Free Reading Comprehension Set I - 07 Practice Test - CAT 

Question 1

This passage could most probably have been sourced from:

A. A book written by Kelley and Pfau
B. A debate on romanticism by Kelley and Pfau
C. An article which talks about romanticism and culture, and views of different people like Pfau, Kelly on romanticism
D. A prelude to a composition which links romanticism and philosophy in a historical age

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option(d)

The key to this question lies in the last 3 lines of the first paragraph–
"These are the questions that I hope a brief consideration of Romanticism and philosophy in an historical age might open on to. The essays and counter-responses in this volume represent works in progress by Kelly and Pfau, and we invite our readers' input into their respective polemics".

Question 2

According to the author, Kelley and Pfau wanted to establish which of the following things:
A) Characterise the position of aesthetic within a judgement
B) How do the actual and the pleasure of that aesthetic "Grasp" signify to each other
C) The uses of the pleasures of Romanticism
D) The place of affective experience in aesthetic judgement

A. A, B, C & D      
B. A, B & C      
C. A, B & D
D. A & C

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option (d)

The question asks about the opinions of Kelly and Pfau. In the first paragraph look at the line "Both Pfau and Kelley are concerned to define the place of the aesthetic within a judgment". Also the last line of last paragraph states that "In some respects, what they articulate about Romanticism is nothing less than the uses (variously conceived) of its pleasures". These statements are brought in (A) and (C). Both (B) and (C) are the views of the author.

Question 3

Why does the author use the statement “circus animals chasing our respective tails"?

A. The author wants to emphasise that this is a problem played out consistently in the domain of pleasure.
B. The author wants to emphasise that we are facing a problem with a circular claim on the meaning of meaning.
C. The author wants to emphasise that this is a problem played out at least in the domain of affective responsiveness.
D. Both (a) and (c) together

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option (b)

Please look at these lines in the first paragraph “we end in circular claims about the meaning of meaning. We are not quite circus animals chasing our respective tails". This clearly gives the answer to the question. All the other three options are junk answers.

Question 4

Which of the following is probably not true with respect to the passage?

A. Hilary Putnam supported Kelly’s thought on aesthetics.
B. There were some authors who were criticising Shelley’s thoughts.
C. The author supports Kelly’s views of aesthetics position.
D. None of these

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option (c)

Option (a) is wrong because of this line in the passage "Kelly finds reassurance in Hilary Putnam's recent re-thinking of philosophical realism"
Option (b) is wrong because of this line in the passage "This is partly the issue that Thomas Pfau takes up polemically". This indicates that some people/authors were against Pfau's thoughts.
Option (c) does not find support in the passage. Look at the line "But still more questions arise. Does the potential solipsism necessarily inherent in any aesthetic pleasure find a rapport, or a reciprocal production of meaning, with the empirical world? If Romanticism has a grasp  upon the actual that is not merely weak, how do the actual and the pleasure of that aesthetic "grasp" signify to each other?" It looks as if the author doesn’t fully agree with Kelly's thoughts.

Question 5

What is the main reason for Poetic cadence dividing the academy?

A. Because Poetic cadence was interpreted as structural in an essentialist manner
B. Because it answered to a rhythm essentially within us
C. Because it treaded on structuralist ground it was assumed to be structural in a naive manner
D. None of these

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option (c)

(C) option gives the most perfect answer. The first reason is that poetic cadence treaded on structuralist ground which made many academicians to believe that it was structural.
Look at these lines "it is true, treading on structuralist ground:" and "is the assumption that poetic resonance must be interpreted as either ideological or, alternatively, structural in an essentialist, naively psychologised manner".
All the other answers are not complete.

Question 6

 Who reignited the question - "What is maturity?” ?

A. Kelly & Pfau in their book
B. Foucalt
C. John Clare
D. F.R. Leavis

SOLUTION

Solution : B

The question can be answered directly from the first para.
Answer is option (b).

Question 7

According to the author, what is the final outcome of a perpetual revolution included in civil disobedience?

