Weaken Argument — CAT Previous-Year Questions

Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.

Developed countries have made adequate provisions for social security for senior citizens. State insurers (as well as private ones) offer medicare and pension benefits to people who can no longer earn. In India, with the collapse of the joint family system, the traditional shelter of the elderly has disappeared. And the state faced with a financial crunch is not in a position to provide social security. So, it is advisable that the working population give serious thought to building a financial base for itself.

Which one of the following, if it were to happen, weakens the conclusions drawn in the above passage the most?

Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.

Thomas Malthus, the British clergyman-turned economist, predicted that the planet would not be able to support the human population for long. His explanation was that human population grows at a geometric rate, while the food supply grows only at an arithmetic rate.

Which one of the following, if true, would not undermine the thesis offered by Malthus?

Directions: Read the short passages given below and answer the question that follows it.

The company’s coffee crop for 1998-99 totalled 8,079 tonnes, an all-time record. The increase over the previous year’s production of 5,830 tonnes was 38.58 per cent. The previous highest crop was 6,089 tonnes in 1970-71. The company had fixed a target of 8,000 tonnes to be realized by the year 2000-01, and this has been achieved two years earlier, thanks to the emphasis laid on the key areas of irrigation, replacement of unproductive coffee bushes, intensive refilling and improved agricultural practices. It is now our endeavour to reach the target of 10,000 tonnes in 2001-02.

Which one of the following would contribute most to making the target of 10,000 tonnes in 2001-02 unrealistic?

Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.

Unless you decide your whole life to it, you will never learn to speak the language of another country to perfection; you will never know its people and its literature with complete intimacy.

Which of the following is likely to undermine the above argument?

Direction: This section contains statements followed by questions based on the statements. Read the statements and select the best option as the answer.

But because the idea of private property has been permitted to override with its selfishness, the common good of humanity it does not follow that there are not limits within which that idea can function for the general convenience and advantage.

Which of the following is most likely to weaken the argument?