BackALL MODULES
CAT 2025 Lesson : Verbal: Mar '25 to Apr '25 - RC Live Solving - 17 Mar 2025
1. Read the following passage & answer the questions that follow:
For scientists, policymakers and economists, the idea of a vegan future is especially interesting – and one of the biggest reasons is the environment. Your fridge might seem an unlikely setting for the fight against global warming, but did you know that food is responsible for over one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions? What’s more, meat and dairy make up the vast majority of that carbon footprint. The UN says that farmed livestock accounts for 14.5% of all man made greenhouse gas emissions. To put that into perspective... this is roughly equivalent to the exhaust emissions of every car, train, ship and aircraft on the planet. If we all went vegan, the world’s food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050… Would a vegan future make food poverty history?
If it’s about freeing up space and resources for growing food, there’s some evidence to back that up. A meat-eater’s diet requires 17 times more land, 14 times more water and 10 times more energy than a vegetarian’s... This is principally because we use a large proportion of the world’s land for growing crops to feed livestock [like cows], rather than humans. (Of the world’s approximately five billion hectares of agricultural land, 68% is used for livestock.) This squeeze on resources is only set to intensify. In 50 years’ time, the UN predicts there will be 10.5 billion people on the planet (the current world population is around 7 billion). To feed us all, it says, we will need to grow food more sustainably. [We] could eliminate the worst cases of world hunger today with about 40 million tonnes of food – yet 760 million tonnes is fed to animals on farms every year.
One of the counter-arguments against this vegan solution is that some grazing land simply isn’t suitable for growing crops. That’s certainly true, but there’s actually a bigger problem with eradicating world hunger. Right now, we already produce more than 1½ times the amount of food needed to feed everyone on the planet. It just doesn’t get to everyone in need. In other words, having enough to eat is as much about politics and big business as dietary choices – so there’s nothing to say that hunger would be a thing of the past in a vegan world. It should also be remembered that we’ve been farming and eating livestock for around 10,000 years. Our diet isn’t just the food on our plate – it shapes everything from our jobs and trade to our religious and cultural identities. Today, the global meat and dairy industries provide work for millions of people in often very poor communities around the world.
If we no longer bred farm animals, what would happen? Would they go extinct? Would they overrun the planet? Farm animals are bred far more intensively than they reproduce in the wild – so any “cows take over the world” scenarios are a little far-fetched. Some farm breeds, such as [chickens,] are now so far removed from their ancestors that they couldn’t survive in the wild. As with all wildlife, any returned animal numbers would fluctuate and reach a balance, depending on predators and available resources in the wild... With nature, it’s always a question of balance.
1. The author will agree with all of the following EXCEPT
(1) Not all animals can be introduced back to the wild.
(2) Humans are not in any danger from animals overrunning the planet.
(3) We don’t have enough food for everyone, a situation which can easily be remedied by people becoming vegetarian.
(4) The food we eat is part of our identity.
2. Which of the following would weaken the author's hypothesis the most?
(1) Many crops can be cultivated only in specific countries, and a lot of plant based foods are shipped long distance.
(2) Many alternatives to meat, such as nuts, use a lot more resources, such as land and water.
(3) It is found that automobiles and aeroplanes actually emit a lot more emissions than we realised.
(4) Most of the food being fed to animals will not be edible to humans, e.g., grass and hay.
3. Which of the following is the primary reason for world hunger, as given in the passage?
(1) There isn’t enough food for people, given our huge population.
(2) Food cultivation is not carried out sustainably.
(3) Some grazing land simply isn’t suitable for growing crops.
(4) People have unequal access to the food supply today.
4. What fear is the author addressing in “cows take over the world” scenarios?
(1) Grazing lands for cows take up a lot of land which could have been used for agriculture.
(2) Cows will rise up and revolt against humans.
(3) Freed farm animals may end up overrunning the planet.
(4) If farm animals are set free, they will be quickly eaten by predators.
