CAT 2020 Question Paper Slot 3

In the final paragraph, the author highlights the crisis as an ironical situation: a group of individualistic entities facing an issue with collective impact and thereby, needs to be dealt with "together" or by shifting from the existing self-centred setup {"...That’s one of the strangest ironies of this story: after decades in which the ideology of the Western world was personally and economically individualistic, we’ve suddenly been hit by a crisis which shows in the starkest terms that whether we like it or not—and there are large parts of it that you would have to be crazy to like—we’re all in this together...."}. Option D is the closest choice that captures this element. Option A is contrary to the point presented in the concluding para. Options B and C are either divergent to the point made or merely distorted comments. Hence, Option D is the correct answer. 

A predominant idea discussed by the author is regarding the lack of financial literacy that could be truly beneficial to our understanding of the world. This is emphasised via the following excerpt: 

{...It seems to me that there is a much bigger gap between the world of finance and that of the general public and that there is a need to narrow that gap, if the financial industry is not to be a kind of priesthood, administering to its own mysteries and feared and resented by the rest of us. Many bright, literate people have no idea about all sorts of economic basics, of a type that financial insiders take as elementary facts of how the world works. I am an outsider to finance and economics, and my hope is that I can talk across that gulf....} 

Option C aligns with this concern and is, consequently, an idea that the author is bound to support. Option B appears as another likely candidate; however, economic research is not one of the focal points mentioned. Options A and D contain elements that are not discussed or are opposite to the author's ideas. Hence, Option C is a programme that the author is most likely to be supportive of.

Let us inspect the individual options:

Option A: If true, this statement could be antithetical to the point put forth in the concluding paragraph: the author believes that an individualistic ideology isn't the right way forward; instead, we need to deal with such crises collectively. Thus, this is a conflicting viewpoint and thereby, the correct answer. 

Option B: If true, aligns with the author's point in the first paragraph: {...It seems to me that there is a much bigger gap between the world of finance and that of the general public and that there is a need to narrow that gap, if the financial industry is not to be a kind of priesthood, administering to its own mysteries and feared and resented by the rest of us...} 

Options C and D: If true, this is in tune with the author's claim {made in the final segment} about dealing with such crises together. 

Hence, of the given statements, Options A deviates from the author's argument and thus, is the correct answer. 

On skimming through the statements, it is evident that Options A and D do very little, if at all anything, to support the author's claim. Option C, in its current form, aligns with the author's assertion; however, if false, it is opposite to the author's argument about financial literacy {on negating the statement, it indicates that most people do have an understanding of the workings of the financial world}. Option B, if false, is in line with the assertions made in the concluding paragraph. 

Option A: This author will agree with this assertion. It has been mentioned in the third para: {... For some kids, there is premature thinning of their cerebral cortex...}.

Option B: Reduction in human contact or social engagement is one of the negative impacts of screen time that the author highlights in the passage. Option B is antithetical to this presentation and is, hence, not a claim that the author is likely to endorse. 

Option C: The author states this element in the third para: {... In adults, one study found an association between screen time and depression...}

Option D: A point along similar lines has been presented in the fifth para: {...There are fleets of psychologists and neuroscientists on staff at big tech companies working to hook eyes and minds to the screen as fast as possible and for as long as possible. And so human contact is rare...}

Hence, Option B is the correct answer.

At the very beginning, the author highlights the disparity in the screen time with regard to the wealthy and the common masses: {...As more screens appear in the lives of the poor, screens are disappearing from the lives of the rich. The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen...}. The statement in Option B supplements this assertion by further highlighting this observed difference in activity between the rich and the common: {...As more screens appear in the lives of the poor, screens are disappearing from the lives of the rich. The richer you are, the more you spend to be off-screen...}. None of the other options can be attached to the given statements. Hence, Option B is the correct answer.

The following excerpt from the fourth paragraph throws light into this matter: {...Tech companies worked hard to get public schools to buy into programs that required schools to have one laptop per student, arguing that it would better prepare children for their screen-based future. But this idea isn’t how the people who actually build the screen-based future raise their own children...}. It is understood that though tech companies manipulate public schools into engaging in a process involving more screen time, they avoid a similar course of activity when it comes to their own children {whom they subject to a screen-free education and upbringing}. Option D aptly captures this two-facedness. Option B is a distorted interpretation, while Options A and C cannot be inferred from the passage. 

Hence, Option D is the correct answer.

Option A: The author has already discussed a point along similar lines towards the end of the passage: {...There is also the reality that in our culture of increasing isolation, in which so many of the traditional gathering places and social structures have disappeared, screens are filling a crucial void...}. Hence, the author definitely considers this as one of the causes behind the increase in screen time.

Option B: The discussion in passage 4 and 5 highlights how the tech companies have {perhaps successfully} convinced schools to integrate a screen-based educational culture to prepare students for a "screen-based future". Thus, this is another factor that the author attributes to the rise in screen time.

Option C: This aspect has been discussed towards the end of the passage: {...There is a small movement to pass a “right to disconnect” bill, which would allow workers to turn their phones off, but for now, a worker can be punished for going offline and not being available...}. Hence, the author considers this as another factor contributing to the increase in screen time. 

Option D: There is no discussion mentioning or detailing the elements presented in D. Thus, we cannot conclusively comment on whether the author is likely to agree with this point. 

Hence, Option D is the correct answer.

Statement (2) introduces us to certain evolutionary influences in the bodily mechanisms of animals, especially mammals (bats). Statement (4) continues on the observed influence on the various apparatuses in mammals, specifically in the case of the most complex human organ: the central nervous system (CNS). The author mentions that the example of exaptation and Russian dolls serve to assist in our understanding of this complex organ (CNS). The significance of the Russian dolls is elaborated in Statement (3), specifically with regard to its structural implications: " smaller structures are contained within larger ones in multiple layers"—this portryas the presence of some structural hierarchy that can be observed in such complex apparatuses. Statement (1) highlights how the complex elements in the CNS are organised in a “nested hierarchic criterion", thereby, serving as a continuation to (3). Therefore, (2)-(4)-(3)-(1) forms a coherent paragraph. 

Statement (4) opens the discussion by mentioning an "antitrust law" and a few essential features attached to it. Statement (1) further describes this provision {"...It advocated..." }: the move to support an efficient market and curb anti-competitive practises. Statement (2) then elaborates on the latter point of anticompetitive practices and subsequently, highlights the relevance of this provision. Statement (3) further emphasises the  necessity of  "new legal solutions" to deal with the elements discussed earlier {in (2) and (3)}. Hence, (4)-(1)-(2)-(3) forms a logical arrangement.