CAT 2023 Slot 2 · VARC · RC passage 1: Historical Facts and the Historian

The full passage and all 4 questions (Q3–Q6) from CAT 2023 Slot 2, with answers and solutions.

The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.

The Positivists, anxious to stake out their claim for history as a science, contributed the weight of their influence to the cult of facts. First ascertain the facts, said the positivists, then draw your conclusions from them. . . . This is what may [be] called the common-sense view of history. History consists of a corpus of ascertained facts. The facts are available to the historian in documents, inscriptions, and so on . . . [Sir George Clark] contrasted the "hard core of facts" in history with the surrounding pulp of disputable interpretation forgetting perhaps that the pulpy part of the fruit is more rewarding than the hard core. . . . It recalls the favourite dictum of the great liberal journalist C. P. Scott: "Facts are sacred, opinion is free.". . .

What is a historical fact? . . . According to the common-sense view, there are certain basic facts which are the same for all historians and which form, so to speak, the backbone of history—the fact, for example, that the Battle of Hastings was fought in 1066. But this view calls for two observations. In the first place, it is not with facts like these that the historian is primarily concerned. It is no doubt important to know that the great battle was fought in 1066 and not in 1065 or 1067, and that it was fought at Hastings and not at Eastbourne or Brighton. The historian must not get these things wrong. But [to] praise a historian for his accuracy is like praising an architect for using well-seasoned timber or properly mixed concrete in his building. It is a necessary condition of his work, but not his essential function. It is precisely for matters of this kind that the historian is entitled to rely on what have been called the "auxiliary sciences" of history—archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, chronology, and so forth. . . .

The second observation is that the necessity to establish these basic facts rests not on any quality in the facts themselves, but on an apriori decision of the historian. In spite of C. P. Scott's motto, every journalist knows today that the most effective way to influence opinion is by the selection and arrangement of the appropriate facts. It used to be said that facts speak for themselves. This is, of course, untrue. The facts speak only when the historian calls on them: it is he who decides to which facts to give the floor, and in what order or context. . . . The only reason why we are interested to know that the battle was fought at Hastings in 1066 is that historians regard it as a major historical event. . . . Professor Talcott Parsons once called [science] "a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality." It might perhaps have been put more simply. But history is, among other things, that. The historian is necessarily selective. The belief in a hard core of historical facts existing objectively and independently of the interpretation of the historian is a preposterous fallacy, but one which it is very hard to eradicate.

Question 3 · RC EXCEPT and NOT Questions

All of the following, if true, can weaken the passage’s claim that facts do not speak for themselves, EXCEPT:

  1. A

    the truth value of a fact is independent of the historian who expresses it.

  2. B

    facts, like truth, can be relative: what is fact for person X may not be so for person Y.

  3. C

    a fact, by its very nature, is objective and universal, irrespective of the context in which it is placed.

  4. D

    the order in which a series of facts is presented does not have any bearing on the production of meaning.

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

The claim is that 'facts speak only when the historian calls on them' – the historian chooses which facts to use and 'in what order or context', so meaning depends on selection and arrangement.

Option 1 weakens it: if a fact's truth value is independent of the historian, facts would not depend on the historian.

Option 3 weakens it: if a fact is objective and universal 'irrespective of the context', context would not matter.

Option 4 weakens it: the passage says order and context shape meaning; if order had no bearing on meaning, the claim falls.

Option 2 – facts are relative, differing from person to person – does not weaken the claim. If anything it supports the view that facts depend on who handles them.

Shortcut: in 'weaken EXCEPT' questions, three options will push towards the opposite of the author's view (here, facts as objective). The one that leans the author's way is the answer.

Hence, the answer is option 2.

Question 4 · RC Detail and Fact Based Questions

All of the following describe the “common-sense view” of history, EXCEPT:
  1. A
    history can be objective like the sciences if it is derived from historical facts.
  2. B
    only the positivist methods can lead to credible historical knowledge.
  3. C
    real history can be found in ancient engravings and archival documents.
  4. D
    history is like science: a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

The common-sense view is the positivists' 'cult of facts': history 'consists of a corpus of ascertained facts' available in 'documents, inscriptions', and history can be a science if built on facts.

Option 1 fits: the positivists wanted history as a science derived from facts.

Option 2 fits: the positivist method – first ascertain the facts, then draw conclusions – is presented as the route to historical knowledge.

Option 3 fits: facts are available 'in documents, inscriptions, and so on'.

Option 4 – history as 'a selective system of cognitive orientations to reality' – is the author's own view, borrowed from Talcott Parsons, to argue against the common-sense view.

Shortcut: in 'describe view X EXCEPT' questions, look for an option that states the author's counter-view. It often quotes the passage, but from the other side of the argument.

Hence, the answer is option 4.

Question 5 · RC - Questions

If the author of the passage were to write a book on the Battle of Hastings along the lines of his/her own reasoning, the focus of the historical account would be on:
  1. A
    producing a detailed timeline of the various events that led to the Battle.
  2. B
    providing a nuanced interpretation by relying on the auxiliary sciences.
  3. C
    exploring the socio-political and economic factors that led to the Battle.
  4. D
    deriving historical facts from the relevant documents and inscriptions.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option C

The author says accuracy about dates and places is 'a necessary condition' of the historian's work 'but not his essential function'. The essential function is selection and interpretation – deciding which facts matter and why. The only reason we care that Hastings happened in 1066 is that 'historians regard it as a major historical event'.

Option 3 – exploring the socio-political and economic factors that led to the battle – is interpretive work, the historian's essential function.

Option 1 (a detailed timeline) and option 4 (deriving facts from documents and inscriptions) are fact-gathering, which the author treats as necessary but secondary.

Option 2 says interpretation relies on the auxiliary sciences, but the passage says those sciences supply accuracy, not interpretation.

Shortcut: when the author contrasts a 'necessary condition' with an 'essential function', an application question will want the essential function.

Hence, the answer is option 3.

Question 6 · RC Detail and Fact Based Questions

According to this passage, which one of the following statements best describes the significance of archaeology for historians?
  1. A
    Archaeology helps historians to ascertain factual accuracy.
  2. B
    Archaeology helps historians to carry out their primary duty.
  3. C
    Archaeology helps historians to interpret historical facts.
  4. D
    Archaeology helps historians to locate the oldest civilisations in history.
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

The passage says the historian must get dates and places right, and 'it is precisely for matters of this kind that the historian is entitled to rely on... the "auxiliary sciences" of history—archaeology, epigraphy, numismatics, chronology'.

Option 1 – archaeology helps ascertain factual accuracy – matches.

Option 2 is wrong: accuracy is a 'necessary condition' but 'not his essential function', so archaeology does not serve the primary duty.

Option 3 is wrong: interpretation is the historian's own task, not that of the auxiliary sciences.

Option 4 is not mentioned.

Shortcut: 'matters of this kind' points back to the preceding examples (correct dates and places). The answer must be about accuracy.

Hence, the answer is option 1.

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