Free Reading Comprehension Set I - 10 Practice Test - CAT 

The best answer is C. According to the passage Randolph’s efforts to obtain recognition for the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, a goal achieved in 1935, “helped transform the attitude of Black workers toward unions.” The passage states that prior to 1935 that attitude was one of skepticism. Therefore, the passage indicates that the workers’ skepticism was diminished as a result of Randolph’s work.
Choice A is incorrect because the passage does not indicate that the attitude among Black workers in other industries toward unions remained unchanged by 1935.
Choice B is incorrect because the passage does not state that the actions of the Pullman Company’s union made Black workers more skeptical of unions by 1935.
No information is given in the passage to support D.

The best answer is B. The passage states that the existence of a Pullman-owned union “weakened support among Black workers for an independent entity” such as Randolp’s Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Thus, the passage suggests that some porters did support the Pullman Company union.
The passage directly contradicts A, which implies virtually no support of the Pullman company union.
Choice C is incorrect because the passage does not suggest anything about Pullman employees other than porters.
Choice D is incorrect: in fact, the passage suggests that the porters’ attitude was less positive after Randolph’s union achieved recognition in 1935.

The best answer is C. The passage indicates that it was an advantage to Randolph in building the Brotherhood’s membership that Black workers shared “the same grievances from city to city”, suggesting that it would have been more difficult to build the membership of the Brotherhood if Black workers in different parts of the country had had different grievances.
There is no information in the passage to support A, B and D.

The best answer is A. The passage indicates that indicate that in the early 1930’s it became illegal for a company to maintain its own union with company funds. Thus, the passage suggests that prior to the 1930’s a company was permitted to fund its own union. Choices B, C, D, and E describe practices that are not implied in the passage.

The best answer is A. The passage indicates that indicate that in the early 1930’s it became illegal for a company to maintain its own union with company funds. Thus, the passage suggests that prior to the 1930’s a company was permitted to fund its own union.
Choices B, C and D describe practices that are not implied in the passage.

The best answer is B.
The passage states that Randolph’s reason for bringing the Brotherhood into the American Federation of Labor: “as a member union, the Brotherhood would be in a better position to exert pressure on member unions that practiced race restrictions”.
No information is given in the passage to support choices A, C and D.

The best answer is B. The passage describes a marketing strategy practiced by some professional service firms, outlines the arguments in favor of its use, and the describes the drawbacks associated with the strategy.
Choice A is incorrect because the popularity of the practice is not discussed in the passage.
Choice C is incorrect because the passage does not include a demonstration of how to institute unconditional guarantees.
Choice D is incorrect because ethical issues are not addressed by the author.

The best answer is A.
The passage explicitly states that offering unconditional guarantees works best with first time clients, but no mention is made of the relative success of this practice with clients of long standing. The circumstances referred to in B, C and D are mentioned in the passage.

The best answer is B.
In the passage the author states that firms offering unconditional guarantees are “seeking a competitive advantage.” Choices A and C can be eliminated because no mention is made in the passage of liability limits or justification for fee increase.
Choice D is incorrect because the passage does not associate the offering of unconditional guarantees with the attainment of an outstanding reputation.

The best answer is B.
The passage states that a guarantee “may mislead clients by suggesting that lawsuits or medical procedures will have guaranteed outcomes”. This implies that legal and medical outcomes cannot be predicted with absolute certainty. Although the statements in A, C, and D could be true, none of these statements is implied by the description in the passage.

The best answer is D.
The passage states that an unconditional guarantee “may, paradoxically, cause clients to doubt the service firm’s ability to deliver the promised level of service”. In D, an architect’s unconditional guarantee leads prospective clients to wonder whether previous clients have been satisfied with that architect’s work, a situation that exemplifies the paradox described in the passage.
Choice A describes a problem that would occur after a service has been rendered.
Similarly, in C, a guaranteed service has actually been judged unsatisfactory.
Choice B exemplifies the situation described in the passage: guarantees may suggest that a firm is “begging for business”.

The best answer is D. The passage states that “professional service firms with outstanding reputations and performance to match have little to gain from offering unconditional guarantees.” If a firm has an outstanding reputation based on a high level of performance, it is likely that its clients are satisfied with the quality of service that is delivered.
Choice (A) is not implied: the passage indicates that the author believes that firms with outstanding reputations have little to gain from offering unconditional guarantees, but the passage implies nothing about whether such firms either currently offer guarantees or have offered them in the past. The passage does not provide information concerning the profitability (B). In addition, it does not suggest that such firms practice in fields in which outcomes are predictable (C).