GATE ME 2019 Set 1 — Question 8

MCQ+2 / -0.67EasyReading ComprehensionVerbal AptitudeGeneral Aptitude

General Aptitude → Verbal Aptitude → Reading Comprehension

Last updated 5 September 2026

Question

Congo was named by Europeans. Congo’s dictator Mobuto later changed the name of the country and the river to Zaire with the objective of Africanising names of persons and spaces. However, the name Zaire was a Portuguese alteration of Nzadi o Nzere, a local African term meaning ‘River that swallows Rivers’. Zaire was the Portuguese name for the Congo river in the 16th and 17th centuries. Which one of the following statements can be inferred from the paragraph above?

Correct answer (A) Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising the name of his country Solution Mobuto's objective was to Africanise names. He chose the name 'Zaire'. However, the passage states that 'Zaire' was a Portuguese alteration of a local term and was used by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries. This implies that by choosing a name with significant European (Portuguese) influence, Mobuto did not fully achieve his goal of pure Africanisation. Thus, statement (A) is a valid inference. Turn this into a strength. Explore AI-powered practice and doubt support with Success Tracker.

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Correct answer (A) Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising the name of his country Solution Mobuto's objective was to Africanise names. He chose the name 'Zaire'. However, the passage states that 'Zaire' was a Portuguese alteration of a local term and was used by the Portuguese in the 16th and 17th centuries. This implies that by choosing a name with significant European (Portuguese) influence, Mobuto did not fully achieve his goal of pure Africanisation. Thus, statement (A) is a valid inference.

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