ENGLISH 10

A game of strategy, as currently conceived in game theory, is a situation in which two or more “players” make choices among available alternatives (moves). The totality of choices determines the outcomes of the game, and it is assumed that the rank order of preferences for the outcomes is different for different players. Thus the “interests” of the players are generally in conflict. Whether these interests are diametrically opposed or only partially opposed depends on the type of game.

Psychologically, most interesting situations arise when the interests of the players are partly coincident and partly opposed, because then one can postulate not only a conflict among the players but also inner conflicts within the players. Each is torn between a tendency to cooperate, so as to promote the common interests, and a tendency to compete, so as to enhance his own individual interests.

Internal conflicts are always psychologically interesting. What we vaguely call “interesting” psychology is in very great measure the psychology of inner conflict. Inner conflict is also held to be an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres. The classical tragedy, as well as the serious novel, reveals the inner conflict of central figures. The superficial adventure story, on the other hand, depicts only external conflict; that is, the threats to the person with whom the reader (or viewer) identifies stem in these stories exclusively from external obstacles and from the adversaries who create them. On the most primitive level this sort of external conflict is psychologically empty. In the fisticuffs between the protagonists of good and evil, no psychological problems are involved or, at any rate, none are depicted in juvenile representations of conflict.

The detective story, the “adult” analogue of a juvenile adventure tale, has at times been described as a glorification of intellectualized conflict. However, a great deal of the interest in the plots of these stories is sustained by withholding the unraveling of a solution to a problem. The effort of solving the problem is in itself not a conflict if the adversary (the unknown criminal) remains passive, like Nature, whose secrets the scientist supposedly unravels by deduction. If the adversary actively puts obstacles in the detective’s path toward the solution, there is genuine conflict.

But the conflict is psychologically interesting only to the extent that it contains irrational components such as a tactical error on the criminal’s part or the detective’s insight into some psychological quirk of the criminal or something of this sort. Conflict conducted in a perfectly rational manner is psychologically no more interesting than a standard Western. For example, Tic-tac-toe, played perfectly by both players, is completely devoid of psychological interest. Chess may be psychologically interesting but only to the extent that it is played not quite rationally. Played completely rationally, chess would not be different from Tic-tac-toe. In short, a pure conflict of interest (what is called a zero-sum game) although it offers a wealth of interesting conceptual problems, is not interesting psychologically, except to the extent that its conduct departs from rational norms.

Q. According to the passage, which of the following options about the application of game theory to a conflict-of-interest situation is true?

• 1. Assuming that the rank order of preferences for options is different for different players.

• 2. Accepting that the interests of different players are often in conflict.

• 3. Not assuming that the interests are in complete disagreement.

• All of the above

A game of strategy, as currently conceived in game theory, is a situation in which two or more “players” make choices among available alternatives (moves). The totality of choices determines the outcomes of the game, and it is assumed that the rank order of preferences for the outcomes is different for different players. Thus the “interests” of the players are generally in conflict. Whether these interests are diametrically opposed or only partially opposed depends on the type of game.

Psychologically, most interesting situations arise when the interests of the players are partly coincident and partly opposed, because then one can postulate not only a conflict among the players but also inner conflicts within the players. Each is torn between a tendency to cooperate, so as to promote the common interests, and a tendency to compete, so as to enhance his own individual interests.

Internal conflicts are always psychologically interesting. What we vaguely call “interesting” psychology is in very great measure the psychology of inner conflict. Inner conflict is also held to be an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres. The classical tragedy, as well as the serious novel, reveals the inner conflict of central figures. The superficial adventure story, on the other hand, depicts only external conflict; that is, the threats to the person with whom the reader (or viewer) identifies stem in these stories exclusively from external obstacles and from the adversaries who create them. On the most primitive level this sort of external conflict is psychologically empty. In the fisticuffs between the protagonists of good and evil, no psychological problems are involved or, at any rate, none are depicted in juvenile representations of conflict.

