CAT 2019 Question Paper | Verbal Slot 1

CAT Questions

The reading aspect with regards to the CAT exam is extremely crucial and one must read for at least 1 hour every day. However, we almost spend copious minutes just searching for an article to read. Worry not! Bharath’s Reading List is here for your rescue. It is the best solution if you are looking for hand-picked articles to read every day. Now solve this VARC question from CAT previous year paper and crunch your CAT preparation online.

---

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Question 30 : A distinguishing feature of language is our ability to refer to absent things, known as displaced reference. A speaker can bring distant referents to mind in the absence of any obvious stimuli. Thoughts, not limited to the here and now, can pop into our heads for unfathomable reasons. This ability to think about distant things necessarily precedes the ability to talk about them. Thought precedes meaningful referential communication. A prerequisite for the emergence of human-like meaningful symbols is that the mental categories they relate to can be invoked even in the absence of immediate stimuli.

1. Thoughts precede all speech acts and these thoughts pop up in our heads even in the absence of any stimulus.
2. The ability to think about objects not present in our environment precedes the development of human communication.
3. Thoughts are essential to communication and only humans have the ability to think about objects not present in their surroundings.
4. Displaced reference is particular to humans and thoughts pop into our heads for no real reason.

---

---

---

Explanatory Answer

The main idea of the given paragraph is that the ability to think about distant things precedes meaningful referential communication. Option 2 sums this up correctly.

Option 1 is incorrect, as it states that thoughts precede "all speech acts". The paragraph only states that thoughts precede meaningful referential communication. Both options 3 and 4 rule that displaced reference—the ability to think about distant objects—is unique to humans. The paragraph does not say this.

---

Choice B is the correct answer.