CAT VA-RC 2019 Slot 1: RC Passage 4

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RC Passage

Direction for the questions 15 to 19: The passage below is accompanied by a set of five questions. Choose the best answer to each question.

As defined by the geographer Yi-Fu Tuan, topophilia is the affective bond between people and place. His 1974 book set forth a wide-ranging exploration of how the emotive ties with the material environment vary greatly from person to person and in intensity, subtlety, and mode of expression. Factors influencing one’s depth of response to the environment include cultural background, gender, race, and historical circumstance, and Tuan also argued that there is a biological and sensory element. Topophilia might not be the strongest of human emotions—indeed, many people feel utterly indifferent toward the environments that shape their lives— but when activated it has the power to elevate a place to become the carrier of emotionally charged events or to be perceived as a symbol.

Aesthetic appreciation is one way in which people respond to the environment. A brilliantly colored rainbow after gloomy afternoon showers, a busy city street alive with human interaction—one might experience the beauty of such landscapes that had seemed quite ordinary only moments before or that are being newly discovered. This is quite the opposite of a second topophilic bond, namely that of the acquired taste for certain landscapes and places that one knows well. When a place is home, or when a space has become the locus of memories or the means of gaining a livelihood, it frequently evokes a deeper set of attachments than those predicated purely on the visual. A third response to the environment also depends on the human senses but may be tactile and olfactory, namely a delight in the feel and smell of air, water, and the earth.

Topophilia—and its very close conceptual twin, sense of place—is an experience that, however elusive, has inspired recent architects and planners. Most notably, new urbanism seeks to counter the perceived placelessness of modern suburbs and the decline of central cities through neo-traditional design motifs. Although motivated by good intentions, such attempts to create places rich in meaning are perhaps bound to disappoint. As Tuan noted, purely aesthetic responses often are suddenly revealed, but their intensity rarely is long-lasting. Topophilia is difficult to design for and impossible to quantify, and its most articulate interpreters have been self-reflective philosophers such as Henry David Thoreau, evoking a marvelously intricate sense of place at Walden Pond, and Tuan, describing his deep affinity for the desert.

Topophilia connotes a positive relationship, but it often is useful to explore the darker affiliations between people and place. Patriotism, literally meaning the love of one’s terra patria or homeland, has long been cultivated by governing elites for a range of nationalist projects, including war preparation and ethnic cleansing. Residents of upscale residential developments have disclosed how important it is to maintain their community’s distinct identity, often by casting themselves in a superior social position and by reinforcing class and racial differences. And just as a beloved landscape is suddenly revealed, so too may landscapes of fear cast a dark shadow over a place that makes one feel a sense of dread or anxiety—or topophobia.

RC Line-wise Explanation

Paragraph 1

"Creativity is at once our most precious resource and our most inexhaustible one."

Explanation: Creativity is both extremely valuable and something we never run out of.

"As anyone who has ever spent any time with children knows, every single human being is born creative; every human being is innately endowed with the ability to combine and recombine data, perceptions, materials and ideas, and devise new ways of thinking and doing."

Explanation: Just like we observe in children, all humans naturally have the ability to think in new ways and come up with original ideas.

"What fosters creativity? More than anything else: the presence of other creative people."

Explanation: The best way to encourage creativity is by being around other creative individuals.

"The big myth is that creativity is the province of great individual geniuses."

Explanation: It's a common misconception that only a few brilliant individuals possess creativity.

"In fact creativity is a social process."

Explanation: Actually, creativity often happens when people interact with one another.

"Our biggest creative breakthroughs come when people learn from, compete with, and collaborate with other people."

Explanation: The most significant innovations usually result from people sharing ideas, challenging each other, and working together.

Paragraph 2

"Cities are the true fonts of creativity..."

Explanation: Cities are the main sources or origins of creative energy.

"With their diverse populations, dense social networks, and public spaces where people can meet spontaneously and serendipitously, they spark and catalyze new ideas."

Explanation: The mix of different people, close connections, and random social interactions in cities help generate new ideas.

"With their infrastructure for finance, organization and trade, they allow those ideas to be swiftly actualized."

Explanation: Cities also have the systems—like finance and business—that help quickly turn ideas into reality.

Paragraph 3

"As for what staunches creativity, that’s easy, if ironic."

Explanation: What stops creativity is clear, and it’s ironically tied to what was supposed to support it.

"It’s the very institutions that we build to manage, exploit and perpetuate the fruits of creativity — our big bureaucracies, and sad to say, too many of our schools."

Explanation: Institutions like large bureaucracies and many schools, which should support creativity, often end up suppressing it.

"Creativity is disruptive; schools and organizations are regimented, standardized and stultifying."

Explanation: Creativity challenges the norm, while schools and organizations tend to be rigid, uniform, and dull, making them unfriendly to creative thought.

Paragraph 4

"The education expert Sir Ken Robinson points to a 1968 study reporting on a group of 1,600 children who were tested over time for their ability to think in out-of-the-box ways."

Explanation: Sir Ken Robinson refers to a 1968 study that measured the creativity of 1,600 children over several years.