The detective story, the “adult” analogue of a juvenile adventure tale, has at times been described as a glorification of intellectualized conflict. However, a great deal of the interest in the plots of these stories is sustained by withholding the unraveling of a solution to a problem. The effort of solving the problem is in itself not a conflict if the adversary (the unknown criminal) remains passive, like Nature, whose secrets the scientist supposedly unravels by deduction. If the adversary actively puts obstacles in the detective’s path toward the solution, there is genuine conflict.

But the conflict is psychologically interesting only to the extent that it contains irrational components such as a tactical error on the criminal’s part or the detective’s insight into some psychological quirk of the criminal or something of this sort. Conflict conducted in a perfectly rational manner is psychologically no more interesting than a standard Western. For example, Tic-tac-toe, played perfectly by both players, is completely devoid of psychological interest. Chess may be psychologically interesting but only to the extent that it is played not quite rationally. Played completely rationally, chess would not be different from Tic-tac-toe. In short, a pure conflict of interest (what is called a zero-sum game) although it offers a wealth of interesting conceptual problems, is not interesting psychologically, except to the extent that its conduct departs from rational norms.

Q. The problem solving process of a scientist is different from that of a detective because

• 1. scientists study inanimate objects, while detectives deal with living criminals or law offenders.

• . scientists study known objects, while detectives have to deal with unknown criminals or law offenders

• scientists study phenomena that are not actively altered, while detectives deal with phenomena that have been deliberately influenced to mislead.

• scientists study psychologically interesting phenomena, while detectives deal with “adult” analogues of juvenile adventure tales.

A game of strategy, as currently conceived in game theory, is a situation in which two or more “players” make choices among available alternatives (moves). The totality of choices determines the outcomes of the game, and it is assumed that the rank order of preferences for the outcomes is different for different players. Thus the “interests” of the players are generally in conflict. Whether these interests are diametrically opposed or only partially opposed depends on the type of game.

Psychologically, most interesting situations arise when the interests of the players are partly coincident and partly opposed, because then one can postulate not only a conflict among the players but also inner conflicts within the players. Each is torn between a tendency to cooperate, so as to promote the common interests, and a tendency to compete, so as to enhance his own individual interests.

Internal conflicts are always psychologically interesting. What we vaguely call “interesting” psychology is in very great measure the psychology of inner conflict. Inner conflict is also held to be an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres. The classical tragedy, as well as the serious novel, reveals the inner conflict of central figures. The superficial adventure story, on the other hand, depicts only external conflict; that is, the threats to the person with whom the reader (or viewer) identifies stem in these stories exclusively from external obstacles and from the adversaries who create them. On the most primitive level this sort of external conflict is psychologically empty. In the fisticuffs between the protagonists of good and evil, no psychological problems are involved or, at any rate, none are depicted in juvenile representations of conflict.

The detective story, the “adult” analogue of a juvenile adventure tale, has at times been described as a glorification of intellectualized conflict. However, a great deal of the interest in the plots of these stories is sustained by withholding the unraveling of a solution to a problem. The effort of solving the problem is in itself not a conflict if the adversary (the unknown criminal) remains passive, like Nature, whose secrets the scientist supposedly unravels by deduction. If the adversary actively puts obstacles in the detective’s path toward the solution, there is genuine conflict.

But the conflict is psychologically interesting only to the extent that it contains irrational components such as a tactical error on the criminal’s part or the detective’s insight into some psychological quirk of the criminal or something of this sort. Conflict conducted in a perfectly rational manner is psychologically no more interesting than a standard Western. For example, Tic-tac-toe, played perfectly by both players, is completely devoid of psychological interest. Chess may be psychologically interesting but only to the extent that it is played not quite rationally. Played completely rationally, chess would not be different from Tic-tac-toe. In short, a pure conflict of interest (what is called a zero-sum game) although it offers a wealth of interesting conceptual problems, is not interesting psychologically, except to the extent that its conduct departs from rational norms.

Q. According to the passage, internal conflicts are psychologically more interesting than external conflicts because

• internal conflicts, rather than external conflicts, form an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres.

• only juveniles or very few “adults” actually experience external conflict, while internal conflict is more widely prevalent in society.

