{"id":6492,"date":"2017-11-16T17:28:10","date_gmt":"2017-11-16T11:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/?p=6492"},"modified":"2017-11-16T17:33:23","modified_gmt":"2017-11-16T12:03:23","slug":"reading-comprehension-passages-questions-answers-cat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cracku.in\/blog\/reading-comprehension-passages-questions-answers-cat\/","title":{"rendered":"Reading Comprehension Passages with Questions and Answers for CAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reading Comprehension Passages with Questions and Answers for CAT:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n\nDownload Reading Comprehension Passages for CAT<\/a><\/div>\n

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Download the CAT Verbal Ability PDFs\/Ebooks<\/a>\u00a0and all\u00a0Quantitative aptitude questions PDF<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Instructions:<\/b><\/p>\n

Right through history, imperial powers have clung to their possessions to death. Why, then, did Britain in 1947 give up the jewel in its crown, India? For many reasons. The independence struggle exposed the hollowness of the white man\u2019s burden. Provincial self-rule since 1935 paved the way for full self-rule. Churchill resisted independence, but the Labour government of Atlee was anti-imperialist by ideology. Finally, the Royal Indian Navy mutiny in 1946 raised fears of a second Sepoy mutiny, and convinced British waverers that it was safer to withdraw gracefully. But politico-military explanations are not enough. The basis of empire was always money. The end of empire had much to do with the fact that British imperialism had ceased to be profitable. World War II left Britain victorious but deeply indebted, needing Marshall Aid and loans from the World Bank. This constituted a strong financial case for ending the no-longer profitable empire.
\nEmpire building is expensive. The US is spending one billion dollars a day in operations in Iraq that fall well short of full scale imperialism. Through the centuries, empire building was costly, yet constantly undertaken because it promised high returns. The investment was in armies and conquest. The returns came through plunder and taxes from the conquered.
\nNo immorality was attached to imperial loot and plunder. The biggest conquerors were typically revered (hence titles like Alexander the Great, Akbar the Great, and Peter the Great). The bigger and richer the empire, the more the plunderer was admired. This mindset gradually changed with the rise of new ideas about equality and governing for the public good, ideas that culminated in the French and American revolutions.
\nRobert Clive was impeached for making a little money on the side, and so was Warren Hastings. The white man\u2019s burden came up as a new moral rationale for conquest. It was supposedly for the good of the conquered. This led to much muddled hypocrisy. On the one hand, the empire needed to be profitable. On the other hand, the white man\u2019s burden made brazen loot impossible.
\nAn additional factor deterring loot was the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny. Though crushed, it reminded the British vividly that they were a tiny ethnic group who could not rule a gigantic subcontinent without the support of important locals. After 1857, the British stopped annexing one princely state after another, and instead treated the princes as allies. Land revenue was fixed in absolute terms, partly to prevent local unrest and partly to promote the notion of the white man\u2019s burden. The empire proclaimed itself to be a protector of the Indian peasant against exploitation by Indian elites. This was denounced as hypocrisy by nationalists like Dadabhoy Naoroji in the 19th century, who complained that land taxes led to an enormous drain from India to Britain. Objective calculations by historians like Angus Maddison suggest a drain of perhaps 1.6 percent of Indian Gross National Product in the 19th century. But land revenue was more or less fixed by the Raj in absolute terms, and so its real value diminished rapidly with inflation in the 20th century. By World War II, India had ceased to be a profit center for the British Empire.<\/p>\n

Historically, conquered nations paid taxes to finance fresh wars of the conqueror. India itself was asked to pay a large sum at the end of World War I to help repair Britain\u2019s finances. But, as shown by historian Indivar Kamtekar, the independence movement led by Gandhiji changed the political landscape, and made mass taxation of India increasingly difficult. By World War II, this had become politically impossible. Far from taxing India to pay for World War II, Britain actually began paying India for its contribution of men and goods. Troops from white dominions like Australia; Canada and New Zealand were paid for entirely by these countries, but Indian costs were shared by the British government. Britain paid in the form of nonconvertible sterling balances, which mounted swiftly. The conqueror was paying the conquered, undercutting the profitability on which all empire is founded. Churchill opposed this, and wanted to tax India rather than owe it money. But he was overruled by Indian hands who said India would resist payment, and paralyze the war effort. Leo Amery, Secretary of State for India, said that when you are driving in a taxi to the station to catch a life-or-death train, you do not loudly announce that you have doubts whether to pay the fare. Thus, World War II converted India from a debtor to a creditor with over one billion pounds in sterling balances. Britain, meanwhile, became the biggest debtor in the world. It\u2019s not worth ruling over people you are afraid to tax.<\/p>\n

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Question 1:<\/b><\/p>\n

Why didn\u2019t Britain tax India to finance its World War II efforts?<\/p>\n

a)<\/b>\u00a0Australia, Canada and New Zealand had offered to pay for Indian troops.<\/p>\n

b)<\/b>\u00a0India has already paid a sufficiently large sum during World War I.<\/p>\n

c)<\/b>\u00a0It was afraid that if India refused to pay, Britain\u2019s war efforts would be jeopardized.<\/p>\n

d)<\/b>\u00a0The British empire was built on the premise that the conqueror pays the conquered.<\/p>\n


