Verbal For CAT 2017 ( Slot - I) - CAT MCQ

Option A: He gives explanation/reasoning behind the various methods adopted in history but does not question them.

Option C: The author does not discuss the merits/ demerits or evaluate a method of map-making. It is involved more with the history of the method.

Option D speaks about myth. While most of the data are quoted from history, they cannot be misrepresented as a myth.

The author starts the passage by talking about the history of map making. The author then mentions how the north was never put at the top in ancient times. "Given such a long history of human map-making, it is perhaps surprising that it is only within the last few hundred years that the north has been consistently considered to be at the top. In fact, for much of human history, the north almost never appeared at the top".

He implicitly means that people have a preemptive notion of maps facing the north. He goes on to mention that it was considered a bad direction. He says that north being put at the top is a fairly recent phenomenon. He then goes on to discuss why different people started putting north at the top. He mentions that the reasons for different people putting north at the top were different from what people think now.

He cites various examples to show that the north' s presence in top is more recent and due to varied factors.

Hence, he is trying to clear certain misconceptions about why the north is put at the top in the maps. Thus, option B is the most suitable answer.

The passage mentions that the Chinese put North at the top of the map because the emperor would live in the North and he preferred to look towards South. Hence, the fact that the South was preferred by some emperors is not a reason why the North was put at the top. Hence, option B is false. All other options are mentioned in the passage.

We can straightaway eliminate options A and D. The passage states that the Chinese compasses pointed to magnetic south and that south was considered a more desirable direction. While option C is true, that is not the reason why North was placed at the top.

The passage states that the emperor lived in the north and hence maps depicted him as above his subjects. Thus, the north was placed at the top of the map to show respect for the emperor.

Thus, option B is correct.

We can straightaway eliminate option A. The author says that though one might think that the trend of north-up maps was set by these explorers, this is in fact not true. Options B and D are also incorrect. The passage says that the explorers navigated with the help of the North Star.

In the passage, it is given that "When Columbus describes the world it is in accordance with east being at the top, he says. "Columbus says he is going towards paradise, so his mentality is from a medieval mappa mundi." Hence, we can infer that statement C is true.

In the passage, the author discusses how North was traditionally not put on the top of early maps. The author explicitly refutes the role of the compass and of European explorers in placing North at the top of maps. Hence, we can eliminate options A and B. The author says that East was placed at the top of Christian maps. Hence, option C is also incorrect. Thought the author counters all known explanations as to why North was placed on the top, he does not offer any explanation of his own. Hence, option D is correct.

According to the passage, early Egyptian maps placed the East at the top because that was the position of sunrise. Hence, we can say that natural phenomena dictated the map-making convention in this case. Thus, option A is correct.

Options B and D are incorrect as the conventions were decided by religious factors and not natural phenomena. Option C also can be eliminated as the orientation was a result of their desire to honour their emperor. Hence, the answer is option A.

In the first passage, the author mentions the printing press as the internet of its day. Immediately, in the next paragraph he elucidates how the printing press helped in spreading ideas and information. Thus, the author likened the printing press to the internet because it enabled access to new information and sharing of ideas.

Hence, option A is the correct answer.

From the lines "Medical information passed more freely and quickly, diminishing the sway of quacks" and "Gutenberg's brainchild broke the monopoly that clerics had on scripture" , we can infer that option B is true.

From the lines "And later, stirred by pamphlets from a version of that same press, the American colonies rose up against a king and gave birth to a nation" and "it's hard to imagine the French or American revolutions without those enlightened voices in print", we can infer option A is true.

From the lines "Before the invention of the printing press, it used to take four monks up to a year to produce a single book. With the advance in movable type in 15th-century Europe, one press could crank out 3,000 pages a day", we can infer that option C is true.

Option D has not been stated or implied anywhere in the passage.

Refer to the following lines - "Not long after Steve Jobs introduced his iPhone, he said the bound book was probably headed for history's attic". Thus, we can infer that Steve Jobs predicted that reading printed books would become a thing of the past. Hence, option C is the right answer.

The author says that the iPhone has not fulfilled its potential as a piece of revolutionary technology. He goes on to say that the hope was that the iPhone could help in liberating people in closed societies. However, the failure of the Arab spring and continued suppression in places like North Korea shows that this has not happened. Hence, the author uses the continued suppression of free speech in closed societies to indicate why he is still uncertain about the potential of the iPhone. Hence, option C is correct.

Refer to the line "it's hard to imagine the French or American revolutions without those enlightened voices in print". Hence, from this we can straightaway eliminate options A and C.

Between options B and D, B correctly captures the point made by the author. The printing press allowed the spread of enlightened voices and as a result people were exposed to new ideas on freedom and democracy.

