List of top Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) Questions on Literature

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
We begin with the emergence of the philosophy of the social sciences as an arena of thought and as a set of social institutions. The two characterisations overlap but are not congruent. Academic disciplines are social institutions. . . . My view is that institutions are all those social entities that organise action: they link acting individuals into social structures. There are various kinds of institutions. Hegelians and Marxists emphasise universal institutions such as the family, rituals, governance, economy and the military. These are mostly institutions that just grew. Perhaps in some imaginary beginning of time they spontaneously appeared. In
their present incarnations, however, they are very much the product of conscious attempts to mould and plan them. We have family law, established and disestablished churches, constitutions and laws, including those governing the economy and the military. Institutions deriving from statute, like joint-stock companies are formal by contrast with informal ones such as friendships. There are some institutions that come in both informal and formal variants, as well as in mixed ones. Consider the fact that the stock exchange and the black market are both market institutions, one formal one not. Consider further that there are many features of the work of the stock exchange that rely on informal, noncodifiable agreements, not least the language used for communication. To be precise, mixtures are the norm . . . From constitutions at the top to by-laws near the bottom we are always adding to, or tinkering with, earlier institutions, the grown and the designed are intertwined.
It is usual in social thought to treat culture and tradition as different from, although alongside, institutions. The view taken here is different. Culture and tradition are sub-sets of institutions analytically isolated for explanatory or expository purposes. Some social scientists have taken all institutions, even purely local ones, to be entities that satisfy basic human needs – under local conditions . . . Others differed and declared any structure of reciprocal roles and norms an institution. Most of these differences are differences of emphasis rather than disagreements. Let us straddle all these versions and present institutions very generally . . as structures that serve to coordinate the actions of individuals. . . . Institutions themselves then have no aims or purpose other than those given to them by actors or used by actors to explain them . . .
Language is the formative institution for social life and for science . . . Both formal and informal language is involved, naturally grown or designed. (Language is all of these to varying degrees.) Languages are paradigms of institutions or, from another perspective, nested sets of institutions. Syntax, semantics, lexicon and alphabet/character-set are all institutions within the larger institutional framework of a written language. Natural languages are typical examples of what Ferguson called ‘the result of human action, but not the execution of any human design’[;] reformed natural languages and artificial languages introduce design into their modifications or refinements of natural language. Above all,
languages are paradigms of institutional tools that function to coordinate.

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
The Chinese have two different concepts of a copy. Fangzhipin . . . are imitations where the difference from
the original is obvious. These are small models or copies that can be purchased in a museum shop, for
example. The second concept for a copy is fuzhipin . . . They are exact reproductions of the original, which,
for the Chinese, are of equal value to the original. It has absolutely no negative connotations. The
discrepancy with regard to the understanding of what a copy is has often led to misunderstandings and
arguments between China and Western museums. The Chinese often send copies abroad instead of originals,
in the firm belief that they are not essentially different from the originals. The rejection that then comes
from the Western museums is perceived by the Chinese as an insult. . . .
The Far Eastern notion of identity is also very confusing to the Western observer. The Ise Grand Shrine [in
Japan] is 1,300 years old for the millions of Japanese people who go there on pilgrimage every year. But in
reality this temple complex is completely rebuilt from scratch every 20 years. . . .
The cathedral of Freiburg Minster in southwest Germany is covered in scaffolding almost all year round. The
sandstone from which it is built is a very soft, porous material that does not withstand natural erosion by rain
and wind. After a while, it crumbles. As a result, the cathedral is continually being examined for damage, and
eroded stones are replaced. And in the cathedral’s dedicated workshop, copies of the damaged sandstone
figures are constantly being produced. Of course, attempts are made to preserve the stones from the Middle
Ages for as long as possible. But at some point they, too, are removed and replaced with new stones.
Fundamentally, this is the same operation as with the Japanese shrine, except in this case the production of a
replica takes place very slowly and over long periods of time. . . . In the field of art as well, the idea of an
unassailable original developed historically in the Western world. Back in the 17th century [in the West],
excavated artworks from antiquity were treated quite differently from today. They were not restored in a
way that was faithful to the original. Instead, there was massive intervention in these works, changing their
appearance. . . .
It is probably this intellectual position that explains why Asians have far fewer scruples about cloning than
Europeans. The South Korean cloning researcher Hwang Woo-suk, who attracted worldwide attention with
his cloning experiments in 2004, is a Buddhist. He found a great deal of support and followers among
Buddhists, while Christians called for a ban on human cloning. . . . Hwang legitimised his cloning experiments
with his religious affiliation: ‘I am Buddhist, and I have no philosophical problem with cloning. And as you
know, the basis of Buddhism is that life is recycled through reincarnation. In some ways, I think, therapeutic
cloning restarts the circle of life.’

Compare and contrast between Portia and Jessica characters in Merchant of Venice.