CAT 2023 Slot 3 · VARC · Question 23

CAT 2023 Slot 3 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 weight of society's expectations is hardly a new phenomenon but it has become particularly draining over recent decades, perhaps because expectations themselves are so multifarious and contradictory. The perfectionism of the 1950s was rooted in the norms of mass culture and captured in famous advertising images of the ideal white American family that now seem self-satirising. In that era, perfectionism meant seamlessly conforming to values, behaviour and appearance: chiselled confidence for men, demure graciousness for women. The perfectionist was under pressure to look like everyone else, only more so. The perfectionists of today, by contrast, feel an obligation to stand out through their idiosyncratic style and wit if they are to gain a foothold in the attention economy.

  1. A

    Though long-standing, the pressure to appear perfect and thereby attract attention, has evolved over time from one of conformism to one of non-conformism.

  2. B

    The image of perfectionism is reflected in and perpetuated by the media; and people do their best to adhere to these ideals.

  3. C

    The pressure to appear perfect has been the cause of tension and conflict because the idea itself has been in a state of flux and hard to define.

  4. D

    The desire to attract attention is so deep-rooted in individual consciousness that people are willing to go to any lengths to achieve it.

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option A

The passage contrasts two eras of perfectionism. In the 1950s it meant conforming – looking like everyone else, 'only more so'. Today perfectionists must 'stand out' through idiosyncratic style to gain attention. The pressure itself is 'hardly a new phenomenon'.

Option 1 – the long-standing pressure to be perfect has shifted from conformism to non-conformism – captures this.

Option 2 focuses on the media, which appear only as 1950s advertising.

Option 3 speaks of tension and conflict from an idea hard to define; the passage describes a clear shift, not confusion.

Option 4 exaggerates the desire for attention ('any lengths') and drops the contrast between eras.

Shortcut: in a 'then versus now' passage, the right summary names both sides of the change.

Hence, the answer is option 1.

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