NinetynineCAT 2023 Slot 1 VARC RC Passage 1 Q1–Q4
A reading comprehension passage from the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section of CAT 2023 Slot 1, with 4 questions (RC · Society, History & Politics). Answers are CAT's official key.
The passage
The passage below is accompanied by four questions. Based on the passage, choose the best answer for each question.
Many human phenomena and characteristics – such as behaviors, beliefs, economies, genes, incomes, life expectancies, and other things – are influenced both by geographic factors and by non-geographic factors. Geographic factors mean physical and biological factors tied to geographic location, including climate, the distributions of wild plant and animal species, soils, and topography. Non-geographic factors include those factors subsumed under the term culture, other factors subsumed under the term history, and decisions by individual people. . . .
[T]he differences between the current economies of North and South Korea . . . cannot be attributed to the modest environmental differences between [them] . . . They are instead due entirely to the different [government] policies . . . At the opposite extreme, the Inuit and other traditional peoples living north of the Arctic Circle developed warm fur clothes but no agriculture, while equatorial lowland peoples around the world never developed warm fur clothes but often did develop agriculture. The explanation is straightforwardly geographic, rather than a cultural or historical quirk unrelated to geography. . . . Aboriginal Australia remained the sole continent occupied only by hunter/gatherers and with no indigenous farming or herding . . . [Here the] explanation is biogeographic: the Australian continent has no domesticable native animal species and few domesticable native plant species. Instead, the crops and domestic animals that now make Australia a food and wool exporter are all non-native (mainly Eurasian) species such as sheep, wheat, and grapes, brought to Australia by overseas colonists.
Today, no scholar would be silly enough to deny that culture, history, and individual choices play a big role in many human phenomena. Scholars don't react to cultural, historical, and individual-agent explanations by denouncing "cultural determinism," "historical determinism," or "individual determinism," and then thinking no further. But many scholars do react to any explanation invoking some geographic role, by denouncing "geographic determinism" . . .
Several reasons may underlie this widespread but nonsensical view. One reason is that some geographic explanations advanced a century ago were racist, thereby causing all geographic explanations to become tainted by racist associations in the minds of many scholars other than geographers. But many genetic, historical, psychological, and anthropological explanations advanced a century ago were also racist, yet the validity of newer non-racist genetic etc. explanations is widely accepted today.
Another reason for reflex rejection of geographic explanations is that historians have a tradition, in their discipline, of stressing the role of contingency (a favorite word among historians) based on individual decisions and chance. Often that view is warranted . . . But often, too, that view is unwarranted. The development of warm fur clothes among the Inuit living north of the Arctic Circle was not because one influential Inuit leader persuaded other Inuit in 1783 to adopt warm fur clothes, for no good environmental reason.
A third reason is that geographic explanations usually depend on detailed technical facts of geography and other fields of scholarship . . . Most historians and economists don't acquire that detailed knowledge as part of the professional training.
Many human phenomena and characteristics – such as behaviors, beliefs, economies, genes, incomes, life expectancies, and other things – are influenced both by geographic factors and by non-geographic factors. Geographic factors mean physical and biological factors tied to geographic location, including climate, the distributions of wild plant and animal species, soils, and topography. Non-geographic factors include those factors subsumed under the term culture, other factors subsumed under the term history, and decisions by individual people. . . .
[T]he differences between the current economies of North and South Korea . . . cannot be attributed to the modest environmental differences between [them] . . . They are instead due entirely to the different [government] policies . . . At the opposite extreme, the Inuit and other traditional peoples living north of the Arctic Circle developed warm fur clothes but no agriculture, while equatorial lowland peoples around the world never developed warm fur clothes but often did develop agriculture. The explanation is straightforwardly geographic, rather than a cultural or historical quirk unrelated to geography. . . . Aboriginal Australia remained the sole continent occupied only by hunter/gatherers and with no indigenous farming or herding . . . [Here the] explanation is biogeographic: the Australian continent has no domesticable native animal species and few domesticable native plant species. Instead, the crops and domestic animals that now make Australia a food and wool exporter are all non-native (mainly Eurasian) species such as sheep, wheat, and grapes, brought to Australia by overseas colonists.
Today, no scholar would be silly enough to deny that culture, history, and individual choices play a big role in many human phenomena. Scholars don't react to cultural, historical, and individual-agent explanations by denouncing "cultural determinism," "historical determinism," or "individual determinism," and then thinking no further. But many scholars do react to any explanation invoking some geographic role, by denouncing "geographic determinism" . . .
