CAT 2021 Slot 1 · VARC · RC passage 2: Utopia, Dystopia and Homogeneity

The full passage and all 4 questions (Q5–Q8) from CAT 2021 Slot 1, with answers and solutions.

The passage below is accompanied by a set of questions. Choose the best answer to each question.

We cannot travel outside our neighbourhood without passports. We must wear the same plain clothes. We must exchange our houses every ten years. We cannot avoid labour. We all go to bed at the same time . . . We have religious freedom, but we cannot deny that the soul dies with the body, since ‘but for the fear of punishment, they would have nothing but contempt for the laws and customs of society’. In More’s time, for much of the population, given the plenty and security on offer, such restraints would not have seemed overly unreasonable. For modern readers, however, Utopia appears to rely upon relentless transparency, the repression of variety, and the curtailment of privacy. Utopia provides security: but at what price? In both its external and internal relations, indeed, it seems perilously dystopian.

Such a conclusion might be fortified by examining selectively the tradition which follows More on these points. This often portrays societies where . . . ‘it would be almost impossible for man to be depraved, or wicked’. . . . This is achieved both through institutions and mores, which underpin the common life. . . . The passions are regulated and inequalities of wealth and distinction are minimized. Needs, vanity, and emulation are restrained, often by prizing equality and holding riches in contempt. The desire for public power is curbed. Marriage and sexual intercourse are often controlled: in Tommaso Campanella’s The City of the Sun (1623), the first great literary utopia after More’s, relations are forbidden to men before the age of twenty-one and women before nineteen. Communal child-rearing is normal; for Campanella this commences at age two. Greater simplicity of life, ‘living according to nature’, is often a result: the desire for simplicity and purity are closely related. People become more alike in appearance, opinion, and outlook than they often have been. Unity, order, and homogeneity thus prevail at the cost of individuality and diversity. This model, as J. C. Davis demonstrates, dominated early modern utopianism. . . . And utopian homogeneity remains a familiar theme well into the twentieth century.

Given these considerations, it is not unreasonable to take as our starting point here the hypothesis that utopia and dystopia evidently share more in common than is often supposed. Indeed, they might be twins, the progeny of the same parents. Insofar as this proves to be the case, my linkage of both here will be uncomfortably close for some readers. Yet we should not mistake this argument for the assertion that all utopias are, or tend to produce, dystopias. Those who defend this proposition will find that their association here is not nearly close enough. For we have only to acknowledge the existence of thousands of successful intentional communities in which a cooperative ethos predominates and where harmony without coercion is the rule to set aside such an assertion. Here the individual’s submersion in the group is consensual (though this concept is not unproblematic). It results not in enslavement but voluntary submission to group norms. Harmony is achieved without . . . harming others.

Question 5 · RC Detail and Fact Based Questions

All of the following arguments are made in the passage EXCEPT that:

  1. A

    there have been thousands of communities where homogeneity and stability have been achieved through choice, rather than by force.

  2. B

    in early modern utopianism, the stability of utopian societies was seen to be achieved only with individuals surrendering their sense of self.

  3. C

    in More’s time, there was plenty and security, so people did not need restraints that could appear unreasonable.

  4. D

    the tradition of utopian literature has often shown societies in which it would be nearly impossible for anyone to be sinful or criminal.

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option C

Find the statement the passage does not make.

Option 1 is made. The author points to 'thousands of successful intentional communities' where harmony 'without coercion' is the rule, and where submission to the group is voluntary.

Option 2 is made. In early modern utopias, 'Unity, order, and homogeneity thus prevail at the cost of individuality and diversity', and J. C. Davis shows this model dominated.

Option 4 is made. The tradition after More 'often portrays societies where . . . it would be almost impossible for man to be depraved, or wicked'.

Option 3 is not made. It twists the passage. The passage says the restraints existed, but because of the plenty and security on offer, they 'would not have seemed overly unreasonable'. It never says people did not need restraints.

Shortcut: watch for options that turn 'restraints seemed acceptable' into 'restraints were not needed'. A small change of logic is a common trap.

