Free Reading Comprehension Set I - 05 Practice Test - CAT 

Question 1

The passage is chiefly concerned with:

A. warning that the application of laws affecting trade frequently has unintended consequences.
B. demonstrating that foreign-based firms receive more subsidies from their governments than United States firms receive from the United States government.
C. advocating the use of trade restrictions for “dumped” products but not for other imports.
D. recommending a uniform method for handling claims of unfair trade practices.

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Looking at the case given in the 3rd paragraph, followed by the explanation in the 4th paragraph, we understand that the passage talks about the unintentional consequences of trade laws. Hence, option A is the most suitable answer.

Question 2

It can be inferred from the passage that the minimal basis for a complaint to the International Trade Commission is which of the following?  

A. A foreign competitor has substantially increased the volume of products shipped to the United States.
B. A foreign competitor is selling products in the United States at less than fair market value.
C. The company requesting import relief has been injured by the sale of imports in the United States.
D. The company requesting import relief has been barred from exporting products to the country of its foreign competitor.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

The best answer is C, which can be inferred from the case given in the 3rd paragraph.

Question 3

The last paragraph performs which of the following functions in the passage?

A. It summarizes the discussion thus far and suggests additional areas of research.
B. It discusses an exceptional case in which the results expected by the author of the passage were not obtained.
C. It presents a recommendation based on the evidence presented earlier.
D. It cites a specific case that illustrates a problem presented more generally in the previous paragraph.

SOLUTION

Solution : D

The best answer is D.
Looking at the answer options, the last paragraph talks about a particular case that illustrates a problem presented more generally in the previous paragraph.

Question 4

The passage warns of which of the following dangers? 

A. Companies in the United States may receive no protection from imports unless they actively seek protection from import competition.
B. Companies that are United States-owned but operate internationally may not be eligible for protection from import competition under the laws of the countries in which their plants operate.
C. Companies that are not United States-owned may seek legal protection from import competition under United States import relief laws.
D. Companies in the United States that import raw materials may have to pay duties on those materials.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

The best answer is C. On reading the 2nd and 3rd paragraphs, we can conclude that the danger mentioned in option C is warned and none of the remaining options are stated in the passage.

Question 5

The passage suggests that which of the following is most likely to be true of United States trade laws?

A. They will enable manufacturers in the United States to compete more profitably outside the United States.
B. They will affect United States trade with Canada more negatively than trade with other nations.
C. Those that help one unit within a parent company will not necessarily help other units in the company.
D. Those that are applied to international companies will accomplish their intended result.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

The best answer is C. The passage suggests that trade laws can be used against the US companies - this isn't what is intended. 
Choice A - mentions nothing about US companies competing outside their own country. Choice B - When an answer choice makes a comparison, aspects of all sides should be known, which is not the case here. Choice D - This goes directly against the passage statements: because now it is difficult to tell who is the parent company.

Question 6

It can be inferred from the passage that the author believes which of the following about the complaint mentioned in the last paragraph? 

A. The ITC acted unfairly toward the complainant in its investigation.
B. The complaint violated the intent of import relief laws.
C. The response of the ITC to the complaint provided suitable relief from unfair trade practices to the complainant.
D. The ITC did not have access to appropriate information concerning the case.

SOLUTION

Solution : B

The best answer is B. In the passage the author states that “The bizarre aspect of the complaint was that a foreign conglomerate…was crying for help against a United States company…”. It can be inferred from the passage that import relief laws were designed to protect United States companies from foreign competition. Thus, the lodging of a complaint by a foreign conglomerate against a United States company violated the intent of the laws.

Question 7

Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage?

A. The validity of the data collected by using two different research methods is compared.
B. The usefulness of a research method is questioned and then a new method is proposed.
C. The historical backgrounds of two currently used research methods are chronicled.
D.  The use of a research method is described and the limitations of the results obtained are discussed.

SOLUTION

Solution : D

The best answer is D. The first paragraph of the passage identifies a research method (recording life stories) and explains the method’s uses. The second and third paragraphs explain limitations of the method’s results. The final paragraph explains why the research method is useful despite its limitations. Choice A, B, and C are incorrect because only one research method is discussed, not two.

Question 8

Which of the following is most similar to the actions of nineteenth-century ethnologists in their editing of the life stories of Native Americans?

A. A witness in a jury trial invokes the Fifth Amendment in order to avoid relating personally incriminating evidence.
B. A stockbroker refuses to divulge the source of her information on the possible future increase in a stock’s value.
C. A sports announcer describes the action in a team sport with which he is unfamiliar.
D. A chef purposely excludes the special ingredient from the recipe of his prizewinning dessert.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

The best answer is C. Lines 22-23 suggest that ethnologists “rarely spent enough time with the tribes they were observing.” Ethnologists who did not spend enough time with tribes they were observing were unlikely to be sufficiently familiar with the culture and customs of those tribes. Such ethnologists nevertheless attempted to describe the lives of tribal members. This attempt can be seen as analogous to the announcer’s attempt to describe the actions in a team sport with which he is unfamiliar. Choice A, B, and D can be eliminated because the passage does not suggest ethnologists deliberately withheld information.