Several reasons may underlie this widespread but nonsensical view. One reason is that some geographic explanations advanced a century ago were racist, thereby causing all geographic explanations to become tainted by racist associations in the minds of many scholars other than geographers. But many genetic, historical, psychological, and anthropological explanations advanced a century ago were also racist, yet the validity of newer non-racist genetic etc. explanations is widely accepted today.
Another reason for reflex rejection of geographic explanations is that historians have a tradition, in their discipline, of stressing the role of contingency (a favorite word among historians) based on individual decisions and chance. Often that view is warranted . . . But often, too, that view is unwarranted. The development of warm fur clothes among the Inuit living north of the Arctic Circle was not because one influential Inuit leader persuaded other Inuit in 1783 to adopt warm fur clothes, for no good environmental reason.
A third reason is that geographic explanations usually depend on detailed technical facts of geography and other fields of scholarship . . . Most historians and economists don't acquire that detailed knowledge as part of the professional training.
Question 1
All of the following can be inferred from the passage EXCEPT:
- Aagricultural practices changed drastically in the Australian continent after it was colonised.
- Bindividual dictat and contingency were not the causal factors for the use of fur clothing in some very cold climates.
- Cwhile most human phenomena result from culture and individual choice, some have bio-geographic origins.
- Dseveral academic studies of human phenomena in the past involved racist interpretations.
Answer: (C) while most human phenomena result from culture and individual choice, some have bio-geographic origins. RC · Society, History & Politics MCQ
Solution
- The passage says many phenomena are influenced 'both by geographic factors and by non-geographic factors'; it never ranks culture and choice as the source of most phenomena.
- So C adds a claim ('most human phenomena result from culture and individual choice') that cannot be inferred.
- A follows from Australia having no indigenous farming and now exporting non-native crops; B from the Inuit example ('not because one influential Inuit leader persuaded...'); D from 'many ... explanations advanced a century ago were also racist'.
Question 2
All of the following are advanced by the author as reasons why non-geographers disregard geographic influences on human phenomena EXCEPT their:
- Adismissal of explanations that involve geographical causes for human behaviour.
- Bbelief in the central role of humans, unrelated to physical surroundings, in influencing phenomena.
- Clingering impressions of past geographic analyses that were politically offensive.
- Ddisciplinary training which typically does not include technical knowledge of geography.
Answer: (A) dismissal of explanations that involve geographical causes for human behaviour. RC · Society, History & Politics MCQ
Solution
- The author gives three reasons for the reflex rejection: racist taint of old geographic explanations (C), historians' stress on contingency and individual decisions (B), and lack of detailed technical training (D).
- A merely restates the rejection itself ('dismissal of explanations that involve geographical causes'); it is the phenomenon being explained, not a reason for it.
Shortcut. In 'reasons EXCEPT' questions, the option that restates the effect is the odd one.
Question 3
The examples of the Inuit and Aboriginal Australians are offered in the passage to show:
- Ahow environmental factors lead to comparatively divergent paths in livelihoods and development.
- Bhuman resourcefulness across cultures in adapting to their surroundings.
- Chow physical circumstances can dictate human behaviour and cultures.
- Dthat despite geographical isolation, traditional societies were self-sufficient and adaptive.
Answer: (C) how physical circumstances can dictate human behaviour and cultures. RC · Society, History & Politics MCQ
Solution
- The Inuit developed warm fur clothes but no agriculture, while equatorial peoples developed agriculture but no fur clothes; the author calls the explanation 'straightforwardly geographic'.
- Aboriginal Australia had no farming because the continent had no domesticable animals and few domesticable plants: the environment decided what people could do.
- Both examples show physical circumstances shaping behaviour and culture, option C.
- A is tempting but adds a comparison of 'development' paths the author does not make; B and D (resourcefulness, self-sufficiency) miss the geographic-causation point.
Question 4
The author criticises scholars who are not geographers for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:
- Atheir rejection of the role of biogeographic factors in social and cultural phenomena.
- Btheir outdated interpretations of past cultural and historical phenomena.
- Ctheir labelling of geographic explanations as deterministic.
- Dthe importance they place on the role of individual decisions when studying human phenomena.
Answer: (B) their outdated interpretations of past cultural and historical phenomena. RC · Society, History & Politics MCQ
Solution
- The author faults scholars for rejecting geographic explanations (A), for denouncing them as 'geographic determinism' (C) and for over-stressing contingency and individual decisions (D).
- He never says their interpretations of past cultural and historical phenomena are outdated; he actually accepts newer non-racist historical explanations. So B is the exception.