A. Perpetual revolution led to another revolution as it suggests that revolution is not a conclusion.
B. The visualization and nurturing of a new political framework.
C. Perpetual revolution led to another revolution as it suggests that revolution can never be more than provisionally justified.
D. Both (a) & (c)

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option(b)

Look at these lines from the last paragraph "civil disobedience is a promising variation on a theme that includes the perpetual revolutions" and "Consciously and unconsciously, intentionally and unintentionally, it imagines and cultivates another political context". The question is what is the final outcome of a perpetual revolution. It finally creates a new political context.

So answer (b) is correct.

All the other answer options are the intermediate conclusions and not the final outcome.

Question 8

Which of the following examples, if true, closely parallels one of the arguments brought about in the first paragraph of the passage?

A. Sachin has never got out to a short ball. So he thinks he has the right technique to handle short balls and doesn’t want to change it.
B. Dhoni has never missed a stumping while keeping. So he believes that his stance while keeping is correct.
C. Murali has never been called for illegal action by umpires. So he doesn’t want to change his legal action now.
D. Dickie bird has never given a wrong decision. So he sees no reason in changing his decision making process.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option (c)

This question is with reference with the line "When Paine says that the long habit of not thinking a thing wrong creates the superficial impression of its being right, he brings to our attention the fact that the long habit of not thinking a thing wrong makes it unlikely that we will think to change it."

So there are 2 consequences of not thinking a thing wrong –
1) You think you are right
2) You are unlikely to change

Murali thinks his action is legal and he doesn’t want to change.
Only option c) illustrates both the consequences.

Question 9

With which of the following argument is the author non committal in the entire passage?

A. Revolution and war are put forward as rhetorical strategies within an argument
B. Sudden change is not a law but an exemption
C. Perpetual revolution is not a conclusion but a step in the argument
D. Local wars and revolutions escalating into global conflicts

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option (d)

Look at this line in the passage "Drawing the whole world into every act of violence may partly explain why "local" wars and revolutions have escalated into global conflicts. But my point here is to focus on rhetorical strategy in the context of an argument."

The author himself doesn’t want to comment on option (D) .

Every other option is discussed in the passage by the author with examples.

Question 10

The following statements find support from the lines in the passage except:

A. David Walker, a revolutionary like Jefferson agreed with the views of Jefferson.
B. Thoreau, the most consistent revolutionary, urged people to reserve disobedience for consistent affronts to human dignity.
C. Mao and Jefferson were good revolutionaries who never let the revolutionary flame die down.
D. Since war and revolution was deemed as a necessary conclusion to end violence and abuse disagreement with it was nonsensical.

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Option (a)

The author doesn’t state anywhere that David walker is a revolutionary. The only thing the author states is "David Walker, writing with Jefferson in mind and partly in response to his Notes on the State of Virginia, followed the same pattern".

Question 11

Which of the following is best exemplified by the character Vawdrey in the passage?

A. Light-minded bourgeois affability.
B. Vawdrey is the answer to the writers’ invisibility.
C. The fact that a writer is the opposite of his perceptible character.
D. The premise that the writer is an apparition.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option (c)

The last paragraph that talks about Vawdrey emphasizes the fact that the writer’s work is steeped in greatness and people get to know of only the outer layer, the real personality of the writers comes through only in their work. This is represented only in option (c). Option (a) talks only about one side of the writer’s character and hence cannot be the answer. Option (b) also talks about only one side of the character. Option (d) does not make any sense. Option (c) is the correct answer.

Question 12

According to the passage, the two tyrannies escaped by Nabokov were:

A. That he was an invisible writer and suffered linguistic problems.
B. That he fled from the Bolshevik revolution and the Nazi turmoil.
C. That he was welcomed in America but also suffered a rejection.
D. That his invisibility extended to all and the fact that he wrote in Russian.

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option (b)

The passage mentions that Nabokov escaped the 20th century’s greatest tyrannies which were the Bolshevik upheavals and the Nazi persecution.

Question 13

What, according to the author, is the reason for the invisibility of the living?

A. It hampers literary continuity.
B. The living are shy of the arc lights.
C. Their work is not worthy of consideration.
D. They are victims of parochialism.

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option (d)

Refer to para 3 where the author feels that the invisibility stems from varied prejudices.

Question 14

The significance of admiration for writers is dissimilar from that of celebrities and politicians because:

A. Fame is transient.
B. Fame offers immeasurable public approbation.
C. Writers look for deeper recognition.
D. Fame is clamorous.

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option (c) can be easily inferred from para 1.

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