• in situations of internal conflict, individuals experience a dilemma in resolving their own preferences for different outcomes.

• there are no threats to the reader (or viewer) in case of external conflicts.

A game of strategy, as currently conceived in game theory, is a situation in which two or more “players” make choices among available alternatives (moves). The totality of choices determines the outcomes of the game, and it is assumed that the rank order of preferences for the outcomes is different for different players. Thus the “interests” of the players are generally in conflict. Whether these interests are diametrically opposed or only partially opposed depends on the type of game.

Psychologically, most interesting situations arise when the interests of the players are partly coincident and partly opposed, because then one can postulate not only a conflict among the players but also inner conflicts within the players. Each is torn between a tendency to cooperate, so as to promote the common interests, and a tendency to compete, so as to enhance his own individual interests.

Internal conflicts are always psychologically interesting. What we vaguely call “interesting” psychology is in very great measure the psychology of inner conflict. Inner conflict is also held to be an important component of serious literature as distinguished from less serious genres. The classical tragedy, as well as the serious novel, reveals the inner conflict of central figures. The superficial adventure story, on the other hand, depicts only external conflict; that is, the threats to the person with whom the reader (or viewer) identifies stem in these stories exclusively from external obstacles and from the adversaries who create them. On the most primitive level this sort of external conflict is psychologically empty. In the fisticuffs between the protagonists of good and evil, no psychological problems are involved or, at any rate, none are depicted in juvenile representations of conflict.

The detective story, the “adult” analogue of a juvenile adventure tale, has at times been described as a glorification of intellectualized conflict. However, a great deal of the interest in the plots of these stories is sustained by withholding the unraveling of a solution to a problem. The effort of solving the problem is in itself not a conflict if the adversary (the unknown criminal) remains passive, like Nature, whose secrets the scientist supposedly unravels by deduction. If the adversary actively puts obstacles in the detective’s path toward the solution, there is genuine conflict.

But the conflict is psychologically interesting only to the extent that it contains irrational components such as a tactical error on the criminal’s part or the detective’s insight into some psychological quirk of the criminal or something of this sort. Conflict conducted in a perfectly rational manner is psychologically no more interesting than a standard Western. For example, Tic-tac-toe, played perfectly by both players, is completely devoid of psychological interest. Chess may be psychologically interesting but only to the extent that it is played not quite rationally. Played completely rationally, chess would not be different from Tic-tac-toe. In short, a pure conflict of interest (what is called a zero-sum game) although it offers a wealth of interesting conceptual problems, is not interesting psychologically, except to the extent that its conduct departs from rational norms.

Which, according to the author, would qualify as interesting psychology?

• A statistician’s dilemma over choosing the best method to solve an optimization problem.

• A chess player’s predicament over adopting a defensive strategy against an aggressive opponent.

• A mountaineer’s choice of the best path to Mt. Everest from the base camp.

• 4. A finance manager’s quandary over the best way of raising money from the market.

An AC 3-Tier train ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani, under the Tatkal quota, is priced at around Rs. 2,900, where about a third — over Rs. 800 or 28 per cent — is charged as “dynamic pricing”. It is such high pricing that majority of people probably referred to when they voted in LocalCircles’ citizens’ poll. Tatkal charges are extra charges levied for last minute booking by train passengers and form a part of dynamic charges in a ticket.

Tatkal fares have become “excessive”, said almost three-fourth (74 per cent) of the 8,165 people who answered a query on their experience with Tatkal ticket fares on LocalCircles, a citizen interaction platform. Almost one-fifth polled found the charges “reasonable”. Five per cent even found the charges “quite low”.

Almost 80 per cent of people found the ticket cancellation charges high, and desired that such charges on Tatkal tickets be lowered. For seven questions, LocalCircles received votes from over 27,000 participants from over 200 districts. “Railway travellers from Vadodara to Bhubaneswar and from Jammu Tavi to Tirunelveli participated in this survey,” said Sachin Taparia, Founder, Local Circles. Almost half of the people who voted were from tier-1 cities, 30 per cent from tier-2 cities and 22 per cent from tier-3 and rural locations. Almost 40 per cent of people who participated in the poll were females.

