CAT 2023 Slot 2 — VARC Question 24
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
People spontaneously create counterfactual alternatives to reality when they think “if only” or “what if” and imagine how the past could have been different. The mind computes counterfactuals for many reasons. Counterfactuals explain the past and prepare for the future, they implicate various relations including causal ones, and they affect intentions and decisions. They modulate emotions such as regret and relief, and they support moral judgments such as blame. The ability to create counterfactuals develops throughout childhood and contributes to reasoning about other people's beliefs, including their false beliefs.
Answer & solution
Counterfactual alternatives to reality are created for a variety of reasons and is part of one's developmental process.
- B
People create counterfactual alternatives to reality for various reasons, including reasoning about other people's beliefs.
- C
Counterfactuals help people to prepare for the future by understanding intentions and making decisions.
- D
Counterfactual thinking helps to reverse past and future actions and reason out false beliefs.
Easy
The passage makes two key claims: people create counterfactuals spontaneously, for many reasons, and this ability develops through childhood. The best summary keeps the breadth of reasons and the developmental angle, without over-narrowing or distorting.
"Counterfactual alternatives... are created for a variety of reasons and is part of one's developmental process." Captures both the many-reasons point and the developmental point. Best fit.
Mentions "various reasons" but singles out only "reasoning about other people's beliefs" and drops the developmental thread; also "people create" loses the passage's "spontaneously." Partial.
Restricts the function to "prepare for the future... intentions and decisions" — just one of the many reasons listed. Too narrow.
Claims counterfactuals "reverse past and future actions" — the passage says they explain the past, not reverse it. Factually wrong.
Option 1 (option a) — counterfactuals serve a variety of purposes and develop through childhood.