who is he closer in that aspect?
A. Art never had beauty within it. Plotinus is closer to Aristotle here.
B. Soul wants to be united to the one. Plotinus is closer to Aristotle here.
C. Beauty is all about order, harmony, measure and proportion. Plotinus is closer to Pythagoras here.
D. An object can be beautiful by virtue of by its nature which can include spiritual qualities such as virtue and truth.
Plotinus is closer to Socrates here.
6. What is the difference between soul and intellect?
A. Soul is part of the intelligible realm mediating the One with humans while Intellect is not.
B. Intellect contemplates the One and creates soul and soul links intelligible realm and humans
C. Intellect holds together all intelligible thoughts while soul contemplates intellect.
D. Soul does a creative role in bringing together all the material needs while intellect only helps in thought.
Solution for Passage-1:
Without any doubt, this is one of the most complicated passages which could ever come for any competitive exam.
Typically if you try to approach such a passage like your normal reading material, you are bound to land in trouble. We
have seen that students waste a lot of time trying to understand each and every word in the passage, thus getting
themselves trapped in the infinitely meandering sub-plots instead of focusing on the real plot or gist of the passage. So
a student who has been through a lot of mock CATs generally decides to skip these kinds of passages and instead
focuses on seemingly innocuous passages which looks straight forward. The problem with such an approach is that the
questions which follow the passage and their options are incredibly complicated and misleading. And the student in
panic easily walks into the trap laid by the examiner. So whats the solution simple, attempt passages which look
tough; for sure the questions which follows them would be easy. We have seen this happen consistently ever since the
topics like philosophy and humanism became darlings of the question paper setters. Just try to think, the people who set
the papers are also human beings like you and me and he/she will also find it tough to interpret a passage if we are
finding it difficult to understand it. So the questions he/she will be framing out of it will be based on that limited
understanding the scope of complication is restricted there. I am not telling that they cannot make it tough; of course
they can and get the cut-offs down to 1 or 2. But that is not their purpose, they are interested in getting people who are
clever enough to understand the core idea from a passage and effectively apply that idea to the questions. This purpose
works well with philosophy because the approach followed in philosophical writing is quiet different from the logical style
(problem -> alternatives -> analysis -> solution) which we all are familiar with. Philosophers love to go around the
problem working out analogies and theories without suggesting any solutions or alternatives to the problem and in most
of the cases even the problem.
Now let us try to deconstruct the passage and convert it into logical language. By doing this on the gist of the passage,
these figures emanates out of the text:-


Effectively these 2 figures capture the central idea of the passage and would more than suffice to answer all the
questions. The whole idea here is to keep reading by keeping an eye on the central idea. Ignore the metaphors,
analogies and other misleading subplots and keep pacing ahead.
Now let us try to answer the questions based on these diagrams:-
1. A) Plotinian thoughts are all about Soul ultimately wanting to reach the one and how beauty manifested through art
helps it and this is the idea which is continuously reiterated all through out the passage through a plethora of subtle
connotations.
2. B) Clear from the diagram
3. C) Clear from the diagram
4. D) Clear from the diagram
There are always some questions which can be literally picked out of the passage; these dont even need you to
understand the passage or its central theme. Questions 5 and 6 are of that type.
5. A) Para 6, Line 1
6. B) Para 1
The efficacy of the deconstruction approach is clear from the above example. The complicated looking passage got
reduced into 2 simple diagrams. After all, philosophy is not that simple, it is only about identifying the right lines to focus
on.
Passage 2
Read the passage below and answer the questions which follow
Crinoline and croquet are out. As yet, no political activists have thrown themselves in front of the royal horse on Derby
Day. Even so, some historians can spot the parallels. It is a time of rapid technological change: It is a period when the
dominance of the worlds superpower is coming under threat. It is an epoch when prosperity masks underlying
economic strain. And, crucially, it is a time when policy makers are confident that all is for the best in the best of all
possible worlds. Welcome to the Edwardian Summer of the second age of globalization.
Spare a moment to take stock of whats been happening in the past few months. Lets start with the oil price, which has
rocketed to more than $65 a barrel, more than double its level 18 months ago. The accepted wisdom is that we
shouldnt worry our little heads about that, because the incentives are there for business to build new production and
refining capacity, which will effortlessly bring demand and supply back into balance and bring crude prices back to $25 a
barrel. As Tommy Cooper used to say, just like that. Then there is the result of the French referendum on the
European Constitution, seen as thick-headed luddites railing vainly against the modern world. What the French needed
to realize, the argument went, was that there was no alternative to the reforms that would make the country more
flexible, more competitive, more dynamic. Just the sort of reforms that allowed Gate Gourmet to sack hundreds of its
staff at Heathrow after the sort of ultimatum that used to be handed out by Victorian mill owners. An alternative way of
looking at the French non is that our neighbors translate flexibility as youre fired.
