This article is part of the ‘CAT 2016 Sprint Preparation Series’. We will be posting questions from previous year CAT papers, forums, mock tests, and other entrances that are on par with the level of difficulty you can expect in CAT 2016. We will be posting the solutions and traps/things to look at while solving similar questions so that you are avoid making silly mistakes during the test.
VARC | Set 3
CAT 2016 Sprint Preparation Series
Reading Comprehension
Passage 1:
The painter is now free to paint anything he chooses. They are scarcely any forbidden subjects, and today everybody is prepared to admit that a painting of some fruit can be as important as a painting of a hero dying. The Impressionists did as much as anybody to win this previously unheard-of freedom for the artist. Yet, by the next generation, painters began to abandon the subject altogether, and began to paint abstract pictures. Today the majority of pictures painted are abstract.
Is there a connection between these two developments? Has art gone abstract because the artist is embarrassed by his freedom? Is it that, because he is free to paint anything, he doesn’t know what to paint? Apologists for abstract art often talk of it as the art of maximum freedom. But could this be the freedom of the desert island? It would take to long to answer these questions properly. I believe there is a connection. Many things have encouraged the development of abstract art. Among them has been the artists’ wish to avoid the difficulties of finding subjects when all subjects are equally possible.
I raise the matter now because I want to draw attention to the fact that the painter’s choice of a subject is a far more complicated question than it would at first seem. A subject does not start with what is put in front of the easel or with something which the painter happens to remember. A subject starts with the painter deciding he would like to paint such-and-such because for some reason or other he finds it meaningful. A subject begins when the artist selects something for special mention. (What makes it special or meaningful may seem to the artist to be purely visual – its colours or its form.) When the subject has been selected, the function of the painting itself is to communicate and justify the significance of that selection.
It is often said today that subject matter is unimportant. But this is only a reaction against the excessively literary and moralistic interpretation of subject matter in the nineteenth century. In truth the subject is literary the beginning and end of a painting. The painting begins with a selection (I will paint this and not everything else in the world); it is finished when that selection is justified (now you can see all that I saw and felt in this and how it is more than merely itself).
Thus, for a painting to succeed it is essential that the painter and his public agree about what is significant. The subject may have a personal meaning for the painter or individual spectator; but there must also be the possibility of their agreement on its general meaning. It is at this point that the culture of the society and period in question precedes the artist and his art. Renaissance art would have meant nothing to the Aztecs and vice versa. If, to some extent, a few intellectuals can appreciate them both today it is because their culture is an historical one; its inspiration is history and therefore it can include within itself, in principle if not in every particular, all known developments to date.
When a culture is secure and certain of its values, it presents it presents its artists with subjects. The general agreement about what is significant is so well established that the significance of a particular subject accrues and becomes traditional. This is true, for instance, of reeds and water in China, of the nude body in Renaissance, of the animal in Africa. Furthermore, in such cultures the artist is unlikely to be a free agent: he will be employed for the sake of particulars subjects, and the problem, as we have just described it, will not occur to him.
When a culture is in a state of disintegration or transition the freedom of the artist increases – but the question of subject matter becomes problematic for him: he, himself, has to choose for society. This was at the basis of all the increasing, crises in European art during the nineteenth century. It is too often forgotten how many of the art scandals of that time were provoked by the choice of subject (Gericault, Courbet, Daumier, Degas, Lautrec, Van Gogh, etc.).
By the end of the nineteenth century there were, roughly speaking, two ways in which the painter could meet this challenge of deciding what to paint and so choosing for society. Either he identified himself with the people and so allowed their lives to dictate his subjects to him; or he had to find his subjects within himself as painter. By people I mean everybody except the bourgeoisie. Many painters did of course work of the bourgeoisie according to their copy-book of approved subjects, but all of them, filling the Salon and the Royal Academy year after year, are now forgotten, buried under the hypocrisy of those they served so sincerely.
1. When a culture is insecure, the painter chooses his subject on the basis of:
(1) The prevalent style in the society of his time.
(2) Its meaningfulness to the painter.
(3) What is put in front of the easel.
(4) Past experience and memory of the painter
2. In the sentence, “I believe there is a connection” (second paragraph), what two developments is the author referring to?
(1) Painters using a dying hero and using a fruit as a subject of painting.
(2) Growing success of painters and an increase in abstract forms.
(3) Artists gaining freedom to choose subjects and abandoning subjects altogether.
(4) Rise of Impressionists and an increase in abstract forms.
3. Which of the following is NOT necessarily among the attributes needed for a painter to succeed:
(1) The painter and his public agree on what is significant.
(2) The painting is able to communicate and justify the significance of its subject selection.
(3) The subject has a personal meaning for the painter.
(4) The painting of subjects is inspired by historical developments.
4. In the context of the passage, which of the following statements would NOT be true?
(1) Painters decided subjects based on what they remembered from their own lives.
(2) Painters of reeds and water in China faced no serious problem of choosing a subject.
(3) The choice of subject was a source of scandals in nineteenth century European art.
(4) Agreement on the general meaning of a painting is influenced by culture and historical context.
