• CLAT 2021 Question Paper With Answers & Explanation

    English Language

    Passage – 1

    Since the worldwide inoculation process is going strong, vaccine diplomacy has become a hot topic. In their quest for ensuring vaccine security, a report by The New York Times, based on the data on vaccine contracts compiled by Duke University, shows that the advance purchase contracts made by some advanced countries for potential vaccines would vaccinate their population many times: the European Union, two times, the United States and the United Kingdom, four times, and Canada, six times. The expectation that an early vaccination will bring back normalcy and a required push to economic growth fuelled many advanced countries to engage in vaccine battles. The arguments of public good and global cooperation have gone out of the window now. While advanced countries have turned their back on the need of poor countries to access COVID-19 vaccines, India has displayed empathy to their needs. India has taken a position that a significant percentage of the approved doses will be permitted for exports. While its exports to neighbouring countries will be under grant mode, initial shipment of vaccines to least developed countries will be free of cost. And, shipments of vaccines from India have already started reaching different parts of the developing world. While India is in its first phase of vaccination to cover health-care workers, exports from India are helping other countries also in initiating phase one of their vaccination programme, a gesture well appreciated globally. In a democracy, one can expect the backlash of sending vaccines abroad without vaccinating its population. Nevertheless, India’s approach only reinforces the need of having coordinated global efforts in bringing COVID-19 under control. This response manifests India’s unstinted commitment to global development and has consolidated its name as the world’s pharmacy. The attitude of India towards vaccinating the populations in the poorer countries has generated discussion in the richer countries about the necessity for more proactive measures to roll out vaccines to the developing nations.

    Q. 1 Which of the following best describes the purpose of this passage?

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    Refer to the sentence, "While advanced countries have turned their back ...." Therefore, the author advocates global cooperation. So, option (B) is correct.

    Q. 2 The term ‘inoculation process’ as used in the passage means

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    "Inoculation process" refers to "immunisation process." Therefore, option (D) is correct.

    Q. 3 Advanced purchase contracts of vaccines by developed countries are premised on hopes that

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    Refer to the sentence, "The expectation that an early vaccination will bring back normalcy and a required push ...." Therefore, (A) is correct.

    Q. 4 The author cautions that India’s approach in vaccine distribution may have negative repercussions among

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    Refer to the sentence, "In a democracy, one can expect the backlash of sending ...." Therefore, option (D) is correct.

    Q. 5 Among Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the third goal reads, “Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. Which of the following sentences from the passage reflects the reversal of this SDG?

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    All the three quoted sentences prove that the developed nations are not at all concerned about the poor countries. Therefore, the given SDG is debunked by all the 3 sentences. So, option (D) is correct.

    Passage – 2

    Read an extract from A Scandal in Bohemia by Arthur Conan Doyle:
    “I rang the door-bell and was shown up to the chamber which had formerly been in part my own.”
    With hardly a word spoken, Sherlock Holmes waved me to an armchair. Then he stood before the fire and looked me over in his singular introspective fashion.
    “Watson, you did not tell me that you intended to go into harness. ”
    “Then, how do you know?”
    “I see it, I deduce it. How do I know that you have been getting yourself very wet lately, and that you have a most clumsy and careless servant girl?”
    “My dear Holmes,” said I, “this is too much. It is true that I had a country walk on Thursday and came home in a dreadful mess, but as I have changed my clothes, I can’t imagine how you deduce it. As to Mary Jane, she is incorrigible, but there, again, I fail to see how you work it out. ”
    ‘It is simplicity itself,” said he; “my eyes tell me that on the inside of your left shoe, just where the firelight strikes it, the leather is scored by six almost parallel cuts. Obviously, they have been caused by someone who has very carelessly scared round the edges of the sole in order to remove crusted mud from it. Hence, you see, my double deduction that you had been out in vile weather, and that you had a particularly malignant boot- slitting specimen of the London slavey.”

