CAT 2020 Question Paper | VARC Slot 3

CAT Questions

Para Summary type of questions are trickier than you expect it to be. In the CAT previous year papers, we saw that there were 3 questions on an average per slot in Para Summary. Though CAT 2020 saw a reduction of questions from 34 to 26, the average no. of questions remained the same for Para Summary. Since it is trickier, and carries negative marking, it will be wiser to attempt it after solving other parts of VA like Sentence Elimination and Sentence Rearrangement. We can expect atleast 1 question from this type to be easy to moderate difficulty. The best questions to practice for the CAT Exam are the actual CAT Previous Year Papers.

Question 21 : The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Aesthetic political representation urges us to realize that ‘the representative has autonomy with regard to the people represented’ but autonomy then is not an excuse to abandon one’s responsibility. Aesthetic autonomy requires cultivation of ‘disinterestedness’ on the part of actors which is not indifference. To have disinterestedness, that is, to have comportment towards the beautiful that is devoid of all ulterior references to use – requires a kind of aesthetic commitment; it is the liberation of ourselves for the release of what has proper worth only in itself.

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Video Explanation

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Explanatory Answer

The main idea of the paragraph is that aesthetic political representation requires that the actor has autonomy with regard to the portrayal and that this involves the cultivation of disinterestedness (which is different from indifference) on part of the actors. Option B captures the essence of the paragraph.

Option A talks of a "non-subjective evaluation of things", something that is not mentioned in the paragraph. Option C does not include the key word 'aesthetic'. Option D states that autonomy is "manifested through" (shown clearly by) disinterestedness. The paragraph only urges the cultivation of disinterestedness in order to liberate oneself from all ulterior references.

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The answer is, "Aesthetic political representation advocates autonomy for the representatives drawing from disinterestedness, which itself is different from indifference."