Option D slightly distorts what is given in the passage. The passage does not mention any revolutionary "strategies". Hence, we can eliminate this option.

Thus, the answer is option B.

The main point of the passage is that unlike the Gutenberg printing press, the iPhone has in comparison done nothing to make the society more liberated or enlightened. This point has been accurately captured by option B.

The author is not weighing the advantages or disadvantages of new technology. Hence, we can eliminate option A.

The author does not say that the society has rapidly changed as a result of new technology. In fact, he says that nothing really has changed as a result of it.

The author says that people are no longer daydreaming as a result of new technology. Hence, option D, which contradicts what is given in the passage, can be eliminated.

The author argues that malls were more than just shopping places. Towards the end of the passage, the author tries to invoke a sense of nostalgia by stating how malls used to play an important role in everyone's life and how that function is getting lost.

Let us evaluate the options.

Option B states that the advantages of the malls outweigh the disadvantages. The author has not mentioned anything about the disadvantages of the malls. Therefore, we can easily eliminate option B.

Option D states that malls are closing down since people have found an alternate way to shop. Though the option is true, the main point of the author is not that malls are closing down. The author is concerned about the fact that malls were places of congregation and the closure of malls takes a social function away with them. Therefore, we can eliminate option D as well.

Options A and C are close. Option A states that the closure of malls has affected the social and economic life of America. However, the author states that the closure of malls is reflective of the changing social structure of America. Option A gets the relationship backwards and hence, option A can be eliminated.

Option C states that malls used to perform a social function that has been lost. This seems to be the main point that the author is trying to emphasize through the paragraph. The author states how malls used to be places of congregation and how the new generation finds no need to go to malls. Therefore, option C is the right answer.

No where has it been mentioned that Amazon is helping brands go online. Therefore, we can eliminate option C.

Option D states that the purpose of the line is to indicate that the shopping habits of middle class America have changed. However, the author talks about shopping habits towards the end of the passage. The author has not introduced the topic of 'shopping habits' when the given line has been mentioned. Therefore, we can eliminate option D as well.

Option B states that the author uses the line to indicate that the malls and distribution centres are located in the same area. However, the author states that the distribution centres are replacing the malls. He does not intend to convey that they co-exist. Therefore, we can eliminate option B as well.

Option A states that the author uses the line to indicate the irony of the situation. Option A captures the fact that the author finds it ironic that distribution centres are springing up near the places where the malls once existed. Therefore, option A is the right answer.

In the first paragraph, the author states that "many of them the brand-name anchor outlets that real estate developers once stumbled over themselves to court", indicating that the brand outlets used to be sought after once but are no longer in demand. The author states that the real estate developers used to fight each other over these outlets earlier. Therefore, we can infer that the real estate developers no longer show the kind of enthusiasm they did (since the outlets are closing down) and hence, option B is the right answer.

The author calls malls an ecosystem since they served as places of congregation. The author compares the market places from ancient Greece to emphasize how malls, just like the market places throughout the history, served as the places of social interaction as well. Only option C captures the fact that malls serve both as commercial and social centres and hence, option C is the right answer.

The main point that the author places is that malls served as places of social interaction and cannot be reduced to merely places of commercial activity. Therefore, the author compares the malls as America's public square to show the bustling social life that the malls hosted. Therefore, option D is the right answer.

In the last 2 paragraphs, the author tries to invoke a sense of nostalgia by describing the malls. He tries to make the readers feel the ambiance and vibrance of the malls by taking us down the memory lane. Option B adopts an objective tone. The author does not merely describe a mall. He tries to invoke our memories of the malls. Options C and D can be eliminated since the purpose of the author is not to emphasize that all brands were available at one place or to establish the reason for the sweet smell that the malls carried. The author tries to make an emotional appeal and only option A captures this point. Therefore, option A is the right answer.

In the last paragraph, the author uses the line "They also asserted that isolation and gene flow were less important to evolutionary divergence than natural selection". Also, through the example of checkerspot butterflies, the author brings to light the fact that isolation, though a factor, is not very dominant in influencing speciation. Therefore, option C is the right answer.

In the second line of the first paragraph, the author mentions that evolutionary changes evolve imperceptibly over time.

In the third paragraph, the author mentions that "Isolation and gene flow were less important to evolutionary divergence than natural selection". Therefore, we can infer that gene flow contributes to evolutionary divergence.

The author explains that 3 species of checkerspot butterflies living within 50 acres hardly interact with each other. Therefore, we can infer option D.

The author mentioned the book "the population bomb" as an introduction to the biologist Paul Ehrlich.

Option B cannot be inferred from the passage and hence, it is the right answer.

The author provides 'Checkerspot butterflies' as an example to drive home his point. The primary intention of the author is not to discuss checkerspot butterflies. Therefore, we can eliminate option D. 

