CAT 2008 — VARC Question 20
Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
Given the cultural and intellectual interconnections, the question of what is ‘Western’ and what is ‘Eastern’ (or ‘Indian’) is often hard to decide, and the issue can be discussed only in more dialectical terms. The diagnosis of a thought as ‘purely Western’ or ‘purely Indian’ can be very illusory.
Answer & solution
- A
Thoughts are not the kind of things that can be easily categorized.
- B
Though ‘occidentalism’ and ‘orientalism’ as dichotomous concepts have found many adherents.
- C
‘East is East and West is West’ has been a discredited notion for a long time now.
- D
Compartmentalizing thoughts is often desirable.
The origin of a thought is not the kind of thing to which ‘purity’ happens easily.
The essence of the paragraph is the difficulty in differentiating between “Western” and “Eastern” thoughts.
The paragraph starts with a difference between “Western” and “Eastern” and moves on to “thoughts”.
The logical completion of the paragraph needs to be in that vein.
Option 2 is logically inconsistent due to the word “dichotomous” between “occidentalism” and “orientalism” whereas the paragraph states that this dichotomy is “illusory”.
Option 3 moves back again to the broad idea of “Western” and “Eastern”.
Option 4 is contrary to the paragraph.
Option 5 completes the paragraph logically. The usage of the words, ‘thought’ and ‘purity’ (pure) in a slightly different manner makes it the ideal choice as it resonates with the paragraph in that “given the intellectual and intellectual interconnections” that exist today the origin of a thought can no longer be classified as purely “Western” or purely “Indian.” Therefore the origin of a thought cannot be pure in terms of origin.
Both, options 1 and 5, state the idea of thoughts not being easily classified. However, option 5 continues the idea of purity mentioned in the final part of the paragraph whereas option 1 does not. In this context, 1 is generic and 5 is specific.
Hence, the correct answer is option 5.