Finally, take a squint at the United States. Just like Britain a century ago, a period of unquestioned superiority is drawing
to a close. China is still a long way from matching Americas wealth, but it is growing at a stupendous rate and economic
strength brings geo-political clout. Already, there is evidence of a new scramble for Africa as Washington and Beijing
compete for oil stocks. Moreover, beneath the surface of the US economy, all is not well. Growth looks healthy enough,
but the competition from China and elsewhere has meant the worlds biggest economy now imports far more than it
exports. The US is living beyond its means, but in this time of studied complacency a current account deficit worth 6
percent of gross domestic product is seen as a sign of strength not weakness. In this new Edwardian summer, comfort
is taken from the fact that dearer oil has not had the savage inflationary consequences of 1973-74, when a fourfold
increase in the cost of crude brought an abrupt end to a postwar boom that had gone on uninterrupted for a quarter of a
century. True, the cost of living has been affected by higher transport costs, but we are talking of inflation at 2.3 per cent
and not 27 per cent. Yet the idea that higher oil prices are of little consequence is fanciful. If people are paying more to
fill up their cars it leaves them with less to spend on everything else, but there is a reluctance to consume less. In the
1970s unions were strong and able to negotiate large, compensatory pay deals that served to intensify inflationary
pressure. In 2005, that avenue is pretty much closed off, but the abolition of all the controls on credit that existed in the
1970s means that households are invited to borrow more rather than consume less. The knock-on effects of higher oil
prices are thus felt in different ways through high levels of indebtedness, in inflated asset prices, and in balance of
payments deficits.
There are those who point out, rightly, that modem industrial capitalism has proved mightily resilient these past 250
years, and that a sign of the enduring strength of the system has been the way it apparently shrugged off everything
a stock market crash, 9/11, rising oil prices that have been thrown at it in the half decade since the millennium. Even
so, there are at least three reasons for concern. First, we have been here before. In terms of political economy, the first
era of globalization mirrored our own. There was a belief in unfettered capital flows, in free trade, and in the power of
the market. It was a time of massive income inequality and unprecedented migration. Eventually, though, there was a
backlash, manifested in a struggle between free traders and protectionists, and in rising labor militancy.
Second, the world is traditionally at its most fragile at times when the global balance of power is in flux. By the end of
the nineteenth century, Britains role as the hegemonic power was being challenged by the rise of the United States,
Germany, and Japan while the Ottoman and Hapsburg empires were clearly in rapid decline. Looking ahead from 2005,
it is clear that over the next two or three decades, both China and India which together account for half the worlds
population will flex their muscles. Finally, there is the question of what rising oil prices tell us. The
emergence of China and India means global demand for crude is likely to remain high at a time when experts say
production is about to top out. If supply constraints start to bite, any declines in the price are likely to be short-term
cyclical affairs punctuating a long upward trend.
Questions:
1. Which of the following best represents the key argument made by the author?
A. The rise in oil prices, the flux in the global balance of power and historical precedents should make us question our
belief that the global economic prosperity would continue.
B. The belief that modern industrial capitalism is highly resilient and capable of overcoming shocks will be belied soon.
C. Widespread prosperity leads to neglect of early signs of underlying economic weakness, manifested in higher oil
prices and a flux in the global balance of power.
D. A crisis is imminent in the West given the growth of countries like China and India and the increase in oil pri ces.
2. What can be inferred about the authors view when he states, As Tommy Cooper used to say just like
that?
A. Industry has incentive to build new production and refining capacity and therefore oil prices would reduce.
B. There would be a correction in the price levels of oil once new production
capacity is added.
C. The decline in oil prices is likely to be short-term in nature.
D. It is not necessary that oil prices would go down to earlier levels
3. What, according to the author, has resulted in a widespread belief in the resilience of modern capitalism?
A. Growth in the economies of Western countries despite shocks in the form of
increase in levels of indebtedness and inflated asset prices.
B. Increase in the prosperity of Western countries and China despite rising oil
prices.
C. Continued growth of Western economies despite a rise in terrorism, an
increase in oil prices and other similar shocks.
D. The success of continued reforms aimed at making Western economies
more dynamic, competitive and efficient
4. By the expression Edwardian Summer, the author refers to a period in which there is
a.) Unparalleled luxury and opulence.
b.) a sense of complacency among people because of all-round prosperity.
c.) a culmination of all-round economic prosperity.
d.) an imminent danger lurking behind economic prosperity.
Solution:
This passage came for CAT 2005 and most of the takers attempted the passage because it looked it an easy one. But
this seemingly innocuous comprehension had very tricky questions and close answer options. Only if you have
understood the every nook and corner of the passage just like the examiner had, can you answer the questions
correctly. The gist of the passage is very simple and can be represented with our graphical technique as:-

But the problem with this passage is that the examiner has understood the passage very well and so his questions are
not concentrated on the central idea alone. Let us try to answer the questions now.
