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CAT 2025 Lesson : Reading Comprehension II - Descriptive Passages
4. Types of Passages
The main types of passages that we get in these exams are – Descriptive, Analytical and Abstract. In order to do well in RCs, it is important to read many passages across each type, especially Analytical and Abstract (which are typically new for students).4.1 Descriptive Passages
These are paragraphs which describe something – such as things, people, events, ideas or concepts. These could be fictional (made up), narrative (sequence of events), historical, humourous, instructive (explanatory), etc.4.1.1 Example
By the end of the 18th century, France wanted to conquer Egypt. At war with Britain, France sought to disrupt its enemy’s dominance of the seas and its trade routes with India; taking control of Egypt would give France a foothold from which to expand in the Mediterranean. An ambitious Corsican general, Napoleon Bonaparte was given command of the mission. Already renowned for his campaigns in Italy, Napoleon led French forces to Egypt in 1798 to fight against the local rulers. Known as the Mamluks, they controlled the North African territory, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire.While the expedition’s chief aim was martial, it had a secondary purpose: to collect scientific and historical information about Egypt, which many in France believed was an ancient civilization equivalent to classical Greece and Rome. Along with 35,000 soldiers, more than 160 scholars and artists traveled to Egypt in 1798. Officially known as the Commission of the Sciences and Arts of Egypt, this group would end up making a greater contribution to history than the French fighting forces. Their careful work, carried out over many years, would give birth to the field of Egyptology in Europe and reveal to the world the history of the grand civilization that had ruled along the Nile for millennia.
In this passage, we learn about the French expedition to Egypt, with military and scientific ambitions. The author tells us that French scholars and artists accompanied the French soldiers, to learn all about Egyptian science, culture and history.
4.1.2 Example
Buck did not read the newspapers, or he would have known that trouble was brewing, not alone for himself, but for every tide-water dog, strong of muscle and with warm, long hair, from Puget Sound to San Diego. Because men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal, and because steamship and transportation companies were booming the find, thousands of men were rushing into the Northland. These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.Buck lived at a big house in the sun-kissed Santa Clara Valley. Judge Miller’s place, it was called. His father, Elmo, a huge St. Bernard, had been the Judge’s inseparable companion. His mother, Shep, had been a Scotch shepherd dog. During the four years since his puppy-hood he had lived the life of a sated aristocrat; he had a fine pride in himself, was ever a trifle egotistical, as country gentlemen sometimes become because of their insular situation. But he had saved himself by not becoming a mere pampered house-dog. Hunting and kindred outdoor delights had kept down the fat and hardened his muscles; and to him, as to the cold-tubbing races, the love of water had been a tonic and a health preserver.
And this was the manner of dog Buck was in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from all the world into the frozen North. But Buck did not read the newspapers, and he did not know that.
In this passage, we learn about Buck's life and also get a hint that something (possibly negative) is about to happen to the dog.
4.1.3 Solving Descriptive RCs
Descriptive or narrative RCs are passages which describe a concept, narrate an incident or generally explain some concept or occurrence. This type of passage is easy to understand, as we are used to reading such types of passages. Most fiction books, plays, many news articles, blogposts and journals use this style of writing.The very ease of such passages ensures that the examiners make such passages more difficult. Over the last few years, the frequency of this type of RC has reduced. When it does occur, the examiners might:
1) Choose a difficult topic, or an older passage
2) Have a longer passage
3) Choose a passage which has a rambling style of writing (making it difficult to note key points)
4) Have more difficult questions or close options
However, we can practice and score well in such RCs despite these roadblocks. Please practice reading books and articles daily. Use the Reading list given at the end of this lesson as a starting point.
Example 9
Read the passage below and answer the questions:
[CAT 2019]
The magic of squatter cities is that they are improved steadily and gradually by their residents. To a planner’s eye, these cities look chaotic. I trained as a biologist and to my eye, they look organic. Squatter cities are also unexpectedly green. They have maximum density—1 million people per square mile in some areas of Mumbai—and have minimum energy and material use. People get around by foot, bicycle, rickshaw, or the universal shared taxi.
Not everything is efficient in the slums, though. In the Brazilian favelas where electricity is stolen and therefore free, people leave their lights on all day. But in most slums recycling is literally a way of life. The Dharavi slum in Mumbai has 400 recycling units and 30,000 ragpickers. Six thousand tons of rubbish are sorted every day. In 2007, the Economist reported that in Vietnam and Mozambique, “Waves of gleaners sift the sweepings of Hanoi’s streets, just as Mozambiquan children pick over the rubbish of Maputo’s main tip. Every city in Asia and Latin America has an industry based on gathering up old cardboard boxes.”...