"When the children were between 3 and 5 years old, 98 percent achieved positive scores."

Explanation: Almost all young children (aged 3–5) showed high levels of creativity.

"When they were 8 to 10, only 32 percent passed the same test, and only 10 percent at 13 to 15."

Explanation: As the children grew older, their creativity levels dropped sharply.

"When 280,000 25-year-olds took the test, just 2 percent passed."

Explanation: Among adults, creativity was nearly gone—only a tiny fraction showed out-of-the-box thinking.

"By the time we are adults, our creativity has been wrung out of us."

Explanation: The system drains creativity from people as they grow up.

Paragraph 5

"I once asked the great urbanist Jane Jacobs what makes some places more creative than others."

Explanation: The author consulted urban planning expert Jane Jacobs about why some places are more creative than others.

"She said, essentially, that the question was an easy one."

Explanation: Jacobs believed the answer to this question was simple.

"All cities, she said, were filled with creative people; that’s our default state as people."

Explanation: She believed that everyone is naturally creative, and cities are full of such people.

"But some cities had more than their shares of leaders, people and institutions that blocked out that creativity. She called them 'squelchers.'"

Explanation: However, in some cities, people and institutions suppress creativity; she labeled them “squelchers.”

Paragraph 6

"Creativity (or the lack of it) follows the same general contours of the great socio-economic divide - our rising inequality - that plagues us."

Explanation: Creativity is unevenly distributed across society, much like wealth and opportunity.

"According to my own estimates, roughly a third of us across the United States, and perhaps as much as half of us in our most creative cities - are able to do work which engages our creative faculties to some extent, whether as artists, musicians, writers, techies, innovators, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, journalists or educators - those of us who work with our minds."

Explanation: The author estimates that only about a third to half of people in the U.S. work in jobs that use their creativity—mainly in knowledge or idea-based professions.

"That leaves a group that I term ‘the other 66 percent,’ who toil in low-wage rote and rotten jobs — if they have jobs at all — in which their creativity is subjugated, ignored or wasted."

Explanation: The remaining majority work in low-paying, repetitive jobs that don’t make use of their creative potential.

Paragraph 7

"Creativity itself is not in danger."

Explanation: Creativity as a human trait is not going away.

"It’s flourishing is all around us - in science and technology, arts and culture, in our rapidly revitalizing cities."

Explanation: We see creativity thriving in many fields and places, such as tech, art, and modern cities.

"But we still have a long way to go if we want to build a truly creative society that supports and rewards the creativity of each and every one of us."

Explanation: However, we still need to do a lot more to ensure that everyone's creative potential is recognized and encouraged.

RC Paragraph Explanation

Paragraph 1 Summary

Creativity is innate in every human and thrives best in the presence of others. While often thought to belong to individual geniuses, it is actually a collaborative and social process.

Paragraph 2 Summary

Cities foster creativity through their diversity, dense social interactions, and infrastructure. These features allow new ideas to emerge and be quickly turned into real-world innovations.

Paragraph 3 Summary

Ironically, the very institutions designed to preserve creativity often suppress it. Bureaucracies and schools tend to value order and routine over disruptive, creative thinking.

Paragraph 4 Summary

A study shows that creativity declines sharply as children age, indicating that our systems drain creativity rather than nurture it. By adulthood, most people lose their creative edge.

Paragraph 5 Summary

Jane Jacobs believed that everyone is naturally creative, but creativity is often blocked by restrictive leaders and institutions, which she called “squelchers.”

Paragraph 6 Summary

Creativity is unevenly distributed, with only a fraction of people working in jobs that engage their minds. A large portion of the population has their creativity wasted in low-paying, monotonous jobs.

Paragraph 7 Summary

Although creativity is thriving in many sectors, we still need to create a society that allows everyone’s creativity to be expressed and rewarded.

RC Quick Table Summary
Paragraph NumberMain Idea
Paragraph 1Creativity is natural and best nurtured through social interaction.
Paragraph 2Cities provide the ideal environment for creativity to flourish.
Paragraph 3Institutions like schools and bureaucracies often suppress creativity.
Paragraph 4Creativity declines with age due to rigid systems.
Paragraph 5Creativity is common, but often blocked by societal "squelchers."
Paragraph 6Most people lack creative job opportunities, widening inequality.
Paragraph 7Creativity thrives but needs broader support across society.

RC Questions

Ques 15. Which one of the following comes closest in meaning to the author’s understanding of topophilia?

Correct Answer: (C) Detailed explanation by Wordpandit: As per the author, topophilia is a positive connection between people and their physical surroundings. This could be because of the aesthetics of the place, or the memories attached to it, or because it invokes delight in the human senses. Topophilia is different from topophobia as the latter summons a sense of dread or anxiety about a place. Option A is incorrect as it talks about topophobia, whereas the question is regarding topophilia. Moreover, topophobia with respect to a certain place, does not denote topophilia for another place. Option B is also incorrect as it suggests a love of language, not of place or landscape. Love of Language is called about Glossophilia. Nowhere in the passage has it been given that Scientists have discovered that humans are born with the sense of topography. Hence, we can rule out Option D. In the extract, "Topophilia connotes a positive relationship, but it often is useful to explore the darker affiliations between people and place. Patriotism, literally meaning the love of one’s terra patria or homeland", the author explains that one of the forms of topophilia is patriotism. This is the closes option that fits the question, and hence closest to the author's understanding of topophilia. Hence, Option C is the correct answer.

