Passage
Direction for Reading Comprehension: The passages given here are followed by some questions that have four answer choices; read the passage carefully and pick the option whose answer best aligns with the passage
174 incidents of piracy were reported to the International Maritime Bureau last year, with Somali pirates responsible for only three. The rest ranged from the discreet theft of coils of rope in the Yellow Sea to the notoriously ferocious Nigerian gunmen attacking and hijacking oil tankers in the Gulf of Guinea, as well as armed robbery off Singapore and the Venezuelan coast and kidnapping in the Sundarbans in the Bay of Bengal. For [Dr. Peter] Lehr, an expert on modern-day piracy, the phenomenon’s history should be a source of instruction rather than entertainment, piracy past offering lessons for piracy present. . . .
But . . . where does piracy begin or end? According to St Augustine, a corsair captain once told Alexander the Great that in the forceful acquisition of power and wealth at sea, the difference between an emperor and a pirate was simply one of scale. By this logic, European empire-builders were the most successful pirates of all time. A more eclectic history might have included the conquistadors, Vasco da Gama and the East India Company. But Lehr sticks to the disorganised small fry, making comparisons with the renegades of today possible.
The main motive for piracy has always been a combination of need and greed. Why toil always a starving peasant in the 16th century when a successful pirate made up to £4,000 on each raid? Anyone could turn to freebooting if the rewards were worth the risk . . . .
Increased globalisation has done more to encourage piracy than suppress it. European colonialism weakened delicate balances of power, leading to an influx of opportunists on the high seas. A rise in global shipping has meant rich pickings for freebooters. Lehr writes: “It quickly becomes clear that in those parts of the world that have not profited from globalisation and modernisation, and where abject poverty and the daily struggle for survival are still a reality, the root causes of piracy are still the same as they were a couple of hundred years ago.” . . .
Modern pirate prevention has failed. After the French yacht Le Gonant was ransomed for $2million in 2008, opportunists from all over Somalia flocked to the coast for a piece of the action. . . . A consistent rule, even today, is there are never enough warships to patrol pirate-infested waters. Such ships are costly and only solve the problem temporarily; Somali piracy is bound to return as soon as the warships are withdrawn. Robot shipping, eliminating hostages, has been proposed as a possible solution; but as Lehr points out, this will only make pirates switch their targets to smaller carriers unable to afford the technology.
His advice isn’t new. Proposals to end illegal fishing are often advanced but they are difficult to enforce. Investment in local welfare put a halt to Malaysian piracy in the 1970s, but was dependent on money somehow filtering through a corrupt bureaucracy to the poor on the periphery. Diplomatic initiatives against piracy are plagued by mutual distrust: The Russians execute pirates, while the EU and US are reluctant to capture them for fear they’ll claim asylum.
Question for CAT 2020 Reading Comprehension Questions- 4
Try yourself:“Why toil away as a starving peasant in the 16th century when a successful pirate made up to £4,000 on each raid?” In this sentence, the author’s tone can best be described as being:
Explanation
This is a passage easy to read and understand. The very first question is author’s tone in the given sentence. Indignant means angry, but there is no anger as the author is relating to something that used to happen 400 years ago. The author is not trying to be analytical, rather he is trying to be ironical. Irony is used to highlight a situation by using contrast in an amusing way. His intention is not to discuss the contrast between peasant life and pirate life way back in the 16th century. 3 is the best choice.
Report a problem
Question for CAT 2020 Reading Comprehension Questions- 4
Try yourself:We can deduce that the author believes that piracy can best be controlled in the long run:
Explanation
At the end of the fourth paragraph the author says that “root causes of piracy today are the same as they were a couple of hundred years ago”. What were the causes a couple of hundred years ago? According to the author it is poverty. Thus he believes that eliminating poverty will solve the problem. Thus 3 is the right choice. All the other choices are mentioned only to show that they haven’t brought the desired results.
Report a problem
Question for CAT 2020 Reading Comprehension Questions- 4
Try yourself:The author ascribes the rise in piracy today to all of the following factors EXCEPT:
Explanation
We have to pick the choice that is not the cause behind the rise in piracy. 1 goes out because it is the cause. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph offers the clue. The third paragraph says that “the main motive for piracy has always been a combination of need and greed...”. Thus 3 also is correct, as a cause of piracy. The fourth paragraph has clue to option 4 as well. Thus 2 is the right choice. The author believes that surveillance can never be an effect solution because it is not addressing the root cause.
Report a problem
Question for CAT 2020 Reading Comprehension Questions- 4
Try yourself:“A more eclectic history might have included the conquistadors, Vasco da Gama and the East India Company. But Lehr sticks to the disorganised small fry . . .” From this statement we can infer that the author believes that:
Explanation
The author by giving the example of Vasco da Gama and the east India company to suggest that they both were not very different from piracy. Options 2 brings out that suggestion appropriately. 1 goes out because the author does consider them as pirates. 3 might look like a good choice but the phrase “laid the ground for modern piracy” brings something that is not implied or stated in the passage. 4 could have been another close choice, but the author’s intention is not to compare the disorganized piracy of today with the organized piracy of the past. His intention is to compare the disorganized small piracy of the past with the renegades of today. It is small Vs small, and not small Vs big. 2 is the right answer.
Report a problem
