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CAT 2025 Lesson : Verbal: Jul '25 to Aug '25 - CAT RC Live Solving - 16 Jul 2025
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[CAT 2024 slot 2]
[S]pices were a global commodity centuries before European voyages. There was a complex chain of relations, yet consumers had little knowledge of producers and vice versa. Desire for spices helped fuel European colonial empires to create political, military and commercial networks under a single power.
Historians know a fair amount about the supply of spices in Europe during the medieval period – the origins, methods of transportation, the prices – but less about demand. Why go to such extraordinary efforts to procure expensive products from exotic lands? Still, demand was great enough to inspire the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, launching the first fateful wave of European colonialism. . . .
So, why were spices so highly prized in Europe in the centuries from about 1000 to 1500? One widely disseminated explanation for medieval demand for spices was that they covered the taste of spoiled meat. . . . Medieval purchasers consumed meat much fresher than what the average city-dweller in the developed world of today has at hand. However, refrigeration was not available, and some hot spices have been shown to serve as an anti-bacterial agent. Salting, smoking or drying meat were other means of preservation. Most spices used in cooking began as medical ingredients, and throughout the Middle Ages spices were used as both medicines and condiments. Above all, medieval recipes involve the combination of medical and culinary lore in order to balance food's humeral properties and prevent disease. Most spices were hot and dry and so appropriate in sauces to counteract the moist and wet properties supposedly possessed by most meat and fish. . . .
Where spices came from was known in a vague sense centuries before the voyages of Columbus. Just how vague may be judged by looking at medieval world maps . . . To the medieval European imagination, the East was exotic and alluring. Medieval maps often placed India close to the so-called Earthly Paradise, the Garden of Eden described in the Bible.
Geographical knowledge has a lot to do with the perceptions of spices’ relative scarcity and the reasons for their high prices. An example of the varying notions of scarcity is the conflicting information about how pepper is harvested. As far back as the 7th century Europeans thought that pepper in India grew on trees "guarded" by serpents that would bite and poison anyone who attempted to gather the fruit. The only way to harvest pepper was to burn the trees, which would drive the snakes underground. Of course, this bit of lore would explain the shriveled black peppercorns, but not white, pink or other colors.
Spices never had the enduring allure or power of gold and silver or the commercial potential of new products such as tobacco, indigo or sugar. But the taste for spices did continue for a while beyond the Middle Ages. As late as the 17th century, the English and the Dutch were struggling for control of the Spice Islands: Dutch New Amsterdam, or New York, was exchanged by the British for one of the Moluccan Islands where nutmeg was grown.
1) If a trader brought white peppercorns from India to medieval Europe, all of the following are unlikely to happen, EXCEPT:
1. pepper would no longer be considered exotic.
2. medieval maps would be used as navigational aids.
3. the price of spices would decrease.
4. Europeans would doubt the story of pepper harvesting.
2) It can be inferred that all of the following contributed to a decline in the allure of spices, EXCEPT:
1. changes in the system of medical treatment.
2. increase in the availability of spices.
3. the development of refrigeration techniques.
4. changes in European cuisine.
3) In the context of the passage, which one of the following conclusions CANNOT be reached?
1. India was colonised for its spices and gold.
2. Tobacco was more marketable than spices.
3. Colonialism was motivated by the demand for spices.
4. The spice trade was a driver of colonial expansion.
4) In the context of the passage, the people who heard the story of pepper trees being guarded by snakes would be least likely to arrive at the conclusion that
1. it is no surprise that the pepper supply is so limited.
2. pepper is costly for good reason.
3. it is not advisable to go to India to harvest the pepper themselves.
4. this is why pepper is so hot.
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[CAT 2024 Slot 3]
Fears of artificial intelligence (AI) have haunted humanity since the very beginning of the computer age. Hitherto these fears focused on machines using physical means to kill, enslave or replace people. But over the past couple of years new AI tools have emerged that threaten the survival of human civilisation from an unexpected direction. AI has gained some remarkable abilities to manipulate and generate language, whether with words, sounds or images. AI has thereby hacked the operating system of our civilisation.
