Questions to be challenged:
Q.1 Summary of the Monopoly story. CAT OG key: 4; Cetking Key: 3
Challenge: The passage describes a legal transaction where the patent was purchased for a meager sum. Option 4 uses the term “plagiarised,” which is arguably factually inaccurate or unsupported by the text. Option 3, which focuses on “Parker Brothers’ capitalist intent,” is a stronger capture of the ideological conflict that is central to the passage’s essence.
Q.3 Summary of the passage arguing humans are not antithetical to nature. CAT OG key: 3; Cetking Key: 4
Challenge. OG 3 relies heavily on the single statistical finding (“equally likely”). Option 4 is a better summary because it highlights the main supporting evidence: the superior success of human-created “mosaics” (meadows, gardens) at preserving species compared to parks created specifically for biodiversity, which is the strongest evidence against the “humans harm nature” idea.
Q.7 None of the following statements, if true, contradicts the arguments in the passage EXCEPT: CAT OG key: 1; Cetking Key: 4
Challenge. The passage’s core philosophical thesis is that science is fundamentally instrumentally embodied. Option 4 (Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity was accomplished without the help of instruments) directly undermines this thesis by citing a monumental discovery by a central figure that was achieved non-instrumentally. The challenge against OG 1 is also valid, as the statement about Math’s “scientific culture” could be interpreted in a way that is consistent with the passage.
Question 4: OpenAI RC- ‘All…. disjunct between the claims about AI made by tech companies and what AI actually does EXCEPT: CAT OG key: 2; Cetking Key: 4
The inserted sentence elaborates on the historical meaning of “taste” established in the previous sentence (17th/18th century), clarifying the “vital link” to pleasure before the text pivots to mention the neglected “thinkers” who held those views.
Full Verbal CAT 2025 Slot 2 Actual Questions PDF with Detailed Solutions
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
In [my book “Searches”], I chronicle how big technology companies have exploited human language for their gain. We let this happen, I argue, because we also benefit somewhat from using the products. It’s a dynamic that makes us complicit in big tech’s accumulation of wealth and power: we’re both victims and beneficiaries. I describe this complicity, but I also enact it, through my own internet archives: my Google searches, my Amazon product reviews and, yes, my ChatGPT dialogues. . . .
People often describe chatbots’ textual output as “bland” or “generic” – the linguistic equivalent of a beige office building. OpenAI’s products are built to “sound like a colleague”, as OpenAI puts it, using language that, coming from a person, would sound “polite”, “empathetic”, “kind”, “rationally optimistic” and “engaging”, among other qualities. OpenAI describes these strategies as helping its products seem “professional” and “approachable”. This appears to be bound up with making us feel safe . . .
Trust is a challenge for artificial intelligence (AI) companies, partly because their products regularly produce falsehoods and reify sexist, racist, US-centric cultural norms. While the companies are working on these problems, they persist: OpenAI found that its latest systems generate errors at a higher rate than its previous system. In the book, I wrote about the inaccuracies and biases and also demonstrated them with the products. When I prompted Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator to produce a picture of engineers and space explorers, it gave me an entirely male cast of characters; when my father asked ChatGPT to edit his writing, it transmuted his perfectly correct Indian English into American English. Those weren’t flukes. Research suggests that both tendencies are widespread.
In my own ChatGPT dialogues, I wanted to enact how the product’s veneer of collegial neutrality could lull us into absorbing false or biased responses without much critical engagement. Over time, ChatGPT seemed to be guiding me to write a more positive book about big tech – including editing my description of OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, to call him “a visionary and a pragmatist”. I’m not aware of research on whether ChatGPT tends to favor big tech, OpenAI or Altman, and I can only guess why it seemed that way in our conversation. OpenAI explicitly states that its products shouldn’t attempt to influence users’ thinking. When I asked ChatGPT about some of the issues, it blamed biases in its training data – though I suspect my arguably leading questions played a role too. When I queried ChatGPT about its rhetoric, it responded: “The way I communicate is designed to foster trust and confidence in my responses, which can be both helpful and potentially misleading.”. . .
OpenAI has its own goals, of course. Among them, it emphasizes wanting to build AI that “benefits all of humanity”. But while the company is controlled by a non-profit with that mission, its funders still seek a return on their investment. That will presumably require getting people using products such as ChatGPT even more than they already are – a goal that is easier to accomplish if people see those products as trustworthy collaborators.
The author compares AI-generated texts with “a beige office building” for all of the following reasons EXCEPT: Moderate
1. AI tends to blame its training data when scrutinised for its biases.
2. AI generates generalised responses that lack specificity and nuance.
3. AI aims to foster a feeling of trust and credibility among its users.
4. AI-generated texts often exhibit a warm, polite, and collegial tone.
Answer
Correct Option: 1
Rationale: The author uses the “beige office building” analogy to describe the style and tone of the AI’s output, characterizing it as “bland,” “generic,” and designed to sound “polite,” “empathetic,” and “safe” (fostering trust). Option 1 refers to how AI companies explain or defend their errors (“blamed biases in its training data”). This is a procedural defense mentioned later in the text, not a description of the “bland” aesthetic or tone represented by the beige building metaphor.
Why other options wrong: Option 2 (“generalized responses”) aligns with the text’s description of “bland” and “generic.” Option 3 (“foster trust”) aligns with the text’s description of strategies to make us “feel safe” and seem “professional.” Option 4 (“warm, polite”) aligns with the text’s description of the AI sounding like a “colleague,” “polite,” and “empathetic.”
Difficulty: Moderate
On the basis of the purpose of the examples in the passage, pick the odd one out from the following AI-generated responses mentioned in the passage: Moderate
1. “When I prompted Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator to produce a picture of engineers and space explorers, it gave me an entirely male cast of characters . . .”
2. “. . . when my father asked ChatGPT to edit his writing, it transmuted his perfectly correct Indian English into American English.”
