CAT 2024 Slot 1 VARC Question & Solution

Reading ComprehensionMedium

Passage

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.

In the summer of 2022, subscribers to the US streaming service HBO MAX were alarmed to discover that dozens of the platform’s offerings - from the Covid-themed heist thriller Locked Down to the recent remake of The Witches - had been quietly removed from the service . . . The news seemed like vindication to those who had long warned that streaming was more about controlling access to the cultural commons than expanding it, as did reports (since denied by the show’s creators) that Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects.

What’s less clear is whether the commonly prescribed cure for these cultural ills - a return to the material pleasures of physical media - is the right one. While the makers of Blu-ray discs claim they have a shelf life of 100 years, such statistics remain largely theoretical until they come to pass, and are dependent on storage conditions, not to mention the continued availability of playback equipment. The humble DVD has already proved far less resilient, with many early releases already beginning to deteriorate in quality Digital movie purchases provide even less security. Any film “bought” on iTunes could disappear if you move to another territory with a different rights agreement and try to redownload it. It’s a bold new frontier in the commodification of art: the birth of the product recall. After a man took to Twitter to bemoan losing access to Cars 2 after moving from Canada to Australia, Apple clarified that users who downloaded films to their devices would retain permanent access to those downloads, even if they relocated to a hemisphere where the [content was] subject to a different set of rights agreements. Thanks to the company’s ironclad digital rights management technology, however, such files cannot be moved or backed up, locking you into watching with your Apple account.

Anyone who does manage to acquire Digital Rights Management free (DRM-free) copies of their favourite films must nonetheless grapple with ever-changing file format standards, not to mention data decay - the gradual process by which electronic information slowly but surely corrupts. Only the regular migration of files from hard drive to hard drive can delay the inevitable, in a sisyphean battle against the ravages of digital time.

In a sense, none of this is new. Charlie Chaplin burned the negative of his 1926 film A Woman of the Sea as a tax write-off. Many more films have been lost through accident, negligence or plain indifference. During a heatwave in July 1937, a Fox film vault in New Jersey burned down, destroying a majority of the silent films produced by the studio.

Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema. Today, with film studios keen to stress the breadth of their back catalogues (or to put in Hollywood terms, the value of their IPs), audiences may start to wonder why those same studios seem happy to set the vault alight themselves if it’ll help next quarter’s numbers.

Question 1

Which one of the following statements about art best captures the arguments made in the passage?

In the age of online subscription services, it is time to change our understanding of classic works of art being primarily immutable and easily available to the public

As art is increasingly created, stored and distributed digitally, access to it is counterintuitively likely to be made more difficult by the rapid churn in technology and the whims of host platforms.

Accepting retroactive changes to works of art is dangerous because it will encourage creators to not put enough effort into the original attempt, given that they can always edit or update their work later

Works of art belong to the cultural commons and hence must remain available in perpetuity, irrespective of who pays for access to them.

Solution:

Option B is the correct answer.

The passage argues that, despite the advances in digital distribution and storage of films (via streaming services or digital purchases), access to art is becoming more fragile. It mentions how content can disappear from platforms, how digital files deteriorate over time, and how rights agreements can limit access based on geographical location. The idea that technology and platform control lead to difficulties in maintaining access captured in Option B

Option A: The passage does not advocate changing the understanding of art as immutable or easily available. Hence, this is wrong.

Option C: This is an overstatement of the passage’s argument. While the passage briefly touches on the idea of retroactive changes to works like Stranger Things, it does not present these changes as inherently "dangerous."

Option D: The passage does not argue for the availability of art in the cultural commons in perpetuity. Instead, it highlights how access is controlled by platforms and technological challenges rather than making a broader ideological statement about cultural commons.

Hence option B is correct

Question 2

Which one of the following statements, if true, would best invalidate the main argument of the passage?

Recent research has irrefutably proven that Blu-Ray discs have a shelf life of at least 100 years.

