RCs: 31 to 40 Questions for CAT with Answers PDF

Instructions: When Buddhism entered China it brought with it a new world. It brought a knowledge unknown before regarding the heavenly bodies, regarding nature and regarding medicine, and a practice vastly above the realm of magical arts.
In addition to these practical benefits, Buddhism proclaimed a new spiritual universe far more real and extensive than any of which the Chinese had dreamed, and peopled with spiritual beings having characteristics entirely novel. In comparison with this new universe or series of universes which Indian imagination had created, the Chinese universe was wooden and geometric. Since it was an organized system and a greater rather than a different one, the Chinese people readily accepted it and made it their own.
Buddhism not only enlarged the universe and gave the individual a range of opportunity hitherto unsuspected, but it introduced a scheme of religious practice, or rather several of them, enabling the individual devotee to attain a place in this spiritual universe through his own efforts. These “ways” of salvation were quite in harmony with Chinese ideas. They resembled what had already been a part of the national practice and so were readily adopted and adapted by the Chinese.
Buddhism rendered a great service to the Chinese through its new estimate of the individual. Ancient China scarcely recognized the individual. He was merged in the family and the clan. Taoists, to be sure, talked of “immortals” and Confucianism exhibited its typical personality, or “princely man,” but these were thought of as supermen, as ideals. The classics of China had very little to say about the common people. Buddhism, on the other hand, gave every individual a distinct place in the great wheel dharma, the law, and made it possible for him to reach the very highest goal of salvation. This introduced a genuinely new element into the social and family life of the Chinese people.
Buddhism was so markedly superior to any one of the four other methods of expressing the religious life, that it quickly won practical recognition as the real religion of China. Buddhism was able to leave untouched the expressions of Chinese personal and social life, and yet it went far beyond them in ministering to religious development. Its ideas of being, of moral responsibility and of religious relationships furnished a new psychology which with all its imperfections far surpassed that of the Chinese. Buddhism’s organization was so satisfying and adaptable that not only was it taken over readily by the Chinese, but it has also persisted in China without marked changes since its introduction.
Most of all it stressed personal salvation and promised an escape from the impersonal world of distress and hunger which surrounds the average Chinese into a heaven ruled by Amitâbha, the Merciful. The obligations of Buddhism are very definite and universally recognized. It enforces high standards of living, but has added significance because it draws each devotee into a sort of fellowship with the divine, and mates not this life alone, but this life plus a future life, the end of human activity. Buddhism, therefore, really expresses the deepest religious life of the people of China.
Q1: What is the primary purpose of the passage?
(a) To show how Buddhism was vastly superior to Confucianism and Taoism that existed in ancient China
(b) To explain the primary differences between Buddhism and the religions native to China
(c) To explain the reasons for Buddhism being readily adopted by the Chinese and its emergence as the real religion of China
(d) To show that Buddhism was the first system in China to elevate the importance of the individual above the importance of the family and clan
Ans: (c)
Sol: The passage elaborates on why Chinese people were attracted to Buddhism. The primary purpose of the passage is to study the reasons behind Buddhism’s adoption by the Chinese. Hence, option C.

Q2: According to the paragraph, which of the following reasons contributed to Buddhism being readily accepted within China?
A. The ways to salvation described by Buddhism were similar to the prevailing practices
B. Buddhism was the first religion in China to recognize the importance of the individual
C. Buddhism was a well organized system
(a) A & B only
(b) A & C only
(c) B only
(d) All of the above
Ans: (b)
Sol: A and C have been directly quoted as contributing factors to Buddhism’s ready acceptance by the Chinese. Statement B, though true, was not a contributing factor to Buddhism’s acceptance.

Q3: Which of the following statements can be inferred from the paragraph?
A. Before Buddhism, there was no belief system in China which gave its individual followers the means to salvation
B. Buddhism placed an unprecedented amount of importance in the individual
C. The belief systems existing in China before Buddhism were less imaginative and more organized than Buddhism
(a) A & B only
(b) A & C only
(c) B & C only
(d) All of the above
Ans: (a)
Sol: Both A and B directly follow from the passage. Only the first half of statement C is given. The passage does not say whether Buddhism was less organized than the existing belief systems.

Q4: Which of the following, if true, would weaken the main argument being made by the author?
(a) Buddhism was initially adopted by the royal court and spread through China because of the king’s patronage
(b) At the time of Buddhism’s introduction, Taoism and Confucianism were in a state of decay and had become reduced to systems of superstitions
(c) Buddhism was not limited to just the spiritual life of the Chinese but also seeped into their social and cultural life
(d) Buddhism tried to bring unity of religion by interpenetrating Taoism and Confucianism
Ans: (a)
Sol: The main point of the passage is that Buddhism readily spread through China because of its superiority to existing religions, its organization, its similarity to existing customs etc. If statement A is true then the reason for Buddhism’s acceptance throughout China, contradictory to the author’s assertion, would be the royal patronage.

Q5: Which of the following options would be the most appropriate title for the passage?
(a) China’s acceptance of Buddhism
(b) Buddhism’s domination over Taoism
(c) The Road to Salvation
(d) Buddhism’s introduction to China
Ans: (a)
Sol: The passage elaborates the different reasons behind China’s acceptance of Buddhism. Hence, a is the most appropriate option.