“We lived in a culture that denied any merit to literary works, considering them important only when they were handmaidens to something seemingly more urgent – namely ideology. This was a country where all gestures, even the most private, were interpreted in political terms.” The author’s belief that ideology is not as important as literature is revealed by the word:

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Solution

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Official answer: B) ‘seemingly’

Verbal Aptitude

The word 'seemingly' implies an appearance rather than a reality—suggesting that ideology only *appeared* to be more urgent, but in truth was not. This expresses the author's critical stance and skepticism toward ideology being given precedence over literature.

Hence, option (B) is correct.

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This Verbal Aptitude previous year question is Q61 of the GATE CSE 2017 Set 2 paper. Find more GATE CSE PYQs on Verbal Aptitude in General Aptitude, or browse all GATE CSE PYQs.

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Verbal Aptitude in GATE CSE

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 2 has 3.

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Independent practice explanation verified by the GateAI team. GATE is conducted by the IITs; question text follows the official paper.