    In fiction, detectives like Holmes are usually portrayed as people with exceptionally brilliant minds. They possess the rare skill to see and analyze what ordinary people can’t. They have incredible abilities to infer, deduce, induce and conclude.

    Then, there is G.K. Chesterton’s fictional catholic priest, Father Brown who relies on his extraordinary power of sympathy and empathy that enable him to imagine and feel as criminals do. He explains, “I had thought out exactly how a thing like that could be done, and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it. And when I was quite sure that I felt exactly like the murderer myself, of course I knew who he was.”

    Sherlock finds the criminal by starting from the outside. He relies on science, experimental methods and deduction. On the contrary, Father Brown uses varied psychological experiences learned from those who make confessions of crime to him. He relies on introspection, intuition and empathy.

    There is yet another set of detectives like those created by writers like Agatha Christie. Her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot is a story-teller who draws information from the stories that others tell. He patiently listens to numerous accounts of what happened, where it happened and how it happened. He listens for credibility and ambiguity; he identifies why and how the pieces of the jig-saws don’t fit together. Ultimately, he uncovers the truth.

    Q. 6 From the passage, it can be inferred that

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    Refer to the very first sentence of the passage that proves option (B) as the correct answer.

    Q. 7 It is evident that for solving cases, Father Brown relies largely on

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    Refer to the sentence, "Then there is GK Chesterton's fictional Catholic priest, Father Brown ...."

    Q. 8 For the three detectives mentioned in the passage, which one of these would be non- essential for solving criminal cases?

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    Apart from option (A), all the other three options are mentioned in the passage. Refer to the 1st, 2nd and 4th paragraphs for the answer.

    Q. 9 In order to solve cases, Poirot uses the art of ______ the narratives that he has been told.

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    Refer to the second last sentence of the passage for the answer. Therefore, option (D) is correct.

    Q. 10 The word incorrigible is the antonym of

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    Incorrigible refers to a person who cannot be reformed or changed. Therefore, 'repentant' is the antonym.

    Passage – 3

    In the domain of education, the current pandemic has made three things clear. It has proved beyond any doubt that we need schools. Irrespective of which country one talks about, students and parents want schools to open and function in full glory, with appropriate precautions. Secondly, it has shown that technology may prove to be useful in education if it is employed thoughtfully. Random surfing of the Internet may lead to a collection of pieces of information that do not add up to any meaning. As Noam Chomsky says, “You cannot pursue any kind of inquiry without a relatively clear framework that is directing your search and helping you choose what is significant and what is not.” Moreover, there cannot be any hegemonic technomanagerial solutions to the linguistic and cultural heterogeneity of students; technology must help us to respect individual, peer group and community needs and aspirations. Thirdly, a convergence of the efforts of the public, civil society and private enterprise will have to take place if we wish technology to meaningfully mediate between school and home, particularly among underprivileged groups.

    The concept, structure and functioning of a school/college should not be trivialised in any way. This institution has survived since ancient times in spite of proposals for “de-schooling” of various kinds. It is true that schools to a great extent perpetuate the status quo and, as Ivan Illich observed, encourage “consumerism” and “obedience to authority”; but it is also true that those who produced some of the most revolutionary moments in history, including quantum jumps in knowledge, also went to school. The kind of web of learners Illich imagines may in fact have its roots in schools. There are also people who trivialise schools for the kind of investments they demand in terms of space, buildings, teachers, libraries and labs and other infrastructure.

    One thing you never forget is the school you went to, friends you made there and the kind of teachers who taught you; the kind of teachers you loved, the kind you mocked at with friends. You recollect nostalgically the sports and other co-curricular activities you took part in. Some of you may still have preserved your school blazer, trophies and photographs with a sense of joy. It is important to see school holistically; it is not a set of atomic items of rooms, library, assembly halls, canteen and playgrounds; it is all of these but in symbiotic relationship with each other, the contours of which are often far too obvious and often simply mysterious.

