CAT 2025 Slot 3 VARC Question & Solution
Passage
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
Over the course of the twentieth century, humans built, on average, one large dam a day, hulking structures of steel and concrete designed to control flooding, facilitate irrigation, and generate electricity. Dams were also lucrative contracts, large-scale employers, and the physical instantiation of a messianic drive to conquer territories and control nature. Some of the results of that drive were charismatic mega-infrastructure—the Hoover on the Colorado River or the Aswan on the Nile—but most of the tens of thousands of dams that dot the Earth's landscape have drawn little attention. These are the smaller, though not inconsequential, barriers that today impede the flow of water on nearly two-thirds of the world's large waterways. Chances are, what your map calls a “lake” is actually a reservoir, and that thin blue line that emerges from it once flowed very differently.
Damming a river is always a partisan act. Even when explicit infrastructure goals— irrigation, flood control, electrification—were met, other consequences were significant and often deleterious. Across the world, river control displaced millions of people, threatening livelihoods, foodways, and cultures. In the western United States, dams were often an instrument of colonialism, used to dispossess Indigenous people and subsidize settler agriculture. And as dams slowed the flow of water, inhibited the movement of nutrients, and increased the amount of toxic algae and other parasites, they snuffed out entire river ecologies. Declining fish populations are the most evident effect, but dams also threaten a host of other animals—from birds and reptiles to fungi and plants—with extinction. Every major dam, then, is also a sacrifice zone, a place where lives, livelihoods, and ways of life are eliminated so that new sorts of landscapes can support water-intensive agriculture and cities that sprout downstream of new reservoirs.
Such sacrifices have been justified as offerings at the temples of modernity. Justified by—and for—whom, though? Over the course of the twentieth century, rarely were the costs and benefits weighed thoughtfully and decided democratically. As Kader Asmal, chair of the landmark 2000 World Commission on Dams, concluded, “There have been precious few, if any, comprehensive, independent analyses as to why dams came about, how dams perform over time, and whether we are getting a fair return from our $2 trillion investment.” A quarter- century later, Asmal’s words ring ever truer. A litany of dams built in the mid- twentieth century are approaching the end of their expected lives, with worrying prospects for their durability. Droughts, magnified and multiplied by the effects of climate change, have forced more and more to run below capacity. If ever there were a time to rethink the mania for dams, it would be now.
There is some evidence that a combination of opposition, alternative energy sources, and a lack of viable projects has slowed the construction of major dams. But a wave of recent and ongoing construction, from India and China to Ethiopia and Canada, continues to tilt the global balance firmly in favor of water impoundment.
Question 1
Which one of the following sets of terms is closest to mapping the key arguments of the passage?
Solution:
Main Idea of the Passage
The passage follows a clear argumentative progression about large dams and mega-infrastructure. It traces how dams are understood, justified, and still promoted despite their costs. The arc of the argument unfolds as follows:
- Dams are first presented as symbols of ambition and control over nature
- The passage then reveals their hidden cost, showing that every major dam creates a sacrifice zone
- Communities are displaced
- Ecosystems are destroyed
- Ways of life are erased
- These losses are historically justified as necessary offerings at the “temples of modernity”, made in the name of progress
- Finally, the passage points out that global trends still favour dam-building, even though:
- Evidence of harm is growing
- Many existing dams are aging and increasingly risky
The core argument is not just about dams themselves, but about how ambition, justification, and inertia continue to drive harmful development.
Explanation of the Correct Answer
Why Option C Is Correct
Option C best captures the passage’s full argumentative arc because it reflects the complete sequence:
- Motivation: Dams as symbols of modern ambition and control
- Consequence: Human displacement and ecological devastation
- Justification: Sacrifice framed as necessary for progress
- Current trajectory: Continued global support for water impoundment despite known harms
This option mirrors the passage’s logical flow and preserves its critical perspective.
Why the Other Options Are Incorrect
- The other options:
- Focus on isolated aspects of dams
- List partial effects or themes without showing progression
- Fail to capture how the passage moves from symbolism → damage → justification → persistence
As a result, they do not represent the passage’s overarching argument.
