NinetynineCAT 2023 Slot 2 VARC Q24 Para Summary
Question 24 of the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section, CAT 2023 Slot 2, with CAT's official answer and a worked solution.
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.
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.
- APeople create counterfactual alternatives to reality for various reasons, including reasoning about other people's beliefs.
- BCounterfactual thinking helps to reverse past and future actions and reason out false beliefs.
- CCounterfactual alternatives to reality are created for a variety of reasons and is part of one's developmental process.
- DCounterfactuals help people to prepare for the future by understanding intentions and making decisions.
Answer: (C) Counterfactual alternatives to reality are created for a variety of reasons and is part of one's developmental process. Para Summary MCQ
Solution
- Core: people create counterfactuals for many reasons (explaining the past, preparing for the future, emotions, moral judgement), and the ability develops through childhood.
- C covers both the variety of reasons and the developmental aspect.
- A singles out one reason; B (\"reverse past and future actions\") distorts; D narrows to one function.