The central idea or primary purpose — science and technology passages

CAT has tested this idea 13 times across 9 papers, from 2017 to 2025. Solve one, and the others are the same method with different numbers or wording, which is why repeated concepts are the most efficient thing to practise.

Question	What it asks	Answer
CAT 2017 Slot 2 · VARC Q7	the subnivium beneath the snowpack; the purpose of the passage	C
CAT 2018 Slot 1 · VARC Q22	epigenetics vs natural selection; which option best describes the author's argument	A
CAT 2018 Slot 1 · VARC Q6	elephant aggression as species-wide trauma; the passage's overall argument	C
CAT 2018 Slot 2 · VARC Q23	saturn's rings and moons; the main objective of the passage	A
CAT 2018 Slot 2 · VARC Q7	grove snails; which puzzle the passage's hypotheses are marshalled to explain	C
CAT 2020 Slot 1 · VARC Q8	elephant seal call dialects; what sums up the overall transformation of male calls	D
CAT 2021 Slot 3 · VARC Q13	soft nano-robots made of hydrogels; the central point of the passage	A
CAT 2021 Slot 3 · VARC Q14	soft nano-robots; what the x-men nano-sentinels first paragraph conveys	D
CAT 2021 Slot 3 · VARC Q7	accuracy and entropy in clocks; which set of words works best as keywords	C
CAT 2022 Slot 3 · VARC Q6	bio-logic versus clockwork logic; pick the keywords for the passage	D
CAT 2024 Slot 1 · VARC Q7	bandicoots wiped out by invasive species; statement that gives the gist	B
CAT 2024 Slot 2 · VARC Q14	externalities of technological advance; main point of the first paragraph	B
CAT 2025 Slot 1 · VARC Q3	complex systems, noise and tail risk; option that best summarises the passage	B

Part of RC · Science & Technology (138 questions since 2017).