• CLAT 2020 Question Paper With Answers & Explanation

    English Language

    Directions for questions 1 to 30: Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.

    Passage – 1

    Climate change is considered to be one of the most serious threats to sustainable development, with adverse impact on the environment, human health, food security, economic activity, natural resources and physical infrastructure. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the effects of climate change have already been observed, and scientific findings indicate that precautionary and prompt action is necessary. Vulnerability to climate change is not just a function of geography or dependence on natural resources; it also has social, economic and political dimensions which influence how climate change affects different groups. Poor people rarely have insurance to cover loss of property due to natural calamines i.e. drought, floods, super cyclones etc. The poor communities are already struggling to cope with the existing challenges of poverty and climate variability and climate change could push many beyond their ability to cope or even survive. It is vital that these communities are helped to adapt to the changing dynamics of nature. Adaptation is a process through which societies make themselves better able to cope with an uncertain future. Adapting to climate change entails taking the right measures to reduce the negative effect of climate change (or exploit the positive ones) by making the appropriate adjustments and changes. These range from technological options such as increased sea defences or flood proof houses on stilts to behavioural change at the individual level, such as reducing water use in times of drought. Other strategies include early warning systems for extreme events, better water management, improved risk management, various insurance options and biodiversity conservation. Because of the speed at which climate change is happening due to global temperature rise, it is urgent that the vulnerability of developing countries to climate change is reduced and their capacity to adapt is increased and national adaptation plans are implemented. Communities must build their resilience, including adopting appropriate technologies while making the most of traditional knowledge, and diversifying their livelihoods to cope with current and future climate stress. Local coping strategies and knowledge need to be used in synergy with government and local interventions. The need of adaptation interventions depends on national circumstances. There is a large body of knowledge and experience within local communities on coping with climatic variability and extreme weather events. Local communities have always aimed to adapt to variations in their climate. Local coping strategies are an important element of planning for adaptation. Traditional knowledge can help to provide efficient, appropriate and time tested ways of advising and enabling adaptation to climate change in communities who are feeling the effects of climate changes due to global warming.

    Q. 1 To address the challenge of Climate Change, Developing countries urgently require:

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    Refer the following lines from the passage, “Because of the speed at which climate change is happening due to global temperature rise, it is urgent that the vulnerability of developing countries to climate change is reduced and their capacity to adapt is increased and national adaptation plans are implemented.” Thus, the need of the hour is to devise and implement national level adaptation plans that involve local communities as well.

    Q. 2 Given below are the factors of vulnerability of poor people to climate changes. Select the option that contains the correct answer.
    (1) Their dependence on natural resources
    (2) Geographical attributes
    (3) Lack of financial resources
    (4) Lack of Traditional knowledge

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    Dependence on natural resources, geographical attributes and lack of financial resources have all been cited as reasons for the vulnerability of poor people to climate change. Lack of traditional resources has not been given as a reason. In fact, the poor people have access to traditional resources that can be utilized to help combat this issue.

    Q. 3 Which of the following is against the idea portrayed in the passage?

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    Refer the following line, “The need of adaptation interventions depends on national circumstances.” Thus, option (b) is against the idea discussed in the passage. The other options are in line with the ideas expressed.

    Q. 4 The Traditional Knowledge should be used through

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    Refer the line, “Local coping strategies and knowledge need to be used in synergy with government and local interventions.” This makes option (b) correct.

    Q. 5 What is the meaning of the word ‘Resilience’ occurring in the passage?

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    Resilience refers to the ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity. Thus, flexibility is the correct answer.

    Directions for questions 1 to 30: Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.

    Passage – 2

    The uncovering of a private Instagram group styling itself ‘Bois Locker Room’ featuring students from some prominent South Delhi schools discussing their female classmates in disturbingly violent ways including plans of sexual assault is a wakeup call for parents and authorities. The group formed last month or so kicked up a social media storm when screenshots surfaced. Police have questioned a 15 year old boy to identify other members. Similar incidents involving minors discussing rape/gang rape of classmates have been reported on other digital platforms like WhatsApp too, across cities. The exchanges in the now deleted group require precise responses from police, parents and school authorities around whom the fates of the juveniles involved now revolve. It is important to recognise where a teenager spouting objectification of his female counterparts is coming from. People of all ages, not just children, are retreating deeper into the recesses of their online avatars during this lockdown. But the heavy technological investment in children’s education, including flooding them with personal smartphones, has not been matched by serious conversations centred on responsible internet usage and equality. Young, impressionable minds absorb the normalisation of rape from the adults around them. When what they see, read and hear is toxic masculinity, that is what they perform. That’s what peer pressure becomes about. But if this youthful role play of macho dominance receives timely counselling, it can prevent far graver adult offences. Schools and parents have a critical role to play in educating children on gender equality. Digital platforms which claim to have zero tolerance towards content that violates community standards must also explain why such abuses go undetected, despite boasts about Artificial Intelligence-driven technologies to stop them. They should play a more proactive role in stopping the sexual harassment of real people in the guise of virtual sport.
    [Editorial Published in Times of India, dated 6 May, 2020]