5. Which of the following views is taken by the author?
(1) The more insecure a culture, the greater the freedom of the artist.
(2) The more secure a culture, the greater the freedom of the artist.
(3) The more secure a culture, more difficult the choice of subject.
(4) The more insecure a culture, the less significant the choice of the subject.
Passage 2:
The idea of demarcating certain areas within the country as special economic zones to promote investment and growth is not new. A large country unable to provide the kind of facilities and environment that can attract foreign investment throughout the country often finds it feasible and attractive to carve up some of its areas where such facilities can be provided. The laws and procedures for setting up new industries are waived to make the area business-friendly with developed infrastructure and a one-window interaction with government. In addition, huge tax benefits are promised to lure investors. China’s experience shows that if chalked out and implemented with care such a policy can accelerate the flow of capital and technology from abroad and thereby speed up growth.
However, SEZs may not be the best option in all situations to clear the bottlenecks in growth. India’s experience with export processing zones (EPZs) bears this out. They have failed in India for the simple reason that the factors that made the SEZs successful in China have been absent here. In India, as in China, EPZs were thought of as a way of providing an escape route from the stranglehold of control that prevailed over the Indian economy. But even while promising to ease the rigours of controls, Indian policy-makers could not give up their penchant for micromanaging from the centre and undoing the promised relaxations with all kinds of qualifications and “guidelines”.
Over last two decades India has evolved into a market economy and much of governmental control has disappeared, but the flow of foreign direct investment has not reached anywhere near the levels of China.
Besides, infrastructure building has fallen far short of what is required. Even after three years of the enactment of the Electricity Act (2003), private investment in electricity generation is still a trickle with the states refusing to give up the monopoly of their electricity boards in the matter of purchase of the power generated. While swearing by growth, governments at both the centre and the states cite the fiscal responsibility laws to plead their helplessness in making the required investments to improve infrastructure.
Given the situation, the SEZs have apparently been thought of as a simple way out. In its enthusiasm for SEZs the commerce ministry forgot two critical lessons of the Chinese experience, viz., that an SEZ must be of an adequate size to provide opportunities for reaping the benefits of large-scale operations and their number should be few. Every industry or economic activity worth its name is now seeking SEZ status. Proposals are now being floated to invite foreign educational institutions to come to India with promises of SEZ treatment! The finance ministry apprehends a loss of nearly Rs. 1,75,000 crore in direct taxes, customs duties and excise duties over the next five years.
6. The objective of the author in writing the above passage seems to be to
A. highlight the failure of Indian policy makers regarding EPZs.
B. narrate the pros and cons of SEZs.
C. compare between the Indian EPZs and Chinese SEZs.
D. oppose the proliferation of SEZs in India.
E. argue that India should imitate the Chinese policies regarding SEZs.
7. The author’s arguments suggest the following conclusions, except
A. SEZs may be the best option for countries unable to provide infrastructure and business environment to attract foreign direct investment.
B. SEZs must be large enough to house large scale operations.
C. fiscal responsibility laws actually limit the investment on infrastructure by the Government of India.
D. government of India must limit the number of SEZs.
E. SEZs cause loss of tax revenue for the central Government.
8. The author does not oppose
A. SEZ treatment of foreign educational institutes in India.
B. qualifiers undoing relaxation of government control.
C. tax benefits to strategically promote SEZs.
D. monopoly of state electricity boards in power purchase.
E. lack of Government initiative in infrastructure development.
9. The passage was most likely written in the year:
A. 1991 B. 2001 C. 2003 D. 2006 E. 2011
Verbal Ability
1. Parajumble
A. A few months ago I went to Princeton University to see what the young people who are going to be running our country in a few decades are like.
B. I would go to sleep in my hotel room around midnight each night, and when I awoke, my mailbox would be full of replies—sent at 1:15 a.m., 2:59 a.m., 3:23 a.m.
C. One senior told me that she went to bed around two and woke up each morning at seven; she could afford that much rest because she had learned to supplement her full day of work by studying in her sleep.
D. Faculty members gave me the names of a few dozen articulate students, and I sent them e-mails, inviting them out to lunch or dinner in small groups.
E. As she was falling asleep she would recite a math problem or a paper topic to herself; she would then sometimes dream about it, and when she woke up, the problem might be solved.
2. A. Four days later, Oracle announced its own bid for PeopleSoft, and invited the firm’s board to a discussion.
B. Furious that his own plans had been endangered, PeopleSoft’s boss, Craig Conway, called Oracle’s offer “diabolical”, and its boss, Larry Ellison, a “sociopath”.
C. In early June, PeopleSoft said that it would buy J.D. Edwards, a smaller rival.
D. Moreover, said Mr. Conway, he “could imagine no price nor combination of price and other conditions to recommend accepting the offer.”
E. On June 12th, PeopleSoft turned Oracle down.
3. A. To avoid this, the QWERTY layout put the keys most likely to be hit in rapid succession on opposite sides. This made the keyboard slow, the story goes, but that was the idea.
