CAT 2019 Slot 2 — VARC Question 31
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Social movement organizations often struggle to mobilize supporters from allied movements in their efforts to achieve critical mass. Organizations with hybrid identities—those whose organizational identities span the boundaries of two or more social movements, issues, or identities—are vital to mobilizing these constituencies. Studies of the post-9/11 U.S. antiwar movement show that individuals with past involvement in non-anti-war movements are more likely to join hybrid organizations than are individuals without involvement in non-anti-war movements. In addition, they show that organizations with hybrid identities occupy relatively more central positions in inter-organizational contact networks within the antiwar movement and thus recruit significantly more participants in demonstrations than do nonhybrid organizations.
Answer & solution
Organizations with hybrid identities are able to mobilize individuals with different points of view.
- B
Movements that work towards social change often find it difficult to mobilize a critical mass of supporters.
- C
Hybrid organizations attract individuals that are deeply involved in anti-war movements.
- D
Post 9/11 studies show that people who are involved in non anti-war movements are likely to join hybrid organizations.
Easy
Find the passage's main point and pick the option that captures it as a general conclusion, rejecting choices that merely repeat a supporting detail or example. The core claim: hybrid-identity organizations (those straddling two or more movements) are especially effective at mobilizing supporters drawn from different/allied movements.
Pin the central idea. Movements struggle to reach critical mass; organizations with hybrid identities are "vital to mobilizing these constituencies." The post-9/11 study is only evidence for this — hybrids draw people with varied prior movement backgrounds, sit more centrally in contact networks, and recruit more participants.
Option 1 — the general conclusion. "Organizations with hybrid identities are able to mobilize individuals with different points of view." This abstracts the main claim — hybrids mobilize a diverse, cross-movement constituency. Correct.
Option 2 — omits the subject. It only restates the opening difficulty (movements struggle to mobilize a critical mass) and never mentions hybrid organizations, which are the whole point. Incomplete, so eliminate.
Option 3 — distorts. It says hybrids attract individuals "deeply involved in anti-war movements," but the study's finding is the opposite emphasis: hybrids attract those with prior involvement in non-anti-war movements. Eliminate.
Option 4 — narrow detail. It reports only one specific study finding (non-anti-war participants join hybrids). That is supporting evidence, not the summary of the whole passage. Eliminate.
Correct answer: Option 1 — "Organizations with hybrid identities are able to mobilize individuals with different points of view."