3. “When I queried ChatGPT about its rhetoric, it responded: ‘The way I communicate is designed to foster trust and confidence in my responses, which can be both helpful and potentially misleading’.”
4. “Over time, ChatGPT seemed to be guiding me to write a more positive book about big tech – including editing my description of OpenAI’s CEO, Sam Altman, to call him ‘a visionary and a pragmatist’.”
Answer
Correct Option: 3
Rationale: The question asks to identify the odd one out based on the purpose of the example. Options 1, 2, and 4 are all cited by the author as evidence of the AI’s failures, biases, or errors (sexism, cultural erasure, and favoritism). Option 3 is different because it is a quote where the AI explains its own design philosophy (“designed to foster trust”). The author uses this to illustrate the mechanism of the “veneer” of neutrality, whereas the other options are examples of the specific biases that persist behind that veneer.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 (Bing Image Creator) is used to demonstrate sexism/bias. Option 2 (Indian vs. American English) is used to demonstrate cultural bias/US-centrism. Option 4 (Sam Altman/Positive Book) is used to demonstrate potential favoritism/bias. All three serve the same purpose: proving the “inaccuracies and biases.”
Difficulty: Moderate
All of the following statements from the passage affirm the disjunct between the claims about AI made by tech companies and what AI actually does EXCEPT: Hard
1. “I’m not aware of research on whether ChatGPT tends to favor big tech, OpenAI or Altman, and I can only guess why it seemed that way in our conversation.”
2. “It’s a dynamic that makes us complicit in big tech’s accumulation of wealth and power: we’re both victims and beneficiaries.”
3. “In my own ChatGPT dialogues, I wanted to enact how the product’s veneer of collegial neutrality could lull us into absorbing false or biased responses without much critical engagement.”
4. “When I prompted Microsoft’s Bing Image Creator to produce a picture of engineers and space explorers, it gave me an entirely male cast of characters . . .”
Answer
Correct Option: 1
Rationale: The question asks for the statement that does *not* affirm the difference (disjunct) between the tech companies’ positive claims and the negative reality of what AI actually does. Option 1 is a statement of uncertainty and a lack of evidence (“I’m not aware of research… I can only guess”). By explicitly stating that the author cannot confirm whether the bias towards Big Tech is a systemic issue or just a result of their specific conversation, this statement stops short of affirming the disjunct. It treats the observation as anecdotal and unproven, whereas the disjunct requires a definitive contrast between a claim and a factual reality.
Why other options wrong:
Option 2 affirms the disjunct by contrasting the implicit claim that these products are purely beneficial tools for users with the reality that they are mechanisms for “big tech’s accumulation of wealth” and that users are “victims” of exploitation. This contrasts the altruistic branding with the economic reality. Option 3 clearly contrasts the “veneer of collegial neutrality” (Claim) with the “false or biased responses” (Reality). Option 4 contrasts the implied neutrality of an image generator with the specific reality of it producing an “entirely male cast” (Sexism/Bias).
Difficulty: Hard
The author of the passage is least likely to agree with which one of the following claims?
1. ChatGPT favours AI companies and their officials, like Sam Altman, in its responses.
2. When we use AI, we become accomplices to the exploitative practices of big tech companies.
3. The neutrality of AI is conducive to critical thinking.
4. The neutrality of AI is motivated by economic considerations.
Answer
Correct Option: 3
Rationale: The author argues the exact opposite of this claim. The passage states: “I wanted to enact how the product’s veneer of collegial neutrality could lull us into absorbing false or biased responses without much critical engagement.” Therefore, the author believes the neutrality is detrimental to critical thinking, making Option 3 the claim they are least likely to agree with.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 is a suspicion the author entertains (“ChatGPT seemed to be guiding me… I can only guess”), so they might agree, albeit cautiously. Option 2 is explicitly stated (“makes us complicit… we’re both victims and beneficiaries”). Option 4 is supported by the text’s discussion of funders seeking a return on investment by making products appear as “trustworthy collaborators.”
Difficulty: Easy
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer. Moderate
1. As books age, the cellulose and lignin in the paper begin to break down, releasing a mix of volatile organic compounds into the air.
2. Old books carry a scent that many people instantly recognize—and even love.
3. These compounds are benzaldehyde, which gives off an almond-like scent, vanillin, which smells like vanilla, ethyl hexanol (floral scent), toluene (sweet), and furfural (which has a slightly bready scent).
4. This familiar aroma isn’t just dust or mildew; it’s actually a result of slow chemical changes happening inside the paper and ink.
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer. Moderate
1. ‘Literature on screen’ suggests something more capacious and defining than citation: the possibility that literary adaptations are at once cinema and literature.
2. Even though a growing number of films eligible for Academy Awards for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium borrow that material from print journalism, franchise characters, television series, comic books, video games and toys, academic studies of adaptation remain stubbornly attached to literature as cinema’s natural progenitor.
3. It is as if adaptation studies, by borrowing the cultural cachet of literature, sought to claim its institutional respectability and gravitas even while insuring adaptation’s enduring aesthetic and methodological subordination to literature proper.
4. Beneath this contradictory notion of film adaptations as not merely hybrid texts but texts holding dual citizenship in two modes of presentation is an even more pervasive legacy that haunts adaptation studies: the assumption that the primary context within which adaptations are to be studied is literature.
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
This book takes the position that setting in literature is more than just backdrop, that important insight into literary texts can be made by paying close attention to how authors craft place, as well as to how place functions in a narrative. The authors included in this reference work engage deeply with either real or imagined geographies. They care about how human decisions have shaped landscapes and how landscapes have shaped human practices and values. Some of the best writing is highly vivid, employing the language of the senses because this is the primary means through which humans know physical space.