In his 1985 article, Calthorpe made a statement that still jars with most people: “The city is the most environmentally benign form of human settlement. Each city dweller consumes less land, less energy, less water, and produces less pollution than his counterpart in settlements of lower densities.” “Green Manhattan” was the inflammatory title of a 2004 New Yorker article by David Owen. “By the most significant measures,” he wrote, “New York is the greenest community in the United States, and one of the greenest cities in the world... The key to New York’s relative environmental benignity is its extreme compactness... Placing one and a half million people on a twenty-three-square-mile island sharply reduces their opportunities to be wasteful.” He went on to note that this very compactness forces people to live in the world’s most energy-efficient apartment buildings...
Urban density allows half of humanity to live on 2.8 per cent of the land... Consider just the infrastructure efficiencies. According to a 2004 UN report: “The concentration of population and enterprises in urban areas greatly reduces the unit cost of piped water, sewers, drains, roads, electricity, garbage collection, transport, health care, and schools.” ...
The nationally subsidised city of Manaus in northern Brazil “answers the question” of how to stop deforestation: give people decent jobs. Then they can afford houses, and gain security. One hundred thousand people who would otherwise be deforesting the jungle around Manaus are now prospering in town making such things as mobile phones and televisions....
Of course, fast-growing cities are far from an unmitigated good. They concentrate crime, pollution, disease and injustice as much as business, innovation, education and entertainment... But if they are overall a net good for those who move there, it is because cities offer more than just jobs. They are transformative: in the slums, as well as the office towers and leafy suburbs, the progress is from hick to metropolitan to cosmopolitan...
Question 1 of 5
According to the passage, squatter cities are environment-friendly for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
(1) their streets are kept clean.
(2) they sort out garbage.
(3) their transportation is energy efficient.
(4) they recycle material.
The author has not mentioned that squatter cities' streets are clean. Therefore, option (1) is the correct choice.
Options (2) and (4) are mentioned in the second paragraph (recycling is literally a way of life... Six thousand tons of rubbish are sorted every day).
Option (3) is mentioned in the first paragraph (minimum energy...use. People get around by foot, bicycle, rickshaw, or the universal shared taxi).
Therefore, we can eliminate these options and select option (1).
Answer: (1) their streets are kept clean.
Question 2 of 5
In the context of the passage, the author refers to Manaus in order to:
(1) describe the infrastructure efficiencies of living in a city.
(2) promote cities as employment hubs for people.
(3) explain how urban areas help the environment.
(4) explain where cities source their labour for factories.
Therefore, we can infer that cities can also contribute to the prevention of deforestation. Since none of the options mention deforestation, we can select option (3), preventing deforestation is a way to help the environment.
The other options are referring to benefits for the city-dwellers. These can be eliminated, as the author tells us about Manaus as another example to prove that the city is ecological.
Answer: (3) explain how urban areas help the environment.
Question 3 of 5
From the passage it can be inferred that cities are good places to live in for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that they:
(1) have suburban areas as well as office areas.
(2) offer employment opportunities.
(3) help prevent destruction of the environment.
(4) contribute to the cultural transformation of residents.
Option (1), while mentioned in the passage, is not given as a benefit of cities. Therefore, this should be the correct choice.
Option (2) is given as a benefit in the example of Manaus. Option (3) is also proven by the same example (people who would otherwise be deforesting the jungle around Manaus are now prospering in town making such things as mobile phones and televisions).
Option (4) is mentioned in the last paragraph (They are transformative...the progress is from hick to metropolitan to cosmopolitan). Progress from being a hick (meaning rustic, bumpkin, not very intelligent) to metropolitan (from a major city, therefore more polished and knowledgeable) to cosmopolitan (worldly, culturally at ease in many countries) implies cultural progress.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option (1) as the correct choice.
Answer: (1) have suburban areas as well as office areas.
Question 4 of 5
We can infer that Calthorpe’s statement “still jars” with most people because most people:
(1) regard cities as places of disease and crime.
(2) consider cities to be very crowded and polluted.
(3) do not regard cities as good places to live in.
(4) do not consider cities to be eco-friendly places.
Calthorpe statement itself is that the city is the most benign (harmless) environmentally, compared to other human settlements (such as rural areas). We can infer that this statement will jar people if they do not believe in this. Therefore, we should for an option which is opposite in meaning with Calthorpe's statement.
This is present in option (4).
Options (1) and (2) are unrelated to the environment, they are focussing on the perspective of the city dwellers. Therefore, we can eliminate these options.
