CAT 2017 Slot 2 VARC Question & Solution
Passage
The passage below is accompanied by a set of six questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
The end of the age of the internal combustion engine is in sight. There are small signs everywhere: the shift to hybrid vehicles is already under way among manufacturers. Volvo has announced it will make no purely petrol-engined cars after 2019...and Tesla has just started selling its first electric car aimed squarely at the middle classes: the Tesla 3 sells for $35,000 in the US, and 400,000 people have put down a small, refundable deposit towards one. Several thousand have already taken delivery, and the company hopes to sell half a million more next year. This is a remarkable figure for a machine with a fairly short range and a very limited number of specialised charging stations.
Some of it reflects the remarkable abilities of Elon Musk, the company's founder, as a salesman, engineer, and a man able to get the most out his factory workers and the governments he deals with...Mr Musk is selling a dream that the world wants to believe in.
This last may be the most important factor in the story. The private car is...a device of immense practical help and economic significance, but at the same time a theatre for myths of unattainable self-fulfilment. The one thing you will never see in a car advertisement is traffic, even though that is the element in which drivers spend their lives. Every single driver in a traffic jam is trying to escape from it, yet it is the inevitable consequence of mass car ownership.
The sleek and swift electric car is at one level merely the most contemporary fantasy of autonomy and power. But it might also disrupt our exterior landscapes nearly as much as the fossil fuel-engined car did in the last century. Electrical cars would of course pollute far less than fossil fuel-driven ones; instead of oil reserves, the rarest materials for batteries would make undeserving despots and their dynasties fantastically rich. Petrol stations would disappear. The air in cities would once more be breathable and their streets as quiet as those of Venice. This isn't an unmixed good. Cars that were as silent as bicycles would still be as dangerous as they are now to anyone they hit without audible warning.
The dream goes further than that. The electric cars of the future will be so thoroughly equipped with sensors and reaction mechanisms that they will never hit anyone. Just as brakes don't let you skid today, the steering wheel of tomorrow will swerve you away from danger before you have even noticed it...
This is where the fantasy of autonomy comes full circle. The logical outcome of cars which need no driver is that they will become cars which need no owner either. Instead, they will work as taxis do, summoned at will but only for the journeys we actually need. This the future towards which Uber...is working. The ultimate development of the private car will be to reinvent public transport. Traffic jams will be abolished only when the private car becomes a public utility. What then will happen to our fantasies of independence? We' ll all have to take to electrically powered bicycles.
Question 1
Which of the following statements best reflects the author's argument?
Solution:
The main argument around which the passage revolves can be referred from following statemenst made by the author "...The private car is...a device of immense practical ... but at the same time a theatre for myths of unattainable self-fulfilment... ". In the later part, the author substanitiates this argument. Hence, option C, which states the same, must be the right answer.
Question 2
The author points out all of the following about electric cars EXCEPT
Solution:
Refer to the following lines, " ...the rarest materials for batteries would make undeserving despots and their dynasties fantastically rich..." Thus, the author states that relying on rare materials will support despotic rule. Hence, option A is correct and can be eliminated.
Refer to the following lines, "...The air in cities would once more be breathable and their streets as quiet as .. Cars that were as silent as bicycles ...". Hence, option B is correct and can be eliminated.
Refer to the following lines, "...traffic jam is trying to escape from it, yet it is the inevitable consequence of mass car ownership..." Hence, the author points out that the problem of traffic jam which persists with electric car as it is a consequence of mass car ownership. Hence, option C is correct and can be eliminated.
Option D, which states that electric cars will undermine the driver autonomy, cannot be inferred from the passage. Hence, option D is the right choice.
Question 3
According to the author, the main reason for Tesla's remarkable sales is that
Solution:
Refer to following lines, "...Mr Musk is selling a dream that the world ...This last may be the most important factor in the story. The private car..". Since people believe in the autonomy represented by private cars, Tesla had remarkable sales.
Option A is nowhere stated as the reason for high sales for Tesla. Hence, it can be eliminated.
Nowhere in the passage has the author mentioned about tax subsidy to Tesla buyers. Hence, option B can be eliminated.
The author states that there are limited number of specialised charging stations. But the author doesn't state that there will be significant increase in charging stations rapidly which would increase the sales. Hence, option C can be eliminated.
Option D correctly highlights the main reason for Tesla's remarkable sales. Hence, option D is the right choice.
Question 4
The author comes to the conclusion that
Solution:
Refer to the following lines, "...Traffic jams will be abolished only when the private car becomes a public utility...". According to the author the fantasy of autonomy comes full circle. Thus the author states that car drivers want autonomy but public transport will be the future as only then the traffic problem will be solved.
Option A, which states that car drivers will no longer own cars, is too extreme and can be ruled out.
Option B specifies something that is out of the scope of the paragraph. Hence, option B is incorrect.
Option C completely reflects what the author says in the end. Hence, it is the right choice.
Option D is again too extreme and cannot be found in the passage. Also, the author mentions electric bicycles just to provide an illustration. Hence,it can be eliminated.
Hence, option C is the right answer.
Question 5
In paragraphs 5 and 6, the author provides the example of Uber to argue that
Solution:
In paragraph 5 and 6 the author states that instead of cars having owners they'll work as taxis do, call the taxis at will and use only for journey which we actually need. According to the author this is the future towards which Uber is working.
Option A, which states that electric cars will have mechanisms to prevent collisions, is out of context. Hence, it is incorrect and can be eliminated.
Option B, which states that future will definitely have no trafiic jams, is incorrect. Hence, option B can be eliminated.
Option C captures the points which we discussed. Hence, option C is the right answer.
The passage doesn't give any comparison about Uber rides and Tesla sales. Hence, option D is incorrect and can be eliminated.
Question 6
In paragraph 6, the author mentions electrically powered bicycles to argue that
Solution:
According to the author we'll have no traffic jams only when cars become public utility. And, for us(people) to have independence, we'll have to start using electrically powered bicycles. Hence, option B, which states this, is the right answer.
Option A is nowhere mentioned in the passage. Hence, can be eliminated.
Author doesn't give any comparison, as mentioned in option C, between electric powered bicycle and electric cars. Hence, option C can be eliminated.
The author nowhere mentions that electric buses are the best form of public transport. Hence, option D can be eliminated.
Hence, option B is the right choice.