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ipmat-indore
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ipmat-indore
2025 Questions VA
ipmat-indore
2025 Complete Paper Solution | VA
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Instructions
Meta is recalibrating content on its social media platforms as the political tide has turned in Washington, with Mark Zuckerberg announcing last week that his company plans to fire its US fact-checkers. Fact-checking evolved in response to allegations of misinformation and is being watered down in response to accusations of censorship. Social media does not have solutions to either. Community review - introduced by Elon Musk at X and planned by Zuckerberg for Facebook and Instagram - is not a significant improvement over fact-checking. Having Washington lean on foreign governments over content moderation does not benefit free speech. Yet, that is the nature of the social media beast, designed to amplify bias.
Information and misinformation continue to jostle on social media at the mercy of user discretion. Social media now has enough control over all other forms of media to broaden its reach. It is the connective tissue for mass consumption of entertainment, and alternative platforms are reworking their engagement with social media. Technologies are shaping up to drive this advantage further through synthetic content targeted precisely at its intended audience. Meta's algorithm will now play up politics because it is the flavour of the season. The Achilles' Heel of social media is informed choice which could turn against misinformation. Its move away from content moderation is driven by the need to be more inclusive, yet unfiltered content can push users away from social media towards legacy forms that have better moderation systems in place. Lawmakers across the world are unlikely to give social media a free run, even if Donald Trump is working on their case. Protections have already been put in place across jurisdictions over misinformation. These may be difficult to dismantle, even if the Republicans pull US-owned social media companies further to the right. Media consumption is, in essence, evidence-based judgement that mediums must adapt to. Content moderation, not free speech, is the adaptation mechanism. Musk and Zuckerberg are not exempt.
Question 1.
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The writer implies that
A
uncensored content will always have more appeal than controlled content.
B
social media's innate strength is the user's inability to fact check.
C
social media can never be discarded by its users.
D
older forms of media will regain users because of its controls.
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Question 2.
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The writer argues that social media
A
remains unaffected by global debates amongst lawmakers on misinformation.
B
has become the preferred way to access entertainment.
C
flourishes because it can publish any material.
D
is in a difficult position because it cannot adapt to new policies.
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Question 3.
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The writer’s conclusion is that information available on social media is linked to
A
the need for deregulation.
B
the individual's right to free speech.
C
the global legal systems' support of free speech.
D
the policies of the governments in power.
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Question 4.
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Social media has succeeded in
A
ignoring technology and artificial content.
B
finding alternative means for fact-checking.
C
becoming independent of other media.
D
controlling other media that depend on it.
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Question 5.
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Technologies are enabling social media to
A
enlarge its sphere of influence and persuasion.
B
understand that algorithms cannot control its content.
C
accept the current trends as emphasised by algorithms.
D
readjust its interaction with competitors.
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Question 6.
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The inherent downside associated with social media is that it
A
does not address the problem of the digital divide.
B
results in unremitting expansion of freedom of expression.
C
creates and spreads much innate and acquired prejudice.
D
reinforces existing objectivity among the users.
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Instructions
According to the French philosopher Jean Baudrillard, commodities available for consumption are not inherently negative things. Baudrillard tried to interpret consumption in modern societies by engaging with the 'cargo myth' prevalent among the indigenous Melanesian people living in the South Pacific. The Melanesians did not know what aeroplanes were. However, they saw that these winged entities descended from the air for white people and appeared to make them happy. They also noted that aeroplanes never descended for the Melanesian people.
The Melanesian natives noted that the white people had placed objects similar to the aeroplane on the ground. They concluded that these objects were attracting the aeroplanes in the air and bringing them to the ground. Through a magical process, the aeroplanes were bringing plenty to the white people and making them happy. The Melanesian people concluded that they would need to place objects that simulated the aeroplane on the ground and attract them from the air. Baudrillard believes that the cargo myth holds an important analogy for the ways in which consumers engage with objects of consumption. According to Baudrillard, the modern consumer "sets in place a whole array of sham objects, of characteristic signs of happiness, and then waits for happiness to alight". For instance, modern consumers believe that they will get happiness if they buy the latest available version of a mobile phone or automobile. However, consumption does not usually lead to happiness. While consumers should ideally be blaming their heightened expectations for their lack of happiness, they blame the commodity instead. They feel that they should have waited for the next version of a mobile phone or automobile before buying the one they did. The version they bought is somehow inferior and therefore cannot make them happy. Baudrillard argues that consumers have replaced 'real' happiness with 'signs' of happiness. This results in the endless deferment of the arrival of total happiness. In Baudrillard's words, "in everyday practice, the blessings of consumption are not experienced as resulting from work or from a production process; they are experienced as a miracle". Modern consumers view consumption in the same magical way as the Melanesian people viewed the aeroplanes in the cargo myth. Television commercials also present objects of consumption as miracles. As a result, commodities appear to be distanced from the social processes which lead to their production. In effect, objects of consumption are divorced from the reality which produces them.
Question 7.
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How can consumption be made more satisfying?
A
By banning television commercials that promise real happiness.
B
By understanding the connection between production and consumption.
C
By recognising that commodities produce miraculous change.
D
By rejecting colonialism and all other forms of economic oppression.
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Question 8.
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Which of the following is an argument made by Baudrillard?
A
Consumers value signs more than the real.
B
Television commercials are at the heart of unhappiness experienced by consumers.
C
Production and consumption are magical processes.
D
Melanesian people coped with the inequality of colonialism by creating myths.
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Question 9.
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How does Baudrillard engage with the cargo myth?
A
He uses it to show that consumption is a blessing.
B
He uses it as a metaphor to critique modern consumption.
C
He uses it to describe the suffering of Indigenous people.
D
He uses it to show that consumers should consume more serious objects.
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Question 10.
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Why are consumers unhappy with commodities that they have just bought?
A
Because they have exaggerated expectations of commodities.
B
Because television commercials do not create enough hype about commodities.
C
Because the Law of Diminishing Marginal Commodities comes into play.
D
Because they focus on improved functionality of commodities.
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