Option (3) is more generic, and does not explain why cities are not good places. Therefore, we can eliminate this option in favour of option (4), which is specifically about the environment.
Answer: (4) do not consider cities to be eco-friendly places.
Question 5 of 5
Which one of the following statements would undermine the author’s stand regarding the greenness of cities?
(1) The compactness of big cities in the West increases the incidence of violent crime.
(2) Over the last decade the cost of utilities has been increasing for city dwellers.
(3) Sorting through rubbish contributes to the rapid spread of diseases in the slums.
(4) The high density of cities leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and global warming.
Let us look for an option which contradicts any one or more of these reasons.
Option (1) is not reducing the “greenness” or ecological nature of cities – crime is bad for humans, but cannot damage the environment. Therefore, we can eliminate this option.
Option (2) is also not damaging the environment. Cost of utilities rising might actually reduce usage. This might also be true in rural areas (since the examiners have not sad that this is increasing only in cities). Therefore, we can eliminate this option as well.
Option (3) also harms only humans and not the environment. In fact, this is mentioned in the passage (They concentrate crime, pollution, disease). Therefore, we can eliminate this option as well.
Option (4), on the other hand, weakens the greenness of cities. As the greenness comes from the high population density (less land and utilities per person), this option weakens the author's stand as it showcases the issues with high population density. The issue itself (carbon emissions and global warming) are considerably damaging to the environment. Thus, this is the correct choice.
Answer: (4) The high density of cities leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and global warming.
[CAT 2019]
The magic of squatter cities is that they are improved steadily and gradually by their residents. To a planner’s eye, these cities look chaotic. I trained as a biologist and to my eye, they look organic. Squatter cities are also unexpectedly green. They have maximum density—1 million people per square mile in some areas of Mumbai—and have minimum energy and material use. People get around by foot, bicycle, rickshaw, or the universal shared taxi.
Not everything is efficient in the slums, though. In the Brazilian favelas where electricity is stolen and therefore free, people leave their lights on all day. But in most slums recycling is literally a way of life. The Dharavi slum in Mumbai has 400 recycling units and 30,000 ragpickers. Six thousand tons of rubbish are sorted every day. In 2007, the Economist reported that in Vietnam and Mozambique, “Waves of gleaners sift the sweepings of Hanoi’s streets, just as Mozambiquan children pick over the rubbish of Maputo’s main tip. Every city in Asia and Latin America has an industry based on gathering up old cardboard boxes.”...
In his 1985 article, Calthorpe made a statement that still jars with most people: “The city is the most environmentally benign form of human settlement. Each city dweller consumes less land, less energy, less water, and produces less pollution than his counterpart in settlements of lower densities.” “Green Manhattan” was the inflammatory title of a 2004 New Yorker article by David Owen. “By the most significant measures,” he wrote, “New York is the greenest community in the United States, and one of the greenest cities in the world... The key to New York’s relative environmental benignity is its extreme compactness... Placing one and a half million people on a twenty-three-square-mile island sharply reduces their opportunities to be wasteful.” He went on to note that this very compactness forces people to live in the world’s most energy-efficient apartment buildings...
Urban density allows half of humanity to live on 2.8 per cent of the land... Consider just the infrastructure efficiencies. According to a 2004 UN report: “The concentration of population and enterprises in urban areas greatly reduces the unit cost of piped water, sewers, drains, roads, electricity, garbage collection, transport, health care, and schools.” ...
The nationally subsidised city of Manaus in northern Brazil “answers the question” of how to stop deforestation: give people decent jobs. Then they can afford houses, and gain security. One hundred thousand people who would otherwise be deforesting the jungle around Manaus are now prospering in town making such things as mobile phones and televisions....
Of course, fast-growing cities are far from an unmitigated good. They concentrate crime, pollution, disease and injustice as much as business, innovation, education and entertainment... But if they are overall a net good for those who move there, it is because cities offer more than just jobs. They are transformative: in the slums, as well as the office towers and leafy suburbs, the progress is from hick to metropolitan to cosmopolitan...
Question 1 of 5
According to the passage, squatter cities are environment-friendly for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
(1) their streets are kept clean.
(2) they sort out garbage.
(3) their transportation is energy efficient.
(4) they recycle material.
Solution
In this RC, the author explains the environmental benefits of squatter cities (slums) and cities in general. Let us consider the options to find one which the author has not mentioned.The author has not mentioned that squatter cities' streets are clean. Therefore, option (1) is the correct choice.
Options (2) and (4) are mentioned in the second paragraph (recycling is literally a way of life... Six thousand tons of rubbish are sorted every day).
