CAT 2019 Question Paper | Verbal Slot 2

This is a delightful para summary question. Practice many such problems from CAT previous year paper and rock your online preparation for CAT.

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

Question 29 : Language is an autapomorphy found only in our lineage, and not shared with other branches of our group such as primates. We also have no definitive evidence that any species other than Homo sapiens ever had language. However, it must be noted straightaway that ‘language’ is not a monolithic entity, but rather a complex bundle of traits that must have evolved over a significant time frame.... Moreover, language crucially draws on aspects of cognition that are long established in the primate lineage, such as memory: the language faculty as a whole comprises more than just the uniquely linguistic features.

1. Language, a derived trait found only in humans, has evolved over time and involves memory.
2. Language is a distinctively human feature as there is no evidence of the existence of language in any other species.
3. Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory.
4. Language is not a single, uniform entity but the end result of a long and complex process of linguistic evolution.

Explanatory Answer

The key idea of the passage is that language, which is unique to humans, is more than just linguistic features. It is a complex bundle of traits evolved over time that crucially draws on important cognitive aspects such as memory.

Option 3 is the only option that mentions the idea of language drawing upon aspects of cognition, such as memory. This is mentioned as a crucial feature in the paragraph and must hence feature in the summary.

Choice C is the correct answer.