[Mission 2023] Insta–DART (Daily Aptitude and Reasoning Test) 3 & 4 July 2023

Discussions on drug addiction should also be concerned with the vast majority of people who are not addicts. Their homes and lives are insecure because our narcotics laws drive such people to crime. The drug addict is almost never dangerous when he is under the influence of drugs. What makes him dangerous is the desperate need for money to buy the next dose. Drugs are available only in an illegal black market.  The costs are stupendous, and this is what drives the addicts to steal, rob and even kill.

Addicts take to criminal acts because

With reference to the passage, consider the following statements

1. Addiction to drugs is a criminal act.
2. Drug addicts cannot be rehabilitated.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Ecological research over the last quarter of the century has established the deleterious effects of habitat fragmentation due to mining, highways and such other intrusions on forests. When a large block of forests gets fragmented into smaller bits, the  edges of  all these bits come  into  contact with human  activities  resulting in the degradation  of  the entire forests. Continuity of forested landscapes and corridors gets disrupted affecting several extinction-prone species of wildlife. Habitat fragmentation is therefore considered as the most serious threat to biodiversity conservation. Ad hoc grants of forest lands to mining companies coupled with rampant illegal mining is aggravating this threat.

What is the central focus of this passage?

What is the purpose of maintaining the continuity of forested landscapes and corridors?

1. Preservation of biodiversity.
2. Management of mineral resources.
3. Grant of forest lands for human activities.

Select the correct answer using the codes given below.

By killing transparency and competition, crony capitalism is harmful to free enterprise, opportunity and economic growth. Crony capitalism, where rich and the influential are alleged to have received land and natural resources and various licenses in return for payoffs to venal politicians, is now a major issue to be tackled. One of the greatest dangers to growth of developing economies like India is the middle-income where crony capitalism creates oligarchies that slow down the growth.

Which among the following is the most logical corollary to 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 on his knowledge of customers.

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

On Monday, the Environmental Protection Agency released its list of counties, areas or tribal lands that are exceeding daily standards for fine particle pollution caused by emissions from vehicles, industry and wood stoves, among other sources. The pollutants in question are extremely small, measuring at one thirtieth the diameter of a human hair. The particles can get deep into the lungs, even entering the bloodstream, and are blamed for respiratory problems, especially in children and elderly.

A logical conclusion from the above paragraph is that

Whenever a major airplane accident occurs, there is a dramatic increase in the number of airplane mishaps reported in the media, a phenomenon that may last for as long as a few months after the accident. Airline officials assert that the publicity given the gruesomeness of major airplane accidents focuses media attention on the airline industry, and the increase in the number of reported accidents is caused by an increase in the number of news sources covering airline accidents, not by an increase in the number of accidents.

Which of the following if true would seriously weaken the assertions of the airline officials?

Various studies have shown that our forested and hilly regions, in general, are as where biodiversity – as reflected in the variety of flora is high are places where poverty appears to be high. And these same areas are also the ones where educational performance seems to be poor. Therefore, it may be surmised that, even disregarding poverty status, richness in biodiversity goes hand in hand with educational backwardness.

Which one of the following statements, if true, can be said to best provide supporting evidence for the surmise mentioned in the passage?

But because the idea of private property has been permitted to override, with its selfishness, the common good of humanity, it does not follow that there are no limits within which that idea can function for the general convenience and advantage.

Which of the following is most likely to weaken the argument?