2. Read the following passage & answer the questions that follow:
“Do you see the sets of traffic lights on either side?” says Anand Damani, pointing out a chaotic four-way junction from the balcony of his Mumbai apartment. Cars have stopped, blocking the pedestrian crossing. Both pedestrians and cars whose turn it is to move are stuck. “There’s no need for two sets of signals at the same junction,” Damani points out. “Without an identical signal on the other side, drivers would stop at the right place so that they could retain a line of sight with the signal.”
Damani’s suggestion is simple, yet effective. One small change could make errant drivers do the right thing, without them even knowing it. But then he’s an expert. He is a behavioural scientist in a country where the field is yet to convince the government. “You don’t need to make people mindful to change their behaviour,” Damani says. “Subconscious nudges through the environment also work. We call this behavioural design.” …
[UK has] a well-established, successful ‘nudge unit’, a public-private partnership called the Behavioural Insights Team. Its projects include helping persuade people to pay tax on time, increasing organ donor numbers and convincing students from low-income backgrounds to aim for top universities. Meanwhile in the US the Obama administration created a similar unit, the Social and Behavioural Sciences Team. From helping people conserve electricity to suicide prevention, introducing subconscious ‘nudges’ has proved to be more efficient than the usual awareness campaigns that typically use logic to explain to people why they should or should not do something...
The idea that human beings are irrational goes against classical economics, which assumes that all decision-making is based on logic. It is the premise for behavioural economics, which also incorporates psychology and cognitive neuroscience into the discipline. In 2017, American economist and creator of the “nudge theory” Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his pioneering work in this new field. But is behavioural science as promising and innocuous as it seems? Could human irrationality also be exploited, not just manipulated?
“Nudges and other uses of behavioural science to change behaviour are supposed to be used in the best interest of the people whose behaviour the nudges are trying to change,” says Francesca Gino, a behavioural scientist and professor at the Harvard Business School. Dominic of Final Mile seems to agree with her. Initially, his company helped brands like Unilever market more successfully using behavioural science. “But soon enough, we realised that this science had more width than just helping to sell soap. We eventually moved out of marketing into tackling social problems like open defecation and garbage disposal,” he adds.
5. How does behavioural science manipulate humans?
(1) It uses subconscious nudges to drive out rational thinking.
(2) It nudges people towards making the right choice.
(3) It can subconsciously influence people into changing their behaviour.
(4) It leverages behavioural design ‘nudges’ to help people make smart choices.
6. How is behavioural economics different from classical economics?
(1) Behavioural science can influence subconscious decisions.
(2) Classical economics works on rational choices, whereas behavioural science uses irrationality to manipulate people.
(3) Behavioural economics is a proven technique across countries.
(4) Classical economics assumes that all decisions are rational ones.
7. Which of the following is an example of behavioural design?
(1) Uber pre-loads the next journey before the current one ends to keep drivers working longer.
(2) Uber makes keeping safety manuals in the car dashboard mandatory.
(3) Uber installs a speedometer to monitor car speeds remotely, to prevent accidents.
(4) Uber shares positive stories on social media to correct its negative image.
8. Which of the following is provided as a benefit of behavioural nudges?
(1) Universities are selecting more students from underprivileged backgrounds.
(2) Applicants from low-income families are applying to top universities.
(3) People are washing their hands more often, increasing hygiene.
(4) Nudging stops short of manipulating or exploiting people.
3. Read the following passage & answer the questions that follow:
[CAT 2022, Slot 1]
Stories concerning the Undead have always been with us. From out of the primal darkness of Mankind's earliest years, come whispers of eerie creatures, not quite alive (or alive in a way which we can understand), yet not quite dead either. These may have been ancient and primitive deities who dwelt deep in the surrounding forests and in remote places, or simply those deceased who refused to remain in their tombs and who wandered about the countryside, physically tormenting and frightening those who were still alive. Mostly they were ill-defined—strange sounds in the night beyond the comforting glow of the fire, or a shape, half-glimpsed in the twilight along the edge of an encampment. They were vague and indistinct, but they were always there with the power to terrify and disturb. They had the power to touch the minds of our early ancestors and to fill them with dread. Such fear formed the basis of the earliest tales although the source and exact nature of such terrors still remained very vague.