Language is the stuff almost all human culture is made of. Human rights, for example, aren’t inscribed in our DNA. Rather, they are cultural artefacts we created by telling stories and writing laws. Gods aren’t physical realities. Rather, they are cultural artefacts we created by inventing myths and writing scriptures….What would happen once a non-human intelligence becomes better than the average human at telling stories, composing melodies, drawing images, and writing laws and scriptures? When people think about Chatgpt and other new AI tools, they are often drawn to examples like school children using AI to write their essays. What will happen to the school system when kids do that? But this kind of question misses the big picture. Forget about school essays. Think of the next American presidential race in 2024, and try to imagine the impact of AI tools that can be made to mass-produce political content, fake-news stories and scriptures for new cults…
Through its mastery of language, AI could even form intimate relationships with people, and use the power of intimacy to change our opinions and worldviews. Although there is no indication that AI has any consciousness or feelings of its own, to foster fake intimacy with humans it is enough if the AI can make them feel emotionally attached to it….
What will happen to the course of history when AI takes over culture, and begins producing stories, melodies, laws and religions? Previous tools like the printing press and radio helped spread the cultural ideas of humans, but they never created new cultural ideas of their own. AI is fundamentally different. AI can create completely new ideas, completely new culture…. Of course, the new power of AI could be used for good purposes as well. I won’t dwell on this, because the people who develop AI talk about it enough….
We can still regulate the new AI tools, but we must act quickly. Whereas nukes cannot invent more powerful nukes, AI can make exponentially more powerful AI.… Unregulated AI deployments would create social chaos, which would benefit autocrats and ruin democracies. Democracy is a conversation, and conversations rely on language. When AI hacks language, it could destroy our ability to have meaningful conversations, thereby destroying democracy….And the first regulation I would suggest is to make it mandatory for AI to disclose that it is an AI. If I am having a conversation with someone, and I cannot tell whether it is a human or an AI—that’s the end of democracy. This text has been generated by a human. Or has it?
5) The tone of the passage could best be described as
1. cautionary, because the author lays out some adverse effects of the proliferation of unregulated AI tools.
2. quizzical, as the passage poses several questions, concluding with the question of whether or not the passage content has been generated by AI.
3. alarmist, because the passage discusses scenarios of the influence of new AI tools on language and human emotions.
4. prescient, as the author analyses the future impact of the use of new AI tools on crucial areas of our society and culture.
6) The author identifies all of the following as dire outcomes of the capture of language by AI EXCEPT that it could
1. out-strip human creativity and endeavours in the spheres such as art and music and, in the formulation of laws.
2. eventually subvert democratic processes through the mass creation and spread of fake political content and news.
3. apply its mastery of language to create strong emotional ties which could exacerbate the polarization of political views.
4. spawn a completely new culture through its ability to create new ideas and opinions.
7) We can infer that the author is most likely to agree with which of the following statements?
1. Apart from its drawbacks, AI tools have been beneficial in boosting technological and industrial advance worldwide.
2. One of the biggest casualties from the spread of unregulated AI is likely to be the democratic process.
3. The commonly expressed fear that future AI developments will fatally harm humans is unfounded.
4. People’s fears of the dangers of students using ChatGPT and other new AI tools are unfounded.
8) The author terms language “the operating system of our civilization” for all the following reasons EXCEPT that it
1. has laid the foundation for the creation of cultural artefacts through writing and telling of stories.
2. can influence political views and opinions as it engenders close emotional ties among people.
3. is the basis of AI tools like ChatGPT which can be used to generate academic content and opinion.
4. is fundamental to the articulation and spread of human values and culture in our society.
