CAT 2017 Slot 2 VARC Question & Solution
Passage
The passage below is accompanied by a set of three questions. Choose the best answer to each question.
Typewriters are the epitome of a technology that has been comprehensively rendered obsolete by the digital age. The ink comes off the ribbon, they weigh a ton, and second thoughts are a disaster. But they are also personal, portable and, above all, private. Type a document and lock it away and more or less the only way anyone else can get it is if you give it to them. That is why the Russians have decided to go back to typewriters in some government offices, and why in the US, some departments have never abandoned them. Yet it is not just their resistance to algorithms and secret surveillance that keeps typewriter production lines — well one, at least — in business (the last British one closed a year ago). Nor is it only the nostalgic appeal of the metal body and the stout well-defined keys that make them popular on eBay. A typewriter demands something particular: attentiveness. By the time the paper is loaded, the ribbon tightened, the carriage returned, the spacing and the margins set, there's a big premium on hitting the right key. That means sorting out ideas, pulling together a kind of order and organising details before actually striking off. There can be no thinking on screen with a typewriter. Nor are there any easy distractions. No online shopping. No urgent emails. No Twitter. No need even for electricity — perfect for writing in a remote hideaway. The thinking process is accompanied by the encouraging clack of keys, and the ratchet of the carriage return. Ping!
Question 1
Which one of the following best describes what the passage is trying to do?
Solution:
The passage starts by introducing typewriters. The author later states that some goverment offices in Russia are going back to typewriters and that in the US some offices still use them. The author then goes on to give reasons for the same by highlighting positive aspects of the typewriter.
Option A correctly describes what the passage is trying to do. Hence, it is the right choice.
The author doesn't state that use of typewriters will be perennial. Hence, it can be eliminated.
The main aim of the passage is not to highlight personal benefit. Hence, it can be eliminated.
Option D is out of scope as the author nowhere states or highlights that computers offer less options than typewriters. Hence, it can be eliminated.
Hence, option A is the right answer.
Question 2
According to the passage, some governments still use typewriters because:
Solution:
Refer to the sentence, " ... the only way anyone else can get it is if you give it to them. That is why the Russians have decided to go back to typewriters in some government offices..." Hence, the government uses typewriters to control who views the document as the only way someone can read the document is by physically accessing it to them. Option D, which highlights this, is the right answer.
Question 3
The writer praises typewriters for all the following reasons EXCEPT
Solution:
The author states that, "..Nor are there any easy distractions...". Hence, the only thing one can do using typewriter is write, unlike computers. Hence, option A is correct.
Refer to following lines "... there's a big premium on hitting the right key...". Thus, there's premium attached on hitting right keys because as you cannot revise what you've typed on the typewriter. Hence, option B is correct.
Refer to following lines "...thinking process is accompanied by the encouraging clack of keys...". Hence, typewriters are noisier than computers. So, option C is correct.
Nowhere in the passage does the author state or highlight that typewriters are messiar than the computers. Hence, option D is not the reason why the author praises typewriters.
Thus, option D is the right choice.