And as Mankind became more sophisticated, leaving the gloom of their caves and forming themselves into recognizable communities—towns, cities, whole cultures—so the Undead travelled with them, inhabiting their folklore just as they had in former times. Now they began to take on more definite shapes. They became walking cadavers; the physical embodiment of former deities and things which had existed alongside Man since the Creation. Some still remained vague and ill-defined but, as Mankind strove to explain the horror which it felt towards them, such creatures emerged more readily into the light.
In order to confirm their abnormal status, many of the Undead were often accorded attributes, which defied the natural order of things—the power to transform themselves into other shapes, the ability to sustain themselves by drinking human blood, and the ability to influence human minds across a distance. Such powers—described as supernatural—only [lent] an added dimension to the terror that humans felt regarding them.
And it was only natural, too, that the Undead should become connected with the practice of magic. From very early times, Shamans and witchdoctors had claimed at least some power and control over the spirits of departed ancestors, and this has continued down into more "civilized" times. Formerly, the invisible spirits and forces that thronged around men's earliest encampments, had spoken "through" the tribal Shamans but now, as entities in their own right, they were subject to magical control and could be physically summoned by a competent sorcerer. However, the relationship between the magician and an Undead creature was often a very tenuous and uncertain one. Some sorcerers might have even become Undead entities once they died, but they might also have been susceptible to the powers of other magicians when they did.
From the Middle Ages and into the Age of Enlightenment, theories of the Undead continued to grow and develop. Their names became more familiar—werewolf, vampire, ghoul—each one certain to strike fear into the hearts of ordinary humans.
9. Which one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about?
(1) The passage discusses the evolution of theories of the Undead from primitive thinking to the Age of Enlightenment.
(2) The passage describes the failure of human beings to fully comprehend their environment.
(3) The writer discusses the transition from primitive thinking to the Age of Enlightenment.
(4) The writer describes the ways in which the Undead come to be associated with Shamans and the practice of magic.
10. "In order to confirm their abnormal status, many of the Undead were often accorded attributes, which defied the natural order of things . . ." Which one of the following best expresses the claim made in this statement?
(1) The Undead are deified in nature's order by giving them divine attributes.
(2) According the Undead an abnormal status is to reject the natural order of things.
(3) Human beings conceptualise the Undead as possessing abnormal features.
(4) The natural attributes of the Undead are rendered abnormal by changing their status.
11. All of the following statements, if false, could be seen as being in accordance with the passage, EXCEPT:
(1) the Undead remained vague and ill-defined, even as Mankind strove to understand the horror they inspired.
(2) the relationship between Shamans and the Undead was believed to be a strong and stable one.
(3) the growing sophistication of Mankind meant that humans stopped believing in the Undead.
(4) the transition from the Middle Ages to the Age of Enlightenment saw new theories of the Undead.
12. Which one of the following observations is a valid conclusion to draw from the statement, "From out of the primal darkness of Mankind's earliest years, come whispers of eerie creatures, not quite alive (or alive in a way which we can understand), yet not quite dead either."?
(1) Mankind's primal years were marked by creatures alive with eerie whispers, but seen only in the darkness.
(2) Mankind's early years were marked by a belief in the existence of eerie creatures that were neither quite alive nor dead.
(3) We can understand the lives of the eerie creatures in Mankind's early years through their whispers in the darkness.
(4) Long ago, eerie creatures used to whisper in the primal darkness that they were not quite dead.
