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CAT 2017 Slot 1 VARC Question & Solution

Reading ComprehensionMedium

Passage

The passage below is accompanied by a set of six questions. Choose the best answer to each question.

I used a smartphone GPS to find my way through the cobblestoned maze of Geneva's Old Town, in search of a handmade machine that changed the world more than any other invention. Near a 13th-century cathedral in this Swiss city on the shores of a lovely lake, I found what I was looking for: a Gutenberg printing press. "This was the Internet of its day — at least as influential as the iPhone," said Gabriel de Montmollin, the director of the Museum of the Reformation, toying with the replica of Johann Gutenberg's great invention.

Before the invention of the printing press, it used to take four monks up to a year to produce a single book. With the advance in movable type in 15th-century Europe, one press could crank out 3,000 pages a day. Before long, average people could travel to places that used to be unknown to them — with maps! Medical information passed more freely and quickly, diminishing the sway of quacks. The printing press offered the prospect that tyrants would never be able to kill a book or suppress an idea. Gutenberg's brainchild broke the monopoly that clerics had on scripture. And later, stirred by pamphlets from a version of that same press, the American colonies rose up against a king and gave birth to a nation.

So, a question in the summer of this 10th anniversary of the iPhone: has the device that is perhaps the most revolutionary of all time given us a single magnificent idea? Nearly every advancement of the written word through new technology has also advanced humankind. Sure, you can say the iPhone changed everything. By putting the world's recorded knowledge in the palm of a hand, it revolutionized work, dining, travel and socializing. It made us more narcissistic — here's more of me doing cool stuff! — and it unleashed an army of awful trolls. We no longer have the patience to sit through a baseball game without that reach to the pocket. And one more casualty of Apple selling more than a billion phones in a decade's time: daydreaming has become a lost art.

For all of that, I'm still waiting to see if the iPhone can do what the printing press did for religion and democracy...the Geneva museum makes a strong case that the printing press opened more minds than anything else...it's hard to imagine the French or American revolutions without those enlightened voices in print...

Not long after Steve Jobs introduced his iPhone, he said the bound book was probably headed for history's attic. Not so fast. After a period of rapid growth in e-books, something closer to the medium for Chaucer's volumes has made a great comeback

The hope of the iPhone, and the Internet in general, was that it would free people in closed societies. But the failure of the Arab Spring, and the continued suppression of ideas in North Korea, China and Iran, has not borne that out. The iPhone is still young. It has certainly been "one of the most important, world-changing and successful products in. history," as Apple C.E.O. Tim Cook said. But I'm not sure if the world changed for the better with the iPhone — as it did with the printing press — or merely changed.

Question 1

The printing press has been likened to the Internet for which one of the following reasons?

It enabled rapid access to new information and the sharing of new ideas.
It represented new and revolutionary technology compared to the past.
It encouraged reading among people by giving them access to thousands of books.
It gave people access to pamphlets and literature in several languages.
Solution:

In the first passage, the author mentions printing press as the internet of its day. Immediately, in the next paragraph he elucidates how printing press helped in spreading ideas and information. Thus, the author likened the printing press to the internet because it enabled access to new information and sharing of ideas.

Hence, option A is the correct answer.

Question 2

According to the passage, the invention of the printing press did all of the following EXCEPT

promoted the spread of enlightened political views across countries.
gave people direct access to authentic medical information and religious texts.
shortened the time taken to produce books and pamphlets.
enabled people to perform various tasks simultaneously.
Solution:

From the lines "Medical information passed more freely and quickly, diminishing the sway of quacks" and "Gutenberg's brainchild broke the monopoly that clerics had on scripture" , we can infer that option B is true. 

From the lines "And later, stirred by pamphlets from a version of that same press, the American colonies rose up against a king and gave birth to a nation" and "it's hard to imagine the French or American revolutions without those enlightened voices in print", we can infer option A is true.

From the lines "Before the invention of the printing press, it used to take four monks up to a year to produce a single book. With the advance in movable type in 15th-century Europe, one press could crank out 3,000 pages a day", we can infer that option C is true.

Option D has not been stated nor implied anywhere in the passage.

Question 3

Steve Jobs predicted which one of the following with the introduction of the iPhone?

People would switch from reading on the Internet to reading on their iPhones.
People would lose interest in historical and traditional classics.
Reading printed books would become a thing of the past.
The production of e-books would eventually fall.
Solution:

Refer to the following lines - "Not long after Steve Jobs introduced his iPhone, he said the bound book was probably headed for history's attic". Thus, we can infer that Steve Jobs predicted that reading printed books would become a thing of the past. Hence, option C is the right answer.

Question 4

"I'm still waiting to see if the iPhone can do what the printing press did for religion and democracy." The author uses which one of the following to indicate his uncertainty?

The rise of religious groups in many parts of the world.
The expansion in trolling and narcissism among users of the Internet.
The continued suppression of free speech in closed societies.
The decline in reading habits among those who use the device.
Solution:

The author says that the iPhone has not fulfilled its potential as a piece of revolutionary technology. He goes on to say that the hope was that the iPhone could help in liberating people in closed societies. However, the failure of the Arab spring and continued suppression in places like North Korea shows that this has not happened. Hence, the author uses the continued suppression of free speech in closed societies to indicate why he is still uncertain about the potential of the iPhone. Hence, option C is correct.

Question 5

The author attributes the French and American revolutions to the invention of the printing press because

maps enabled large numbers of Europeans to travel and settle in the American continent.
the rapid spread of information exposed people to new ideas on freedom and democracy.
it encouraged religious freedom among the people by destroying the monopoly of religious leaders on the scriptures.
it made available revolutionary strategies and opinions to the people.
Solution:

Refer to the line "it's hard to imagine the French or American revolutions without those enlightened voices in print". Hence, from this we can straightaway eliminate options A and C. Between options B and D, B correctly captures the point made by the author. The printing press allowed the spread of enlightened voices and as a result people were exposed to new ideas on freedom and democracy. 

Option D slightly distorts what is given in the passage. The passage does not mention any revolutionary "strategies". Hence, we can eliminate this option.

Thus, the answer is option B.

Question 6

The main conclusion of the passage is that the new technology has

some advantages, but these are outweighed by its disadvantages.
so far not proved as successful as the printing press in opening people's minds.
been disappointing because it has changed society too rapidly.
been more wasteful than the printing press because people spend more time daydreaming or surfing.
Solution:

The main point of the passage is that unlike the Gutenberg printing press, the iPhone has in comparison done nothing to make the society more liberated or enlightened. This point has been accurately captured by option B.

The author is not weighing the advantages or disadvantages of new technology. Hence, we can eliminate option A. 

The author does not say that the society has rapidly changed as a result of new technology. In fact, he says that nothing really has changed as a result of it.

The author says that people are no longer daydreaming as a result of new technology. Hence, option D, which contradicts what is given in the passage, can be eliminated.