CAT Previous Year Questions 2023: Reading Comprehension- 2 (June 8) - CAT MCQ

The author is likely to agree with the statement in Option C, as it aligns with the author's argument in the passage that liberalism has historically reformed itself in the face of challenges. The author emphasizes the ability of liberalism to address internal problems and reform rather than attributing its success to being the dominant ideal in the past century.

Option A: While the author emphasizes the historical ability of liberalism to reform itself, there is an acknowledgment of its current challenges and failures. Therefore, the author might not fully endorse the idea that claims about liberalism's disintegration are merely exaggerated misunderstandings.

Option B: The author may disagree with this statement as it suggests accepting liberalism's decline and seeking a substitute, which contradicts the call to reform liberalism.

Option D:The author may disagree with this statement as it simplifies the essence of liberalism, which the author argues encompasses various intellectual traditions and responses to the trade-off between rights and responsibilities.

Option A is the correct answer because the passage does not explicitly identify Deneen's repeated emphasis on premodern notions of liberty as a reason for faulting his conclusions. While the passage criticizes Deneen for his extreme pessimism about the future of liberalism, his narrow definition of liberalism limited to individual freedoms, and his fixation on the essence of liberalism, it does not specifically address his tendency to hark back to premodern notions. Therefore, Option A stands out as an exception, as it does not align with the explicitly stated reasons for faulting Deneen's conclusions in the passage.

The primary purpose of patrimony laws is stated in the passage as being "aimed at protecting cultural property," implying that the intention behind these laws is to preserve and safeguard a country's cultural heritage. However, the paradox lies in the unintended consequence of these laws, as highlighted in the passage. The author argues that, despite the good intentions of protecting cultural property, the strict implementation of patrimony laws has led to a reduction in new archaeological discoveries. This reduction is attributed to diminished incentives for foreign entities, such as governments, NGOs, and educational institutions, to invest in overseas archaeological exploration. In other words, the very laws designed to protect cultural property end up hindering the process of making new archaeological discoveries. This underscores the tension between preserving cultural heritage and the potential negative impact on the exploration and understanding of that heritage. Option D aptly captures this point.

The author suggests that archaeological sites are important to some source countries because they can reap benefits from new archaeological discoveries, and one of the mentioned benefits is that such discoveries typically increase tourism. The passage emphasizes the economic and cultural advantages associated with tourism, which includes enhancing cultural pride and potentially attracting visitors to explore archaeological sites. Option D correctly presents this point. None of the other choices can be considered as valid inferences. 

The central idea of the passage is that strict cultural property laws, although popular, may reduce incentives for foreign entities to invest in overseas archaeological exploration. The passage suggests that this reduction in incentives could be detrimental to archaeological discoveries and, consequently, to the tourism and cultural pride of source countries.

Among the given options, the only statement that would undermine the central idea is presented in Option C - it introduces the idea that there is external financial support for archaeological research in these countries. If true, then the lack of discoveries could potentially be attributed to a completely different factor/variable that the author might have failed to account for.

Let us examine the given choices -

Option A: The passage emphasises the benefits of international collaboration and suggests that source countries could reap the benefits of new archaeological discoveries through such collaboration. Funding institutes in other countries to undertake exploration may not align with this perspective, as it involves outsourcing the exploration rather than fostering collaboration within the source country. Thus, Option A is an unlikely recommendation.

Option B: This aligns with the idea of international collaboration and suggests that the author might advise source countries to permit foreign analysis and exhibition of archaeological finds. The passage does suggest that strict cultural property laws may hinder opportunities to hold, display, and study uncovered artefacts.

Option C: We are told that strict cultural property laws might reduce incentives for foreign governments, NGOs, and educational institutions to invest in overseas exploration. Therefore, the author would support a proactive approach to encourage these entities to invest in expeditions in source countries.

Option D: The passage highlights China's shift in strategy from strict cultural property laws to embracing collaborative international archaeological research. The author suggests that this approach has led to an increase in archaeological discoveries and recognition. Hence, this would be a relevant recommendation.

Hence, Option A is the correct choice. 

“Those observing global climate negotiations know about the Latin American way of looking at Earth as Pachamama (Earth Mother). They also know how such a framing is just provided lip service and is ignored in the substantive portions of the negotiations. In The Nutmeg’s Curse, Ghosh explains why. He shows the extent of the vested interest in the oil economy - not only for oil-exporting countries, but also for a superpower like the US that controls oil drilling, oil prices and oil movement around the world. Many of us know power utilities are sabotaging decentralised solar power generation today because it hits their revenues and control.”

From the highlighted part we can clearly infer Options A, B and C. The passage does not suggest that the decentralised characteristic of renewable energy resources like solar power is a reason for the failure of climate change policies. Instead, it mentions that power utilities may be sabotaging decentralized solar power generation because it affects their revenues and control, but it does not frame the decentralised nature of renewable energy as a cause for failure. Therefore Option D is not a reason for the failure of policies seeking to address climate change.

If non-European societies perceive the Earth as a non-living source of all resources, it contradicts the personification implied by the use of "who" for Gaia.

In the context of the passage, the author uses the word "curse" in the title, and the pronoun "who" is used for Gaia, suggesting a perspective that sees Earth as a living, conscious entity. If non-European societies do not share this perspective and view the Earth as a non-living source of resources, it challenges the appropriateness of using the pronoun "who" for Gaia in the context of their beliefs. This would make the reviewer's choice of the pronoun "who" inappropriate, given the differing perspectives on the nature of the Earth. Therefore Option D is the correct answer.

Option D cannot be directly drawn from the passage. The passage discusses the historical perspective on climate change presented in "The Nutmeg's Curse" and emphasizes the impact of colonialism on the contemporary dominant perception of nature and the environment. It suggests that there are alternative views from non-European and/or pre-colonial societies that can provide insights for environmental preservation policy makers. However, the passage does not explicitly state that academic discourses have always served the function of raising awareness about environmental preservation.

The passage connects the history of climate change with colonialism (Option A), highlights that colonial processes shaped the contemporary perception of nature and the environment (Option B) and suggests that non-European and/or pre-colonial societies hold valuable insights for environmental preservation policy makers (Option C).

“These are the two points to which Ghosh returns through examples from around the world. One, how European colonialists decimated not only indigenous populations but also indigenous understanding of the relationship between humans and Earth. Two, how this was an invasion not only of humans but of the Earth itself, and how this continues to the present day by looking at nature as a ‘resource’ to exploit”

The passage discusses how the colonization of the Banda islands, as presented in "The Nutmeg’s Curse," is used to illustrate the broader idea that colonialism played a significant role in shaping the mindset and practices that have led to climate change. The exploitation of both indigenous populations and the Earth's resources during colonialism is portrayed as a key factor in perpetuating the mindset that views nature as a resource to be exploited, contributing to the environmental challenges faced today. Therefore, the primary purpose of discussing the colonization of the Banda islands is to highlight how colonialism represented and perpetuated the mindset that has led to climate change. Therefore Option D is the correct answer.