Publishedonwww.PaGaLGuY.

com|August7,2009

NewCAT,NewRCStrategyPartII
ByTCYonline.com

Inthelastfewdays,weobservedthatthenewCATstrategywasappreciatedbyalmostallwhofollowedtheapproach
discussed in the article Tame Reading comprehension with Dot Diagrams. However, many of you faced problems in
applyingit.Hence,wedecidedtoapplythesameprinciplesonanotherpassagetakenforCAT2008.

Wesuggestyoutoglancethroughaquickrecapofthemainpointsbeforeyouseetheillustration.

DOTDIAGRAMSINRCAQUICKRECAP
ThestrategyisbasedonthefactthatweneedtocounterthreemainchallengesindoingRCsonthecomputer:
I.

Nounderliningispossible

II.

WeneedanalternativeRCstrategytooffsetthetimewastedinscanningthewholepassageeverytimeweread
aquestion

III.

We need a summary (in minimum possible words) of the passage on a scratch paper to refer to in order to
understandthedevelopmentofthetopic.

Sothestepbystepprocessis:
1. Applying 123Lor 123LLL(123L=Readfirst23linesofeachpara& 123LLL=Readfirstandlastlinesofeach
para)
2. WritingparabyparasummaryandassigningtheParanumbertoit.
3. AnalyzingthesummaryandcollecttheDOTs(Mostfrequentlyoccurringwordsortheirsynonyms).
4. JoiningtheDOTstoanswerthequestions

FollowingistheIllustrationNo2(adaptedfromCAT2008):


IllustrationfromCAT2008:
LetsnowapplyourstrategyonthefollowingparaadoptedfromCAT2008:
WhenIwaslittle,childrenwereboughttwokindsoficecream,soldfromthosewhite
wagonswithcanopiesmadeofsilverymetal:eitherthetwocentconeorthefourcent
icecreampie.Thetwocentconewasverysmall,infactitcouldfitcomfortablyintoa
childshand,anditwasmadebytakingtheicecreamfromitscontainerwithaspecial
scoopandpilingitonthecone.GrannyalwayssuggestedIeatonlyapartofthecone,
thenthrowawaythepointedend,becauseithadbeentouchedbythevendorshand
(thoughthatwasthebestpart,niceandcrunchy,anditwasregularlyeateninsecret,
afterapretenceofdiscardingit).

Read the passage and answer the questions

below:

1.

Whichofthefollowingcannotbeinferredfrom
thepassage?
1.
Todayssocietyismoreextravagant
thanthesocietyofthe1930s.
2.
Theactofeatingtwoicecreamconesis
akintoaceremonialprocess.
3.
Eldersrightlysuggestedthataboy
turningeyesfromoneconetotheother
wasmorelikelytofall.
4.
Despiteseemingtopromisemore,the
consumercivilizationgivesawayexactly
whatthethingisworth.
5.
Theconsumercivilizationattemptsto
spoilchildrenandadultsalike.

2.

Inthepassage,thephraselittleparvenusrefers
to
1.
naughtymidgets.
2.
oldhags.
3.
arrogantpeople.
4.
youngupstarts.
5.
foolishkids.

3.

Theauthorpinedfortwotwocentconesinstead
ofonefourcentpiebecause
1.
itmadedieteticsense.
2.
itsuggestedintemperance.
3.
itwasmorefun.
4.
ithadavisualappeal.
5.
hewasaglutton.

4.

Whatdoestheauthormeanbynowadaysthe
moralistrisksseemingatoddswithmorality?
1.
Themoralistsofyesterdayhavebecome
immoraltoday.
2.
Theconceptofmoralityhaschanged
overtheyears.
3.
Consumerismisamoral.
4.
Therisksassociatedwithimmorality
havegoneup.
5.
Thepuristsviewofmoralityisfast
becomingpopular.

5.

According to the author, the justification for

refusaltolethimeattwoconeswasplausibly
1.
didactic
2.
dietetic
3.
dialectic
4.
diatonic
5.
diastolic.

