CAT (VARC) PYQs

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DILR QA VARC

Q1:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q1:

exhibit higher intelligence than other molluscs.

have several arms.

are consumed by humans and other animals.

do not possess an outer protective shell.

Correct Answer

Option 3

Correct Answer

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Q2:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q2:

Cephalopods can change their colour.

Cephalopods can take on the colour of their predator.

Cephalopods can change their texture.

Cephalopods can blend into the colour of their surroundings.

Correct Answer

Option 2

Correct Answer

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Q3:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q3:

sea snails

cuttlefish

polar bears

squids

Correct Answer

Option 1

Correct Answer

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Q4:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q4:

the hydrostatic pressure at the depths at which Cephalopods reside renders radial muscle movements difficult.

the temperature of water at the depths at which Cephalopods reside renders the transmission of neural signals difficult.

light reflects the colours red, green, and yellow at the depths at which Cephalopods reside.

the number of chromatophores in Cephalopods is half the number of iridophores and leucophores.

Correct Answer

Option 4

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q5:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q5:

the objective of best solutions in engineering has shifted the focus of pedagogy from humanism and social obligations to technological perfection.

engineering students today are trained to be non-subjective in their reasoning as this best enables them to develop much-needed universal solutions.

technical-social dualism has emerged as a technique for engineering students to incorporate social considerations into their technical problem-solving processes.

engineering students today are taught to focus on objective technical outcomes, independent of the social dimensions of their work.

Correct Answer

Option 4

Correct Answer

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Q6:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q6:

"But those technical ideals are at their core social and political choices determined by a dominant culture focused on economic growth for the most privileged segments of society."

"Beyond physical failings, subjective beliefs treated as facts by those in decision-making roles can encode social inequities."

"And we hardly question whether devices are built sustainably, which has led to a crisis of medical waste and health care accounting for 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions."

"These racially based adjustments are derived from research done by eugenicists who thought these racial differences were biologically determined and who considered nonwhite people as inferior."

Correct Answer

Option 3

Correct Answer

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Q7:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q7:

neglect of research and development of medical technologies for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases that typically afflict marginalised communities.

exclusion of non-privileged groups in clinical trials which leads to incorrect drug dosages.

incorrect assignment of people as female at birth which has resulted in faulty drug interventions.

continuing calibration of medical devices based on past racial biases that have remained unadjusted for changes.

Correct Answer

Option 3

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q8:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q8:

making considerations of environmental sustainability intrinsic to the development of technological solutions.

moving towards technical-social dualism where social community needs are incorporated in problem-definition and solutions.

design that is based on the needs of communities using local knowledge and responding to local priorities.

a more responsible approach to technical design and problem-solving than a focus on speed in developing and bringing to scale.

Correct Answer

Option 2

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q9:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q9:

Humans; Musicking; Linguistic capacities; Symbol-making; Modern humanity.

Musicking; Cognitive psychology; Antique; Symbol-makers; Modernity.

Humans; Psychological vantage; Musicking; Cassirer; Emergence of music.

Humans; Capacities; Language; Symbols; Modernity

Correct Answer

Option 1

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q10:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q10:

20,000 years ago, human musical capacities were not very different from what they are today.

Anyone who can perceive and experience music must be considered capable of musicking.

All musical work is located in the overlap between linguistic capacity and music production.

Although musicking is not language-like, it shares the quality of being a form of expression.

Correct Answer

Option 1

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q11:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q11:

Musical capacities are primarily socio-cultural, which explains the wide diversity of musical forms.

As musicking is neither language-like nor symbol-like, it is a much older form of expression.

Nonmusical capacities are of far greater consequence to human survival than the capacity for music.

From a cognitive and psychological vantage, musicking arises from unconscious dispositions, not conscious ones.

Correct Answer

Option 1

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q12:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q12:

A bald statement is one that is trailed by a series of qualifying clarifications and caveats.

