Important passages for the preparation of CAT exam

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RC 1
Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D., the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled
economic and cultural revival, a recovery that is all the more striking because it followed a long period of
severe internal decline. By the early eighth century, the empire had lost roughly two-thirds of the territory it had
possessed in the year 600, and its remaining area was being raided by Arabs and Bulgarians, who at times
threatened to take Constantinople and extinguish the empire altogether. The wealth of the state and its
subjects was greatly diminished, and artistic and literary production had virtually ceased. By the early eleventh
century, however, the empire had regained almost half of its lost possessions, its new frontiers were secure,
and its influence extended far beyond its borders. The economy had recovered, the treasury was full, and art
and scholarship had advanced.
To consider the Byzantine military, cultural, and economic advances as differentiated aspects of a single
phenomenon is reasonable. After all, these three forms of progress have gone together in a number of states
and civilizations. Rome under Augustus and fifth-century Athens provide the most obvious examples in
antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, economic, and
cultural forms of progress might help explain the dynamics of historical change.
The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantium would run like this: when the
empire had turned back enemy raids on its own territory and had begun to raid and conquer enemy territory,
Byzantine resources naturally expanded and more money became available to patronize art and literature.
Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to economic advances, which in turn led to cultural revival.
No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times during the course of the recovery. Yet it is not clear that
military advances invariably came first, economic advances second, and intellectual advances third. In the
860’s the Byzantine Empire began to recover from Arab incursions so that by 872 the military balance with the
Abbasid Caliphate had been permanently altered in the empire’s favor. The beginning of the empire’s
economic revival, however, can be placed between 810 and 830. Finally, the Byzantine revival of learning
appears to have begun even earlier. A number of notable scholars and writers appeared by 788 and, by the
last decade of the eighth century, a cultural revival was in full bloom , a revival that lasted until the fall of
Constantinople in 1453. Thus the commonly expected order of military revival followed by economic and then
by cultural recovery was reversed in Byzantium. In fact, the revival of Byzantine learning may itself have
influenced the subsequent economic and military expansion.
Q.1. Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage?
A. The Byzantine Empire was a unique case in which the usual order of military and economic revival
preceding cultural revival was reversed.
B. The economic, cultural, and military revival in the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh
centuries was similar in its order to the sequence of revivals in Augustan Rome and fifth century
Athens.
C. After 810 Byzantine economic recovery spurred a military and, later, cultural expansion that lasted until
1453.
D. The revival of the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries shows cultural rebirth
preceding economic and military revival, the reverse of the commonly accepted order of progress.
Q. 2. The primary purpose of the second paragraph is which of the following?
A. To show that Byzantine Empire, Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens are examples of cultural,
economic, and military expansion against which all subsequent cases must be measured
B. To suggest that cultural, economic, and military advances have tended to be closely interrelated in
different societies
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C. To argue that, while the revivals of Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens were similar, they are
unrelated to other historical examples
D. To indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest
chronological examples of revival
Q. 3. In the third paragraph, the author most probably provides an explanation of the apparent
connections among economic, military, and cultural development in order to-
A. suggest that the process of revival in Byzantium accords with this model
B. set up an order of events that is then shown to be not generally applicable to the case of Byzantium
C. cast aspersions on traditional historical scholarship about Byzantium
D. suggest that Byzantium represents a case for which no historical precedent exists
Q. 4. According to the author, “The common explanation” of connections between economic, military,
and cultural development is
A. reasonable, but an antiquated theory of the nature of progress
B. not applicable to the Byzantine revival as a whole, but does perhaps accurately describe limited periods
during the revival
C. equally applicable to the Byzantine case as a whole and to the history of military, economic, and cultural
advances in ancient Greece and Rome
D. essentially not helpful, because military, economic, and cultural advances are part of a single
phenomenon
RC 2
Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities—as
well as new and significant risks. Civil rights activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why
Blacks, Hispanics, and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they
lack access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in
apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $500,000 do
their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government.
Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning
parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises.
Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of
corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from 77 million in 1972 to 1.1 billion in 1977. The projected
total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980’s is estimated to be over 53 billion per
year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased
patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending
themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make
substantial investments in new plants, staff, equipment, and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to
them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling
fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests
for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company’s
efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer.
A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionments through
formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate
reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up,) to acquire business that
neither could acquire alone. But civil rights groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress
about minorities being set up as “fronts ” with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in
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legitimate joint ventures.
Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of
becoming—and remaining—dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger,
more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases: when such
firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle
against complacency arising from their current success.
Q. 1. Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the author’s assertion that, in the 1970’s,
corporate response to federal requirements was substantial?
A. Between 1970 and 1972, corporate contracts with minority-owned businesses declined by 25 percent.
B. The figures collected in 1977 underrepresented the extent of corporate contracts with minority-owned
businesses.
C. The estimate of corporate spending with minority-owned businesses in 1980 is approximately $10
million too high.
D. The $1.1 billion represented the same percentage of total corporate spending in 1977 as did $77 million
in 1972.
Q. 2. The passage supplies information that would answer which of the following questions?
A. What federal agencies have set percentage goals for the use of minority-owned businesses in public
works contracts?
B. To which government agencies must businesses awarded federal contracts report their efforts to find
minority subcontractors?
C. How widespread is the use of minority-owned concerns as “fronts” by White backers seeking to obtain
subcontracts?
D. What is one set of conditions under which a small business might find itself financially overextended?
Q. 3. The passage suggests that the failure of a large business to have its bids for subcontracts result
quickly in orders might cause it to
A. experience frustration but not serious financial harm
B. have to record its efforts on forms filed with the government
C. increase its spending with minority subcontractors
D. revise its procedure for making bids for federal contracts and subcontracts
Q. 4. The author would most likely agree with which of the following statements about corporate
response to working with minority subcontractors?
A. Although corporations showed considerable interest in working with minority businesses in the 1970’s,
their aversion to government paperwork made them reluctant to pursue many government contracts.
B. The significant response of corporations in the 1970’s is likely to be sustained and conceivably be
increased throughout the 1980’s.
C. Although corporations are eager to cooperate with minority-owned businesses, a shortage of capital in
the 1970’s made substantial response impossible.
D. The enormous corporate response has all but eliminated the dangers of over-expansion that used to
plague small minority-owned businesses.
RC 3
No very satisfactory account of the mechanism that caused the formation of the ocean basins has yet been
given. The traditional view supposes that the upper mantle of the earth behaves as a liquid when it is subjected
to small forces for long periods and that differences in temperature under oceans and continents are sufficient
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to produce convection in the mantle of the earth with rising convection currents under the mid-ocean ridges
and sinking currents under the continents. Theoretically, this convection would carry the continental plates
along as though they were on a conveyor belt and would provide the forces needed to produce the split that
occurs along the ridge. This view may be correct: it has the advantage that the currents are driven by
temperature differences that themselves depend on the position of the continents. Such a back-coupling, in
which the position of the moving plate has an impact on the forces that move it, could produce complicated and
varying motions.
On the other hand, the theory is implausible because convection does not normally occur along lines, and it
certainly does not occur along lines broken by frequent offsets or changes in direction, as the ridge is. Also it is
difficult to see how the theory applies to the plate between the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the ridge in the Indian
Ocean. This plate is growing on both sides, and since there is no intermediate trench, the two ridges must be
moving apart. It would be odd if the rising convection currents kept exact pace with them. An alternative theory
is that the sinking part of the plate, which is denser than the hotter surrounding mantle, pulls the rest of the
plate after it. Again it is difficult to see how this applies to the ridge in the South Atlantic, where neither the
African nor the American plate has a sinking part.