From the 7,739 people who voted on the question “how has cleanliness of trains and railway stations improved in last 12 months”, about four-fifth felt there was an improvement. Specifically, 39 per cent felt there was marginal improvement, 38 per cent voted for “significant improvement”. Over a fifth (23 per cent) of train customers felt there was no improvement, including five per cent who felt the cleanliness of trains and stations have worsened.

Almost 46 per cent of 8,000-odd people found the food served in trains edible though not delicious, while four per cent found the food catered delicious. 31 per cent said the food was unhygienic or inedible, while 19 per cent were “unsure” about judging the quality of food.

On punctuality of trains, 66 per cent of 8,122 people who took the poll during the last 12 months said the trains were delayed by upto one hour.

There is scope to make the India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Web site more consumer-oriented and scope to improve food hygiene standards.

Q. Which among the following is correct regarding the gender-based participation in the survey conducted by LocalCircles regarding the railway services?

• There was no participation from females in the survey conducted for giving opinion regarding railway services in India.

• There was no participation from males in the survey conducted regarding the services catered by Indian Railways.

• There is equal participation from males and females in the survey conducted.

• The number of females participating in the survey is less than that of the males who have given response via the survey.

An AC 3-Tier train ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani, under the Tatkal quota, is priced at around Rs. 2,900, where about a third — over Rs. 800 or 28 per cent — is charged as “dynamic pricing”. It is such high pricing that majority of people probably referred to when they voted in LocalCircles’ citizens’ poll. Tatkal charges are extra charges levied for last minute booking by train passengers and form a part of dynamic charges in a ticket.Tatkal fares have become “excessive”, said almost three-fourth (74 per cent) of the 8,165 people who answered a query on their experience with Tatkal ticket fares on LocalCircles, a citizen interaction platform. Almost one-fifth polled found the charges “reasonable”. Five per cent even found the charges “quite low”.

Almost 80 per cent of people found the ticket cancellation charges high, and desired that such charges on Tatkal tickets be lowered. For seven questions, LocalCircles received votes from over 27,000 participants from over 200 districts. “Railway travellers from Vadodara to Bhubaneswar and from Jammu Tavi to Tirunelveli participated in this survey,” said Sachin Taparia, Founder, Local Circles. Almost half of the people who voted were from tier-1 cities, 30 per cent from tier-2 cities and 22 per cent from tier-3 and rural locations. Almost 40 per cent of people who participated in the poll were females.

From the 7,739 people who voted on the question “how has cleanliness of trains and railway stations improved in last 12 months”, about four-fifth felt there was an improvement. Specifically, 39 per cent felt there was marginal improvement, 38 per cent voted for “significant improvement”. Over a fifth (23 per cent) of train customers felt there was no improvement, including five per cent who felt the cleanliness of trains and stations have worsened.

Almost 46 per cent of 8,000-odd people found the food served in trains edible though not delicious, while four per cent found the food catered delicious. 31 per cent said the food was unhygienic or inedible, while 19 per cent were “unsure” about judging the quality of food.

On punctuality of trains, 66 per cent of 8,122 people who took the poll during the last 12 months said the trains were delayed by upto one hour.

There is scope to make the India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Web site more consumer-oriented and scope to improve food hygiene standards.

Q. Which among the following is correct regarding the result of the survey regarding the punctuality of trains run by Indian Railways in the country?

• The survey found out that trains are mainly running before time with no margin for being late.

• The survey found out that the trains are not running late but they are being made to run late due to certain issues.

• The survey found that the trains are not running on time at all especially in the recent months.

• The survey found out that the trains are very well on time but only in the foggy days of the year.

An AC 3-Tier train ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani, under the Tatkal quota, is priced at around Rs. 2,900, where about a third — over Rs. 800 or 28 per cent — is charged as “dynamic pricing”. It is such high pricing that majority of people probably referred to when they voted in LocalCircles’ citizens’ poll. Tatkal charges are extra charges levied for last minute booking by train passengers and form a part of dynamic charges in a ticket.Tatkal fares have become “excessive”, said almost three-fourth (74 per cent) of the 8,165 people who answered a query on their experience with Tatkal ticket fares on LocalCircles, a citizen interaction platform. Almost one-fifth polled found the charges “reasonable”. Five per cent even found the charges “quite low”.