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[CAT 2024 Slot 3]
Languages become endangered and die out for many reasons. Sadly, the physical annihilation of communities of native speakers of a language is all too often the cause of language extinction. In North America, European colonists brought death and destruction to many Native American communities. This was followed by US federal policies restricting the use of indigenous languages, including the removal of native children from their communities to federal boarding schools where native languages and cultural practices were prohibited. As many as 75 percent of the languages spoken in the territories that became the United States have gone extinct, with slightly better language survival rates in Central and South America . . .
Even without physical annihilation and prohibitions against language use, the language of the "dominant" cultures may drive other languages into extinction; young people see education, jobs, culture and technology associated with the dominant language and focus their attention on that language. The largest language "killers" are English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Hindi, and Chinese, all of which have privileged status as dominant languages threatening minority languages.
When we lose a language, we lose the worldview, culture and knowledge of the people who spoke it, constituting a loss to all humanity. People around the world live in direct contact with their native environment, their habitat. When the language they speak goes extinct, the rest of humanity loses their knowledge of that environment, their wisdom about the relationship between local plants and illness, their philosophical and religious beliefs as well as their native cultural expression (in music, visual art and poetry) that has enriched both the speakers of that language and others who would have encountered that culture. . . .
As educators deeply immersed in the liberal arts, we believe that educating students broadly in all facets of language and culture . . . yields immense rewards. Some individuals educated in the liberal arts tradition will pursue advanced study in linguistics and become actively engaged in language preservation, setting out for the Amazon, for example, with video recording equipment to interview the last surviving elders in a community to record and document a language spoken by no children.
Certainly, though, the vast majority of students will not pursue this kind of activity. For these students, a liberal arts education is absolutely critical from the twin perspectives of language extinction and global citizenship. When students study languages other than their own, they are sensitized to the existence of different cultural perspectives and practices. With such an education, students are more likely to be able to articulate insights into their own cultural biases, be more empathetic to individuals of other cultures, communicate successfully across linguistic and cultural differences, consider and resolve questions in a way that reflects multiple cultural perspectives, and, ultimately extend support to people, programs, practices, and policies that support the preservation of endangered languages.
There is ample evidence that such preservation can work in languages spiraling toward extinction. For example, Navajo, Cree and Inuit communities have established schools in which these languages are the language of instruction and the number of speakers of each has increased.
9) The author believes that a liberal arts education combined with participation in language preservation empower students in all of the following ways EXCEPT that they will
1. overcome cultural barriers to communication.
2. learn different languages.
3. establish schools to preserve languages spiralling towards extinction.
4. develop a better understanding of their own culture.
10) In the context of the passage, which one of the following hypothetical scenarios, if true, is NOT an example of the kind of loss that occurs when a language becomes extinct?
1. The Inuits of Alaska have 35 different words to describe the texture of snow. When the language becomes extinct, we will lose that understanding of nature.
2. The Nicobarese language describes 20 different moods of the ocean. By the time the last speaker is educated in a Central Board school, they will have forgotten their language.
3. The Andamanese language has a word to describe someone who has lost a step-sister. When the language dies, we will lose the concept of the word and the emotions it evokes.
4. The Lamkangs of Manipur have only 3 remaining native speakers of the language. When they die, we will lose one more group from the government list of indigenous tribes.
11) Which one of the following hypothetical scenarios, if true, would most strongly undermine the central ideas of the passage?
1. A liberal arts education requires that, in addition to being fluent in English, students gain fluency in two of the top five most spoken languages globally.
2. Most liberal arts students will pursue jobs in publishing and human resource management rather than doctorates in linguistics.
3. Schools that teach endangered languages can preserve the language only for a generation.
4. Recording a dying language that has only a few remaining speakers freezes it in time: it stops evolving further.
12) It can be inferred from the passage that it is likely South America had a slightly better language survival rate than North America for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
1. European colonists allowed children of native speakers to stay at home with their families.
2. the colonial government was unable to mainstream the locals.
3. locals were provided job opportunities in the colonial administration.
4. not many native speakers were killed by European colonists.
