CAT 2017 Slot 2 — VARC Question 19

Mixed PracticeEasy

Passage / Data

Answer the following questions based on the information given below.

Typewriters are the epitome of a technology that has been comprehensively rendered obsolete by the digital age. The ink comes off the ribbon, they weigh a ton, and second thoughts are a disaster. But they are also personal, portable and, above all, private. Type a document and lock it away and more or less the only ways anyone else can get it is if you give it to them. That is why the Russians have decided to go back to typewriters in some government offices, and why in the US, some departments have never abandoned them. Yet it is not just their resistance to algorithms and secret surveillance that keeps typewriter production lines-well one, at least-in business (the last British one closed a year ago). Nor is it only the nostalgic appeal of the mental body and the stout well-defined keys that make them popular on eBay. A typewriter demands something particular: attentiveness. By the time paper is loaded, the ribbon tightened, the carriage returned, the spacing and the margins set, there’s a big premium on hitting the right key. That means sorting out ideas, pulling together a kind of order and organizing details before actually striking off. There can be no thinking of screen with a typewriter. Nor are there any easy distractions. No online shopping. No urgent emails. No Twitter. No need even for electricity -perfect for writing in a remote hideaway. The thinking process is accompanied by the encouraging clack of keys, and the ratchet of the carriage return. Ping!.

Which one of the following best describes what the passage is trying to do?

Answer & solution

Correct answer: It describes why people continue to use typewriters even in the digital age.

It describes why people continue to use typewriters even in the digital age.
B
It argues that typewriters will continue to be used even though they are an obsolete technology.
C
It highlights the personal benefits of using typewriters.
D
It shows that computers offer fewer options than typewriters.

Solution

Easy

This is a "purpose of the passage" question. The passage opens by calling typewriters "obsolete," then spends the rest cataloguing why people still use them: privacy, resistance to surveillance, nostalgia, and above all the attentiveness they force. The best answer names this descriptive, explanatory purpose.

Describes why people continue to use typewriters in the digital age. The passage lists privacy, security, focus and ritual — reasons typewriters survive despite being obsolete. This matches the passage's descriptive aim precisely. Correct.

Argues they will continue to be used. The passage explains present-day use; it makes no prediction or argument about the future. Adds a claim the text doesn't make. Incorrect.

Highlights the personal benefits. The chief benefits noted — privacy from surveillance, used by governments — are not personal in nature, and the focus is broader than "personal." Too narrow/mislabelled. Incorrect.

Shows computers offer fewer options. If anything the passage implies computers offer more (distractions, online shopping, email). Reverses the point. Incorrect.

Option 1 — the passage describes why typewriters are still used even in the digital age.

CAT 2017 Slot 2 — VARC Question 19

Answer & solution

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