    Q. 11 Which one of the following is the author trying to suggest by quoting Noam Chomsky?

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    The author quotes Chomsky to show that technology may prove to be useful in education if employed thoughtfully.

    Q. 12 Which of the following is not a premise of author’s argument in favour of need for schools and colleges?

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    Option (D) is not an argument presented by the author in favour of the need for schools and colleges. Therefore, (D) is the answer.

    Q. 13 The expression ‘linguistic and cultural heterogeneity’ as used in the passage means

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    "Heterogeneity" refers to "diversity". Therefore, (C) is the answer.

    Q. 14 Which of the following is not the learning outcome from pandemic?

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    The author observes that technology may prove to be useful in education. It may not be absolutely useful in education. Therefore, option (B) is correct.

    Q. 15 The expression ‘symbiotic relationship’ as used in the passage means

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    "Symbiotic" means mutually beneficial. Therefore, option (C) is correct.

    Passage – 4

    Since long, we have witnessed unimaginable levels of success and failure of various projects, businesses, scientific missions and even wars. From such triumphs and defeats emerges the much debatable thought: Is planning and strategy more important than execution?

    Some project leaders and their teams are of the view that planning leads to clarity of objectives; it helps to set the timeline and the budget. Consequently, when the planning is haphazard and unstructured, the very aims of the projects become hazy. This further leads to unprecedented budget collapses and poor time-management. In some cases, teams have worked relentlessly to complete assignments, but poor planning has invariably led to customer dissatisfaction and at times a complete collapse of the entire project. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.”

    Numerous entrepreneurs have the faith that strategies help to enhance not only speed and quality of production, but also consumer satisfaction. If there are no strategies to tackle unplanned events or unexpected interruptions, there is a possibility of entire projects coming to a grinding halt.

    Some of the world’s best airports, bridges and astronomical missions are the result of careful planning and excellent strategies. However, there are some architects, artists and entrepreneurs who prefer to dive straight from the board of ideas into the pool of execution. They believe that suitable strategies are best shaped during the process of execution; great plans and strategies can fail while encountering unexpected situations.

    Steve Jobs says, “To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions.”

    According to Bill Gates, unhappy customers are the greatest source of learning. Fickle- minded consumers and wavering market trends can mar projects that stand on fixed plans. It is the need-based, flexible and innovative strategies that help to withstand the impact of these vacillating desires and trends.

    After rigorous planning and testing a new recipe on two lakh consumers, in 1985, the company Coke brought out the New Coke. Much to the company’s dismay, the product did not take off as expected and the financial loss was enormous. The company realized that during the process of data collection, it had not considered the product-loyalty and old-fashioned habits of the consumers.

    Hence, a balance of pragmatic planning, effective strategies and efficient execution is likely to ensure the accomplishment of tasks at each stage of a project. Successful execution is not an easy journey. The road is winding and bumpy. It may require tweaking or at times abandoning the original plan and re-designing it.

    Often, we turn to nature for inspiration. Think plans and strategies are the seed; execution is the nourishment; consumer is the capricious weather.

    Q. 16 The passage can be best termed as

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    The passage looks at the subject objectively weighing both its pros and cons. Therefore, it can be best termed as expository. The passage does not describe a thing, a place or a process. So, option B is incorrect. The passage does not either provide philosophical discussion on a subject. So, option C is incorrect. The passage is not given in the form of storytelling. So, it is not narrative.

    Q. 17 The author’s main purpose is to

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    The first four paragraphs of the passage talk about the importance of planning and strategy and the fifth paragraph starts talking about the importance of execution. Also refer to "Hence, a balance of pragmatic planning, effective strategies and efficient execution is likely to ensure the accomplishment of tasks at each stage of a project." Option A talks only about strategies. Option C talks only about planning and strategies and option D focuses only on execution. Hence, option B is the answer.

