CMAT Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Select the best meaning of the phrase 'a double-edged sword' as used in context: 'Social media is a double-edged sword for businesses.'
- A tool that is exclusively harmful
- Something with both advantages and disadvantages (Correct answer)
- A weapon used in competition
- A strategy that always succeeds
Correct answer: Something with both advantages and disadvantages
A double-edged sword refers to something that has both beneficial and harmful aspects.
Question 2: Passage: 'The ancient Silk Road was not merely a trade route for silk but a conduit for ideas, religions, technologies, and cultures.' The word 'conduit' most likely means:
- Barrier
- Channel or means of transmission (Correct answer)
- Repository or storage
- Record or archive
Correct answer: Channel or means of transmission
A conduit is a channel through which something is transmitted or conveyed.
Question 3: Which of the following sentences contains a misplaced modifier?
- The boy kicked the ball hard.
- She returned the book to the library that was overdue. (Correct answer)
- Running quickly, he caught the bus.
- The manager reviewed the completed report carefully.
Correct answer: She returned the book to the library that was overdue.
In option B, 'that was overdue' appears to modify 'library' rather than 'book,' creating a misplaced modifier.
Question 4: What does the Latin phrase 'per se' mean in English usage?
- For example
- By itself or intrinsically (Correct answer)
- In other words
- As a result
Correct answer: By itself or intrinsically
'Per se' is a Latin phrase meaning 'by itself' or 'intrinsically,' used to isolate a concept.
Question 5: Identify the figure of speech in: 'The classroom was a zoo during the unsupervised period.'
- Simile
- Personification
- Metaphor (Correct answer)
- Hyperbole
Correct answer: Metaphor
Directly calling the classroom 'a zoo' without using 'like' or 'as' makes this a metaphor.
Question 6: In a CMAT reading passage, the author states a fact and then draws a broad conclusion applicable to all cases. This is an example of:
- Deductive reasoning
- Inductive reasoning (Correct answer)
- Analogical reasoning
- Circular reasoning
Correct answer: Inductive reasoning
Moving from specific facts to a broad general conclusion is inductive reasoning.
Question 7: Choose the word that correctly completes the sentence: 'The CEO's _______ remarks at the press conference reassured investors.'
- ambiguous
- candid (Correct answer)
- vitriolic
- cryptic
Correct answer: candid
Candid means truthful and straightforward, which would logically reassure investors at a press conference.
CMAT Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension 5
Select the best meaning of the phrase 'a double-edged sword' as used in context: 'Social media is a double-edged sword for businesses.'