Literature can offer valuable perspectives on physical and cultural geography. Unlike scientific reports, a literary narrative can provide the emotional component missing from the scientific record. In human experience, geographical places have a spiritual or emotional component in addition to and as part of a physical layout and topography. This emotional component, although subjective, is no less “real” than a surveyor’s map. Human consciousness of place is experienced in a multi-modal manner. Histories of places live on in many forms, one of which is the human memory or imagination.
Both real and imaginary landscapes provide insight into the human experience of place. The pursuit of such a topic speaks to the valuable knowledge produced from bridging disciplines and combining material from both the arts and the sciences to better understand the human condition. The perspectives that most concern cultural geographers are often those regarding movement and migration, cultivation of natural resources, and organization of space. The latter two reflect concerns of the built environment, a topic shared with the field of architectural study. Many of these concerns are also reflected in work sociologists do. Scholars from literary studies can contribute an aesthetic dimension to what might otherwise be a purely ideological approach.
Literature can bring together material that spans different branches of science. For example, a literary description of place may involve not only the environment and geography but the noises and quality of light, or how people from different races or classes can experience the same place in different ways linked to those racial or class disparities. Literary texts can also account for the way in which absence—of other people, animals, and so on—affects a human observer or inhabitant. Both literary and scientific approaches to place are necessary, working in unison, to achieve a complete record of an environment. It is important to note that the interdisciplinary nature of this work teaches us that landscapes are not static, that they are not unchanged by human culture. At least part of their identity derives from the people who inhabit them and from the way space can alter and inspire human perspective. The intersection of scientific and literary expression that happens in the study of literary geography is of prime importance due to the complexity of the personal and political ways that humans experience place.
Which one of the following is not true of the argument in the second paragraph? Moderate
1. Literary accounts of places can be filled with histories, manifested as memory or imagination.
2. The emotional and spiritual experience of a place can replace a surveyor’s map.
3. Analysing the literary descriptions of a place can give us a sense of how people relate emotionally to it.
4. The spiritual experience of a place may be considered as real as the physical experience of it.
Answer
Correct Option: 2
Rationale: The passage explicitly contradicts the idea of replacement. It states that the emotional component is “no less ‘real’ than a surveyor’s map,” establishing its validity, but later asserts, “Both literary and scientific approaches to place are necessary, working in unison, to achieve a complete record.” This implies they are complementary, and one cannot replace the other.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 is supported by the text: “Histories of places live on in many forms, one of which is the human memory or imagination.” Option 3 is supported by the text: “provide the emotional component… gives us a sense of how people relate.” Option 4 is supported by the text: “no less ‘real’ than a surveyor’s map.”
Which one of the following is a valid conclusion to draw from the author’s statement that, “The pursuit of such a topic speaks to the valuable knowledge produced from bridging disciplines and combining material from both the arts and the sciences to better understand the human condition.”? Easy
1. A comprehensive understanding of the valuable knowledge produced by the arts and sciences can best be achieved by studying the human condition.
2. A comprehensive bridging of the human condition can best be achieved by a disciplined pursuit of human understanding.
3. The literary descriptions of the emotions we experience in the places we visit can contribute to our understanding of the arts and sciences.
4. A comprehensive understanding of the human condition can best be achieved by combining the findings of disciplines from the arts and the sciences.
Answer
Correct Option: 4
Rationale: The question asks for a conclusion drawn from the statement about “bridging disciplines.” The text states: “valuable knowledge produced from bridging disciplines and combining material from both the arts and the sciences to better understand the human condition.” Option 4 paraphrases this logical flow almost exactly: “A comprehensive understanding of the human condition can best be achieved by combining the findings of disciplines from the arts and the sciences.”
Why other options wrong: Option 1 reverses the logic (suggesting studying the human condition achieves knowledge of arts/sciences). Option 2 uses vague phrasing (“bridging of the human condition”) that distorts the meaning. Option 3 limits the scope to “emotions” and “places we visit” rather than the broader “human condition.”
Difficulty: Easy
The author uses the example of the literary description of place to illustrate that: Moderate
1. the absence of other people, animals, and so on in a place can profoundly affect its inhabitants.
2. literature can convey how different people experience the same place differently.
3. architects use diverse methods to calibrate the noises and lights of a given place.
4. scientific approaches to place are more accurate than literary ones.
Answer
Correct Option: 2
Rationale: The question refers to the example given in the final paragraph: “For example, a literary description of place may involve… how people from different races or classes can experience the same place in different ways linked to those racial or class disparities.” This directly supports Option 2, which states literature can convey how different people experience the same place differently.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 mentions “absence,” but the specific “different races/classes” example is the primary illustration of how literature bridges scientific gaps (like sociology) and captures the “complexity” of the human experience. Option 3 is irrelevant to the text. Option 4 contradicts the text’s argument for the equality/necessity of both approaches.
Difficulty: Moderate
All of the following statements, if false, would contradict the arguments in the passage, EXCEPT that: Hard
1. humans do not interact with places in subjective, emotional ways because places are only physical topography.
2. highly vivid writing, employing the language of the senses, can capture the multi-modal manner in which humans experience places.
3. literature provides us with deep insights into the ways in which movement and migration affect physical geography.
4. descriptions of places do not need satellite imagery or other visual aids to give a “real” sense of the place.
Answer
Correct Option: 1
Rationale: The question asks for the statement that, if false, would NOT contradict the passage. This implies we are looking for a statement that is false according to the passage (because if you negate a false statement, it becomes true/consistent). Option 1 says: “humans do not interact with places in subjective, emotional ways…” The passage argues the exact opposite: humans do interact in subjective ways (“Human consciousness of place is experienced in a multi-modal manner”). Therefore, Statement 1 is false relative to the text. If Statement 1 is false (i.e., “It is false that humans do not interact…”), it means “Humans DO interact…”. This aligns with the passage. Thus, it is the exception.
Why other options wrong: Options 2, 3, and 4 are true according to the passage. If they were false (e.g., “Writing CANNOT capture…”, “Literature does NOT provide insights…”, “Descriptions DO need satellite imagery…”), they would contradict the passage’s arguments.
