CAT 2025 Slot 3 · VARC · Question 24

CAT 2025 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 summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

The return to the tailor is the juxtaposition of three key things for the mindful Indian shopper. The first is the conscious shift away from the homogeneity of fast fashion, the idea of a hundred other people owning exactly the same Zara trench coat or H&M pleated skirt. The second is an actual understanding of the waste behind the fast fashion market, and wanting not to contribute to that anymore. The last is the shift toward customisation and fit—the idea of having imaginations brought to life and to have them fit exactly; without paying exorbitant rates for that bespoke tailoring. For the individual with a keen fashion sense and a genuine desire to move away from the waste and uniformity of fast fashion without paying the premium for it that indie brands would invariably demand, the tailor is the perfect crossover.

  1. A

    The mindful Indian shoppers are returning to the tailor with a genuine desire to wear clothes which are less expensive, fit them well and are yet fashionable.

  2. B

    All Indian shoppers are opting for customisation and a shift away from homogeneity over expensive clothing brands like Zara and H&M.

  3. C

    The mindful Indian shopper is shifting away from convenience and uniformity of clothing, and waste in fashion, to customisation and less exorbitantly priced clothing.

  4. D

    In the Indian retail market, people believe that expensive branded clothes are wasteful and, therefore, are returning to the neighbourhood tailor.

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option C

The paragraph numbers its own content: three things drive the return to the tailor – moving away from the homogeneity of fast fashion, awareness of its waste, and the wish for customisation and fit without bespoke prices. A summary must carry all three.

Option 3 has all three – uniformity, waste, and customisation at a price that is not exorbitant. It is the answer.

Option 1 covers price, fit and fashionableness but drops waste entirely, which is one of the three stated drivers and the one carrying the paragraph's ethical weight.

Option 2 fails on scope. 'All Indian shoppers' contradicts the paragraph's careful 'the mindful Indian shopper', a particular kind of buyer with a keen fashion sense.

Option 4 misstates the belief. The paragraph's objection to fast fashion is its homogeneity and the waste behind the market – Zara and H&M are the cheap, uniform option, not the expensive one. It is indie brands that charge the premium.

Shortcut: when a paragraph announces a count – 'three key things' – the answer is the option with three matching elements. Options with two are incomplete, and options that change 'mindful shoppers' to 'all shoppers' fail on scope regardless of content.

Hence, the answer is option 3.

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