RCs: 31 to 40 Questions for CAT with Answers PDF

Directions: The passage given below is followed by a set of four questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Colour has been used to make symbolic statements in cinema since the days when "talkies" were tinted, toned or hand-coloured. From the Wizard of Oz, with its vibrant Emerald City and yellow brick road, to the dramatic and ground-breaking use of colour in Gone with the Wind, the most famous, early technicolour films harnessed the power of colour, not only to stimulate the senses, but to enhance and express the themes of the story.
Throughout cinematic history, the tradition of colour storytelling thrived. In 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire, director Elia Kazan used colour to convey themes of class and superficiality; dressing characters of a lower class in vibrant hues to symbolise their rise to power in the case of the former, and using Blanche DuBois' love of colour as metaphor for her desire to gloss over life's gritty realities in the case of the latter.
In 1968, Roman Polanski explored the relationship between colour and Christianity, dressing his protagonist, Mia Farrow's Rosemary Woodhouse, in white (purity), yellow (hope) and red (martyrdom). In 1979's Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola lashed the audience with deep red napalm flames, enveloping green jungle foliage and the foreboding, pitch black of Colonel Kurtz's lair, all oversaturated to increase the claustrophobia and sense of death. In the 90s, M. Night Shyamalan first revealed his signature use of colour symbolism - in the Sixth Sense, for example, vivid pops of red show up in every scene where living characters connect with the dead.
And in 2000, two acclaimed movies used colour as a broad storytelling device. In Christopher Nolan's Memento, colour sequences contrast with black and white to mark a simple differentiation between chronological and reverse-chronological events (in an otherwise complex and brain-teasing tale), and in Steven Soderbergh's Traffic, each of the three separate story strands has its own palette. But since the turn of the century, there has been a shift. With the rise of superhero blockbusters and action-packed celebrity vehicles, cinema seats have been filled at the expense of subtlety. The craft of colour symbolism has been relegated to independent moviemakers, while mainstream jaunts blaze a 3D-enhanced trail.
Colour storytelling is far from passé, however. From the comfort of our sofas, we've watched the ambitions of small screen creativity explode. As competing broadcasters, including new players Netflix and Amazon, have lured movie stars and directors into TV contracts, the limitations (and stigma) of serial television has been obliterated.
Those early adopters who devoured Lost, The Wire and The Sopranos have been rewarded with a boom in "box set culture". And this eruption in television scope, reach and budget can be seen in a riot of thematic hues.
Take Breaking Bad. Vince Gilligan's cult behemoth depicted a downtrodden, cancer-ravaged teacher's transformation into a pork-pie-hat-wearing drug overlord, using "hot" colour to punch Walter White's modern-day fable into living rooms across the globe. From the acid yellow of the meth makers' jumpsuits to the bright blue shade of the "product" itself, Walter's epic fall into criminality is characterised by larger-than-life colour.
Gilligan's use of colour continued in spin-off series, Better Call Saul, with fans picking up on a "fire and ice" code; colder colours are used in scenes that convey themes of authority and respectability.
Q1: Which of the following options can be best said to express the central idea of the passage?
(a) The use of colour as a symbolic statement in cinema is not new, though the degree and type of symbolism has varied with time. 
(b) The thematic use of colour in cinema is nothing new, but the explosion of the concept in television is proof that the ambitions of small screen storytelling know no bounds. 
(c) Each director has a special way in which he/she uses colour symbolism to depict the themes in the movie/serial. 
(d) Colour symbolism in movies has been used to predict the nature of the scene and to bring in a sense of the future.
Ans: (b)
Sol: The central idea of the passage is that while the use of color symbolism in cinema is not new, it has undergone shifts over time. The passage discusses the historical use of color in films, highlighting examples from different decades. However, it also points out that in recent times, the explosion of color symbolism has been more prominent in television, particularly in series like Breaking Bad, indicating the evolving nature of storytelling on the small screen.

Q2: According to the passage, colour has been used to symbolise all of the following except for 
(a) to symbolise death or a foreboding of it. 
(b) to symbolise the relationship between religion and the main character. 
(c) to symbolise a change in someone's social/power status. 
(d) to symbolise someone's longing to artfully mislead away from life's rough side.
Ans: (a)
Sol: The passage mentions the use of color to symbolize death, foreboding, religion, social/power status, and someone's desire to mislead away from life's rough side. However, it does not explicitly mention the use of color to symbolize death or a foreboding of it.

Q3: Which of the following options would the author most agree with?
(a) Colour can even be used to depict stimuli from other senses in movies and TV serials.
(b) Colour symbolism is an outdated idea.
(c) The symbolic use of colour in the small screen is only set to rise as a trend.
(d) Colour has been used to help the viewer find a common thread in a complex story line.
Ans: (c)
Sol: The passage suggests that with the rise of streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, the use of color symbolism in television has seen a significant increase. The author implies that the trend of using color symbolically in the small screen is set to rise.

Q4: Which of the following options would complete the author's explanation of the "fire and ice" code?
(a) Hotter colours may be associated with crime and corruption.
(b) Hotter colours convey a feeling of vibrancy and energy.
(c) Hotter colours are associated with crime and corruptibility.
(d) Hotter colours always bring out the aggression in the viewer.
Ans: (c)
Sol: The passage mentions Vince Gilligan's use of a "fire and ice" code in Better Call Saul, where colder colors are used in scenes that convey themes of authority and respectability. To complete the explanation, it would be accurate to say that hotter colors (fire) are associated with crime and corruptibility.