Option B can be eliminated as well since the author has not mentioned that the theories are widely accepted.

The author explains the contrasting views of the scientists to show that speciation is a debated topic. Option A states that evolution is a controversial topic. The passage deals with speciation. We cannot generalize speciation to evolution. Also, the intention of the author is to show the differing views among the scientists rather than to establish that the topic is controversial. Therefore, option C is the right answer.

The author expresses his views that hosting Olympics cost a lot and the financial prospects are not that good. Towards the end of the first paragraph, he uses the line "Any economic benefit would have to flow from the value of the Games as an advertisement for the city, the new transportation and communications infrastructure that was created for the Games, or the ongoing use of the new facilities". From this line, we can infer that the author states that there are any benefits, it should be from advertisements and the use of the facilities (implying that the other streams are unlikely to yield any revenue).

It has not been mentioned that the 3 committees share the profit equally. Even if they do, it is not the main point that the author intends to convey through the first paragraph. Therefore, we can eliminate option A.

Option B states that the revenue accrues through advertisement and ticket sales. No information has been provided about 'ticket sales' and hence, option B can be eliminated.

Option D states that the revenues are usually eroded by the expenditure incurred by the host city. The second paragraph builds on revenue from 'advertising and infrastructure' implying that the primary purpose of the first paragraph was to introduce these topics rather than to lament that the expenditure of the host city erodes the revenue. Therefore, option C is the right answer.

In the second paragraph, the author mentions that the facilities are not fully utilized due to their sheer capacity. 'The facilities benefit is dubious at best for buildings such as velodromes or natatoriums and problematic for 100,000-seat Olympic stadiums. The latter require a conversion plan for future use, the former are usually doomed to near vacancy'. Nowhere has it been mentioned that the facilities become outdated or that they are located far from the city. The author mentions in the second paragraph that the structures are expensive to maintain.

Therefore, option A is the right answer.

We can infer option A from the line 'Even if they have future use, are they the best use of precious urban real estate?'. The author feels that the urban real estate can be put to better use than hosting Olympics.

The author mentions that the fiscal resources can be used for more productive pursuits than hosting Olympics in the last line of the passage.

We can infer option B from the line "Residential areas often are razed and citizens relocated ".

Option D cannot be inferred from the passage and hence, it is the right answer.

Let us evaluate the options.

Option A states that a classic should focus on unified human experience. The author mentions the exact opposite in the paragraph. Therefore, we can eliminate option A. We can eliminate option D too since it mentions the polar opposite of what that is mentioned in the paragraph.

The author is of the view that a classic should go beyond providing a unified human experience and expose one to radically different forms of human consciousness.

We can eliminate option B since it states that a classic focuses on common humanity. Only option C captures the essence of the given paragraph and hence, option C is the right answer.

Indians have better knowledge of their culture. A westerner might be fluent in the language but will find it hard to relate to the culture. Indians, on the other hand, might be less fluent in the language but will be able to preserve the culture when a text is translated. Therefore, Indians should translate Indian texts.

Let us evaluate the options now.

Option A states that Indians and Westerners face the same challenges but they have different skill sets. Indians and Westerners face different challenges while translating the text. Indians face difficulty in the language and westerners face difficulty in relating to the culture. Therefore, we can eliminate option A.

Option D fails to capture the fact that the primary intention of the paragraph is not to pit Indians against westerners but to suggest that Indians should translate Indian texts. Also, it does not capture the fact that Indians will retain the advantage only when translating the Indian texts.

Therefore, we can eliminate option D.

Option B, though true, fails to capture the India-centric angle that the paragraph adopts. The paragraph places huge emphasis on the term 'Indian texts' and only option C manages to capture this fact. Also, only option C captures the fact that it is easier to remedy errors in the language than to fix errors in the interpretation of culture. Therefore, option C is the right answer.

Global warming does not cause storms but makes them more powerful. Due to the increase in the temperature, the air can absorb more moisture. This relationship (the change in the ability to absorb water with the increase in the temperature) is given by the Clausius-Clapeyron equation.

Let us evaluate the options.

The author provides storm Harvey as an example to illustrate how increased temperatures can arm the storms with more power. Harvey is not the central theme of the given paragraph. We can eliminate options A and D since option D places much emphasis on storm Harvey and option A states that there is no relationship between the increase in temperature and the power of storms.

Option B states that the Clausius-Clapeyron equation cannot predict the quantum of destruction that a storm might cause. This point is totally out of context with respect to what that is being discussed in the paragraph. Therefore, we can eliminate option B as well.

Option C precisely explains the mechanism through which global warming makes the modern storms more destructive. Therefore, option C is the right answer.

Hence, 15243 is the correct answer.