Free Reading Comprehension Set II - 08 Practice Test - CAT 

Question 1

Among all the apprehensions that Mr. GoranLindblad expresses against Communism, which one gets admitted, although indirectly, by the author? (2006)

A. There   is   nostalgia   for   communist   ideology   even   if   communism   has   been   abandoned   by   most   European nations.
B. Notions of social justice inherent in communist ideology appeal to critics of existing systems.
C. Communist regimes were totalitarian and marked by brutalities and large scale violence.
D. The existing economic order is wrongly viewed as imperialistic by proponents of communism.
E. Communist ideology is faulted because communist regimes resulted in economic failures.

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option: (b)

The apprehensions of Lindblad that "different elements of communist ideology such as equality or social justice still seduce many" is indirectly accepted by the author as in the last paragraph he mentions the resistance of the Muslim world and Latin America against New Imperialism and the growing demand for social justice. The correct answer therefore is (b).

Para 1:

 ·         Fifteen years after communism was officially pronounced dead, its spectre seems once again to be haunting Europe.

 ·         Last month, the Council of Europe's parliamentary assembly voted to condemn the "crimes of totalitarian communist regimes" linking them with Nazism.

 ·         GoranLindblad wants to take this further.

Para 2:

 ·         Reasons for this being a good year for Lindblad's ideological offensive.

 ·         Paradoxically, given that there is no communist government left in Europe outside Moldova, the attacks have if anything, become more extreme as time has gone on.

 ·         Blaming class struggle and public ownership, Lindblad explained "different   elements   of   communist ideology such as equality or social   justice still seduce many" and "a sort of nostalgia for communism is still alive."  

 ·         Real problem for Lindblad and his right-wing allies in Europe is that communism is not dead enough.

Para 3:

 ·         The fashionable attempt in reality to equate communism and Nazism is in reality a moral and historical nonsense.

 ·         The dominant account gives no sense of how communist regimes renewed themselves after 1956 or why Western leaders feared they might overtake the capitalist world well into the 1960s.

 ·         For all its brutalities and failures, communism's existence helped to drive up welfare standards in the West, and provided a powerful counterweight to Western global denomination.

 ·         Its existence helped to drive up welfare standards in the West, and provided a powerful counterweight to Western global domination.

Para 4:

 ·         It would be easier to take the council of Europe's condemnation of communist state crimes seriously if it had also seen fit to denounce the far bloodier account of European colonialism.

 ·         This was a system of racist despotism, which dominated the globe in Stalin's time.  

 ·         While there is precious little connection between the   ideas   of   fascism   and   communism,   there   is   an   intimate   link between colonialism and Nazism.

Para 5:

 ·         Comparable atrocities were carried out by all European colonialists, but not a word of condemnation from the Council of Europe.

Para 6:

 ·         Part of the current enthusiasm in official Western circles for dancing on the grave of communism is about relations with today's Russia and China.

 ·         It also reflects a determination to prove there is no alternative to the new global capitalist order.

Question 2

What, according to the author, is the real reason for a renewed attack against
                               communism?  

(2006)

A. Disguising the unintended consequences of the current economic order such as social injustice and environmental crisis.  
B. Idealizing the existing ideology of global capitalism.
C. Making communism a generic representative of all historical atrocities, especially those perpetrated by the European imperialists.
D. Communism still survives, in bits and pieces, in the minds and hearts of people.
E. Renewal of some communist regimes has led to the apprehension that communist nations might overtake the capitalists.

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option: (b)

The author gives the opinion of a conservative European MP. The renewed attack on communism is being made because the now existing ideology of global capitalism can be idealized only through an attack on communism. Though (a) might also appear as a correct alternative but (b) states the reason most appropriately.