    Q. 6 What is the Central Idea being conveyed by the Author in the passage above?

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    The concluding lines of the passage talk about the important role of digital media platforms in regulating their use. Thus, it is the main idea of the passage. The other options talk about limited aspects of the passage.

    Q. 7 As per author, why is this incident a wake-up call for parents?

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    Refer the following lines, “But the heavy technological investment in children’s education, including flooding them with personal smartphones, has not been matched by serious conversations centred on responsible internet usage and equality.” This makes option (d) correct.

    Q. 8 According to the author, in order to understand the root cause of such insensitive incidents, it is important to:

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    As per the author, it is important to understand and examine the kind of socialisation process these children are exposed. Thus, option (a) is correct.

    Q. 9 On the basis of your reading of the passage, which of the following statements can be inferred?

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    Refer the following lines from the passage, “But if this youthful role play of macho dominance receives timely counselling, it can prevent far graver adult offences. Schools and parents have a critical role to play in educating children on gender equality.” This makes option (a) correct.

    Q. 10 Which of the following words are synonymous with the word ‘Spouting’?

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    Spouting means send out (liquid) forcibly in a stream. Thus, pouring, streaming and erupting are all synonyms of the word.

    Directions for questions 1 to 30: Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.

    Passage – 3

    The snow was falling, and the Cat’s fur was stiffly pointed with it, but he was imperturbable. He sat crouched, ready for the death-spring, as he had sat for hours. It was night but that made no difference, all times were as one to the Cat when he was in wait for prey. Then, too, he was under no constraint of human will, for he was living alone that winter. Nowhere in the world was any voice calling him; on no hearth was there a waiting dish. He was quite free except for his own desires, which tyrannized over him when unsatisfied as now. The Cat was very hungry. almost famished, in fact. For days the weather had been very bitter...and the Cat’s long hunt had availed him nothing. But he waited with the inconceivable patience and persistency of his race; besides, he was certain. The Cat was a creature of absolute convictions, and his faith in his deductions never wavered. The rabbit had gone in there between those low-hung pine boughs. The Cat had seen her enter...so he sat down and waited, and he waited still in the white night, listening angrily to the north wind starting in the upper heights of the mountains with distant screams, then swelling into an awful crescendo of rage, and swooping down with furious white wings of snow like a flock of fierce eagles into the valleys and ravines. The Cat was on the side of a mountain, on a wooded terrace. Above him, a few feet away towered the rock ascent as steep as the wall of a cathedral. He had often looked with wonder at the rock, and miauled bitterly and resentfully as man does in the face of a forbidding Providence. At his left was the sheer precipice. Behind him...was the frozen perpendicular wall of a mountain stream. Before him was the way to his home. When the rabbit came out she was trapped; her little cloven feet could not scale such unbroken steeps. So the Cat waited. The tangle of trees and bushes clinging to the mountainside with a stern clutch of roots, the prostrate trunks and branches, the vines embracing everything with strong knots and coils of growth, had a curious effect, as of things which had whirled for ages in a current of raging water, only it was not water, but wind, which had disposed everything in circling lines of yielding to its fiercest points of onset. It was as if ice needles pricked his skin through his beautiful thick fur, but he never faltered and never once cried. He had nothing to gain from crying, and everything to lose; the rabbit would hear him cry and know he was waiting.

    [Excerpts from a Short story, ‘The Cat’ by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman]

    Q. 11 Which of the following suggests a synonymous meaning to the words ‘Providence’ and ‘Crescendo’ respectively?

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    ‘Providence’ refers to ‘fate’ or ‘nemesis’ while ‘crescendo’ refers to ‘zenith’ or ‘apex.’ Hence. Option (a) is the answer.

