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CAT 2019 Slot 2 — VARC Question 30

Main Point IdentificationEasy

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Language is an autapomorphy found only in our lineage, and not shared with other branches of our group such as primates. We also have no definitive evidence that any species other than Homo sapiens ever had language. However, it must be noted straightaway that ‘language’ is not a monolithic entity, but rather a complex bundle of traits that must have evolved over a significant time frame…. Moreover, language crucially draws on aspects of cognition that are long established in the primate lineage, such as memory: the language faculty as a whole comprises more than just the uniquely linguistic features.

Answer & solution

Correct answer: Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory.

  • A

    Language is not a single, uniform entity but the end result of a long and complex process of linguistic evolution.

  • B

    Language, a derived trait found only in humans, has evolved over time and involves memory.

  • C

    Language is a distinctively human feature as there is no evidence of the existence of language in any other species.

  • Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory.

Solution

Easy

In para-summary, lock onto the passage's central claim and then eliminate options that distort, add, or omit a key idea. Here the passage makes two linked points: language (a) evolved gradually over time as a bundle of traits, and (b) builds on older cognitive faculties such as memory. The right summary must carry both.

1

Pin the central idea. Language is unique to humans, but it is "not a monolithic entity" — it is "a complex bundle of traits that must have evolved over a significant time frame," and it "crucially draws on aspects of cognition that are long established in the primate lineage, such as memory." So the two non-negotiable elements are gradual evolution and resting on prior cognition (memory).

2

Option 1 — omits memory. It captures that language is not a single uniform entity and is the product of long evolution, but it drops the crucial idea that language draws on pre-existing cognition such as memory. Incomplete, so eliminate.

3

Option 2 — distorts. It calls language "a derived trait." The passage explicitly calls it an autapomorphy (a unique, non-shared trait), not a derived/shared one, so "derived trait" misreads the text. Eliminate.

4

Option 3 — omits both key points. It only states that language is distinctively human with no evidence of it elsewhere. That is background, not the essence; it leaves out evolution-over-time and the reliance on memory. Eliminate.

5

Option 4 — complete. "Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory" captures both the gradual evolution and the building-on-prior-cognition (memory) ideas. This is the essence.

Correct answer: Option 4 — "Language evolved with linguistic features building on features of cognition such as memory."

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CAT 2019 Slot 2 VARC Q30: The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the esse — Solution | TheCATExam