Difficulty: Hard
Five jumbled sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
Freedom Odd Man Out CAT 2025 Slot 1 G Strategy
1. Developments both technological and sociocultural have afforded us far greater freedom over death than we had in the past, and while we are still adapting ourselves to that freedom, we now appreciate the moral importance of this freedom.
2. But I believe that a type of freedom we can call freedom over death – that is, a freedom in which we shape the timing and circumstances of how we die – should be central to this conversation.
3. Legalising assisted dying is but a further step in realising this freedom over death.
4. Many people endorse, through their opinions or their choices, our freedom over death encompassing a right to medical assistance in hastening our deaths.
5. Freedom is a notoriously complex and contested philosophical notion, and I won’t pretend to settle any of the big controversies it raises.
Answer
Correct Option: 1
Rationale:
The coherent paragraph constructs a philosophical argument advocating for the legalization of assisted dying based on the concept of freedom over death.
Sentence 5 introduces the broad context: Freedom is a complex and contested philosophical notion.
Sentence 2 narrows the focus: Despite this complexity, the author argues that a specific type of freedom, freedom over death (shaping the timing and circumstances of death), should be central to the conversation.
Sentence 4 connects this concept to the specific issue: It states that many people view this freedom as encompassing a right to medical assistance in hastening our deaths.
Sentence 3 concludes the argument: Therefore, legalising assisted dying is a logical step in realising this freedom.
Sentence 1 is the odd one out. While it mentions freedom over death, it focuses on the historical and sociological causes of this freedom (technological and sociocultural developments) and humanity’s adaptation to it. This provides background context but breaks the specific argumentative chain (General Philosophy -> Definition -> Specific Application -> Conclusion) formed by the other four sentences.
Difficulty: Medium
History & Culture CAT 2025 Slot 1 Actual Question
1. The Bayeux tapestry was, therefore, an obvious way to tell people about the downfall of the English and the rise of the Normans.
2. So if we take expert in Anglo-Saxon culture Gale Owen-Crocker’s idea that the tapestry was originally hung in a square with certain scenes facing each other, people would have stood in the centre.
3. Art historian Linda Neagley has argued that pre-Renaissance people interacted with art visually, kinaesthetically (sensory perception through bodily movement) and physically.
4. That would make it an 11th-century immersive space with scenes corresponding and echoing each other, drawing the viewer’s attention, playing on their senses and understanding of the story they thought they knew.
5. The Bayeux tapestry would have been hung at eye level to enable this.
Solution
Correct Option: 1
Rationale: The coherent paragraph focuses on the physical and sensory experience of viewing the Bayeux Tapestry, specifically how its display facilitated an immersive interaction for the viewer.
Sentence 3 introduces the core theme: Art historian Linda Neagley’s theory that pre-Renaissance people interacted with art visually, kinaesthetically… and physically. Sentence 5 connects directly to this interaction: The tapestry would have been hung at eye level to enable this (referring to the physical interaction mentioned in 3). Sentence 2 expands on the physical arrangement (hung in a square) and the viewer’s position (stood in the centre). Sentence 4 concludes the thought: This arrangement (That) would make it an immersive space that played on the viewer’s senses.
Sentence 1 is the odd one out because it shifts the focus from the method of display/viewer experience to the narrative content and political purpose of the tapestry (telling the story of the English downfall and Norman rise). While related to the tapestry, it does not fit the specific argument about sensory immersion constructed by the other four sentences.
Difficulty: Medium
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
Time and again, whenever a population [of Mexican tetra fish] was swept into a cave and survived long enough for natural selection to have its way, the eyes disappeared. “But it’s not that everything has been lost in cavefish . . . Many enhancements have also happened.” . . . Studies have found that cave-dwelling fish can detect lower levels of amino acids than surface fish can. They also have more tastebuds and a higher density of sensitive cells alongside their bodies that let them sense water pressure and flow. . . .
Killing the processes that support the formation of the eye is quite literally what happens. Just like non-cave-dwelling members of the species, all cavefish embryos start making eyes. But after a few hours, cells in the developing eye start dying, until the entire structure has disappeared. [Developmental biologist Misty] Riddle thinks this apparent inefficiency may be unavoidable. “The early development of the brain and the eye are completely intertwined—they happen together,” she says. That means the least disruptive way for eyelessness to evolve may be to start making an eye and then get rid of it. . . .
It’s easy to see why cavefish would be at a disadvantage if they were to maintain expensive tissues they aren’t using. Since relatively little lives or grows in their caves, the fish are likely surviving on a meager diet of mostly bat feces and organic waste that washes in during the rainy season. Researchers keeping cavefish in labs have discovered that, genetically, the creatures are exquisitely adapted to absorbing and storing nutrients. . . .
Fats can be toxic for tissues, [evolutionary physiologist Nicolas] Rohner explains, so they are stored in fat cells. “But when these cells get too big, they can burst, which is why we often see chronic inflammation in humans and other animals that have stored a lot of fat in their tissues.” Yet a 2020 study by Rohner, Krishnan and their colleagues revealed that even very well-fed cavefish had fewer signs of inflammation in their fat tissues than surface fish do. Even in their sparse cave conditions, wild cavefish can sometimes get very fat, says Riddle. This is presumably because, whenever food ends up in the cave, the fish eat as much of it as possible, since there may be nothing else for a long time to come. Intriguingly, Riddle says, their fat is usually bright yellow, because of high levels of carotenoids, the substance in the carrots that your grandmother used to tell you were good for your…eyes.
“The first thing that came to our mind, of course, was that they were accumulating these because they don’t have eyes,” says Riddle. In this species, such ideas can be tested: Scientists can cross surface fish (with eyes) and cavefish (without eyes) and look at what their offspring are like. When that’s done, Riddle says, researchers see no link between eye presence or size and the accumulation of carotenoids. Some eyeless cavefish had fat that was practically white, indicating lower carotenoid levels. Instead, Riddle thinks these carotenoids may be another adaptation to suppress inflammation, which might be important in the wild, as cavefish are likely overeating whenever food arrives.
