CAT 2024 Slot 2 — VARC Question 21
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
[S]pices were a global commodity centuries before European voyages. There was a complex chain of relations, yet consumers had little knowledge of producers and vice versa. Desire for spices helped fuel European colonial empires to create political, military and commercial networks under a single power.
Historians know a fair amount about the supply of spices in Europe during the medieval period – the origins, methods of transportation, the prices – but less about demand. Why go to such extraordinary efforts to procure expensive products from exotic lands? Still, demand was great enough to inspire the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Vasco Da Gama, launching the first fateful wave of European colonialism. . . .
So, why were spices so highly prized in Europe in the centuries from about 1000 to 1500? One widely disseminated explanation for medieval demand for spices was that they covered the taste of spoiled meat. . . . Medieval purchasers consumed meat much fresher than what the average city-dweller in the developed world of today has at hand. However, refrigeration was not available, and some hot spices have been shown to serve as an anti-bacterial agent. Salting, smoking or drying meat were other means of preservation. Most spices used in cooking began as medical ingredients, and throughout the Middle Ages spices were used as both medicines and condiments. Above all, medieval recipes involve the combination of medical and culinary lore in order to balance food's humeral properties and prevent disease. Most spices were hot and dry and so appropriate in sauces to counteract the moist and wet properties supposedly possessed by most meat and fish. . . .
Where spices came from was known in a vague sense centuries before the voyages of Columbus. Just how vague may be judged by looking at medieval world maps . . . To the medieval European imagination, the East was exotic and alluring. Medieval maps often placed India close to the so-called Earthly Paradise, the Garden of Eden described in the Bible.
Geographical knowledge has a lot to do with the perceptions of spices’ relative scarcity and the reasons for their high prices. An example of the varying notions of scarcity is the conflicting information about how pepper is harvested. As far back as the 7th century Europeans thought that pepper in India grew on trees "guarded" by serpents that would bite and poison anyone who attempted to gather the fruit. The only way to harvest pepper was to burn the trees, which would drive the snakes underground. Of course, this bit of lore would explain the shriveled black peppercorns, but not white, pink or other colors.
Spices never had the enduring allure or power of gold and silver or the commercial potential of new products such as tobacco, indigo or sugar. But the taste for spices did continue for a while beyond the Middle Ages. As late as the 17th century, the English and the Dutch were struggling for control of the Spice Islands: Dutch New Amsterdam, or New York, was exchanged by the British for one of the Moluccan Islands where nutmeg was grown.
The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Different from individuals, states conduct warfare operations using the DIME model— “diplomacy, information, military, and economics.” Most states do everything they can to inflict pain and confusion on their enemies before deploying the military. In fact, attacks on vectors of information are a well-worn tactic of war and usually are the first target when the charge begins. It’s common for telecom data and communications networks to be routinely monitored by governments, which is why the open data policies of the web are so concerning to many advocates of privacy and human rights. With the worldwide adoption of social media, more governments are getting involved in low-grade information warfare through the use of cyber troops. According to a study by the Oxford Internet Institute in 2020, cyber troops are “government or political party actors tasked with manipulating public opinion online.” The Oxford research group was able to identify 81 countries with active cyber troop operations utilizing many different strategies to spread false information, including spending millions on online advertising.
Answer & solution
- A
Governments primarily use the DIME model to deploy cyber troops who practise lowgrade information warfare, seeking to manipulate public opinion with the objective of inflicting pain and confusion on their enemies.
- B
Using the DIME model, together with military operations, many governments simultaneously conduct information warfare with the help of cyber troops and routinely monitor telecom data and communications networks.
- C
Following the DIME model, many governments have taken advantage of open data policies of the web to deploy cyber troops who manipulate domestic public opinion, using advertising and other strategies to spread false information.
As part of conducting information warfare as per the DIME model, many governments routinely monitor telecom data and communications networks, and use cyber troops on social media to manipulate public opinion.
Easy
Essence: states wage information warfare under the DIME model - monitoring telecom/communications networks and, on social media, deploying cyber troops to manipulate public opinion. The best summary covers both the monitoring and the cyber-troop manipulation, accurately.
Wrong. Misstates the DIME model as a tool to "deploy cyber troops" whose objective is "to inflict pain and confusion." DIME is the overall warfare framework; this conflates and distorts the relationships.
Wrong. "Together with military operations ... simultaneously" misreads the passage, which says states act on information vectors FIRST, before deploying the military. Sequencing is wrong.
Wrong. Restricts manipulation to "domestic public opinion" and frames open data policies as something governments "take advantage of" - the passage presents open data as a privacy CONCERN, not a government exploitation tactic. Narrow and distorted.
Correct. "As part of information warfare per the DIME model, many governments routinely monitor telecom/communications networks and use cyber troops on social media to manipulate public opinion" cleanly captures both pillars without distortion.
Option D - governments conduct DIME-model information warfare by monitoring networks and using social-media cyber troops to manipulate opinion.