Option (3) is mentioned in the first paragraph (minimum energy...use. People get around by foot, bicycle, rickshaw, or the universal shared taxi).
Therefore, we can eliminate these options and select option (1).
Answer: (1) their streets are kept clean.
Question 2 of 5
In the context of the passage, the author refers to Manaus in order to:
(1) describe the infrastructure efficiencies of living in a city.
(2) promote cities as employment hubs for people.
(3) explain how urban areas help the environment.
(4) explain where cities source their labour for factories.
Solution
In the passage, the author tells us that in Manaus, the Brazilian government has successfully reduced deforestation by providing jobs in cities (people who would otherwise be deforesting the jungle around Manaus are now prospering in town making such things as mobile phones and televisions).Therefore, we can infer that cities can also contribute to the prevention of deforestation. Since none of the options mention deforestation, we can select option (3), preventing deforestation is a way to help the environment.
The other options are referring to benefits for the city-dwellers. These can be eliminated, as the author tells us about Manaus as another example to prove that the city is ecological.
Answer: (3) explain how urban areas help the environment.
Question 3 of 5
From the passage it can be inferred that cities are good places to live in for all of the following reasons EXCEPT that they:
(1) have suburban areas as well as office areas.
(2) offer employment opportunities.
(3) help prevent destruction of the environment.
(4) contribute to the cultural transformation of residents.
Solution
Let us consider the options.Option (1), while mentioned in the passage, is not given as a benefit of cities. Therefore, this should be the correct choice.
Option (2) is given as a benefit in the example of Manaus. Option (3) is also proven by the same example (people who would otherwise be deforesting the jungle around Manaus are now prospering in town making such things as mobile phones and televisions).
Option (4) is mentioned in the last paragraph (They are transformative...the progress is from hick to metropolitan to cosmopolitan). Progress from being a hick (meaning rustic, bumpkin, not very intelligent) to metropolitan (from a major city, therefore more polished and knowledgeable) to cosmopolitan (worldly, culturally at ease in many countries) implies cultural progress.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option (1) as the correct choice.
Answer: (1) have suburban areas as well as office areas.
Question 4 of 5
We can infer that Calthorpe’s statement “still jars” with most people because most people:
(1) regard cities as places of disease and crime.
(2) consider cities to be very crowded and polluted.
(3) do not regard cities as good places to live in.
(4) do not consider cities to be eco-friendly places.
Solution
The word jars is used in its verb form in this passage. It means having an unpleasant effect, being incongruous or shocking.Calthorpe statement itself is that the city is the most benign (harmless) environmentally, compared to other human settlements (such as rural areas). We can infer that this statement will jar people if they do not believe in this. Therefore, we should for an option which is opposite in meaning with Calthorpe's statement.
This is present in option (4).
Options (1) and (2) are unrelated to the environment, they are focussing on the perspective of the city dwellers. Therefore, we can eliminate these options.
Option (3) is more generic, and does not explain why cities are not good places. Therefore, we can eliminate this option in favour of option (4), which is specifically about the environment.
Answer: (4) do not consider cities to be eco-friendly places.
Question 5 of 5
Which one of the following statements would undermine the author’s stand regarding the greenness of cities?
(1) The compactness of big cities in the West increases the incidence of violent crime.
(2) Over the last decade the cost of utilities has been increasing for city dwellers.
(3) Sorting through rubbish contributes to the rapid spread of diseases in the slums.
(4) The high density of cities leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and global warming.
Solution
The author tells us that cities are green because of the following reasons – they use less land owing to high population density, city dwellers use less utilities (energy, water, and other services), and they provide jobs (which has the potential to reduce deforestation).Let us look for an option which contradicts any one or more of these reasons.
Option (1) is not reducing the “greenness” or ecological nature of cities – crime is bad for humans, but cannot damage the environment. Therefore, we can eliminate this option.
Option (2) is also not damaging the environment. Cost of utilities rising might actually reduce usage. This might also be true in rural areas (since the examiners have not sad that this is increasing only in cities). Therefore, we can eliminate this option as well.
Option (3) also harms only humans and not the environment. In fact, this is mentioned in the passage (They concentrate crime, pollution, disease). Therefore, we can eliminate this option as well.
Option (4), on the other hand, weakens the greenness of cities. As the greenness comes from the high population density (less land and utilities per person), this option weakens the author's stand as it showcases the issues with high population density. The issue itself (carbon emissions and global warming) are considerably damaging to the environment. Thus, this is the correct choice.
Answer: (4) The high density of cities leads to an increase in carbon dioxide and global warming.
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