Almost 80 per cent of people found the ticket cancellation charges high, and desired that such charges on Tatkal tickets be lowered. For seven questions, LocalCircles received votes from over 27,000 participants from over 200 districts. “Railway travellers from Vadodara to Bhubaneswar and from Jammu Tavi to Tirunelveli participated in this survey,” said Sachin Taparia, Founder, Local Circles. Almost half of the people who voted were from tier-1 cities, 30 per cent from tier-2 cities and 22 per cent from tier-3 and rural locations. Almost 40 per cent of people who participated in the poll were females.

From the 7,739 people who voted on the question “how has cleanliness of trains and railway stations improved in last 12 months”, about four-fifth felt there was an improvement. Specifically, 39 per cent felt there was marginal improvement, 38 per cent voted for “significant improvement”. Over a fifth (23 per cent) of train customers felt there was no improvement, including five per cent who felt the cleanliness of trains and stations have worsened.

Almost 46 per cent of 8,000-odd people found the food served in trains edible though not delicious, while four per cent found the food catered delicious. 31 per cent said the food was unhygienic or inedible, while 19 per cent were “unsure” about judging the quality of food.

On punctuality of trains, 66 per cent of 8,122 people who took the poll during the last 12 months said the trains were delayed by upto one hour.

There is scope to make the India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Web site more consumer-oriented and scope to improve food hygiene standards.

Q. Which among the following is correct regarding the cleanliness in trains run by the Indian Railways, as described in the passage?

• Most of the passengers are of the opinion that some kind of improvement has been observed in the level of cleanliness in the trains in the past year.

• Most of the passengers are of the opinion that they cannot comment publicly regarding the cleanliness of trains in India.

• Most of the passengers are of the opinion that the cleanliness in trains has improved significantly in the last few months.

• Most of the passengers are of the opinion that the cleanliness in trains has deteriorated in the last few months.

An AC 3-Tier train ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani, under the Tatkal quota, is priced at around Rs. 2,900, where about a third — over Rs. 800 or 28 per cent — is charged as “dynamic pricing”. It is such high pricing that majority of people probably referred to when they voted in LocalCircles’ citizens’ poll. Tatkal charges are extra charges levied for last minute booking by train passengers and form a part of dynamic charges in a ticket.Tatkal fares have become “excessive”, said almost three-fourth (74 per cent) of the 8,165 people who answered a query on their experience with Tatkal ticket fares on LocalCircles, a citizen interaction platform. Almost one-fifth polled found the charges “reasonable”. Five per cent even found the charges “quite low”.

Almost 80 per cent of people found the ticket cancellation charges high, and desired that such charges on Tatkal tickets be lowered. For seven questions, LocalCircles received votes from over 27,000 participants from over 200 districts. “Railway travellers from Vadodara to Bhubaneswar and from Jammu Tavi to Tirunelveli participated in this survey,” said Sachin Taparia, Founder, Local Circles. Almost half of the people who voted were from tier-1 cities, 30 per cent from tier-2 cities and 22 per cent from tier-3 and rural locations. Almost 40 per cent of people who participated in the poll were females.

From the 7,739 people who voted on the question “how has cleanliness of trains and railway stations improved in last 12 months”, about four-fifth felt there was an improvement. Specifically, 39 per cent felt there was marginal improvement, 38 per cent voted for “significant improvement”. Over a fifth (23 per cent) of train customers felt there was no improvement, including five per cent who felt the cleanliness of trains and stations have worsened.

Almost 46 per cent of 8,000-odd people found the food served in trains edible though not delicious, while four per cent found the food catered delicious. 31 per cent said the food was unhygienic or inedible, while 19 per cent were “unsure” about judging the quality of food.

