CAT 2021 Slot 2 · VARC · Question 3

CAT 2021 Slot 2 previous year question on Para Summary, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

Para SummaryVerbal AbilityMultiple choiceMedium

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

The unlikely alliance of the incumbent industrialist and the distressed unemployed worker is especially powerful amid the debris of corporate bankruptcies and layoffs. In an economic downturn, the capitalist is more likely to focus on costs of the competition emanating from free markets than on the opportunities they create. And the unemployed worker will find many others in a similar condition and with anxieties similar to his, which will make it easier for them to organize together. Using the cover and the political organization provided by the distressed, the capitalist captures the political agenda.

  1. A

    In an economic downturn, the capitalists use the anxieties of the unemployed and their political organisation to set the political agenda to suit their economic interests.

  2. B

    The purpose of an unlikely alliance between the industrialist and the unemployed during an economic downturn is to stifle competition in free markets.

  3. C

    An economic downturn creates competition because of which the capitalists capture the political agenda created by the political organisation provided by the unemployed.

  4. D

    An unlikely alliance of the industrialist and the unemployed happens during an economic downturn in which they come together to unite politically and capture the political agenda.

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

The passage says:
- In a downturn, capitalists worry about competition from free markets.
- Unemployed workers, sharing anxieties, organise easily.
- 'Using the cover and the political organization provided by the distressed, the capitalist captures the political agenda.'

Option 1 captures this: capitalists use the anxieties and political organisation of the unemployed to set the agenda for their own interests.

Option 2 states a 'purpose' (stifling competition) that the passage does not give.

Option 3 says the downturn 'creates competition', which the passage does not say, and it garbles who creates the agenda.

Option 4 says both groups capture the agenda together, but the passage says the capitalist captures it, using the unemployed as cover.

Shortcut: the last sentence is the passage's main point – the capitalist uses the distressed. Only option 1 keeps that.

Hence, the answer is option 1.

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