    Q. 12 The passage has been adorned with numerous figure of speeches. Which of the following combinations is correct?

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    There are instances of similes in the passage. Refer to the sections where the author makes a direct comparison between the tangle of trees and the passage of time. Another direct comparison is between the cold winds and ice needles. There are also instances of personification in the passage. Refer to the sentence, “He had often looked with wonder at the rock, and miauled bitterly and resentfully as man does in the face of a forbidding Providence.” This quoted sentence is also an example of a simile. Therefore, option (c) is correct.

    Q. 13 The passage best demonstrates which one of the following motifs of Cat’s Life?

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    The cat has been waiting for long to satisfy his hunger. Hence, option (c) is the most appropriate answer. Options (a), (b) and (d) are true in the light of the passage but they cannot be considered to be motifs of the cat’s life. A motif is a decorative image or design, especially a repeated one forming a pattern. The never ending wait is a recurring motif in the passage and so, option (c) is the answer.

    Q. 14 The Author’s description of “...he was under no constraint of human will, for he was living alone...” implies:

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    Option (c) is correct because the cat was lonely and living alone in the harsh weather conditions. He had no human company. Option (b) is the cause that has resulted in the cat’s loneliness. Hence, option (c) is a more appropriate answer than option (b). Option (d) is out of scope while option (a) is false because the cat had his desires. So, he wasn’t absolutely free from everything.

    Q. 15 The lines, “...but he never faltered and never once cried. He had nothing to gain from crying, and everything to lose...”, suggest that the Cat is:

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    The quoted sentence shows the cat’s strength of character and mental robustness. ‘Resilient’ refers to strength, toughness, ability to bounce back, etc. Hence, option (c) is the most appropriate answer.

    Directions for questions 1 to 30: Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.

    Passage – 4

    I am losing my interest in human beings; in the significance of their lives and their actions. Someone has said it is better to study one man than ten books. I want neither books nor men; they make me suffer. Can one of them talk to me like the night – the Summer night? Like the stars or the caressing wind?

    The night came slowly, softly, as I lay out there under the maple tree. It came creeping, creeping stealthily out of the valley, thinking I did not notice. And the outlines of trees and foliage nearby blended in one black mass and the night came stealing out from them, too, and from the east and west, until the only light was in the sky, filtering through the maple leaves and a star looking down through every cranny.

    The night is solemn and it means mystery.

    Human shapes flitted by like intangible things. Some stole up like little mice to peep at me. I did not mind. My whole being was abandoned to the soothing and penetrating charm of the night. The katydids began their slumber song: they are at it yet. How wise they are. They do not chatter like people. They tell me only: “sleep, sleep, sleep.” The wind rippled the maple leaves like little warm love thrills. Why do fools cumber the Earth! It was a man’s voice that broke the necromancer’s spell. A man came today with his “Bible Class.” He is detestable with his red cheeks and bold eyes and coarse manner and speech. What does he know of Christ? Shall I ask a young fool who was born yesterday and will die tomorrow to tell me things of Christ? I would rather ask the stars: they have seen him.

    [Short Story by Kate Chopin]

    Q. 16 Why has the author lost interest in human beings?

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    The author mentions that people make her suffer. Refer to the sentence, “Can one of them talk to me like the night – the Summer night? Like the stars or the caressing wind?” It implies that human beings can never be like nature. Also, refer to the sentence, “The night is solemn and it means mystery.” Therefore, option (d) is correct.

    Q. 17 The author has compared the night with:

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    The author was referring to the state of sleep when she uses the phrase “necromancer’s spell.” Refer to the sentence, “It was a man‘s voice that broke the necromancer‘s spell.” Therefore, option (b) is correct. The other options are out of scope.

    Q. 18 Why has the author called the ‘katydids’ wise?

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    Refer to the sentence, “The katydids began their slumber song: they are at it yet. How wise they are. They do not chatter like people.” According to the author, people indulge in unnecessary and unimportant talks. Refer to the section where the author criticises the coarse manner and speech of the person conducting the “Bible class”. The quoted sentences prove that option (c) is correct. The other options don’t explain the wisdom of the katydids.

    Q. 19 Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    Refer to the last few sentences of the passage where the author mentions that she would rather ask the stars and feel the presence of God instead of attending a “Bible class.” Therefore, option (a) is correct. The remaining options cannot be inferred in the light of the passage.

    Q. 20 Which of the following words from the passage mean ‘rough’?

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    ‘Coarse’ refers to a rough or harsh texture. Hence, option (c) is correct.

