CAT 2022 Question Paper | VARC Slot 2

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Question 18 : The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Several of the world's earliest cities were organised along egalitarian lines. In some regions, urban populations governed themselves for centuries without any indication of the temples and palaces that would later emerge; in others, temples and palaces never emerged at all, and there is simply no evidence of a class of administrators or any other sort of ruling stratum. It would seem that the mere fact of urban life does not, necessarily, imply any particular form of political organization, and never did. Far from resigning us to inequality, the picture that is now emerging of humanity's past may open our eyes to egalitarian possibilities we otherwise would have never considered.

Explanatory Answer

Options B and D can be ruled out right away. The paragraph does not talk about how hierarchical civic organizations of today emerged. It only says that several of the world's earliest cities were egalitarian. Option D focuses on one idea of the paragraph and is not a good summary.
Both A and C, however, look compelling. But between the two, A is better. This is because option C overgeneralises, stating that ancient cities were "not organized" on hierarchical political and administrative lines. The paragraph only says several ancient cities were egalitarian and urban life does not necessarily imply a particular form of political organization. Also, 'egalitarian urban life' is a key idea in the paragraph: C does not mention this while A does. So, option A is a better summary.

The answer is 'We now have the evidence in support of the existence of an egalitarian urban life in some ancient cities, where political and civic organisation was far less hierarchical.'

Choice A is the correct answer.

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