Studios and streaming services have committed to giving customers perpetual and platform independent access to the original digital content they have paid for.

When moving to a different geographical location, customers can easily use Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass geo-blocking and regain access to their content on any streaming service.

Improved cloud storage services have made it possible for movie collections to now be preserved in perpetuity, without the need to keep migrating the files.

Solution:

Option B is the correct answer.

Option B would invalidate the main argument because it directly addresses the issue raised in the passage, i.e., the lack of permanent access to digital content. The passage highlights concerns about the temporary and restricted nature of digital ownership. If studios and streaming services committed to providing perpetual and platform-independent access, it would resolve the problem of content being removed or restricted, making the author's argument about the instability of digital media irrelevant.

Option A: This would not invalidate the argument because the passage mentions that Blu-ray discs have a theoretical shelf life but acknowledges that their durability depends on storage conditions and the availability of playback equipment.

Option C: This option doesn't directly invalidate the argument either. While VPNs might help users bypass geo-restrictions, it doesn't address the broader issue of digital ownership and the fragility of digital rights, especially the fear of losing access to content due to different rights agreements. The passage focuses on the unreliability and restrictions of digital ownership, not just geographical access.

Option D: While this option touches on the potential for preserving digital content, it doesn't directly address the problem raised in the passage: the lack of permanent, independent access to content.

Question 3

Which of the following statements is suggested by the sentence “Back then, at least, cinema was defined by its ephemerality: the sense that a film was as good as gone once it left your local cinema”?

Around a century ago, people were more accepting of not having access to films once they left the local cinema.

Today, films are expected to be available for a long time, since they are no longer tied solely to their stay at the local cinema

Cinema is now no longer as ephemeral as it used to be earlier, because the technology used for creating and preserving films has improved manifold

Presently, there is no reason why film studios should remove access to films once they have left the local cinema

Solution:

Option B is the correct answer.

The passage contrasts the past and present by mentioning that, in the past, films were considered “as good as gone” once they left the cinema, meaning they were ephemeral and not readily accessible afterwards. Whereas, today's audience expects ongoing access to films well beyond their initial cinema run, thanks to technological advancements like streaming services and digital media. This shift in expectations is what the passage implies when referencing the previous era's ephemerality versus today's more lasting availability.

Option A: This is not the main point. While it may be true that people accepted films as temporary, the passage emphasizes today's expectations rather than discussing past acceptance.

Option C: The passage does not mention technology improvements. It focuses more on audience expectations or belief that films should now be available beyond just the cinema.

Option D: While the passage suggests that audiences may expect films to remain accessible, it does not claim there is no reason for studios to remove access. The passage acknowledges that financial motives may lead to films being removed from platforms.

Question 4

“Netflix had begun editing old episodes of Stranger Things to retroactively improve their visual effects.” What is the purpose of this example used in the passage?

To show that streaming services are controlling access to the cultural commons rather than expanding it.

To show how unsubstantiated reports are leading to an increase in the level of distrust towards streaming services

To show a practice that justifies the fears of people who feel streaming services cannot be trusted to be custodians of cultural artefacts like film.

To show that art in the digital age, specifically film, is no longer sacrosanct, and may be changed to suit changing tastes or technology.

Solution:

Option C is the correct answer.

The passage highlights that the practice of streaming services, like Netflix, editing old episodes of Stranger Things retroactively raised concerns. Altering a popular show’s content without consent or transparency supports the concern that such platforms can tamper with or erase parts of culture at their discretion rather than preserve them as they were originally created.

Option A: This option doesn't fully address the specific concern raised by the Stranger Things editing example. The example focuses on altering the content, not controlling access.

Option B: The example concerns the possibility and practice of editing content on streaming platforms, not whether unsubstantiated reports cause distrust.

Option D: The example of Stranger Things is not necessarily about changing films to suit new tastes or technology. Rather, it’s about the platform’s ability to alter existing content without transparency or input from the original creators.