B. A different layout, which had been patented by August Dvorak in 1936, was shown to be much faster.
C. The QWERTY design (patented by Christopher Sholes in 1868 and sold to Remington in 1873) aimed to solve a mechanical problem of early typewriters.
D. Yet the Dvorak layout has never been widely adopted, even though (with electric typewriters and then PCs) the anti-jamming rational for QWERTY has been defunct for years.
E. When certain combinations of keys were struck quickly, the type bars often jammed.
4. The British retailer, M&S, today formally ______ defeat in its attempt to _____ King’s, its US subsidiary, since no potential purchasers were ready to cough up the necessary cash.
1. admitted, acquire 2. conceded, offload
3. announced, dispose 4. ratified, auction
5. Early ______ of maladjustment to college culture is _______ by the tendency to develop friendship
networks outside college which mask signals of maladjustment.
1. treatment, compounded 2. detection, facilitated
3. identification, complicated 4. prevention, helped
6. A growing number of these expert professionals _____ having to train foreigners as the students end
up _____ the teachers who have to then unhappily contend with no jobs at all or new jobs with
drastically reduced pay packets.
1. resent, replacing 2. resist, challenging
3. welcome, assisting 4. are, supplanting
7. Companies that try to improve employees’ performance by _____ rewards encourage negative kinds of behavior instead of _____ a genuine interest in doing the work well.
1. giving, seeking 2. bestowing, discouraging
3. conferring, discrediting 4. withholding, fostering
8. When income tax rates are reduced, there is an increase in taxable income, and an increase in taxable income results in increased total income tax revenues for the government.
Which of the following is analogous to the argument above in terms of its logical features?
A. If the city municipal corporation increases taxes on property by 1% it will raise tax revenues, which can be used for garbage disposal management.
B. The Leader of the Opposition at the Parliament argued that a restriction on the import of Chinese manufacturing products will increase the sales of Indian manufacturing products.
C. An advertisement using more than 25 words of text will not be read, and when an advertisement is not read, the product is not sold. Therefore, the fewer words an advertisement has, the more effective it will be in promoting its product.
D. The balance of payment of a country will improve if the country reduces its imports and increases exports.
E. Citizens earning more than 15 lakh rupees per annum pay at an increased tax rate of 40% Citizens earning less than 1 lakh rupees per annum can be exempted from paying income taxes without decreasing the revenues of the Income Tax Department
Directions for Q.9 and 10: Four sentences related to a topic are given below. Three of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out.
9. A. Undeterred, Mr. Vajpayee continued with the Agra invitation to General Pervez Musharraf and when that failed, used coercion, diplomacy and international pressure to establish a ceasefire across the Line of Control (LoC).
B. Thereafter came Mr. Vajpayee’s historic visit to Lahore on the inaugural bus journey where he used his oratory and poetry to convey a significant message to the people of Pakistan when he visited Minar-e-Pakistan
C. Following the meeting with PM Sharif in New York in September 1998, the announcement about a Delhi-Lahore bus service was made.
D. After the nuclear tests in 1998, Prime Minister Vajpayee soon realised that absence of dialogue between two nuclear armed neighbours locked in a hostile relationship would generate negative perceptions in the region and beyond.
10.
A. Although legends report he wore a prosthetic nose of gold or silver, subsequent exhumations of his grave revealed his nose was actually made of brass.
B. The heavens, he found, were not immutable but capable of creating new stars.
C. He also is remembered for the consequences of his hot temper, which lost him the bridge of his nose during a duel.
D. Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe ranked among the most meticulous astronomers of his time.
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Solutions:
Reading Comprehension
1) 2. From the second last paragraph ‘When a culture is in a state of disintegration or transition the freedom of the artist increases’.
2) 3. The 2 developments are mentioned in the first paragraph.
3) 3. From paragraph 5. All the other options are mentioned.
4) 1. All the others are true as per the passage.
5) 1. Obvious from the second last paragraph.
6) A. The consistent tone of the author throughout the passage is to highlight the failure of SEZs in India.
7) B, D and E are mentioned in the last paragraph of the passage. C can be inferred from the last line of the second-last paragraph. Hence A is not mentioned.
8) The author opposes A, B, D and E in the second-last and last paragraph. She does not oppose C.
9) D. From the second-last paragraph ‘Even after three years of the enactment of the Electricity Act (2003)’. Hence, the passage was written in 2006.
Verbal Ability
1) A-D-B-C-E
2) C-A-B-D-E
3) C-E-A-B-D
4) 2. The second blank cannot be acquire or auction based on the second half of the sentence. Among 2 and 3, concede is a much better word for the first blank.
5) 3. Based on the second half of the sentence, facilitated and helped don’t fit. Also, based on the sentence, we are talking about identification of maladjustment which is masked and not treatment.
6) 1.Options 3 and 4 can be eliminated based on the context of the sentence. Replacing is a better word for the second blank as compared to challenging.
7) 4. Fostering is the only word that can fit the second word appropriately.
8) C. ‘By reducing, there is an increase’ is what the passage tells us. Checking the options for something analogous leads us to option C.
9) A. The order of the paragraph is D-C-B.
10) B. The order of the sentences in the paragraph is D-C-A.