Another possibility is that the sinking plate cools the neighboring mantle and produces convection currents that
move the plates. This last theory is attractive because it gives some hope of explaining the enclosed seas,
such as the Sea of Japan. These seas have a typical oceanic floor, except that the floor is overlaid by several
kilometers of sediment. Their floors have probably been sinking for long periods. It seems possible that a
sinking current of cooled mantle material on the upper side of the plate might be the cause of such deep
basins. The enclosed seas are an important feature of the earth’s surface, and seriously require explanation
because, in addition to the enclosed seas that are developing at present behind island arcs, there are a
number of older ones of possibly similar origin, such as the Gulf of Mexico, the Black Sea, and perhaps the
North Sea.
Q. 1. Which of the following, if it could be demonstrated, would most support the traditional view of
ocean formation?
A. Convection usually occurs along lines.
B. Sedimentation occurs at a constant rate.
C. Sinking plates cool the mantle.
D. Island arcs surround enclosed seas.
Q. 2. According to the passage, the floor of the Black Sea can best be compared to a
A. rapidly moving conveyor belt
B. slowly settling foundation
C. rapidly expanding balloon
D. slowly eroding mountain
Q. 3. The author refers to a “conveyor belt” in in order to
A. illustrate the effects of convection in the mantle
B. show how temperature differences depend on the positions of the continents
C. demonstrate the linear nature of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge
D. describe the complicated motions made possible by back-coupling
Q. 4. Which of the following would best describe the purpose of the passage?
A. It presents an analysis of the formation of the Oceans
B. It presents several theories of Ocean Basin Formation
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C. It presents theories how Convection Currents help move the plates
D. It presents Temperature Effect (differences in temperature under oceans and continents) of the
formation of the Oceans
RC 4
During the Victorian period, women writers were measured against a social rather than a literary ideal. Hence,
it was widely thought that novels by women should be modest, religious, sensitive, guileless, and chaste, like
their authors. Many Victorian women writers took exception to this belief, however, resisting the imposition of
non-literary restrictions on their work. Publishers soon discovered that the gentlest and most idyllic female
novelists were tough-minded and relentless when their professional integrity was at stake. Keenly aware of
their artistic responsibilities, these women writers would not make concessions to secure commercial success.
The Brontes, George Eliot, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and their lesser-known contemporaries repudiated, in
their professional lives, the courtesy that Victorian ladies might exact from Victorian gentlemen. Desiring
rigorous and impartial criticism, most women writers did not wish reviewers to be kind to them if kindness
meant overlooking their literary weaknesses or flattering them on their accomplishments simply because of
their sex. They had expected derisive reviews; instead, they found themselves confronted with generous
criticism, which they considered condescending. Elizabeth Barrett Browning labelled it “the comparative
respect which means... absolute scorn.”
For their part, Victorian critics were virtually obsessed with finding the place of the woman writer so as to judge
her appropriately. Many bluntly admitted that they thought Jane Eyre a masterpiece if written by a man,
shocking or disgusting if written by a woman. Moreover, reactionary reviewers were quick to associate an
independent heroine with carefully concealed revolutionary doctrine; several considered Jane Eyre a radical
feminist document, as indeed it was. To Charlotte Bronte, who had demanded dignity and independence
without any revolutionary intent and who considered herself politically conservative, their criticism was an
affront. Such criticism bunched all women writers together rather than treating them as individual artists.
Charlotte Bronte’s experience served as a warning to other women writers about the prejudices that
immediately associated them with feminists and others thought to be political radicals. Irritated, and anxious to
detach themselves from a group stereotype, many expressed relatively conservative views on the
emancipation of women (except on the subject of women’s education) and stressed their own domestic
accomplishments. However, in identifying themselves with women who had chosen the traditional career path
of marriage and motherhood, these writers encountered still another threat to their creativity. Victorian prudery
rendered virtually all experience that was uniquely feminine unprintable. No nineteenth-century woman dared
to describe childbirth, much less her sexual passion. Men could not write about their sexual experiences either,
but they could write about sport, business, crime, and war—all activities from which women were barred. Small
wonder no woman produced a novel like War and Peace. What is amazing is the sheer volume of first-rate
prose and poetry that Victorian women did write.