    Q. 18 From the failure of New Coke, the company learnt that

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    Option A is incorrect because it is said in the passage that after rigorous planning and testing a new recipe on two lakh consumers, in 1985, the company Coke brought out the New Coke and much to the company's dismay, the product did not take off as expected and the financial loss wasenormous. Option B is false. 'Too frequently' is extreme in option C. Option D is correct because of the same reason why option A is incorrect.

    Q. 19 For the accomplishment of a project, Steve Jobs

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    Refer to "In the words of Benjamin Franklin, "Failing to plan is planning to fail." and "Steve Jobs says, "To me, ideas are worth nothing unless executed. They are just a multiplier. Execution is worth millions."" Other options are incorrect.

    Q. 20 The ______ in ‘consumer is the capricious weather’ refers to the ______ demands of the customers.

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    The formation of a word by imitation of the sound the word refers to is called onomatopoeia. Simile is a figure of speech that compares two literally different things using 'like' or 'as'. Metaphor is an implied simile in which 'like', 'so' and 'as' are not used. Anaphora is a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase is repeated in successive phrase, clause or sentences.

    Passage – 5

    A new report forecasting that India can create millions more jobs over the coming years in the gig economy underscores a fundamental shift in the nature of work. While automation swept through factory floors and BPOs reduced manpower requirements, e-commerce, ride hailing and food delivery apps, streaming media and fintech have created lakhs of temporary jobs in the services sector. Although the jury is still out on the quality of life accorded by such gigs and the social security benefits they accord, recall that informalisation of jobs started much earlier. The report by Boston Consulting Group and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation predicts 90 million flexi and gig jobs in a decade from 8 million now, contributing transactions valued at more than $250 billion and an additional 1.25% to India’s GDP. Obviously, technological evolutions are hard to predict. A decade ago, few, if any, had divined these new jobs. Accepting change as the sole constant, it is equally critical to create the socioeconomic framework that can support such jobs.

    Expecting startups fuelled by venture capital and presently unprofitable to treat gig workers as regular employees isn’t practical. Such moves could impede innovation and investment. But if central and state governments could deliver in areas like public health, education, insurance and food security, anxieties generated by unsteady, irregular unemployment can be managed better. Last year’s nationwide lockdown when the suddenly unemployed migrant workers panicked and bolted, untrusting the promises of governments to care for them, served out this lesson in poignant detail. The gig economy does promise flexibility and improved choices for many women and part time workers. Every technological revolution till date has effaced some jobs and created plentiful others. There is room for optimism in the rapidly emerging tech-mediated world, but only upon strengthening the support of educational and health infrastructure.

    Q. 21 The report by Boston Consulting Group and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    Option A can be found in "The report by Boston Consulting Group and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation predicts 90 million flexi and gig jobs in a decade from 8 million now…" Option B is out of scope. Option is incorrect because only India's GDP is mentioned in the passage.

    Q. 22 Which of the following can be inferred as a caution by the author?

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    Option B can be inferred from "Expecting startups fuelled by venture capital and presently unprofitable to treat gig workers as regular employees isn't practical. Such moves could impede innovation and investment." Other options cannot be inferred from the passage.

    Q. 23 In the context of the passage, which of the following best describes gig economy?

    Correct Answer

    A

    Explanation

    The description of gig economy is found in "e-commerce, ride hailing and food delivery apps, streaming media and fintech have created lakhs of temporary jobs in the services sector." Also refer to "…informalisation of jobs started much earlier."

    Q. 24 The tone of the passage is

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    The tone of the given passage is sanguine as the passage is positive and optimistic. Refer to "There is room for optimism in the rapidly emerging tech-mediated world…" Hence, option D is the answer. Option A is incorrect because the passage is not sceptical, pessimistic or negative. Option B is incorrect because the passage is not censorious. Option C is also incorrect because the passage is not contemptuous or derisive.