Ques 16. In the last paragraph, the author uses the example of “Residents of upscale residential developments” to illustrate the:

Correct Answer: (A) Detailed explanation by Wordpandit: We need to consider this statement to answer this question – “Residents of upscale residential developments have disclosed how important it is to maintain their community’s distinct identity, often by casting themselves in a superior social position and by reinforcing class and racial differences”. This is a textbook method of implementing racism by designing a system in such a manner that certain people can be kept out of gaining equality or an upper hand. Option A provides a direct answer to the question. None of the other options match the context explained above.

Ques 17. Which of the following statements, if true, could be seen as not contradicting the arguments in the passage?

Correct Answer: (B) Detailed explanation by Wordpandit: First of all, we need to note the “double negative” implied in the question. “Not contradicting” implies that you need to pick the option that agrees with the core argument presented in the passage. Let us review the options one-by-one. The author mentions in the passage that the third response to the environment could be of tactile and olfactory nature. However, he has not stressed that this is the most important or fundamental response of all three. Option A can be eliminated as it is misinterpreting the facts in the passage. Option C suggests that new urbanism has succeeded where client were involved. However, the author states that, “Most notably, new urbanism seeks to counter the perceived placelessness.. Although motivated by good intentions, such attempts to create places rich in meaning are perhaps bound to disappoint”. There is no mention of clients at all. So, we can rule out Option C. Option D states that ties with environment hardly vary in people belonging to a culture (“little=not much”, in this context). However, the author states that "His 1974 book set forth a wide-ranging exploration of how the emotive ties with the material environment vary greatly from person to person and in intensity, subtlety, and mode of expression.” Option D clearly contradicts the passage, and hence can be eliminated. Option B is correct as the author states the following, “Topophilia connotes a positive relationship, but it often is useful to explore the darker affiliations between people and place. Patriotism, literally meaning the love of one’s terra patria or homeland, has long been cultivated by governing elites for a range of nationalist projects, including war preparation and ethnic cleansing.”

Ques 18. The word “topophobia” in the passage is used:

Correct Answer: (B) Detailed explanation by Wordpandit: This question has a direct answer in the passage. The last sentence states, “And just as a beloved landscape is suddenly revealed, so too may landscapes of fear cast a dark shadow over a place that makes one feel a sense of dread or anxiety—or topophobia.” After reading this, we can eliminate Options A and C right away, as they are out of context. Option D is ghastly incorrect as topophobia is not at all the fear of topophilic people. Option B is the only answer that fits logic and the description given in the passage, and hence it is the correct answer.

Ques 19. Which one of the following best captures the meaning of the statement, “Topophilia is difficult to design for and impossible to quantify . . .”?

Correct Answer: (B) Detailed explanation by Wordpandit: The complete statement taken for this questions is, “As Tuan noted, purely aesthetic responses often are suddenly revealed, but their intensity rarely is long-lasting. Topophilia is difficult to design for and impossible to quantify,..”. Explanation of the considered statement: The author is saying that when responses are purely aesthetic, they are suddenly expressed, but short-lived. That intensity does not stay for too long, and hence the love of an environment or topophilia can be a difficult parameter to follow while designing a place. Option A suggests that architects cannot be topophilic as they have to objectively measure spaces. However, in the considered statement, it has been implied that people can have different responses over a period of time, and hence architects cannot be topophilic. Option B can be eliminated right away as the word ‘anomie’ refers to a lack of social or ethical standards, and hence Option B does not convey a logical message. Option C merely provides an opinion. And does not extract any insight from the statement being considered for the question. Hence, Option C can be eliminated. Option D suggests that every person has different topophilic attractions hence different responses to aesthetics. And this is implied in the explanation of the statement. Making topophilia a criteria for design is thus impossible. Hence, Option D is the correct answer.

Actual CAT VA-RC 2019 Slot 1: Question-wise Index

Reading ComprehensionWords from the Passage
RC Passage 1 (Q 1 to 4) Must-Learn Words (Passage 1)
RC Passage 2 (Q 5 to 9) Must-Learn Words (Passage 2)
RC Passage 3 (Q 10 to 14) Must-Learn Words (Passage 3)
RC Passage 4 (Q 15 to 19) Must-Learn Words (Passage 4)
RC Passage 5 (Q 20 to 24) Must-Learn Words (Passage 5)
Verbal Ability
Ques 25 (Paragraph Summary) Ques 26 (Paragraph Summary)
Ques 27 (Paragraph Summary) Ques 28 (Misfit/Odd one out)
Ques 29 (Para-jumble) Ques 30 (Misfit/Odd one out)
Ques 31 (Para-jumble) Ques 32 (Para-jumble)
Ques 33 (Para-jumble) Ques 34 (Para-jumble)

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