Q. 1. The passage suggests that the literary creativity of Victorian women writers could have been
enhanced if
A. Women had been allowed to write about a broader range of subjects
B. Novels of the period had been characterized by greater stylistic and structural ingenuity
C. A reserved and decorous style had been a more highly valued literary ideal
D. Publishers had sponsored more new women novelists
E. Critics had been kinder in reviewing the works of women novelists
Q. 2. The primary purpose of the passage is to
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A. Refute the contention that no Victorian woman writer produced a novel like War and Peace
B. Trace the historical relationship between radical feminist politics and the Victorian novels written by
women
C. Resolve the apparent contradiction between Victorian women writers’ literary innovativeness and their
rather conservative social views
D. Describe the discrepancy between Victorian society’s expectations of women writers and the
expectations of the women writers themselves
Q. 3. It can be inferred from the passage that Charlotte Bronte considered the criticisms levelled at
Jane Eyre by reactionary reviewers “an affront” primarily because such criticism
A. Exposed her carefully concealed revolutionary doctrine to public scrutiny
B. Assessed the literary merit of the novel on the basis of its author’s sex
C. Assumed that her portrayal of an independent woman represented revolutionary ideas
D. Denied that the novel was a literary masterpiece
Q. 4. The author of the passage quotes Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Text in red) in order to demonstrate
that Victorian women writers
A. Possessed both talent and literary creativity
B. Felt that their works were misunderstood
C. Refused to make artistic concessions
D. Resented condescending criticism
RC 5
At first sight, it looks as though panchayati raj, the lower layer of federalism in our polity, is as firmly entrenched
in our system as is the older and higher layer comprising the Union Government and the States. Like the
democratic institutions at the higher level, those at the panchayat level, the panchayati raj institutions (PRIs),
are written into and protected by the Constitution. All the essential features, which distinguish a unitary system
from a federal one, are as much enshrined at the lower as at the upper level of our federal system. But look
closely and you will discover a fatal flaw. The letter of the Constitution as well as the spirit of the present polity
have exposed the intra-State level of our federal system to a dilemma of which the inter-State and Union-State
layers are free. The flaw has many causes. But all of them are rooted in an historical anomaly, that while the
dynamics of federalism and democracy have given added strength to the rights given to the States in the
Constitution, they have worked against the rights of panchayats.
At both levels of our federal system there is the same tussle between those who have certain rights and those
who try to encroach upon them if they believe they can. Thus the Union Government was able to encroach
upon certain rights given to the States by the Constitution. It got away with that because the single dominant
party system, which characterised Centre-State relations for close upon two decades, gave the party in power
at the Union level many extra-constitutional political levers. Second, the Supreme Court had not yet begun to
extend the limits of its power. But all that has changed in recent times. The spurt given to a multi-party
democracy by the overthrow of the Emergency in 1977 became a long-term trend later on because of the ways
in which a vigorously democratic multi-party system works in a political society which is as assertively
pluralistic as Indian society is. It gives political clout to all the various segments which constitute that society.
Secondly, because of the linguistic reorganisation of States in the 1950s, many of the most assertive segments
have found their most assertive expression as States. Thirdly, with single-party dominance becoming a thing of
the past at the Union level, governments can be formed at that level only by multi-party coalitions in which
State-level parties are major players. This has made it impossible for the Union Government to do much about
anything unless it also carries a sufficient number of State-level parties with it. Indian federalism is now more
real than it used to be, but an unfortunate side-effect is that India's panchayati raj system, inaugurated with
such fanfare in the early 1980s, has become less real.
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By the time the PRIs came on the scene, most of the political space in our federal system had been occupied
by the Centre in the first 30 years of Independence, and most of what was still left after that was occupied by
the States in the next 20 years. PRIs might have hoped to wrest some space from their immediate neighbour,
the States, just as the States had wrested some from the Centre. But having at last managed to checkmate the
Centre's encroachments on their rights, the States were not about to allow the PRIs to do some encroaching of
their own.
