CAT 2021 Slot 2 · VARC · Question 7

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.

Biologists who publish their research directly to the Web have been labelled as “rogue”, but physicists have been routinely publishing research digitally (“preprints”), prior to submitting in a peer-reviewed journal. Advocates of preprints argue that quick and open dissemination of research speeds up scientific progress and allows for wider access to knowledge. But some journals still don’t accept research previously published as a preprint. Even if the idea of preprints is gaining ground, one of the biggest barriers for biologists is how they would be viewed by members of their conservative research community.

  1. A

    One of the advantages of digital preprints of research is they hasten the dissemination process, but these are not accepted by most scientific communities.

  2. B

    Compared to biologists, physicists are less conservative in their acceptance of digital pre-publication of research papers, which allows for faster dissemination of knowledge.

  3. C

    While digital publication of research is gaining popularity in many scientific disciplines, almost all peer-reviewed journals are reluctant to accept papers that have been published before.

  4. D

    Preprints of research are frowned on by some scientific fields as they do not undergo a rigourous reviewing process but are accepted among biologists as a quick way to disseminate information.

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

The passage contrasts physicists, who routinely publish preprints, with biologists, who are labelled 'rogue' for doing so and fear how their 'conservative research community' will view them. Preprints speed up the spread of knowledge.

Option 2 captures the contrast and the benefit: physicists are less conservative than biologists about pre-publication, which spreads knowledge faster.

Option 1 says 'most scientific communities' reject preprints – physicists accept them.

Option 3 says 'almost all peer-reviewed journals' refuse them – the passage says only 'some journals'.

Option 4 reverses the facts: biologists are the ones wary of preprints, and rigour of review is never mentioned.

Shortcut: test every option for exaggeration ('most', 'almost all'); the passage says 'some'.

Hence, the answer is option 2.

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