Which one of the following results for the cross between surface fish (with eyes) and cavefish (without eyes) would invalidate Riddle’s inference from the experiment? Moderate
1. Some offspring with eyes had yellow fat.
2. Only eyeless offspring had yellow fat.
3. Some offspring with eyes had white fat.
4. Some eyeless offspring had white fat.
Answer
Correct Option: 2
Rationale: Riddle’s inference from the experiment is that there is no link between the presence of eyes and the accumulation of yellow fat (carotenoids). She concludes that the fat color is likely an adaptation for inflammation control, not merely a buildup of unused material. If the experiment had shown that only eyeless offspring had yellow fat, it would establish a direct, exclusive link between eyelessness and carotenoid accumulation. This result would support the initial hypothesis she rejected (that they accumulate it simply because they lack eyes to use it) and would directly contradict her finding that eye presence and fat color are unrelated.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 supports Riddle’s conclusion. It proves that having eyes doesn’t prevent yellow fat accumulation, confirming there is no exclusive link. Option 3 is a neutral or supportive finding, consistent with the idea that the traits are independent. Option 4 is the actual result mentioned in the passage (“Some eyeless cavefish had fat that was practically white”). This finding was the key evidence leading to her conclusion that being eyeless doesn’t guarantee yellow fat.
Difficulty: Moderate
Which one of the following best explains why the “apparent inefficiency” is “unavoidable”? Moderate
1. The inefficiency resulting from eyelessness is compensated by enhancements like more tastebuds in Mexican tetra cavefish.
2. The lack of light in the caves kills the eye cells in the developing Mexican tetra cavefish embryo.
3. Mexican tetra cavefish are similar to non-cave-dwelling variants in their early stages of development.
4. The caves have poor and inconsistent availability of food and nutrition for Mexican tetra cavefish.
Answer
Correct Option: 3
Rationale: The “apparent inefficiency” refers to the process where cavefish embryos start developing eyes only to destroy them later. The passage explains this is unavoidable because the early development of the brain and the eye are completely intertwined. This means the cavefish must follow the same early developmental path as their sighted ancestors to ensure their brains develop correctly. Option 3 captures this by stating the cavefish are similar to the non-cave variants in these early stages; this shared developmental constraint is the fundamental reason the inefficiency cannot be avoided.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 discusses enhancements (tastebuds) that compensate for the loss of sight, but does not explain why the developmental process of making and killing the eye is necessary. Option 2 attributes the loss to lack of light, but the passage attributes the cell death to genetic programming (“natural selection to have its way,” “cells… start dying”), not direct environmental exposure. Option 4 discusses food availability, which explains why they need to be efficient (save energy), but not why the specific inefficient mechanism of “build-then-destroy” is unavoidable.
Difficulty: Moderate
All of the following statements from the passage describe adaptation in Mexican tetra cavefish EXCEPT: EASY
1. “It’s easy to see why cavefish would be at a disadvantage if they were to maintain expensive tissues they aren’t using.”
2. “‘But when these cells get too big, they can burst, which is why we often see chronic inflammation in humans and other animals that have stored a lot of fat in their tissues.’”
3. “Even in their sparse cave conditions, wild cavefish can sometimes get very fat, says Riddle.”
4. “Since relatively little lives or grows in their caves, the fish are likely surviving on a meager diet of mostly bat feces and organic waste that washes in during the rainy season.”
Answer
Correct Option: 2
Rationale: Option 2 is the only statement that does not describe a trait or behavior of the Mexican tetra cavefish. Instead, it is a general explanation by physiologist Nicolas Rohner regarding the biological mechanism of inflammation in humans and other animals when fat cells burst. It describes the problem (toxicity of fat) that the cavefish have successfully overcome, rather than the adaptation itself. The passage later contrasts this by stating that cavefish, unlike the subjects in this statement, show fewer signs of inflammation.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 describes the evolutionary pressure (avoiding “expensive tissues”) that drives the adaptation of losing eyes. Option 3 describes a behavioral and physiological adaptation: the ability to “get very fat” to store energy. Option 4 describes the fish “surviving” on a unique diet, implying the adaptation effectively allows them to live in a niche where “relatively little lives.”
Difficulty: Easy
On the basis of the information in the passage, what is the most likely function of carotenoids in Mexican tetra cavefish? EASY
1. To act as a substitute for eyes.
2. To render bright yellow colour to the cavefish.
3. To control inflammation from the bursting of fat cells.
4. To help the fat cells store nutrients.
Answer
Correct Option: 3
Rationale: The passage explicitly states Riddle’s conclusion regarding the function of the yellow fat: “Riddle thinks these carotenoids may be another adaptation to suppress inflammation, which might be important in the wild, as cavefish are likely overeating.”
Why other options wrong: Option 1 was the initial hypothesis (“accumulating these because they don’t have eyes”) which was tested and rejected by Riddle. Option 2 states the yellow color is a visual side effect of the carotenoids, not their biological function. Option 4 suggests carotenoids help the fat cells store nutrients, but the passage implies they protect the tissue from inflammation caused by the storage.
Difficulty: Easy
The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph.
Psycology Paragraph Completion CAT 2025 Slot 2 Actual Question: Hard
Sentence: While taste is related to judgment, with thinkers at the time often writing, for example, about “judgments of taste” or using the two terms interchangeably, taste retains a vital link to pleasure, embodiment, and personal specificity that is too often elided in post-Kantian ideas about judgment—a link that Arendt herself was working to restore.
