NDA (II) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 27 of 146

Correct — C, inherent. 'Intrinsic' means belonging to something by its very nature rather than added from outside, so the sentence claims that respect for others is built into religious teaching itself. 'Inherent' carries exactly that sense of a quality existing in something as a permanent part of it.

• (a)inconsistent — 'Inconsistent' would flip the sentence on its head, saying respect does not sit well with religious teaching.
• (b)peripheral — 'Peripheral' means at the edge and of minor importance, the direct opposite of something essential to the teaching.
• (d)existential — 'Existential' relates to existence or to the philosophy of existence; it sounds weighty in a sentence about religion but does not mean 'essential to'.

'Intrinsic' and 'inherent' both name a quality that belongs to a thing in itself. Their counterpart is 'extrinsic', used of a quality supplied from outside.

The two near-misses work in opposite directions — 'peripheral' demotes the quality to the margin, and 'existential' is simply grand enough to feel safe. Putting each option back into the sentence settles the matter, since only 'inherent to the teachings' preserves the claim being made. In careful writing 'inherent' is usually followed by 'in' rather than 'to', but the item asks for the nearest word in meaning, not for a preposition drill.

• 'Intrinsic' is normally used with 'to', or before a noun as in 'intrinsic value'.
• 'Extrinsic' describes a quality that comes from outside, such as an extrinsic reward.

• Choosing 'existential' because the sentence is about religion and the word sounds philosophical.
• Choosing 'peripheral' after half-reading the sentence.

Asked as a synonym item where one distractor is a near-antonym and another is a weighty word from an unrelated field.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'intrinsic'. Honesty has intrinsic worth in public life.

  • (a)added
  • (b)in-built
  • (c)doubtful
  • (d)measurable

  Answer(b) in-built — intrinsic worth belongs to the thing itself.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the phrase nearest in meaning to 'extrinsic'. Pay and perks are extrinsic motivators.

  • (a)coming from outside
  • (b)deeply personal
  • (c)unnecessary
  • (d)permanent

  Answer(a) coming from outside — extrinsic rewards are supplied externally.