Question 9

According to the passage, collecting life stories can be a useful methodology because:

A. life stories provide deeper insights into a culture than the hypothesizing of academics who are not members of that culture
B. life stories can be collected easily and they are not subject to invalid interpretations
C. life stories make it easy to distinguish between the important and unimportant features of a culture
D. the collection of life stories does not require a culturally knowledgeable investigator

SOLUTION

Solution : A

The best answer is A, which paraphrases the passage’s assertion that life stores “are likely to throw more light on the working of the mind and emotions than any amount of speculation from an ethnologist or ethnological theorist from another culture”. Choice B is incorrect because the passage does not assess the difficulty of collecting life stories, and because the second paragraph discusses ways in which life stories became distorted. Choice C is incorrect because the passage does not specify how many research methods are available to ethnologists.Choice D can be eliminated because the third paragraph mentions distortion arising from ethnologists’ failure to recognize significant events in life stories.

Question 10

Information in the passage suggests that which of the following may be a possible way to eliminate bias in the editing of life stories? 

A. Basing all inferences made about the culture on an ethnological theory
B. Eliminating all of the emotion-laden information reported by the informant
C. Translating the informant’s words into the researcher’s language
D. Reporting all of the information that the informant provides regardless of the investigator’s personal opinion about its intrinsic value

SOLUTION

Solution : D

The best answer is D. In the third paragraph, the passage asserts that editors made their own decisions about which elements of the Native Americans’ life stories were important. It can therefore be inferred from the passage that reporting all of an informant’s information would help eliminate bias, because editing had involved subjective judgments about the intrinsic value of the information. Choice A and C can be eliminated because the passage does not attribute bias to failures in adhering to ethnological theory, to translations into the researchers’ language, or problems in the numbers and content of question posed. Choice B is not supported because the second paragraph criticizes the emotion of the report, not that of the informant, for introducing bias.

Question 11

The primary purpose of the passage as a whole is to:

A. question an explanation
B. correct a misconception
C. critique a methodology
D. clarify an ambiguity

SOLUTION

Solution : C

The best answer is C. The passage describes a methodology, explain the methodology’s intended uses, criticizes the methodology’s accurateness and comprehensiveness, and reaffirms the methodology’s usefulness despite its limitations. Thus, the primary purpose of the passage is to evaluate or critique a methodology.

Question 12

It can be inferred from the passage that a characteristic of the ethnological research on Native Americans conducted during the nineteenth century was the use of which of the following?

A. Investigators familiar with the culture under study
B. A language other than the informant’s for recording life stories
C. Life stories as the ethnologist’s primary source of information
D. Complete transcriptions of informants’ descriptions of tribal beliefs

SOLUTION

Solution : B

The best answer is B. The passage states that “Native Americans recognized that the essence of their lives could not be communicated in English,” that is, in the language of the ethnologists recording the life stories. Since this statement supports the idea that “much was inevitably lost,” it can be inferred that the informants used a language other than that used to record their life stories. Choice A is incorrect because, in the second paragraph, the investigators are criticized for lacking familiarity with the cultures they study. Choice C is incorrect because ethnologists recorded life stories to “supplement their own field observations”. Choice D is incorrect because the passage indicates that life stories were edited.

Question 13

Which of the following meanings can be inferred from the lines “Do I dare Disturb the universe?”? 

A. The author is referring to his bright future.
B. The author fears that he will cause some major upheaval in world.
C. The author refers to the ‘status quo’ in which he is in.
D. The author expresses his feeling of being pinned against a wall.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option (c)

The lines “And indeed… I presume?” spell out the circle of concern which is limited to the immediate and the temporal world, nowhere do the lines depict any issues with the larger picture in life. The author is in a ‘status quo’ and deciding what to do.

Question 14

What, according to the passage, is the reason for the author’s optimism?

A. That the women are talking of Michelangelo.
B. That the yellow fog rubs upon the window-panes.
C. That it was an October night.
D. That there will be moments for everything.

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option (d)

The passage stresses on the fact that “there will be time” for everything.

Question 15

In the first ten lines of the passage, the author embodies which of the following with human attributes?

A. toast
B. restaurants
C. intent
D. retreats

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option (d)

The phrase “muttering retreats” makes option (d) correct.

Question 16

In the passage, evening is compared to:

A. The spreading sky
B. The anesthetized patient
C. Wicked people
D. The deserted streets

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option (b)

In the olden days, ether was used to anesthetize patients.

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