On punctuality of trains, 66 per cent of 8,122 people who took the poll during the last 12 months said the trains were delayed by upto one hour.

There is scope to make the India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Web site more consumer-oriented and scope to improve food hygiene standards.

Q. Which among the following is correct regarding the percentage of people who are of the view that the tatkal fares are actually low?

• Nobody has given the opinion that the tatkal fares are quite low

• Hardly 5% people are of the view that the tatkal fares are actually quite low.

• Majority of the people is of the view that the tatkal fares are quite low as compared to other countries.

• The people are of the opinion that the tatkal fares are very low as compared to the international community but it is high with respect to the society at large.

An AC 3-Tier train ticket on the Delhi-Mumbai Rajdhani, under the Tatkal quota, is priced at around Rs. 2,900, where about a third — over Rs. 800 or 28 per cent — is charged as “dynamic pricing”. It is such high pricing that majority of people probably referred to when they voted in LocalCircles’ citizens’ poll. Tatkal charges are extra charges levied for last minute booking by train passengers and form a part of dynamic charges in a ticket.Tatkal fares have become “excessive”, said almost three-fourth (74 per cent) of the 8,165 people who answered a query on their experience with Tatkal ticket fares on LocalCircles, a citizen interaction platform. Almost one-fifth polled found the charges “reasonable”. Five per cent even found the charges “quite low”.

Almost 80 per cent of people found the ticket cancellation charges high, and desired that such charges on Tatkal tickets be lowered. For seven questions, LocalCircles received votes from over 27,000 participants from over 200 districts. “Railway travellers from Vadodara to Bhubaneswar and from Jammu Tavi to Tirunelveli participated in this survey,” said Sachin Taparia, Founder, Local Circles. Almost half of the people who voted were from tier-1 cities, 30 per cent from tier-2 cities and 22 per cent from tier-3 and rural locations. Almost 40 per cent of people who participated in the poll were females.

From the 7,739 people who voted on the question “how has cleanliness of trains and railway stations improved in last 12 months”, about four-fifth felt there was an improvement. Specifically, 39 per cent felt there was marginal improvement, 38 per cent voted for “significant improvement”. Over a fifth (23 per cent) of train customers felt there was no improvement, including five per cent who felt the cleanliness of trains and stations have worsened.

Almost 46 per cent of 8,000-odd people found the food served in trains edible though not delicious, while four per cent found the food catered delicious. 31 per cent said the food was unhygienic or inedible, while 19 per cent were “unsure” about judging the quality of food.

On punctuality of trains, 66 per cent of 8,122 people who took the poll during the last 12 months said the trains were delayed by upto one hour.

There is scope to make the India Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Web site more consumer-oriented and scope to improve food hygiene standards.

Which among the following is similar in meaning to the word Dynamic as used in the passage?

• Energetic

• Compelling

• Changing

• Vigorous

1. Beyond using nostalgia as a blunt marketing technique, video games as a medium in particular appeal to players’ longing for the past.

Clay Routledge, a psychology professor at North Dakota State University who’s made a career out of studying nostalgia, has said gaming lends itself to the feeling more than other mediums because of its immersion factor—games have the potential to be more immediate and personal than other forms of entertainment.

Players aren’t remembering the time they watched a hero defeat a bad guy (as in a movie)—they’re remembering the time they beat the bad guy.

Jamie Madigan, who’s written extensively on the psychology of video games, points out that nostalgia tends to be at its strongest when people are reminiscing about socializing.

Gaming has always had a communal component to it, and it’s only more so now, with the rise of “Let’s Play” videos on YouTube. (The site’s most-subscribed channel for nearly two years has been PewDiePie, who’s known for his game walkthroughs and commentary.)

Last year, Amazon paid more than $1 billion to acquire Twitch, a company whose sole purpose is allowing people to watch other people play video games, as The Atlantic’s Robinson Meyer wrote.

A. Which of the following is true about video games?

I. They use nostalgia to appeal to gamers

II. They are part of a multi billion dollars industry

III. They have the potential to be relatively more personal

IV. Super Mario is a video game

• I and II

• II and IV

• I and III

• None of the above