By the 1980s and early 1990s, the only national party left, the Congress, had gone deeper into a siege
mentality. Finding itself surrounded by State-level parties, it had built walls against them instead of winning
them over. Next, the States retaliated by blocking Congress proposals for panchayati raj in Parliament,
suspecting that the Centre would try to use panchayats to bypass State Governments. The suspicion fed on
the fact that the powers proposed by the Congress for panchayats were very similar to many of the more
lucrative powers of State Governments. State-level leaders also feared, perhaps, that if panchayat-level
leaders captured some of the larger PRIs, such as district-level panchayats, they would exert pressure on
State-level leaders through intra-State multi-party federalism.
It soon became obvious to Congress leaders that there was no way the panchayati raj amendments they
wanted to write into the Constitution would pass muster unless State-level parties were given their pound of
flesh. The amendments were allowed only after it was agreed that the powers of panchayats could be listed in
the Constitution. Illustratively, they would be defined and endowed on PRIs by the State Legislature acting at
its discretion.
This left the door wide open for the States to exert the power of the new political fact that while the Union and
State Governments could afford to ignore panchayats as long as the MLAs were happy, the Union Government
had to be sensitive to the demands of State-level parties. This has given State-level actors strong beachheads
on the shores of both inter-State and intra-State federalism. By using various administrative devices and
nonelected parallel structures, State Governments have subordinated their PRIs to the State administration
and given the upper hand to State Government officials against the elected heads of PRIs. Panchayats have
become local agencies for implementing schemes drawn up in distant State capitals. And their own volition has
been further circumscribed by a plethora of “Centrally-sponsored schemes”. These are drawn up by even more
distant Central authorities but at the same time tie up local staff and resources on pain of the schemes being
switched off in the absence of matching local contribution. The "foreign aid" syndrome can be clearly seen at
work behind this kind of "grass roots development".
Q. 1. The central theme of the passage can be best summarized as
A. Our grassroots development at the panchayat level is now driven by the "foreign aid" syndrome.
B. Panchayati raj is firmly entrenched at the lower level of our federal system of governance.
C. A truly federal polity has not developed since PRIs have not been allowed the necessary political
space.
D. The Union government and State-level parties are engaged in a struggle for the protection of their
respective rights.
Q. 2. The sentence in the last paragraph, “And their own volition has been further circumscribed...”,
refers to:
A. The weakening of the local institutions' ability to plan according to their needs.
B. The increasing demands made on elected local leaders to match central grants with local contributions.
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C. The empowering of the panchayat system as implementers of schemes from State capitals.
D. The process by which the prescribed Central schemes are reformulated by local elected leaders.
Q. 3. What is the "dilemma" at the intra-State level mentioned in the first paragraph of the passage?
A. Should the state governments wrest more space from the Union, before considering the panchayati
system?
B. Should rights similar to those that the States managed to get be extended to panchayats as well?
C. Should the single party system which has withered away be brought back at the level of the States?
D. Should the States get "their pound of flesh" before allowing the Union government to pass any more
laws?
Q. 4. Which of the following most closely describes the 'fatal flaw' that the passage refers to?
A. The ways in which the democratic multi-party system works in an assertively pluralistic society like
India's are flawed.
B. The mechanisms that our federal system uses at the Union government level to deal with States are
imperfect.
C. The instruments that have ensured federalism at one level, have been used to achieve the opposite at
another.
D. The Indian Constitution and the spirit of the Indian polity are fatally flawed.
Q. 5. Which of the following best captures the current state of Indian federalism as described in the
passage?
A. The Supreme Court has not begun to extend the limits of its power.
B. The multi-party system has replaced the single party system.
C. The Union, state and panchayati raj levels have become real.
D. There is real distribution of power between the Union and State level parties.
RC - 1 RC - 2 RC - 3 RC - 4 RC - 5
QUESTION ANSWER QUESTION ANSWER QUESTION ANSWER QUESTION ANSWER QUESTION ANSWER
1 1 1 1 1
2 2 2 2 2
3 3 3 3 3
4 4 4 4 4
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