Solutions
1) 3
2) 1
3) 4
4) 3
5) 3
6) 4
7) 1
8) 2
9) 1
10) 3
11) 4
12) 2
For scientists, policymakers and economists, the idea of a vegan future is especially interesting – and one of the biggest reasons is the environment. Your fridge might seem an unlikely setting for the fight against global warming, but did you know that food is responsible for over one quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions? What’s more, meat and dairy make up the vast majority of that carbon footprint. The UN says that farmed livestock accounts for 14.5% of all man made greenhouse gas emissions. To put that into perspective... this is roughly equivalent to the exhaust emissions of every car, train, ship and aircraft on the planet. If we all went vegan, the world’s food-related emissions would drop by 70% by 2050… Would a vegan future make food poverty history?
If it’s about freeing up space and resources for growing food, there’s some evidence to back that up. A meat-eater’s diet requires 17 times more land, 14 times more water and 10 times more energy than a vegetarian’s... This is principally because we use a large proportion of the world’s land for growing crops to feed livestock [like cows], rather than humans. (Of the world’s approximately five billion hectares of agricultural land, 68% is used for livestock.) This squeeze on resources is only set to intensify. In 50 years’ time, the UN predicts there will be 10.5 billion people on the planet (the current world population is around 7 billion). To feed us all, it says, we will need to grow food more sustainably. [We] could eliminate the worst cases of world hunger today with about 40 million tonnes of food – yet 760 million tonnes is fed to animals on farms every year.
One of the counter-arguments against this vegan solution is that some grazing land simply isn’t suitable for growing crops. That’s certainly true, but there’s actually a bigger problem with eradicating world hunger. Right now, we already produce more than 1½ times the amount of food needed to feed everyone on the planet. It just doesn’t get to everyone in need. In other words, having enough to eat is as much about politics and big business as dietary choices – so there’s nothing to say that hunger would be a thing of the past in a vegan world. It should also be remembered that we’ve been farming and eating livestock for around 10,000 years. Our diet isn’t just the food on our plate – it shapes everything from our jobs and trade to our religious and cultural identities. Today, the global meat and dairy industries provide work for millions of people in often very poor communities around the world.
If we no longer bred farm animals, what would happen? Would they go extinct? Would they overrun the planet? Farm animals are bred far more intensively than they reproduce in the wild – so any “cows take over the world” scenarios are a little far-fetched. Some farm breeds, such as [chickens,] are now so far removed from their ancestors that they couldn’t survive in the wild. As with all wildlife, any returned animal numbers would fluctuate and reach a balance, depending on predators and available resources in the wild... With nature, it’s always a question of balance.
1. The author will agree with all of the following EXCEPT
(1) Not all animals can be introduced back to the wild.
(2) Humans are not in any danger from animals overrunning the planet.
(3) We don’t have enough food for everyone, a situation which can easily be remedied by people becoming vegetarian.
(4) The food we eat is part of our identity.
2. Which of the following would weaken the author's hypothesis the most?
(1) Many crops can be cultivated only in specific countries, and a lot of plant based foods are shipped long distance.
(2) Many alternatives to meat, such as nuts, use a lot more resources, such as land and water.
(3) It is found that automobiles and aeroplanes actually emit a lot more emissions than we realised.
(4) Most of the food being fed to animals will not be edible to humans, e.g., grass and hay.
3. Which of the following is the primary reason for world hunger, as given in the passage?
(1) There isn’t enough food for people, given our huge population.
(2) Food cultivation is not carried out sustainably.
(3) Some grazing land simply isn’t suitable for growing crops.
(4) People have unequal access to the food supply today.
4. What fear is the author addressing in “cows take over the world” scenarios?
(1) Grazing lands for cows take up a lot of land which could have been used for agriculture.
(2) Cows will rise up and revolt against humans.
(3) Freed farm animals may end up overrunning the planet.
(4) If farm animals are set free, they will be quickly eaten by predators.