Solutions
1) 4
2) 2
3) 1
4) 4
5) 1
6) 3
7) 2
8) 3
9) 3
10) 4
11) 1
12) 3
[CAT 2024 slot 2]
[S]pices were a global commodity centuries before European voyages. There was a complex chain of relations, yet consumers had little knowledge of producers and vice versa. Desire for spices helped fuel European colonial empires to create political, military and commercial networks under a single power.
Historians know a fair amount about the supply of spices in Europe during the medieval period – the origins, methods of transportation, the prices – but less about demand. Why go to such extraordinary efforts to procure expensive products from exotic lands? Still, demand was great enough to inspire the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, launching the first fateful wave of European colonialism. . . .
So, why were spices so highly prized in Europe in the centuries from about 1000 to 1500? One widely disseminated explanation for medieval demand for spices was that they covered the taste of spoiled meat. . . . Medieval purchasers consumed meat much fresher than what the average city-dweller in the developed world of today has at hand. However, refrigeration was not available, and some hot spices have been shown to serve as an anti-bacterial agent. Salting, smoking or drying meat were other means of preservation. Most spices used in cooking began as medical ingredients, and throughout the Middle Ages spices were used as both medicines and condiments. Above all, medieval recipes involve the combination of medical and culinary lore in order to balance food's humeral properties and prevent disease. Most spices were hot and dry and so appropriate in sauces to counteract the moist and wet properties supposedly possessed by most meat and fish. . . .
Where spices came from was known in a vague sense centuries before the voyages of Columbus. Just how vague may be judged by looking at medieval world maps . . . To the medieval European imagination, the East was exotic and alluring. Medieval maps often placed India close to the so-called Earthly Paradise, the Garden of Eden described in the Bible.
Geographical knowledge has a lot to do with the perceptions of spices’ relative scarcity and the reasons for their high prices. An example of the varying notions of scarcity is the conflicting information about how pepper is harvested. As far back as the 7th century Europeans thought that pepper in India grew on trees "guarded" by serpents that would bite and poison anyone who attempted to gather the fruit. The only way to harvest pepper was to burn the trees, which would drive the snakes underground. Of course, this bit of lore would explain the shriveled black peppercorns, but not white, pink or other colors.
Spices never had the enduring allure or power of gold and silver or the commercial potential of new products such as tobacco, indigo or sugar. But the taste for spices did continue for a while beyond the Middle Ages. As late as the 17th century, the English and the Dutch were struggling for control of the Spice Islands: Dutch New Amsterdam, or New York, was exchanged by the British for one of the Moluccan Islands where nutmeg was grown.
1) If a trader brought white peppercorns from India to medieval Europe, all of the following are unlikely to happen, EXCEPT:
1. pepper would no longer be considered exotic.
2. medieval maps would be used as navigational aids.
3. the price of spices would decrease.
4. Europeans would doubt the story of pepper harvesting.
2) It can be inferred that all of the following contributed to a decline in the allure of spices, EXCEPT:
1. changes in the system of medical treatment.
2. increase in the availability of spices.
3. the development of refrigeration techniques.
4. changes in European cuisine.
3) In the context of the passage, which one of the following conclusions CANNOT be reached?
1. India was colonised for its spices and gold.
2. Tobacco was more marketable than spices.
3. Colonialism was motivated by the demand for spices.
4. The spice trade was a driver of colonial expansion.
4) In the context of the passage, the people who heard the story of pepper trees being guarded by snakes would be least likely to arrive at the conclusion that
1. it is no surprise that the pepper supply is so limited.
2. pepper is costly for good reason.
3. it is not advisable to go to India to harvest the pepper themselves.
4. this is why pepper is so hot.
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[CAT 2024 Slot 3]
Fears of artificial intelligence (AI) have haunted humanity since the very beginning of the computer age. Hitherto these fears focused on machines using physical means to kill, enslave or replace people. But over the past couple of years new AI tools have emerged that threaten the survival of human civilisation from an unexpected direction. AI has gained some remarkable abilities to manipulate and generate language, whether with words, sounds or images. AI has thereby hacked the operating system of our civilisation.