    Directions for questions 1 to 30: Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.

    Passage – 5

    It was the strangest murder trial I ever attended, where the old woman was found battered to death. He was a heavy stout man with bulging bloodshot eyes. All his muscles seemed to be in his thighs. The clock had just struck two in the morning. Mrs Salmon in 15 Northwood Street had been unable to sleep: she heard a door click shut and thought it was her own gate. So she went to the window and saw Adams (that was his name) on the steps of Mrs Parker’s house. He had just come out and he was wearing gloves. He had a hammer in his hand and she saw him drop it into the laurel bushes by the front gate. But before he moved away, he had looked up at her window. The fatal instinct that tells a man when he is watched exposed him in the light of a streetlamp to her gaze-his eyes suffused with horrifying and brutal fear, like an animal’s when you raise a whip.

    Mrs Salmon was called in the Court.
    ‘And do you see the man here in court?’
    [She looked straight at the big man in the dock, who stared hard at her with his Pekingese eyes without emotion.]
    ‘Yes,’ she said, ‘there he is.’
    ‘You are quite certain?’
    She said simply, ‘I couldn’t be mistaken, sir.’
    ‘Thank you, Mrs Salmon.’
    [Counsel for the defence rose to cross-examine.]
    ‘Now, Mrs Salmon, you must remember that a man’s life may depend on your evidence.’
    ‘I do remember it, sir.’
    ‘Is your eyesight good?’
    ‘I have never had to wear spectacles, sir.’
    ‘You are a woman of fifty-five?’
    ‘Fifty-six, sir.’
    ‘And the man you saw was on the other side of the road?’
    ‘Yes, sir.’
    ‘And it was two o’clock in the morning. You must have remarkable eyes, Mrs Salmon?’
    ‘No, sir. There was moonlight, and when the man looked up, he had the lamplight on his face.’
    ‘And you have no doubt whatever that the man you saw is the prisoner?’
    ‘None whatever, sir. It isn’t a face one forgets.’
    Then he said, ‘Do you mind, Mrs Salmon, examining again the people in court?
    No, not the prisoner. Stand up, please, Mr Adams!
    And there at the back of the court with thick stout body and muscular legs and a pair of bulging eyes, was the exact image of the man in the dock.
    ‘Now think very carefully, Mrs Salmon. Can you still swear that the man you saw drop the hammer in Mrs Parker’s garden was the prisoner and not this man, who is his twin brother?’ Of course she couldn’t.
    [Excerpts from ‘The Case for the Defence’ by Graham Greene]

    Q. 21 Why do you think, has the Author called the trial, ‘strangest’ murder trial he ever attended?

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    Option (b) is the correct answer because the accused looked very much like his twin brother, and thus Mrs Salmon failed to confirm that the accused was the same man whose face she saw in the lamplight outside on the steps of Mrs Parker’s house. Refer to “Can you still swear that the man you saw drop the hammer in Mrs Parker’s garden was the prisoner and not this man, who is his twin brother?’ Of course, she couldn’t.” Options (a) and (c) are not the reasons why the author called the trial ‘strangest’ murder trial he ever attended.

    Q. 22 “…his eyes suffused with horrifying and brutal fear, like an animal’s when you raise a whip.” can be called as:

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    Option (b) is the answer. A simile is a figure of speech that compares one thing with another thing of a different kind by using ‘as’ or ‘like’. Here ‘his eyes’ is compared with ‘an animal’s eyes’ by using ‘like’ in between. Personification is a figure of speech that attributes personal nature, intelligence or character to inanimate objects. Onomatopoeia is a word that imitates the sound.

    Q. 23 The expression ‘Pekingese eyes’ used in the passage refers to which of the following?

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    Protruding eyes are called Pekingese eyes. Thus, option (a) is the answer. Other options are incorrect.

    Q. 24 Why was Mrs. Salmon convinced that the man she saw had committed the crime?

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    Option (d) is the answer. Mrs Salmon was convinced that the man she saw in the lamplight outside on the steps of Mrs Parker’s house had committed the crime because she could see his face very clearly. Other options are not the reasons why Mrs Salmon was certain that she saw the murderer.

    Q. 25 Who was murdered in the scene described in the passage?

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    Mrs Salmon claimed to have seen the murderer on the steps of Mrs. Parker, but it is not certain who was actually murdered. Thus, option (d) is the answer. Mrs. Wheeler is not mentioned in the story.

