CAT 2021 Slot 2 — VARC Question 22
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
The unlikely alliance of the incumbent industrialist and the distressed unemployed worker is especially powerful amid the debris of corporate bankruptcies and layoffs. In an economic downturn, the capitalist is more likely to focus on costs of the competition emanating from free markets than on the opportunities they create. And the unemployed worker will find many others in a similar condition and with anxieties similar to his, which will make it easier for them to organize together. Using the cover and the political organization provided by the distressed, the capitalist captures the political agenda.
Answer & solution
- A
An unlikely alliance of the industrialist and the unemployed happens during an economic downturn in which they come together to unite politically and capture the political agenda.
In an economic downturn, the capitalists use the anxieties of the unemployed and their political organisation to set the political agenda to suit their economic interests.
- C
An economic downturn creates competition because of which the capitalists capture the political agenda created by the political organisation provided by the unemployed.
- D
The purpose of an unlikely alliance between the industrialist and the unemployed during an economic downturn is to stifle competition in free markets.
Easy
This is a para-summary. Capture the central mechanism precisely and reject options that misassign agency. The passage's core: in a downturn, an alliance forms between the incumbent capitalist and the distressed unemployed; the capitalist uses the cover and political organisation that the distressed provide to capture the political agenda for himself.
Wrong agency. It says "they come together to... capture the political agenda," implying both parties capture it jointly. The passage is explicit that the capitalist captures the agenda, using the unemployed as cover. Reject.
Captures the essence. "The capitalists use the anxieties of the unemployed and their political organisation to set the political agenda to suit their economic interests." This correctly keeps the capitalist as the active agent, the unemployed as the instrument, and the goal (serving the capitalist's interests). Keep.
Distortion. It claims the capitalists capture "the political agenda created by... the unemployed." In the passage the unemployed do not create the agenda; the capitalist sets it, merely using their organisation as cover. Reject.
Unsupported purpose. "To stifle competition in free markets" is not stated as the aim. The passage's point is capturing the political agenda, not suppressing competition. Reject.
Option (b) best captures the essence: in a downturn capitalists exploit the unemployed's anxieties and organisation to set the political agenda in their own interest.