Question 3

The author cites examples of atrocities perpetrated by European colonial regimes in order to(2006)

A. Compare the atrocities committed by colonial regimes with those of communist regimes.
B. Prove that the atrocities committed by colonial regimes were more than those of communist regimes.
C. Prove that, ideologically, communism was much better than colonialism and Nazism.
D. Neutralize the arguments of Mr. Lindblad and to point out that the atrocities committed by colonial regimes were more than those of communist regimes.
E. Neutralize the arguments of Mr. Lindblad and to argue that one needs to go beyond and look at the motives of these regimes.               

SOLUTION

Solution : E

Option: (e)

The reason to cite the atrocities committed by European colonial regime is to neutralize the argument of Lindblad against communism on the ground of violence. His intention is not to compare atrocities but to neutralize the attack on communism and prove that colonial atrocities were more than communist violence. Thus (e) is the most appropriate answer choice.

Question 4

Why, according to the author, is Nazism closer to colonialism than it is to communism? (2006)

A. Both colonialism and Nazism were examples of tyranny of one race over another.
B. The genocides committed by the colonial and the Nazi regimes were of similar magnitude.
C. Several ideas of the Nazi regime were directly imported from colonial regimes.
D. Both colonialism and Nazism are based on the principles of imperialism.
E. While communism was never limited to Europe, both the Nazis and the colonialists originated in Europe.

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Option: (a)

In the fourth paragraph, the author has tried to compare Nazism with colonialism rather than comparing it with communism. Towards the end of the paragraph, the author states that many ideas coined by the German colonial regime were later inherited by the Nazi party. Thus (a) is the right answer choice.

Question 5

Which of the following cannot be inferred as a compelling reason for the silence of the Council of Europe on colonial atrocities?   (2006)

A. The Council of Europe being dominated by erstwhile colonialists.
B. Generating support for condemning communist ideology.
C. Unwillingness to antagonize allies by raking up an embarrassing past.
D. Greater value seemingly placed on European lives.
E. Portraying both communism and Nazism as ideologies to be condemned.  

SOLUTION

Solution : D

OPTION : (d)

Option (d) is correct as the council of Europe is dominated by strong European countries that were previously colonial powers. Option (b) also seems a reason for silence of council of Europe as it is condemning communist ideology and seeks support in the same.   Option (c) does not seem as a compelling reason because nothing of the allies is mentioned in the passage. Thus answer choice (d) is the most appropriate one.

Question 6

A just society, as conceptualized in the passage, can be best described as: (2006)

A. A Utopia in which everyone is equal and no one enjoys any privilege based on their existing positions and powers.
B. A hypothetical society in which people agree upon principles of justice which are fair.
C. A   society   in   which   principles   of   justice   are   not   based   on   the   existing   positions   and   powers   of   the individuals.
D. A society in which principles of justice are fair to all.
E. A hypothetical society in which principles of justice are not based on the existing positions and powers of the individuals.

SOLUTION

Solution : E

Option: (e)

The passage is based on the central theme of defining what a just society, based on an original position, will be like. According to the passage, the just society would be fair, wherein justice will not be influenced by privileges, position, and social status of a person. This is best described by option (e). Although all other options are close to being correct but option (e) seems to be the best pick amongst all.

Para 1:  

 ·         Present a conception of justice which generalizes and carries to a higher level of abstraction the familiar theory of the social contract.

 ·         The idea is that the principles of justice for the basic structure of society are the object of the original agreement.

 ·         They are the principles that free and rational persons concerned to further their own interests would accept in an initial position of equality.

 ·         These principles are to regulate all further agreements; they specify the kinds of social cooperation that can be entered into and the forms of government that can be established.

 ·         Author calls this justice as "fairness".

Para 2:

 ·         In "justice as fairness", no one knows his place in society, his class position or social status, nor does anyone know his fortune in the distribution of natural assets and abilities, his intelligence, strength and the like.

 ·         Principles of justice are chosen behind a veil of ignorance.

Para3

 ·         Justice as fairness begins with the choice of the first principles of a conception of justicewhich is to regulate all subsequentcriticism and reform of institutions.