Language is the stuff almost all human culture is made of. Human rights, for example, aren’t inscribed in our DNA. Rather, they are cultural artefacts we created by telling stories and writing laws. Gods aren’t physical realities. Rather, they are cultural artefacts we created by inventing myths and writing scriptures….What would happen once a non-human intelligence becomes better than the average human at telling stories, composing melodies, drawing images, and writing laws and scriptures? When people think about Chatgpt and other new AI tools, they are often drawn to examples like school children using AI to write their essays. What will happen to the school system when kids do that? But this kind of question misses the big picture. Forget about school essays. Think of the next American presidential race in 2024, and try to imagine the impact of AI tools that can be made to mass-produce political content, fake-news stories and scriptures for new cults…
Through its mastery of language, AI could even form intimate relationships with people, and use the power of intimacy to change our opinions and worldviews. Although there is no indication that AI has any consciousness or feelings of its own, to foster fake intimacy with humans it is enough if the AI can make them feel emotionally attached to it….
What will happen to the course of history when AI takes over culture, and begins producing stories, melodies, laws and religions? Previous tools like the printing press and radio helped spread the cultural ideas of humans, but they never created new cultural ideas of their own. AI is fundamentally different. AI can create completely new ideas, completely new culture…. Of course, the new power of AI could be used for good purposes as well. I won’t dwell on this, because the people who develop AI talk about it enough….
We can still regulate the new AI tools, but we must act quickly. Whereas nukes cannot invent more powerful nukes, AI can make exponentially more powerful AI.… Unregulated AI deployments would create social chaos, which would benefit autocrats and ruin democracies. Democracy is a conversation, and conversations rely on language. When AI hacks language, it could destroy our ability to have meaningful conversations, thereby destroying democracy….And the first regulation I would suggest is to make it mandatory for AI to disclose that it is an AI. If I am having a conversation with someone, and I cannot tell whether it is a human or an AI—that’s the end of democracy. This text has been generated by a human. Or has it?
5) The tone of the passage could best be described as
1. cautionary, because the author lays out some adverse effects of the proliferation of unregulated AI tools.
2. quizzical, as the passage poses several questions, concluding with the question of whether or not the passage content has been generated by AI.
3. alarmist, because the passage discusses scenarios of the influence of new AI tools on language and human emotions.
4. prescient, as the author analyses the future impact of the use of new AI tools on crucial areas of our society and culture.
6) The author identifies all of the following as dire outcomes of the capture of language by AI EXCEPT that it could
1. out-strip human creativity and endeavours in the spheres such as art and music and, in the formulation of laws.
2. eventually subvert democratic processes through the mass creation and spread of fake political content and news.
3. apply its mastery of language to create strong emotional ties which could exacerbate the polarization of political views.
4. spawn a completely new culture through its ability to create new ideas and opinions.
7) We can infer that the author is most likely to agree with which of the following statements?
1. Apart from its drawbacks, AI tools have been beneficial in boosting technological and industrial advance worldwide.
2. One of the biggest casualties from the spread of unregulated AI is likely to be the democratic process.
3. The commonly expressed fear that future AI developments will fatally harm humans is unfounded.
4. People’s fears of the dangers of students using ChatGPT and other new AI tools are unfounded.
8) The author terms language “the operating system of our civilization” for all the following reasons EXCEPT that it
1. has laid the foundation for the creation of cultural artefacts through writing and telling of stories.
2. can influence political views and opinions as it engenders close emotional ties among people.
3. is the basis of AI tools like ChatGPT which can be used to generate academic content and opinion.
4. is fundamental to the articulation and spread of human values and culture in our society.
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[CAT 2024 Slot 3]
Languages become endangered and die out for many reasons. Sadly, the physical annihilation of communities of native speakers of a language is all too often the cause of language extinction. In North America, European colonists brought death and destruction to many Native American communities. This was followed by US federal policies restricting the use of indigenous languages, including the removal of native children from their communities to federal boarding schools where native languages and cultural practices were prohibited. As many as 75 percent of the languages spoken in the territories that became the United States have gone extinct, with slightly better language survival rates in Central and South America . . .
