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GATE 2019 ME (ME1) – Question 8

General Aptitude · Verbal Aptitude: Grammar and Vocabulary · 2 marks · Multiple choice

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.

What can be inferred?

  1. Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising his country’s name.
  2. The term Nzadi o Nzere was of Portuguese origin.
  3. The Portuguese prevented Mobuto’s desire to Africanise names.
  4. Mobuto ordered the Portuguese to alter the river’s name to Zaire.

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Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (A) Mobuto was not entirely successful in Africanising his country’s name.

Explanation

The passage says Zaire was itself a Portuguese alteration of an African expression, used centuries earlier by Europeans. Adopting that altered name does not entirely remove European influence, supporting **A**. It gives no evidence of Portuguese obstruction or orders from Mobuto to the Portuguese.