 ·         Then, having chosen a conception of justice, we can suppose that they are to choose   a   constitution   and   a   legislature   to   enact   laws,   and   so   on,   all   in   accordance   with   the   principles   of justice   initially   agreed   upon.  

 ·         A society satisfying the   principles   of justice as   fairness comes   as close as   a society   can to being a voluntary   scheme,   for   it meets the principles which free and equal persons would assent to under circumstances that are fair.

Question 7

The original agreement or original position in the passage has been used by the author as:

A. A   hypothetical   situation   conceived   to   derive   principles   of   justice   which   are   not   influenced   by   position, status and condition of individuals in the society.
B. A   hypothetical   situation in which   every   individual   is   equal and   no individual enjoys   any privilege   based on the existing positions and powers.
C. A hypothetical situation to ensure fairness of agreements among individuals in society.
D. An imagined situation in which principles of justice would have to be fair.
E. An   imagined   situation   in   which   fairness   is   the   objective   of   the   principles   of   justice   to   ensure   that   no individual enjoys any privilege based on the existing positions and powers.

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Option: (a)

The 'original position' mentioned in the second paragraph has been used by the author to describe a 'hypothetical situation' where no one knows their status, position, privileges etc.. This is in order to ensure that justice is received without any influence from these categories. So, while option (b) is also close to the correct answer choice, option (a) is the most appropriate pick.

Question 8

Which   of   the   following   best   illustrates   the   situation   that   is   equivalent   to   choosing "the   principles   of justice' behind a "veil of ignorance'?   (2006)

A. The   principles   of   justice   are   chosen   by businessmen,   who are marooned   on an uninhabited   island   after a shipwreck, but have some possibility of returning.
B. The principles of justice are chosen by a group of school children whose capabilities are yet to develop.
C. The   principles   of   justice   are   chosen   by businessmen,   who are marooned   on an uninhabited   island   after a shipwreck and have no possibility of returning.
D. The principles of justice are chosen assuming that such principles will govern the lives of the rule makers only in their next birth if the rule makers agree that they will be born again.
E. The principles of justice are chosen by potential immigrants who are unaware of the resources necessary to succeed in a foreign country.  

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option: (d)

If we look at the second paragraph, it is evident that choosing 'the principles of justice' behind a 'veil of ignorance' refers to a situation where one must not be aware of his status, position, privileges etc. while choosing the principles. If we look at options (a), (b), (c) and (e), they talk about businessmen, school children and potential immigrants who in some way or the other will be aware of at least one of the things mentioned before, resulting in building up of a hierarchy. Thus, the only possibility is that of a new birth, where one is completely ignorant of what is to come. Thus the right answer choice is option (d).

Question 9

Why, according to the passage, do principles of justice need to be based on an original agreement?

A. Social institutions and laws can be considered fair only if they conform to principles of justice.
B. Social institutions and laws can be fair only if they are consistent with the principles of justiceas initially agreed upon.
C. Social institutions and laws need to be fair in order to be just.
D. Social   institutions   and   laws   evolve   fairly   only   if   they   are   consistent   with   the   principles   of   justice   as initially agreed upon.
E. Social institutions and laws conform to the principles of justice as initially agreed upon.

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option: (b)

 

It can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage that social institutions and laws can fair only if they are consistent with the principles of justice as initially agreed upon. Thus, option (b) clearly stands out as the right answer choice.

 

Question 10

Which of the following situations best represents the idea of justice as fairness, as argued in the passage?

A. All individuals are paid equally for the work they do.
B. Everyone is assigned some work for his or her livelihood.

C. All acts of theft are penalized equally.
D. All children are provided free education in similar schools.

E. All individuals are provided a fixed sum of money to take care of their health.

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option: (d)

Out of all the situations mentioned above in the answer choices, the one that most aptly represents the idea of justice as fairness is the situation where all children are provided free education in similar schools. This is because this appropriately describes the concept where no one is advantaged or disadvantaged in the choice of principles by the outcome of natural chance or the contingency of social circumstances.

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