Even without physical annihilation and prohibitions against language use, the language of the "dominant" cultures may drive other languages into extinction; young people see education, jobs, culture and technology associated with the dominant language and focus their attention on that language. The largest language "killers" are English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Hindi, and Chinese, all of which have privileged status as dominant languages threatening minority languages.
When we lose a language, we lose the worldview, culture and knowledge of the people who spoke it, constituting a loss to all humanity. People around the world live in direct contact with their native environment, their habitat. When the language they speak goes extinct, the rest of humanity loses their knowledge of that environment, their wisdom about the relationship between local plants and illness, their philosophical and religious beliefs as well as their native cultural expression (in music, visual art and poetry) that has enriched both the speakers of that language and others who would have encountered that culture. . . .
As educators deeply immersed in the liberal arts, we believe that educating students broadly in all facets of language and culture . . . yields immense rewards. Some individuals educated in the liberal arts tradition will pursue advanced study in linguistics and become actively engaged in language preservation, setting out for the Amazon, for example, with video recording equipment to interview the last surviving elders in a community to record and document a language spoken by no children.
Certainly, though, the vast majority of students will not pursue this kind of activity. For these students, a liberal arts education is absolutely critical from the twin perspectives of language extinction and global citizenship. When students study languages other than their own, they are sensitized to the existence of different cultural perspectives and practices. With such an education, students are more likely to be able to articulate insights into their own cultural biases, be more empathetic to individuals of other cultures, communicate successfully across linguistic and cultural differences, consider and resolve questions in a way that reflects multiple cultural perspectives, and, ultimately extend support to people, programs, practices, and policies that support the preservation of endangered languages.
There is ample evidence that such preservation can work in languages spiraling toward extinction. For example, Navajo, Cree and Inuit communities have established schools in which these languages are the language of instruction and the number of speakers of each has increased.
9) The author believes that a liberal arts education combined with participation in language preservation empower students in all of the following ways EXCEPT that they will
1. overcome cultural barriers to communication.
2. learn different languages.
3. establish schools to preserve languages spiralling towards extinction.
4. develop a better understanding of their own culture.
10) In the context of the passage, which one of the following hypothetical scenarios, if true, is NOT an example of the kind of loss that occurs when a language becomes extinct?
1. The Inuits of Alaska have 35 different words to describe the texture of snow. When the language becomes extinct, we will lose that understanding of nature.
2. The Nicobarese language describes 20 different moods of the ocean. By the time the last speaker is educated in a Central Board school, they will have forgotten their language.
3. The Andamanese language has a word to describe someone who has lost a step-sister. When the language dies, we will lose the concept of the word and the emotions it evokes.
4. The Lamkangs of Manipur have only 3 remaining native speakers of the language. When they die, we will lose one more group from the government list of indigenous tribes.
11) Which one of the following hypothetical scenarios, if true, would most strongly undermine the central ideas of the passage?
1. A liberal arts education requires that, in addition to being fluent in English, students gain fluency in two of the top five most spoken languages globally.
2. Most liberal arts students will pursue jobs in publishing and human resource management rather than doctorates in linguistics.
3. Schools that teach endangered languages can preserve the language only for a generation.
4. Recording a dying language that has only a few remaining speakers freezes it in time: it stops evolving further.
12) It can be inferred from the passage that it is likely South America had a slightly better language survival rate than North America for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
1. European colonists allowed children of native speakers to stay at home with their families.
2. the colonial government was unable to mainstream the locals.
3. locals were provided job opportunities in the colonial administration.
4. not many native speakers were killed by European colonists.
Solutions
1) 4
2) 2
3) 1
4) 4
5) 1
6) 3
7) 2
8) 3
9) 3
10) 4
11) 1
12) 3
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