GATE CSE 2017 Set 1 · Q61
Time
“The hold of the nationalist imagination on our colonial past is such that anything inadequately or improperly nationalist is just not history.”
Select one answerSingle correct
Solution
Official answer: B) History is viewed through the filter of nationalism.
Verbal AptitudeThe statement highlights that the interpretation of the colonial past is strongly dominated or filtered by a nationalist viewpoint, to the extent that events not aligning with nationalist narratives are excluded from being considered history.
(A) is incorrect because "nationalist imagination" does not literally mean nationalists possess high creative imagination.
(B) is correct because it accurately captures the meaning that history is being filtered and judged through the lens of nationalism.
(C) is incorrect as the text does not deny that the colonial past occurred.
(D) is incorrect because the author is critically observing how history is judged, rather than prescribing how nationalism should be imagined.
Try the question first, then check your work.
Examiner trap
Analyze what the author means by stating that history is defined only by what fits into the nationalist imagination.
This Verbal Aptitude previous year question is Q61 of the GATE CSE 2017 Set 1 paper. Find more GATE CSE PYQs on Verbal Aptitude in General Aptitude, or browse all GATE CSE PYQs.
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Verbal Aptitude has 41 GATE CSE PYQs across 13 papers from 2011 to 2026. 12 of them are 2-mark MCQs like this one, and GATE CSE 2017 Set 1 has 3.
How GATE tests Verbal AptitudeIndependent practice explanation verified by the GateAI team. GATE is conducted by the IITs; question text follows the official paper.