CAT 2003 Slot 1 — VARC Question 48
The verse given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
As you set out for Ithaka
hope the journey is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
angry Poseidon – don't be afraid of them:
you'll never find things like that on your way
as long as you keep your thoughts raised high,
as long as a rare excitement
stirs your spirit and your body.
Laistrygonians and Cyclops,
wild Poseidon – you won't encounter them
unless you bring them along inside your soul,
unless your soul sets them up in front of you.
Hope the voyage is a long one,
may there be many a summer morning when,
with what pleasure, what joy,
you come into harbours seen for the first time:
may you stop at Phoenician trading stations
to buy fine things,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
sensual perfume of every kind –
as many sensual perfumes as you can;
and may you visit many Egyptian cities
to gather stores of knowledge from their scholars.
Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you are destined for.
But do not hurry the journey at all.
Better if it lasts for years,
so you are old by the time you reach the island,
wealthy with all you have gained on the way,
not expecting lthaka to make you rich.
Ithaka gave you the marvellous journey,
without her you would not have set out.
She has nothing left to give you now.
And if you find her poor, Ithaka won't have fooled you.
Wise as you will have become, so full of experience,
you will have understood by then what these Ithakas mean
There are two gaps in each of the following sentences. From the pairs of words given, choose the one that fills the gaps most appropriately. The first word in the pair should fill the first gap.
The _____ regions of Spain all have unique cultures, but the _____ views within each region make the issue of an acceptable common language of instruction an even more contentious one.
Answer & solution
different, discrete
- B
distinct, disparate
- C
divergent, distinct
- D
different, competing
A difficult question, perhaps because they (the paper setters) have given you synonyms of ‘different’ in all options. I suggest you skip this kind of question in the actual paper if possible (in earlier CAT papers you had choices!). For the first blank, the operative word is ‘different’. The regions have unique cultures and therefore they are different (unlike in form, quality, amount or nature).
‘Divergent’, you may be able to eliminate, because primarily it means ‘drawing apart from a common point’ and nothing in the sentence suggests that. So, let us eliminate option 3.
For the second blank, ‘competing’ does not fit that well. Competition is generally there for some advantage or a goal. The sentence does not suggest that either and therefore, we can do away with option 4.
Options 1 and 2 are very close, so instead of incorrect we would simply look at a more appropriate answer. We will go with option 1 because ‘different’ seems the best word for the first blank. Also, ‘disparate’ (option 2, word for the second blank) is slightly stretched for the sentence. ‘Disparate’ means ‘fundamentally distinct or different in kind; entirely dissimilar’ (too much!) and ‘containing or composed of dissimilar or opposing elements’. That is a bit extreme for a country.
Hence, the correct answer is option 1.