    Q. 25 According to the passage, which of the following comes as a concern related to gig economy?

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    Option C is the answer because it is said in the given passage that the jury is still out on the quality of life accorded by such gigs and the social security benefits they accord. Other options are incorrect.

    Passage – 6

    Following the transition to democracy, with the inauguration of Nelson Mandela as president in 1994, South Africa was faced with the task of dealing with its past, as well as undertaking some action to deal with structural social injustice. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), heralded as the most ambitious and organised attempt to deal with crimes of a past regime through a concept of truth, came into force on 19th July 1995 in South Africa. Emerging as a political strategy to acknowledge past suffering whilst promoting a future based on the concerns of social justice, the rule of law and reconciliation, the Commission has struggled to fulfil its objectives. Although the TRC incorporated these broader concerns into the mandate of its three subcommittees, they were disregarded in practice. These sub-committees, which reflected concerns for ‘human rights violations’, ‘amnesty’ and ‘reparation and rehabilitation’, were not ‘coupled with some form of social transformation’. The public transition from apartheid, established through a negotiated settlement rather than a revolutionary process, framed the Commission’s powers. Shaped by the historical context of this particular transition, the TRC was careful not to ‘rock the structural boat’. Rather than pursuing truth and justice, as an integrated feature of social transformation, the Commissioners and, to a greater extent, the government of South Africa, maintained an agenda that avoided a challenge to the status quo. A focus on restorative justice was taken by the Commission with an emphasis placed on mechanisms to restore victims and survivors, through reparations policy, state- led acknowledgement of suffering, and a condemnation, together with the transformation, of the system that implemented such widespread forms of abuse. The priority of changing the apartheid conditions of gross inequality and oppression provided a backdrop to the approval of the TRC by those who had suffered. More difficult to accept was the provision of amnesty to those who had undertaken violations of human rights. The process placed amnesty of violations as a carrot to perpetrators in exchange for a full story, with the stick of prosecutions for those who did not come forward.

    Q. 26 The status quo’ as used in the passage means

    Correct Answer

    B

    Explanation

    'The status quo' as used in the given passage means 'already existing conditions'. Refer to "Rather than pursuing truth and justice, as an integrated feature of social transformation, the Commissioners and, to a greater extent, the government of South Africa, maintained an agenda that avoided a challenge to the status quo." Other options are incorrect.

    Q. 27 Which of the following best describes the tone of the author?

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    Option D is the answer. The tone of the author is critical because he has found faults with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). Refer to "… the Commission has struggled to fulfil its objectives…" and "Although the TRC incorporated these broader concerns into the mandate of its three sub-committees, they were disregarded in practice."

    Q. 28 Which of the following is not the broader concern of Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)?

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    Options A, B and D are mentioned in the passage as broad concerns of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) as they are mentioned in the passage, however, option C is not talked about in it. Hence, option C is the answer. Refer to "The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), heralded as the most ambitious and organised attempt to deal with crimes of a past regime…" and "Emerging as a political strategy to acknowledge past suffering whilst promoting a future based on the concerns of social justice…"

    Q. 29 Which of the following statements is least likely to be inferred from the passage?

    Correct Answer

    C

    Explanation

    Options A, B and D can be inferred from the given passage. Refer to "Although the TRC incorporated these broader concerns into the mandate of its three sub-committees, they were disregarded in practice…", "These sub-committees, which reflected concerns for 'human rights violations', 'amnesty' and 'reparation and rehabilitation', were not 'coupled with some form of social transformation', and "the TRC was careful not to 'rock the structural boat'. Rather than pursuing truth and justice, as an integrated feature of social transformation, the Commissioners and, to a greater extent, the government of South Africa, maintained an agenda that avoided a challenge to the status quo." Option C cannot be inferred from the passage.

    Q. 30 What does ‘amnesty’ mean in the context of the passage?

    Correct Answer

    D

    Explanation

    Amnesty as used in the given passage means official pardon. Hence, option D is the answer. Other options are incorrect.