    Directions for questions 1 to 30: Each set of questions in this section is based on a single passage. Please answer each question on the basis of what is stated or implied in the corresponding passage. In some instances, more than one option may be the answer to the question; in such a case, please choose the option that most accurately and comprehensively answers the question.

    Passage – 6

    The world has very few devices left to fight COVID-19 with, but technology remains one of them. Whether it is employing the state-of-the-art technology in the discovery of cures or vaccines, or traditional technology services to enhance health care and consultations, or even tools that keep people at home occupied/productive, it is clear that technology will serve humanity at one of its darkest moments. The pandemic has contributed, in no small measure, to the understanding of the myriad ways in which available technologies have not been put to better use, and presented people with multiple opportunities to harness these devices, techniques and methods to get on with life in the time of lockdown. Among the primary uses is telemedicine, rendered inexorable now, by the temporary paralysis brought on by a freeze on movement. The Centre’s recent guidelines allowing for widespread use of telemedicine services came as a shot in the arm for telehealth crusaders in the country, among them the Telemedicine Society of India that has long been battling to use the technology in its complete arc to reach remote areas in India. This move finds consonance with the rest of the world where several nations, also deeply impacted by the pandemic, have deployed telemedicine to reach people who have been unable to come to hospital, to reduce footfalls in hospitals, and to even provide medical and mental health counselling to countless people. It was way back in 2000 that telemedicine was first employed in India, but the progress has been excruciatingly slow, until the pandemic. However, it does seem as if the medical community was only held back by the lack of legislation to enable tele consultations. For no sooner was the policy announced, than hospitals and clinicians hurried to jump onto the bandwagon, advertising contact information for patients. The advantages are peculiar in the current context, when putting distance between people is paramount, as tele consultations are not barred even when health care professionals and patients may have to be quarantined. The advancement of telecommunication capabilities over the years has made the transmission of images and sound files (heart and lung sounds, coughs) faster and simpler. Pilot telemedicine experiments in ophthalmology and psychiatry have proven to be of immense benefit to the communities. Telemedicine’s time is here, finally. While unleashing the full potential of telemedicine to help people, experts and government agencies must be mindful of the possible inadequacies of the medium, and securing sensitive medical information; such cognisance should guide the use of the technology.
    [From an Editorial published in ‘The Hindu’ on April 17, 2020]

    Q. 26 Which one of the following words from the passage means ‘unavoidable’?

    Correct Answer

    a

    Explanation

    Option (a) is the answer. Inexorable means inevitable or unavoidable. Myriad means innumerable or many. Excruciatingly means painfully or agonizingly. Bandwagon means trend or craze.

    Q. 27 Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    Option (b) is all encompassing, thus, it is the answer. Refer to “While unleashing the full potential of telemedicine to help people, experts and government agencies must be mindful of the possible inadequacies of the medium and securing sensitive medical information; such cognisance should guide the use of the technology.” Option (a) is incomplete. Option (c) can be inferred but it is incomplete. Option (d) is out of scope.

    Q. 28 Which of the following is a significant factor contributing in slow employment of Telemedicine in India?

    Correct Answer

    b

    Explanation

    Option (b) is the answer. The answer is found in the lines, “The Centre’s recent guidelines allowing for widespread use of telemedicine services came as a shot in the arm for telehealth crusaders in the country…” and “…it does seem as if the medical community was only held back by the lack of legislation to enable tele consultations.” Option (a) is false because it is said in the passage that it was way back in 2000 that telemedicine was first employed in India. Option (c) is not the reason for slow employment of Telemedicine in India.

    Q. 29 Telecommunication based medication has the potential for an easy outreach because:

    Correct Answer

    d

    Explanation

    Option (d) is the answer. For option (a) refer to “Pilot telemedicine experiments in ophthalmology and psychiatry have proven to be of immense benefit to the communities…” For option (b) refer to “The advancement of telecommunication capabilities over the years has made the transmission of images and sound files (heart and lung sounds, coughs) faster and simpler.” For option (c) refer to “…securing sensitive medical information…”.

    Q. 30 What is the meaning of the expression ‘Shot in the arm’ used in the passage?

    Correct Answer

    c

    Explanation

    The expression ‘shot in the arm’ in the given context means ‘positive encouragement or impact’. Thus, option (c) is the answer. ‘Hitting the nail on its head’ means ‘identifying something precisely. ‘Bull’s Eye’ means the centre of a target.