Paragraph: ____(1) ____. Denneny focused on taste rather than judgment in order to highlight what he believed was a crucial but neglected historical change. ____(2) ____. Over the course of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century, across Western Europe, the word taste took on a new extension of meaning, no longer referring specifically to gustatory sensation and the delights of the palate but becoming, for a time, one of the central categories for aesthetic—and ethical—thinking. ____(3) ____. Tracing the history of taste in Spanish, French, and British aesthetic theory, as Denneny did, also provides a means to recover the compelling and relevant writing of a set of thinkers who have been largely neglected by professional philosophy. ____(4) ____.
1. Option 3
2. Option 2
3. Option 1
4. Option 4
Answer
Correct Option: 1 (Option 3)
Rationale: The missing sentence contains the phrase “thinkers at the time,” which indicates a reference to a specific historical period mentioned immediately before. The sentence preceding blank 3 discusses “the course of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century,” providing the necessary temporal antecedent for “at the time.” Thematically, the missing sentence elaborates on the specific nature of “taste” during that period—specifically its link to pleasure and embodiment—which clarifies why it was considered a central category for aesthetic and ethical thinking, as mentioned in the sentence ending at blank 3. Placing the sentence here provides a logical bridge to the following sentence, which discusses the value of recovering the “thinkers” who held these specific views.
Why other options wrong:
Option 2 (referring to blank 2) is incorrect because the historical time period (17th/18th century) is introduced in the sentence following this blank, so “at the time” would have no referent.
Option 3 (referring to blank 1) is incorrect for the same reason; the paragraph has just begun, and no time period has been established.
Option 4 (referring to blank 4) is incorrect because placing the sentence at the very end disrupts the flow. The sentence ending at blank 3 introduces the historical context, and it is most logical to immediately define the characteristics of thought during that time (the content of the missing sentence) before concluding with the sentence about recovering those specific neglected thinkers.
Difficulty: Moderate
Dhaka Muslin Paragraph Completion CAT 2025 Slot 2 Actual Question: Medium
The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph.
Sentence: While taste is related to judgment, with thinkers at the time often writing, for example, about “judgments of taste” or using the two terms interchangeably, taste retains a vital link to pleasure, embodiment, and personal specificity that is too often elided in post-Kantian ideas about judgment—a link that Arendt herself was working to restore.
Paragraph: ____(1) ____. Denneny focused on taste rather than judgment in order to highlight what he believed was a crucial but neglected historical change. ____(2) ____. Over the course of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century, across Western Europe, the word taste took on a new extension of meaning, no longer referring specifically to gustatory sensation and the delights of the palate but becoming, for a time, one of the central categories for aesthetic—and ethical—thinking. ____(3) ____. Tracing the history of taste in Spanish, French, and British aesthetic theory, as Denneny did, also provides a means to recover the compelling and relevant writing of a set of thinkers who have been largely neglected by professional philosophy. ____(4) ____.
1. Option 3
2. Option 2
3. Option 1
4. Option 4
Answer
Correct Option: 1 (Option 3)
Rationale: The missing sentence contains the phrase “thinkers at the time,” which indicates a reference to a specific historical period mentioned immediately before. The sentence preceding blank 3 discusses “the course of the seventeenth century and early eighteenth century,” providing the necessary temporal antecedent for “at the time.” Thematically, the missing sentence elaborates on the specific nature of “taste” during that period—specifically its link to pleasure and embodiment—which clarifies why it was considered a central category for aesthetic and ethical thinking, as mentioned in the sentence ending at blank 3. Placing the sentence here provides a logical bridge to the following sentence, which discusses the value of recovering the “thinkers” who held these specific views.
Why other options wrong:
Option 2 (referring to blank 2) is incorrect because the historical time period (17th/18th century) is introduced in the sentence following this blank, so “at the time” would have no referent.
Option 3 (referring to blank 1) is incorrect for the same reason; the paragraph has just begun, and no time period has been established.
Option 4 (referring to blank 4) is incorrect because placing the sentence at the very end disrupts the flow. The sentence ending at blank 3 introduces the historical context, and it is most logical to immediately define the characteristics of thought during that time (the content of the missing sentence) before concluding with the sentence about recovering those specific neglected thinkers.
Difficulty: Moderate
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
Different sciences exhibit different science cultures and practices. For example, in astronomy, observation – until what is today called the new astronomy – had always been limited to what could be seen within the limits of optical light. Indeed, until early modernity the limits to optical light were also limits of what humans could themselves see within their limited and relative perceptual spectrum of human vision. With early modernity and the invention of lensed optical instruments – telescopes – astronomers could begin to observe phenomena never seen before. Magnification and resolution began to allow what was previously imperceptible to be perceived – but within the familiar limits of optical vision. Galileo, having learned of the Dutch invention of a telescope by Hans Lippershey, went on to build some hundred of his own, improving from the Dutch 3x to nearly 30x telescopes – which turn out to be the limit of magnificational power without chromatic distortion. And it was with his own telescopes that he made the observations launching early modern astronomy (phases of Venus, satellites of Jupiter, etc.). Isaac Newton’s later improvement with reflecting telescopes expanded upon the magnificational-resolution capacity of optical observation; and, from Newton to the twentieth century, improvement continued on to the later very large array of light telescopes today – following the usual technological trajectory of “more-is-better” but still remaining within the limits of the light spectrum. Today’s astronomy has now had the benefit of some four centuries of optical telescopy. The “new astronomy,” however, opens the full known electromagnetic spectrum to observation, beginning with the accidental discovery of radio astronomy early in the twentieth century, and leading today to the diverse variety of EMS telescopes which can explore the range from gamma to radio waves. Thus, astronomy, now outfitted with new instruments, “smart” adaptive optics, very large arrays, etc., illustrates one style of instrumentally embodied science – a technoscience. Of course astronomy, with the very recent exceptions of probes to solar system bodies (Moon, Mars, Venus, asteroids), remains largely a “receptive” science, dependent upon instrumentation which can detect and receive emissions.