2. Read the following passage & answer the questions that follow:
“Do you see the sets of traffic lights on either side?” says Anand Damani, pointing out a chaotic four-way junction from the balcony of his Mumbai apartment. Cars have stopped, blocking the pedestrian crossing. Both pedestrians and cars whose turn it is to move are stuck. “There’s no need for two sets of signals at the same junction,” Damani points out. “Without an identical signal on the other side, drivers would stop at the right place so that they could retain a line of sight with the signal.”
Damani’s suggestion is simple, yet effective. One small change could make errant drivers do the right thing, without them even knowing it. But then he’s an expert. He is a behavioural scientist in a country where the field is yet to convince the government. “You don’t need to make people mindful to change their behaviour,” Damani says. “Subconscious nudges through the environment also work. We call this behavioural design.” …
[UK has] a well-established, successful ‘nudge unit’, a public-private partnership called the Behavioural Insights Team. Its projects include helping persuade people to pay tax on time, increasing organ donor numbers and convincing students from low-income backgrounds to aim for top universities. Meanwhile in the US the Obama administration created a similar unit, the Social and Behavioural Sciences Team. From helping people conserve electricity to suicide prevention, introducing subconscious ‘nudges’ has proved to be more efficient than the usual awareness campaigns that typically use logic to explain to people why they should or should not do something...
The idea that human beings are irrational goes against classical economics, which assumes that all decision-making is based on logic. It is the premise for behavioural economics, which also incorporates psychology and cognitive neuroscience into the discipline. In 2017, American economist and creator of the “nudge theory” Richard Thaler won the Nobel Prize for Economics for his pioneering work in this new field. But is behavioural science as promising and innocuous as it seems? Could human irrationality also be exploited, not just manipulated?
“Nudges and other uses of behavioural science to change behaviour are supposed to be used in the best interest of the people whose behaviour the nudges are trying to change,” says Francesca Gino, a behavioural scientist and professor at the Harvard Business School. Dominic of Final Mile seems to agree with her. Initially, his company helped brands like Unilever market more successfully using behavioural science. “But soon enough, we realised that this science had more width than just helping to sell soap. We eventually moved out of marketing into tackling social problems like open defecation and garbage disposal,” he adds.
5. How does behavioural science manipulate humans?
(1) It uses subconscious nudges to drive out rational thinking.
(2) It nudges people towards making the right choice.
(3) It can subconsciously influence people into changing their behaviour.
(4) It leverages behavioural design ‘nudges’ to help people make smart choices.
6. How is behavioural economics different from classical economics?
(1) Behavioural science can influence subconscious decisions.
(2) Classical economics works on rational choices, whereas behavioural science uses irrationality to manipulate people.
(3) Behavioural economics is a proven technique across countries.
(4) Classical economics assumes that all decisions are rational ones.
7. Which of the following is an example of behavioural design?
(1) Uber pre-loads the next journey before the current one ends to keep drivers working longer.
(2) Uber makes keeping safety manuals in the car dashboard mandatory.
(3) Uber installs a speedometer to monitor car speeds remotely, to prevent accidents.
(4) Uber shares positive stories on social media to correct its negative image.
8. Which of the following is provided as a benefit of behavioural nudges?
(1) Universities are selecting more students from underprivileged backgrounds.
(2) Applicants from low-income families are applying to top universities.
(3) People are washing their hands more often, increasing hygiene.
(4) Nudging stops short of manipulating or exploiting people.
3. Read the following passage & answer the questions that follow:
[CAT 2022, Slot 1]
Stories concerning the Undead have always been with us. From out of the primal darkness of Mankind's earliest years, come whispers of eerie creatures, not quite alive (or alive in a way which we can understand), yet not quite dead either. These may have been ancient and primitive deities who dwelt deep in the surrounding forests and in remote places, or simply those deceased who refused to remain in their tombs and who wandered about the countryside, physically tormenting and frightening those who were still alive. Mostly they were ill-defined—strange sounds in the night beyond the comforting glow of the fire, or a shape, half-glimpsed in the twilight along the edge of an encampment. They were vague and indistinct, but they were always there with the power to terrify and disturb. They had the power to touch the minds of our early ancestors and to fill them with dread. Such fear formed the basis of the earliest tales although the source and exact nature of such terrors still remained very vague.