1. c.) The gist as is explained in the diagram is Edwardian summer. The manifestation of this phenomenon is done
with examples of crude oil prices, French referendum and global power flux.
2. b.) This is a data based question connected to a usage in para 2. Because the question is based only on that line,
read around it and answer the question independently without using extra information from the other paragraphs.
3. c.) Para 4 talks about the resilience of modern capitalism and tells how it survived 9/11 (rise in terrorism), rising oil
prices and stock market crash (other similar shocks).
4. b) Clear from the diagram that you rise well above the cut offs in this section

Pages: 1 2 3
PART II-Jumbled paragraphs
Sequencing a jumbled paragraph is one of the most recurring questions in CAT. Let us try to approach it from a logical
point of view rather than a verbal view-point.
Question 1:
A. The 2 neighbors never fought each other
B. Fights involving 3 male fiddler crabs have been recorded, but the status of the participants was
unknown
C. They pushed and grappled only with the intruder
D. We recorded 17 cases in which a resident that was fighting an intruder was joined by an immediate
neighbor, an ally.
E. We therefore tracked 268 intruder males until we saw them fighting a resident male.
1. BEDAC 2. DEBAC 3. BDCAE 4. BCEDA
Solution:
Let us try to eliminate as many options as possible. If you eye the options, you can see that the pattern AC comes in 2
of the options. If you are able to disprove the correctness of the order AC, you have a chance of eliminating 2 options.
So let us start with AC. A and C is a perfect pair in the both the sentences, the talk is about 2 neighbors and C
perfectly complements A. You can verify this by quickly checking other combinations CA and DA. This reduces the
number of options by 50%. Now look for the starting sentence, if it is B or D. Reading through D, we come across words
like resident, intruder, ally etc which is certainly to classification within a group under discussion. Without introducing t he
idea of the group, one cannot logically talk about the classification within it. So D) cannot be the starting sentence and
hence option 2 is ruled out. Hence option 1.
Let us try one more question with the same approach.
Question 2:
A. By intelligence we mean a style of life, a way of behaving in various situations, and particularly in new,
strange and perplexing situations.
B. When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get a good score on a certain kind of
test, or even the ability to do well at school.
C. The true test of intelligence is not how to do, but how we behave when we dont know what to do.
D. These are at best only indicators of something large, deeper and far more important.
1. BDAC 2. CDBA 3. ABCD 4. CABD
Solution:
Looking for the common sets, CD is common. C talks about the true test and D talks about a set of something which
has limited scope. So D cannot follow C, hence we eliminate options 2 and 3. Next looking at options 1 & 4, the
difference is in the order of A and C and
in the order of the doublets BD and AC/CA. Let us check A & C A defines the meaning of intelligence and C defines a
true test for intelligence. As B & D talks about intelligence, A clearly follows them and C being a dangler concludes the
paragraph. So option 1 is the answer.
Question 3:
In America, highly educated women, who are in stronger position in the labour market than less qualified ones,
have higher rates of marriage than other groups.
A. Some work supports that Becker thesis, and some appears to contradict it.
B. And, as with crime, it is equally inconclusive
C. But regardless of the conclusion of any particular piece of work, it is hard to establish convincing
connections between family changes and economic factors using conventional approaches
D. Indeed, just as with crime, an enormous academic literature exists on the validity of the pure
economic approach to the evolution of family structures
1. ABCD 2. CADB 3. ACBD 4. DBAC 5. DABC
Solution:
Looking for the pattern, we see that DB is repeating pattern. D talks about the existence of academic literature on family
structures and compares the tome with that of crime, while B adds to the comparison saying that both are inconclusive.
So DB definitely goes together. So our answer lies between options 2 and 4, other gets eliminated. Between 2 and 4,
now check the sequence of A and C. C starts with a linking word but regardless and is very clearly a continuation of
option A. Hence option 4 is the answer.
Question 4:
Indonesia has experienced dramatic shifts in its formal governance arrangements since the fall of President
Soeharto and the close of his centralized, authoritarian Now Order regime in 1997.
A. The political system has taken its place in the nearly 10 years since Reformasi began. It has featured
the active contest for political office among a proliferation of parties at central, provincial and district
levels; direct elections for the presidency (since 2004); and radical changes in centre-local
government relations towards administrative, fiscal and political decentaralization.
B. The mass media, once tidily under Soehartos thumb, has experienced significant liberalization, as
has the legal basis for non-governmental organizations, including many dedicated to such
controversial issues as corruption control and human rights.
C. Such developments are seen optimistically by a number of donors and some external analysts, who
interpret them as signs of Indonesias political normalization.