\nQuestion 2:<\/b><\/p>\n

What was the main lesson the British learned from the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857.<\/p>\n

a)<\/b>\u00a0That the local princes were allies, not foes.<\/p>\n

b)<\/b>\u00a0That the land revenue from India would decline dramatically.<\/p>\n

c)<\/b>\u00a0That the British were a small ethnic group.<\/p>\n

d)<\/b>\u00a0That India would be increasingly difficult to rule.<\/p>\n

Take a free CAT mock test<\/a><\/p>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

Question 3:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Which of the following was NOT a reason for the emergence of the \u2018white man\u2019s burden\u2019 as a new rationale for empire-building in India?<\/p>\n

a)<\/b>\u00a0The emergence of the idea of the public good as an element of governance.<\/p>\n

b)<\/b>\u00a0The decreasing returns from imperial loot and increasing costs of conquest.<\/p>\n

c)<\/b>\u00a0The weakening of the immorality attached to an emperor\u2019s looting behaviour.<\/p>\n

d)<\/b>\u00a0A growing awareness of the idea of equality among peoples.<\/p>\n


\nQuestion 4:
\n<\/b>
\nWhich of the following best captures the meaning of the \u2018white man\u2019s burden\u2019, as it is used by the author?<\/p>\n

a)<\/b>\u00a0The British claim to a civilizing mission directed at ensuring the good of the natives.<\/p>\n

b)<\/b>\u00a0The inspiration for the French and American revolutions.<\/p>\n

c)<\/b>\u00a0The resource drain that had to be borne by the home country\u2019s white population.<\/p>\n

d)<\/b>\u00a0An imperative that made open looting of resources impossible.<\/p>\n

Question 5:<\/b><\/p>\n

Which one of the following best expresses the main purpose of the author?<\/p>\n

a)<\/b>\u00a0To present the various reasons that can lead to the collapse of an empire and the granting of independence of the subjects of an empire.<\/p>\n

b)<\/b>\u00a0To point out the critical role played by the \u2018white man\u2019s burden\u2019 in making a colonizing power give up its claims to native possessions.<\/p>\n

c)<\/b>\u00a0To highlight the contradictory impulse underpinning empire building which is a costly business but very attractive at the same time.<\/p>\n

d)<\/b>\u00a0To illustrate how erosion of the financial basis of an empire supports the granting of independence to an empire\u2019s constituents.<\/p>\n

Download Profit & Loss Questions PDF<\/a><\/p>\n


\nSolutions (1 to 5)
\n<\/b>
\n1)<\/b>\u00a0Answer (c)
\nConsider the following lines from the passage: “But he was overruled by Indian hands who said India would resist payment and paralyse the war effort”. From this, we can understand the reason why the British didn’t tax India to finance its war efforts. It was afraid that if India refused to pay, Britain’s war efforts would be jeopardized. Option c) is the correct answer.<\/p>\n

2)<\/b>\u00a0Answer (c)
\nRefer to the 5th paragraph. It says “Though crushed, it reminded the British vividly that they were a tiny ethnic group who could not rule a gigantic subcontinent without the support of the important locals”. From this, we can understand that the main lesson that the British learnt from the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 was that they were a small ethnic group. Option c) is the correct answer.<\/p>\n

3)<\/b>\u00a0Answer (b)
\nIf the returns from conquest decreased and the costs increased, it wouldn’t make sense to continue empire-building in India. So, the sentence in option b) is not a reason for the emergence of the ‘white man’s burden’ as a new rationale for empire-building in India.<\/p>\n

4)<\/b>\u00a0Answer (a)
\nWhite man’s burden refers to the claim made by the British that the natives of the conquered countries were in need of the ‘good’ provided by them. This was a justification for their conquests. Option a) captures this idea succinctly.<\/p>\n

5)<\/b>\u00a0Answer (d)
\nThroughout the passage, the author talks about the various financial reasons for conquest and explains how the British were forced to grant independence when their returns from India diminished after the war. The main idea of the passage is to illustrate how the erosion of the financial basis of an empire supports the granting of independence to an empire’s constituents. Option d) is the correct answer.<\/p>\n

CAT previous solved papers<\/a><\/p>\n

Highly rated free CAT app<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reading Comprehension Passages with Questions and Answers for CAT: Download the CAT Verbal Ability PDFs\/Ebooks\u00a0and all\u00a0Quantitative aptitude questions PDF. Instructions: Right through history, imperial powers have clung to their possessions to death. Why, then, did Britain in 1947 give up the jewel in its crown, India? For many reasons. The independence struggle exposed the hollowness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":6500,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,169,125],"tags":[131],"class_list":{"0":"post-6492","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cat","8":"category-downloads","9":"category-featured","10":"tag-cat-2017"},"better_featured_image":{"id":6500,"alt_text":"Reading Comprehension Passages with Questions and Answers for CAT","caption":"Reading Comprehension Passages with Questions and Answers for CAT","description":"Reading Comprehension Passages with Questions and Answers for 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