Although there may be many caveats and other considerations, the statement is essentially true.

Thinking beyond qualifications allows us to give free reign to musical expressions.

A bald statement is one that requires no qualifications to infer its meaning.

Correct Answer

Option 2

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q13:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q13:

A) "individuals" and "social structures".

B) "academic disciplines" and "institutions".

C) "an arena of thought" and "academic disciplines".

D) "the philosophy of the social sciences" and "a set of social institutions".

Correct Answer

Option 2

Correct Answer

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Q14:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q14:

the institution of friendship cannot be found in the institution of joint-stock companies because the first is an informal institution, while the second is a formal one.

"natural language" refers to that stage of language development where no conscious human intent is evident in the formation of language.

institutions like the family, rituals, governance, economy, and the military are natural and cannot be consciously modified.

as concepts, "culture" and "tradition" have no analytical, explanatory or expository power, especially when they are treated in isolation.

Correct Answer

Option 2

Correct Answer

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Q15:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q15:

The stock exchange and the black market are examples of how, even within the same domain, different kinds of institutions can co-exist.

The stock exchange and the black market are both dependent on the market to survive.

The stock exchange and the black market are both organised to function by rules.

Market instruments can be formally traded in the stock exchange and informally traded in the black market.

Correct Answer

Option 1

Correct Answer

Explanation →

Q16:

CAT

Reading Comprehension

Medium

Q16:

Language is the fundamental formal institution for social life and for science.

It is usual in social thought to treat culture and tradition as different from institutions.

The stock exchange and the black market are both market institutions.

Institutions are structures that serve to coordinate the actions of individuals.

Correct Answer

Option 4

Correct Answer

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Q17:

CAT

Medium

Q17:

Entered answer:

Correct Answer

2143

Correct Answer

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Q18:

CAT

Medium

Q18:

Entered answer:

Correct Answer

3142

Correct Answer

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Q19:

CAT

Medium

Q19:

Entered answer:

Correct Answer

2431

Correct Answer

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Q20:

CAT

Medium

Q20:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Correct Answer

Option 4

Correct Answer

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Q21:

CAT

Medium

Q21:

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 4

Correct Answer

Option 3

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Q22:

CAT

Medium

Q22:

Contrary to our assumption that urban settlements have always involved hierarchical political and administrative structures, ancient cities were not organised in this way.

The lack of hierarchical administration in ancient cities can be deduced by the absence of religious and regal structures such as temples and palaces.

The emergence of a class of administrators and ruling stratum transformed the egalitarian urban life of ancient cities to the hierarchical civic organisations of today.

We now have the evidence in support of the existence of an egalitarian urban life in some ancient cities, where political and civic organisation was far less hierarchical.

Correct Answer

Option 4

Correct Answer

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Q23:

CAT

Medium

Q23:

The role of technology in influencing public behaviour is reminiscent of the manner in which behaviour was manipulated during the Cold War.

With big data making personal information freely available, the debate on the nature of freedom and the need for privacy has resurfaced.

The notion of freedom and privacy is at stake in a world where artificial intelligence is capable of influencing behaviour through data gathered online.

Rather than freeing us, digital technology is enslaving us by collecting personal information and influencing our online behaviour.

Correct Answer

Option 2

Correct Answer

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Q24:

CAT

Medium

Q24:

Artworks may not last forever; they may deteriorate with time, and the challenge is to slow down their degeneration.

Museums have to guard timeless art treasures from intrinsic defects such as the deterioration of paint, polish and canvas.

Museums are left with the moral responsibility of restoring and preserving the artworks since artists cannot preserve their works beyond their life.

The role of museums has evolved to ensure that the artworks are preserved forever in addition to guarding and displaying them.

Correct Answer

Option 1

Correct Answer

Explanation →

CAT VARC - Past Year Questions

Practice with our comprehensive collection of CAT VARC Past Year Questions (PYQs) with detailed solutions.