D. A different group of analysts paint a picture in which institutional forms have changed, but power
relations have not. Vedi Hadiz argues that Indonesias democratic transition has been anything but
linear.
1. ACDB 2. BACD 3. BDAC 4. CDAB 5. ABCD
Solution:
AC repeats in 3 options; starting with AC A talks about the changes which followed Reformasi and C talks how such
changes are optimistically viewed. So C definitely follows A not necessarily immediately after it. With this, we can
eliminate option 4. Let us see if C follows A immediately or if there are any other options between them. As B is the only
option which follows A other than C, we need to check A and B. B also talks about the changes following Soehartos
oust. So C will effectively follow A and B as it talks about all the changes which happened after oust of the president.
Hence the sequence is ABC. Option 5 is the answer.
Question 5:
A welfare state in the attainment of its objective must avoid coercion and violence.
A. But communism attains its ends through compulsions, coercion and even bloodshed.
B. Communism implies the loss of freedom of expression and action and introduces a regimentation of
life.
C. These are all serious disadvantages which perhaps outweigh the economic gains.
D. Communism aims at the welfare state and perhaps the complete form of the welfare state in most
respects.
6. A true welfare state can develop only by following the path of peace and democracy.
1. CADB 2. ACDB 3. DCAB 4. DABC
Solution:
Starting with AB A talks about how communism attains its end through coercion and B explains Communism implies
loss of freedom. We cannot really say much about these two. Concentrating on A, the sentence starts with a linking
word But and should be follower of sentence which talks about a counter-idea. Looking for this counter idea, we reach
D. Sentence 1, D and A form a sequence with 1 defining the objective of a welfare state, D talking about communisms
aim to attain a welfare state and A talking about how is tries to achieve the same using coercive techniques. Hence
option 4.
This approach of tracking back from the options is very helpful in CAT when time is a very important restriction. In most
of the questions, you will be able to identify patterns which will help you eliminate the answer options.
Pages: 1 2 3
PART III: CRITICAL REASONING
The name itself suggests that Reasoning skills, more than Verbal skills, play a huge role in these types of questions. Let
us look at two typical questions and use logic to narrow down upon the right answer
1) The Performance of Delhis two high schools has been quite consistent over the past 5 years. In each of
those years, Delhi High has enrolled 40% of Delhis students and produced 75% of the citys high school
graduates, while Vidhyalaya has accounted for the remainder.
Which of the following can be properly inferred regarding the past 5 years from the passage above?
a) The total number of students attending each high school has remained roughly constant
b) Students attending Delhi High come from a larger geographical area than students attending Vidhyalaya
c) The respective geographic areas from which the schools draw their student populations have remained unchanged
d) Vidhyalaya has graduated a lower percentage of its attendees than has Delhi High
e) Students attending Personality programs accounted for a higher percentage of graduating students at Delhi High
than at Vidhyalaya
Solution
Inference based questions test the reasoning skills of the candidate. An inference is something which is not explicitly
mentioned. You need to read between the lines to identify an inference.
This question is a relatively easy question, however; the approach will make a difference in the time you are going to
spend on each question
The data in the passage can be shown as follows
ADMITTED GRADUATED
DELHI HIGH 40% 75%
VIDHYALAYA 60% 25%
In this case, the row about Delhi High is explicitly mentioned in the passage, and the row about Vidhyalaya is the
inference. You can directly mark the answer as option (d)
Let us try another question
2) All German philosophers except for Marx, are idealists.
From which of the following can the statements above be properly inferred?
a) Except for Marx, if someone is an idealist philosopher, then he or she is German
b) Marx is the only non-German philosopher who is an idealist
c) If a German is an idealist, then he or she is a philosopher, as long as he or she is not Marx
d) Marx is not an idealist philosopher
e) Aside from the philosopher Marx, if any philosopher is a German, then he or she is an idealist
Solution
There are 2 direct inferences of the statement above
1) Max is a German Philosopher- NOT an idealist
2) German Philosophers(other than Marx) are idealists
option (a) is ruled out because if all German Philosophers are idealists, it does not mean that everyone who is an
idealist is German. (i.e. German is a subset of Idealism)

Option (b) can be directly ruled out as it says that Marx is not German, contradicting our inference no.1 above
Option (c) Is wrong because of the subset superset mix up as in the first question. All idealists are philosophers,
however; all philosophers are not idealists.

Option (d) and option (e) are the only close options. However, note that the question is an inference! And an inference
can be made only if there is a fact based on it. Option (d) talks only about Marx, whereas option (e) gives the whole
picture. Hence, the answer is option (e)
Critical Reasoning question types can be easily anticipated. Questions are based on strengthening of an argument,
weakening of an argument, inference based , conclusion based or assumption based. Right strategies followed up with
good practice will ensure that you rise well above the cut offs in this section