Final Answer
Correct Answer: Option C
Question 2
What does the author wish to communicate by referring to the Hoover and Aswan dams in the first paragraph?
Solution:
Main Idea of the Reference
The passage refers to the Aswan and Hoover dams as examples of “charismatic mega-infrastructure”. These famous dams symbolise humanity’s desire to control land and nature. However, the author does not focus on them to glorify large projects.
Instead, they are used as visible symbols to help readers recognise a much broader and less visible pattern.
Explanation of the Correct Answer
Why Option D Is Correct
Option D best captures the author’s purpose because it shows that:
- The mindset of dominating nature is not limited to iconic mega-dams
- The same logic operates across tens of thousands of smaller dams
- These smaller structures, though less visible, collectively reshape rivers worldwide
By starting with well-known examples like Hoover and Aswan, the author makes it easier to see how the same impulse operates at all scales.
Why the Other Options Are Incorrect
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Option A:
- Misinterprets the phrase “thin blue line”
- This refers to dam-altered rivers globally, not specifically to the Colorado or Nile
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Option B:
- Incorrectly shifts focus to employers and contracts
- The passage treats dams as symbolic structures, not economic arrangements
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Option C:
- Attributes the dams’ significance to the personal charisma of designers or builders
- The passage makes no such claim and focuses on structural symbolism, not individuals
Final Answer
Correct Answer: Option D
Question 3
The word “instantiation” is used in the first paragraph. Which one of the following pairs of terms would be the best substitute for it in the context of its usage in the paragraph?
Solution:
Main Idea of the Sentence
In the first paragraph, dams are described as
“the physical instantiation of a messianic drive to conquer territories and control nature.”
Here, instantiation means turning an abstract idea into a concrete, physical form.
- The abstract idea is the desire to dominate and control nature
- The concrete form is steel-and-concrete dams
- The dams are not just structures; they embody and make visible this underlying drive
Explanation of the Correct Answer
Why Option A Is Correct
Option A — “exemplification and manifestation” best captures this meaning because:
- Exemplification suggests showing an idea through an example
- Manifestation implies making something abstract visible and tangible
- Together, they convey how an ideological impulse is realised physically
This directly matches the way the passage uses instantiation.
Why the Other Options Are Incorrect
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Option B (concreteness and viability):
- Focuses on whether something is practical or feasible
- Does not convey the idea of embodying an abstract drive
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Option C (durability and timeliness):
- Concerns how long something lasts or when it occurs
- These ideas are irrelevant to the sentence’s meaning
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Option D (development and construction):
- Refers to the process of building
- The passage is concerned with symbolic meaning, not engineering or construction
Final Answer
Correct Answer: Option A
Question 4
All of the following statements may be considered valid inferences from the passage EXCEPT that:
Solution:
Main Idea of the Question
The question asks which option cannot be inferred from the passage. The passage critically examines large- and small-scale dam-building by discussing:
- Ongoing global investment in dams despite opposition
- The historical role of dams in dispossession and colonialism
- The environmental, social, and economic costs of water impoundment
- Growing concerns about the effectiveness and value of ageing dam infrastructure
Evaluation of the Options
Why Options A, C, and D Can Be Inferred
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Option A:
- The passage notes that opposition, alternative energy sources, and lack of viable projects have slowed some dam construction
- However, it also emphasizes that new and ongoing projects continue to favour water impoundment globally
- This clearly supports the inference that dam-building persists despite resistance
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Option C:
- Directly supported by the passage
- It explicitly states that dams in the western United States were used as tools of colonialism
- This implies forced displacement and dispossession of Indigenous peoples
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Option D:
- Supported by the passage’s reference to:
- A $2 trillion global investment
- Dams that are ageing, underperforming, and facing durability issues
- These points together justify questioning whether dam-building has been worth the cost
- Supported by the passage’s reference to:
Why Option B Cannot Be Inferred
Option B Is Not Supported
- The passage refers to “smaller, though not inconsequential, barriers”
- This phrase highlights their cumulative ecological impact, not their safety
- The text never compares the safety of small dams versus large dams
- It discusses harm and disruption caused by dams without ranking them by risk
Therefore, Option B introduces a claim the passage does not make.