And as Mankind became more sophisticated, leaving the gloom of their caves and forming themselves into recognizable communities—towns, cities, whole cultures—so the Undead travelled with them, inhabiting their folklore just as they had in former times. Now they began to take on more definite shapes. They became walking cadavers; the physical embodiment of former deities and things which had existed alongside Man since the Creation. Some still remained vague and ill-defined but, as Mankind strove to explain the horror which it felt towards them, such creatures emerged more readily into the light.
In order to confirm their abnormal status, many of the Undead were often accorded attributes, which defied the natural order of things—the power to transform themselves into other shapes, the ability to sustain themselves by drinking human blood, and the ability to influence human minds across a distance. Such powers—described as supernatural—only [lent] an added dimension to the terror that humans felt regarding them.
And it was only natural, too, that the Undead should become connected with the practice of magic. From very early times, Shamans and witchdoctors had claimed at least some power and control over the spirits of departed ancestors, and this has continued down into more "civilized" times. Formerly, the invisible spirits and forces that thronged around men's earliest encampments, had spoken "through" the tribal Shamans but now, as entities in their own right, they were subject to magical control and could be physically summoned by a competent sorcerer. However, the relationship between the magician and an Undead creature was often a very tenuous and uncertain one. Some sorcerers might have even become Undead entities once they died, but they might also have been susceptible to the powers of other magicians when they did.
From the Middle Ages and into the Age of Enlightenment, theories of the Undead continued to grow and develop. Their names became more familiar—werewolf, vampire, ghoul—each one certain to strike fear into the hearts of ordinary humans.
9. Which one of the following statements best describes what the passage is about?
(1) The passage discusses the evolution of theories of the Undead from primitive thinking to the Age of Enlightenment.
(2) The passage describes the failure of human beings to fully comprehend their environment.
(3) The writer discusses the transition from primitive thinking to the Age of Enlightenment.
(4) The writer describes the ways in which the Undead come to be associated with Shamans and the practice of magic.
10. "In order to confirm their abnormal status, many of the Undead were often accorded attributes, which defied the natural order of things . . ." Which one of the following best expresses the claim made in this statement?
(1) The Undead are deified in nature's order by giving them divine attributes.
(2) According the Undead an abnormal status is to reject the natural order of things.
(3) Human beings conceptualise the Undead as possessing abnormal features.
(4) The natural attributes of the Undead are rendered abnormal by changing their status.
11. All of the following statements, if false, could be seen as being in accordance with the passage, EXCEPT:
(1) the Undead remained vague and ill-defined, even as Mankind strove to understand the horror they inspired.
(2) the relationship between Shamans and the Undead was believed to be a strong and stable one.
(3) the growing sophistication of Mankind meant that humans stopped believing in the Undead.
(4) the transition from the Middle Ages to the Age of Enlightenment saw new theories of the Undead.
12. Which one of the following observations is a valid conclusion to draw from the statement, "From out of the primal darkness of Mankind's earliest years, come whispers of eerie creatures, not quite alive (or alive in a way which we can understand), yet not quite dead either."?
(1) Mankind's primal years were marked by creatures alive with eerie whispers, but seen only in the darkness.
(2) Mankind's early years were marked by a belief in the existence of eerie creatures that were neither quite alive nor dead.
(3) We can understand the lives of the eerie creatures in Mankind's early years through their whispers in the darkness.
(4) Long ago, eerie creatures used to whisper in the primal darkness that they were not quite dead.
Solutions
1) 3
2) 1
3) 4
4) 3
5) 3
6) 4
7) 1
8) 2
9) 1
10) 3
11) 4
12) 2
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