Hence, the answer is option 3.

Question 6 · RC Inference Questions

All of the following statements can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT that:
  1. A
    many conceptions of utopian societies emphasise the importance of social uniformity and cultural homogeneity.
  2. B
    it is possible to see utopias as dystopias, with a change in perspective, because one person’s utopia could be seen as another’s dystopia.
  3. C
    utopian societies exist in a long tradition of literature dealing with imaginary people practicing imaginary customs, in imaginary worlds.
  4. D
    utopian and dystopian societies are twins, the progeny of the same parents.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Find the statement that cannot be inferred.

Option 1 can be inferred. The passage stresses that utopias make people 'more alike in appearance, opinion, and outlook' and that 'utopian homogeneity remains a familiar theme'.

Option 2 can be inferred. More's Utopia seemed reasonable to people of his time, but appears 'perilously dystopian' to modern readers. So the same society can look like a utopia or a dystopia depending on the viewer.

Option 3 can be inferred. The passage speaks of 'the tradition which follows More', of Campanella's The City of the Sun, and of a theme lasting 'well into the twentieth century'. Utopias belong to a long literary tradition of imagined societies.

Option 4 cannot be inferred. The author offers it only as a hypothesis: they 'might be twins'. The author then warns against the stronger claim that all utopias tend to produce dystopias. Option 4 states as a fact what the author treats as a possibility.

Shortcut: when the passage says 'might be', an option that says 'are' is too strong.

Hence, the answer is option 4.

Question 7 · RC Inference Questions

Following from the passage, which one of the following may be seen as a characteristic of a utopian society?
  1. A
    A society where public power is earned through merit rather than through privilege.
  2. B
    Institutional surveillance of every individual to ensure his/her security and welfare.
  3. C
    The regulation of homogeneity through promoting competitive heterogeneity.
  4. D
    A society without any laws to restrain one’s individuality.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

The passage describes utopian societies as relying on 'relentless transparency', 'the curtailment of privacy' and institutions that regulate passions, so that wrongdoing becomes almost impossible – all in exchange for 'security'.

Option 2 matches this. Institutions watching every individual to ensure security and welfare is exactly transparency and loss of privacy in return for security.

Option 1 is contradicted: in utopia 'The desire for public power is curbed', and distinctions are minimised rather than earned through merit.

Option 3 is contradicted: utopias repress variety; they do not promote competition or heterogeneity.

Option 4 is contradicted: utopian life is full of rules – passports, the same clothes, fixed bedtimes, controlled marriage.

Shortcut: pick the option that fits the passage's key words 'transparency', 'privacy' and 'security'.

Hence, the answer is option 2.

Question 8 · Purpose & structure

Which sequence of words below best captures the narrative of the passage?
  1. A
    Utopia – Security – Homogeneity – Intentional community.
  2. B
    Relentless transparency – Homogeneity – Utopia – Dystopia.
  3. C
    Utopia – Security – Dystopia – Coercion.
  4. D
    Curtailment of privacy – Dystopia – Utopia – Intentional community.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

Trace the passage from start to finish.

1. It opens with More's Utopia and its rules – the subject is utopia.
2. It notes that Utopia 'provides security: but at what price?' – security.
3. It moves to the tradition after More, where 'Unity, order, and homogeneity thus prevail' – homogeneity.
4. It ends with 'thousands of successful intentional communities' where people submit to the group by choice – intentional community.

Option 1 follows this order exactly: Utopia – Security – Homogeneity – Intentional community.

Option 2 puts relentless transparency first and ends on dystopia, which is not where the passage ends.

Option 3 ends on coercion, but the passage ends on harmony without coercion.

Option 4 begins with curtailment of privacy and puts dystopia before utopia, which reverses the order.

Shortcut: check the first and last words first. The passage starts with utopia and ends with intentional communities, so only option 1 fits.

Hence, the answer is option 1.

Take this paper as a timed test
Real exam timing, instant score, rank and topic-wise analysis.

Practice timed →