Contemporary biology displays a quite different instrument array and, according to Evelyn Fox-Keller, also a different scientific culture. She cites her own experience, coming from mathematical physics into microbiology, and takes account of the distinctive instrumental culture in her Making Sense of Life (2002). Here, particularly with the development of biotechnology, instrumentation is far more interventional than in the astronomy case. Microscopic instrumentation can be and often is interventional in style: “gene-splicing” and other techniques of biotechnology, while still in their infancy, are clearly part of the interventional trajectory of biological instrumentation. Yet, in both disciplines, the sciences involved are today highly instrumentalized and could not progress successfully without constant improvements upon the respective instrumental trajectories. So, minimalistically, one may conclude that the sciences are technologically, instrumentally embodied. But the styles of embodiment differ, and perhaps the last of the scientific disciplines to move into such technical embodiment is mathematics, which only contemporarily has come to rely more and more upon the computational machinery now in common use.
All of the following statements may be rejected as valid inferences from the passage EXCEPT: Moderate
1. interventionist instruments, or instruments that intervene directly in scientific inquiry, are different from embodied instruments, or instruments that embody scientific inquiry.
2. Isaac Newton’s experiments with reflecting telescopes were the earliest versions of the “new astronomy” referred to in the passage.
3. the advances in telescopy made by Newton with reflecting telescopes allowed early modern astronomers to observe the phases of Venus and the satellites of Jupiter.
4. the author distinguishes between the receptive and interventionist uses of instruments in the sciences by comparing astronomy and biology, respectively.
Answer
Correct Option: 4
Rationale: The passage explicitly contrasts the two disciplines to illustrate different styles of scientific embodiment. It describes astronomy as largely a “receptive” science (dependent on detecting emissions) and contrasts it with contemporary biology, which it describes as having an “interventional” culture (using techniques like gene-splicing). Option 4 accurately reflects this distinction made by the author.
Why other options wrong: Option 1 is incorrect because the passage argues that both receptive and interventionist sciences are “instrumentally embodied,” just in different styles; it does not suggest they are mutually exclusive categories of “embodied” vs “interventionist.” Option 2 is incorrect because the “new astronomy” is explicitly defined as opening the full electromagnetic spectrum (radio, gamma, etc.), which happened in the 20th century, long after Newton. Option 3 is incorrect because the passage attributes the observation of the phases of Venus and Jupiter’s satellites to Galileo, not Newton.
Difficulty: Moderate
To which one of the following instruments would the characterisations of instruments in the passage be least applicable? Easy
1. Saxophone
2. Milestone
3. Kitchen oven
4. Scalpel
Answer
Correct Option: 2
Rationale: The passage characterizes scientific instruments as technological devices that extend human perception (telescopes), manipulate matter (gene-splicing), or process data (computational machinery). They are described as having a “trajectory” of improvement and being part of “technoscience.” A milestone is a static, passive marker used for reference, not a complex tool for observation, intervention, or data processing. It lacks the dynamic, technological, and functional characteristics attributed to instruments in the text.
Why other options wrong: A saxophone (Option 1), while musical, is still a complex “instrument” requiring manipulation and technology, sharing more mechanical characteristics with scientific tools than a rock. A kitchen oven (Option 3) and a scalpel (Option 4) involve intervention and manipulation of materials, aligning closer to the “interventional” nature of biological instruments described in the passage.
Difficulty: Easy
None of the following statements, if true, contradicts the arguments in the passage EXCEPT: Hard
1. because of the relatively recent entry of computational machinery in mathematics, the field is only now beginning to develop a scientific culture.
2. some scientific instruments may be classified as both receptive and interventional in their functions.
3. like telescopy, microscopy has also sought to move beyond the visible spectrum to be able to detect objects that are invisible in that spectrum.
4. Isaac Newton’s discovery of gravity was accomplished without the help of instruments.
Answer
Correct Option: 1
Rationale: The passage begins by stating, “Different sciences exhibit different science cultures and practices.” It later identifies mathematics as one of these scientific disciplines (“the last of the scientific disciplines… is mathematics”). If Option 1 were true—that mathematics is only *now* beginning to develop a scientific culture because of computers—it would contradict the passage’s premise that mathematics was already a science (and thus possessed a science culture) prior to its recent adoption of computational machinery.
Why other options wrong: Option 2 does not contradict the passage; while the text distinguishes between receptive and interventional styles, it does not forbid an instrument from having both functions. Option 3 supports rather than contradicts the general theme of instruments expanding perception beyond human limits. Option 4 does not contradict the passage because the author emphasizes that sciences are “today” highly instrumentalized; the mention of Newton’s telescopes refers to observational astronomy, not necessarily his theoretical work on gravity, and the text acknowledges that early science had different limits.
Difficulty: Hard
Which one of the following observations is a valid conclusion to draw from the statement that “the sciences involved are today highly instrumentalised and could not progress successfully without constant improvements upon the respective instrumental trajectories”? Moderate
1. Highly instrumentalised work in the sciences has resulted in the progressive improvement of scientific constants.
2. The use of instruments in scientific trajectories must be respected in order to see successful progress in them.
3. In both astronomy and microbiology, progress has been the consequence of improvements in the instruments they use.
4. The growth of scientific technologies has led to the embodiment of progress in the trajectories of improvement.
Answer
Correct Option: 3
Rationale: The quoted statement argues that modern science relies on “constant improvements” in instruments to “progress successfully.” Option 3 applies this principle directly to the two main examples in the text: astronomy and microbiology. It correctly concludes that the progress in these specific fields is a result of the improvements in their respective tools (telescopes and biotech/microscopes).
Why other options wrong: Option 1 mentions “scientific constants,” which is a specific physics concept not discussed in the passage. Option 2 introduces a moral requirement (“must be respected”) that is not present in the text. Option 4 is vague and abstract (“embodiment of progress”), failing to capture the specific cause-and-effect relationship between better tools and scientific success described in the passage.