Thefourcentpiewasmadebyaspeciallittlemachine,alsosilvery,whichpressedtwo
disksofsweetbiscuitagainstacylindricalsectionoficecream.Firstyouhadtothrust
yourtongueintothegapbetweenthebiscuitsuntilittouchedthecentralnucleusofice
cream;then,gradually,youatethewholething,thebiscuitsurfacessofteningasthey
becamesoakedincreamynectar.Grannyhadnoadvicetogivehere:intheorythepies
hadbeentouchedonlybythemachine;inpractice,thevendorhadheldtheminhis
handwhilegivingthemtous,butitwasimpossibletoisolatethecontaminatedarea.
Iwasfascinated,however,bysomeofmypeers,whoseparentsboughtthemnotafour
centpiebuttwotwocentcones.Theseprivilegedchildrenadvancedproudlywithone
coneintheirrighthandandoneintheirleft;andexpertlymovingtheirheadfromsideto
side,theylickedfirstone,thentheother.Thisliturgyseemedtomesosumptuously
enviable,thatmanytimesIaskedtobeallowedtocelebrateit.Invain.Myelderswere
inflexible:afourcentice,yes;buttwotwocentones,absolutelyno.
Asanyonecansee,neithermathematicsnoreconomynordieteticsjustifiedthisrefusal.
Nordidhygiene,assumingthatinduecoursethetipsofbothconeswerediscarded.The
pathetic,andobviouslymendacious,justificationwasthataboyconcernedwithturning
hiseyesfromoneconetotheotherwasmoreinclinedtostumbleoverstones,steps,or
cracksinthepavement.Idimlysensedthattherewasanothersecretjustification,cruelly
pedagogical,butIwasunabletograspit.
Today,citizenandvictimofaconsumersociety,acivilizationofexcessandwaste(which
thesocietyofthethirtieswasnot),Irealizethatthosedearandnowdepartedelders
wereright.Twotwocentconesinsteadofoneatfourcentsdidnotsignifysquandering,
economicallyspeaking,butsymbolicallytheysurelydid.Itwasforthisprecisereason
thatIyearnedforthem:becausetwoicecreamssuggestedexcess.Andthiswas
preciselywhytheyweredeniedtome:becausetheylookedindecent,aninsultto
poverty,adisplayoffictitiousprivilege,aboastofwealth.Onlyspoiledchildrenatetwo
conesatonce,thosechildrenwhoinfairytaleswererightlypunished,asPinocchiowas
whenherejectedtheskinandthestalk.Andparentswhoencouragedthisweakness,
appropriatetolittleparvenus,werebringinguptheirchildreninthefoolishtheatreof
IdliketobutIcant.Theywerepreparingthemtoturnupattouristclasscheckin
withafakeGuccibagboughtfromastreetpeddleronthebeachatRimini.
Nowadaysthemoralistrisksseemingatoddswithmorality,inaworldwherethe
consumercivilizationnowwantsevenadultstobespoiled,andpromisesthemalways
somethingmore,fromthewristwatchintheboxofdetergenttothebonusbangle
sheathed,withthemagazineitaccompanies,inaplasticenvelope.Liketheparentsof
thoseambidextrousgluttonsIsoenvied,theconsumercivilizationpretendstogive
more,butactuallygives,forfourcents,whatisworthfourcents.Youwillthrowawaythe
oldtransistorradiotopurchasethenewone,thatboastsanalarmclockaswell,but
someinexplicabledefectinthemechanismwillguaranteethattheradiolastsonlya
year.Thenewcheapcarwillhaveleatherseats,doublesidemirrorsadjustablefrom
inside,andapanelleddashboard,butitwillnotlastnearlysolongasthegloriousoldFiat
500,which,evenwhenitbrokedown,couldbestartedagainwithakick.
ThemoralityoftheolddaysmadeSpartansofusall,whiletodaysmoralitywantsallof
ustobeSybarites.

Wasitthatsimple?
1. SKIMMINGTHEPASSAGE:
This is like the story of The thirsty crow that all of us have read. There must be a MORAL to the story. Lets have

a look at the story:

2. DRAWINGASNAPSHOT:
LetsconsidertheParawiseminordetail.
1. Twokindsoficecreamcones2cent/4cent|Only2centonediscussedhere|Elderssuggested
nottoeatthepartwherevendortouched|Authorratherlikestoeatthat.
2. 4centconehowwasitdifferentinmakingandlookfrom2centone&eaten|Madebym/cso
eldersdonotinterfere
3. Authorliked2centone|feelspeoplewhoeatitarePRIVELIDGED
4. Authortriestogettheanswerswhynot2cent|Anotherreasonwastheattentionacone
grabsandmaycauseaccident|AuthorisstillconfusedWhynot?
5. Nowheunderstandsthedifference|twoicecreamssuggestedexcess|Spoiledoneate2
conesatonce|Insulttopoverty,Indecent|IwouldliketobutIcantmentality|The
longtermeffect
6. AndnowtheAdultsarespoiled|theconsumercivilizationpretendstogivemore|Some
examples

3. IDENTIFYINGDOTs:
Acasuallookatthepassagerevealsthat:(youmayskipthedetailswhenyouactuallydoitexceptfor
themoralofthestory)
1.

Parents(ofspoiledchildren)boughtthemnotafourcentpiebuttwotwocentconesWhy?
Twoicecreamssuggestedexcess.

2.

Whywastheauthor(asachild)fascinatedbytwotwocentcones?
'Two,inplaceofoneseemedsosumptuouslyenviable.

3.

Whydidtheauthorsparentsnotallowhimtotaketwotwocentcones?
Theygavehimanobviouslymendacious,justification(asthechildwouldnotunderstandthe
realreason).

4.

Thatwasyesterday.Whatishappeningtoday?
Consumercivilizationnowwantsevenadultstobespoiled,andpromisesthemsomething
morepretendstogivemore.

5.

Andmoralofthestory?

Todaysmoralitywants.us(tobespoiled)likechildren.

4. JOININGTHEDOTs:
Soourdotdiagramisobviousenough.Todaysconsumercivilizationspoilsusbypromisingmore,
suggestingexcess.And,likechildrenwearetakeninbythepretension.Theconceptofmoralityhas
changed.

5. ANDTHEANSWERIS
Canwenowanswerthequestionsonlybyjoiningthesedots?Letssee.
Q1.

Alltheoptions,except(3)usethedots.Eldersrightlysuggesteddirectlycontradictsobviously
mendacious,justification.

Q2.

Dontknowthemeaningofparvenus?Dontworry.Thereisnomatchforlittle,except
young.

Q3.

VisualappealisonlytheothernameofsuggestingexcessandIwasfascinated.

Q4.

Todaysmoralityisdifferent.Itspoils.

Q5.

Obviouslytherefusalwasintendedtoteachthechildalessoninyesterdaysmorality.

(temperanceSpartansmorality)

ThistutorialisShareware,whichmeansthatifithasbeenofhelptoyou,youpromisetopassitontootherswho
mightfinditofuse.

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