Difficulty: Moderate
The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Games Summary Non RC Verbal CAT 2025 Slot 2 Questions
In 1903, left-wing feminist Elizabeth Magie invented The Landlord’s Game, the original version of what became Monopoly. It was designed as a powerful teaching tool to illustrate the dangers of monopolies and how wealth could concentrate in the hands of a few. The game featured a circular path, properties, and a “Go to Jail” space. Magie created two rule sets: one “monopolist” version where players crushed opponents through accumulation, and another, more radical “Prosperity” version, where everyone shared in the wealth, promoting fairness and equity. Years later, unemployed Charles Darrow sold a simplified version to Parker Brothers. They paid Magie only $500 for her patent—without royalties—and credited Darrow as the sole inventor. For decades, his tale of inventing the game in his basement remained the official story, while Magie’s name and her original, anti-capitalist message were left in the shadows.
1. Only one version of Monopoly became famous because of Charles Darrow’s relentless basement work, carefully refining Elizabeth Magie’s original idea into an engaging and entertaining pastime that he successfully patented and sold, symbolizing what many regarded as the ultimate triumph of individual ingenuity.
2. Celebrated icons of the gaming industry, Charles Darrow and Parker Brothers, snatched the feminist icon Elizabeth Magie’s original design and transformed Monopoly into a worldwide phenomenon, while barely acknowledging her.
3. Parker Brothers’ capitalist intent led to them acquiring from Charles Darrow a simplified version of Elizabeth Magie’s original game, transforming it into a widespread commercial success while providing her only minimal financial compensation and granting scant public recognition.
4. It is ironical that a left-wing feminist lost credit for the Landlord’s Game to an unemployed man, who plagiarised and sold one version of the twin game to Parker Brothers for a meagre sum, denying her royalties./
Answer
Correct Option: 4
Rationale:
The passage strongly foregrounds the irony of the situation: a game invented by a left-wing feminist to critique wealth concentration—through two contrasting rule sets (a twin game)—ends up being commercialised in precisely the opposite spirit. An unemployed man, Charles Darrow, sells only the monopolist version to Parker Brothers, while Elizabeth Magie is denied credit and royalties. Option 4 alone captures all these layers together: the ideological irony, the mismatch between the creator and the beneficiary, the loss of one half of the twin game, and the injustice of recognition and compensation. It synthesises both the narrative facts and the author’s critical stance, making it the closest to the passage’s essence.
Why other options are wrong:
Option 1 incorrectly portrays Darrow as a symbol of individual ingenuity, directly contradicting the critical tone of the passage.
Option 2 is emotive but incomplete; it highlights “snatching” without explaining the crucial idea of two versions of the game or why their loss matters.
Option 3 is factually accurate about the commercial transaction but misses the soul of the passage: it downplays the irony, ignores the twin-rule-set concept, and reduces the story to a neutral corporate summary rather than an ideological appropriation.
Difficulty: Hard
Landscaping Summary Non RC Verbal CAT 2025 Slot 2 Questions
For millennia, in the process of opening up land for agriculture, gardens, grazing and hunting, humans have created ecological “mosaics”, or “patchworks”: landscapes holding a mixture of habitats, like meadows, gardens and forests. These were not designed as nature reserves, but often catered to hugely diverse animal life. Research indicates that European hay meadows cultivated for animal feed were actually more successful at preserving a vast array of species than meadows explicitly cultivated for biodiversity. Studying the early Holocene, researchers have found that human presence was about as likely to increase biodiversity as reduce it. Of course, not all human-created landscapes have the same value. A paved subdivision with astroturfed lawns is very different to a village with diverse vegetable and flower gardens. But scientists continue to find evidence that the old idea of humans as antithetical to nature is also wrong-headed, and that rosy visions of thriving, human-free environments are more imaginary than real.
1. In terms of preserving biodiversity, scientists are finding increasing evidence that human action is not always antithetical to nature, but often assists the preservation of meadows, landscapes, and flourishing of species.
2. Studying the early Holocene and human practices over millennia, researchers say that while agricultural meadows, gardens, and forests were not explicitly designed as nature reserves, they actually preserved a vast array of species, belying the idea that humans harm nature.
3. Contrary to the idea that humans always hurt nature and that it thrives in their absence, a lot of human action across history has been equally likely to increase biodiversity than reduce it, often creating varied ecological landscapes that support a vast array of species.
4. In our attempts to shape the world around us to our needs, humans have often created landscapes like meadows, gardens, and forests, which support hugely diverse species, and are more successful at preserving them, than parks created specifically for this.
Answer
Correct Option: 3
Rationale: The passage challenges the conventional wisdom that human presence is inherently destructive to nature. It presents arguments and evidence—such as the creation of “ecological mosaics” and data from the early Holocene—to suggest that human activities have historically been just as likely to enhance biodiversity as to deplete it. Option 3 captures the full scope of this argument. It explicitly mentions the “contrary” view (challenging the idea that nature thrives only in human absence), accurately reflects the statistical finding (“equally likely to increase biodiversity than reduce it”), and explains the mechanism (“creating varied ecological landscapes”).
Why other options wrong:
Option 1 is a reasonable summary but lacks the precision of Option 3. It mentions that humans “assist preservation” but misses the crucial nuance about the “equal likelihood” of increasing or reducing biodiversity, which is central to the passage’s balanced view.
Option 2 focuses heavily on the specific examples of meadows and the Holocene study. However, its conclusion that these findings “bely the idea that humans harm nature” is an overstatement. The passage states humans are *equally likely* to increase or reduce biodiversity, not that they don’t harm it at all.
Option 4 focuses too narrowly on the specific comparison between human-made landscapes (meadows) and intentional nature reserves/parks. While this comparison is used as evidence in the text, it is a supporting detail rather than the main thesis, which is the broader relationship between human presence and biodiversity.
Difficulty: Moderate
