The printing press has been likened to the Internet for which one of the following reasons?
- It enabled rapid access to new information and the sharing of new ideas
- It represented new and revolutionary technology compared to the past
- It encouraged reading among people by giving them access to thousands of books
- It gave people access to pamphlets and literature in several languages
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
According to the passage, the invention of the printing press did all of the following EXCEPT
- Promoted the spread of enlightened political views across countries
- Gave people direct access to authentic medical information and religious texts
- shortened the time taken to produce books and pamphlets.
- enabled people to perform various tasks simultaneously.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
- The first option states that the printing press "promoted the spread of enlightened political views across countries." The passage supports this assertion by mentioning that pamphlets from the printing press influenced revolutions and the spread of ideas, demonstrating its role in disseminating political thought.
- The second option refers to providing "people direct access to authentic medical information and religious texts." The passage clearly indicates that the printing press diminished the sway of quack medical practitioners and broke the clergy's monopoly on scripture, corroborating this statement.
- The third option, stating it "shortened the time taken to produce books and pamphlets," is backed by the passage's claim that the printing press dramatically increased the production rate of printed material, thus reducing the time required to produce books.
- The fourth option, "enabled people to perform various tasks simultaneously," does not find support in the passage. The printing press revolutionized information dissemination and accessibility but is not described as facilitating multitasking or simultaneous task performance.
Steve Jobs predicted which one'of the following with the introduction of the iPhone?
- People would switch from reading on the Internet to reading on their iPhones.
- People would lose interest in historical and traditional classics.
- Reading printed books would become a thing of the past.
- The production of e-books would eventually fall.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
"I'm still waiting to see if the iPhone can do what the printing press did for religion and democracy." The author uses which one of the following to indicate his uncertainty?
- The rise of religious groups in many parts of the world.
- The expansion in trolling and narcissism among users of the Internet
- The continued suppression of free speech in closed societies
- The decline in reading habits among those who use the device
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
The author expresses their uncertainty by comparing the revolutionary changes brought by the Gutenberg printing press to the potential impacts of the iPhone. The assertion is that while the iPhone has influenced many aspects of life, similar to the printing press, it hasn't yet led to a single magnificent idea or widely opened minds for democracy and religion as the printing press did. The author questions whether the iPhone can lead to significant societal changes as the printing press had.
The specific indication of uncertainty by the author is reflected in their mention of the hope that the iPhone, and the Internet in general, would liberate people in closed societies. However, the mentioned continued suppression of ideas in countries like North Korea, China, and Iran challenges that hope, leading to the conclusion that the correct answer is "The continued suppression of free speech in closed societies."
The author attributes the French and American revolutions to the invention of the printing press because
- maps enabled large numbers of Europeans to travel and settle in the American continent.
- the rapid spread of information exposed people to new ideas on freedom and democracy
- it encouraged religious freedom among the people by destroying the monopoly of religious leaders on the scriptures.
- it made available revolutionary strategies and opinions to the people.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The author attributes the French and American revolutions to the invention of the printing press due to its role in the rapid spread of information. The printing press allowed for the dissemination of new ideas concerning freedom and democracy, which were crucial in inspiring revolutionary thoughts and actions.
The comprehension passage highlights the impact the printing press had on society, comparing it to the effect of the iPhone in modern times. The press significantly increased the production of written material, enabling more people to access information and ideas that were previously confined by the limited production capabilities of handwritten books.
Furthermore, the text suggests that the presence of "enlightened voices in print" was instrumental in the intellectual environment necessary for the revolutions, as it broke the monopoly on knowledge once held by religious clerics and made revolutionary ideas available to a broader audience. This aligns with the chosen answer because it emphasizes the fundamental role of information dissemination in fostering the revolutionary movements in France and America.
Thus, the correct reason why the author attributes the revolutions to the printing press is, "the rapid spread of information exposed people to new ideas on freedom and democracy."
The main conclusion of the passage is that the new technology has
- some advantages, but these are outweighed by its disadvantages.
- so far not proved as successful as the printing press in opening people's minds
- been disappointing because it has changed society too rapidly
- been more wasteful than the printing press because people spend more time daydreaming or surfing.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
The passage contrasts the impact of the smartphone, specifically the iPhone, with that of the Gutenberg printing press. The author explores how each technology influenced society and whether the smartphone can match the historical significance of the printing press.
Key Points from the Passage:
- The printing press revolutionized book production, allowing for rapid dissemination of ideas, contributing to major societal changes such as the spread of maps, medical information, and the American Revolution. It broke the church's monopoly on scripture and empowered public access to information.
- The passage questions whether the smartphone, although revolutionary, has delivered the same magnitude of impact as the printing press in terms of fostering new ideas and societal changes.
- The author notes that the printing press played a crucial role in opening people's minds and facilitating revolutions, whereas the smartphone, despite its technological advancements, hasn't yet matched this influence, particularly in closed societies.
Conclusion Based on the Passage:
The smartphone, symbolized by the iPhone, has "so far not proved as successful as the printing press in opening people's minds." This conclusion aligns with the author's exploration of the smartphone's impact compared to the profound societal changes initiated by the printing press.
Top Questions on Reading Comprehension
- Shown below are letters ‘e’ taken from four popular logos, arranged in a sequence. Which of the options is the correct sequence?
- UCEED - 2026
- English Language Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
- Shown below are four options, each showing consecutive frames representing the movement of a pendulum of an old-style wall clock for an animation movie. Which is the correct option?
- UCEED - 2026
- English Language Comprehension
- Reading Comprehension
- Acrucial moderating factor in how people experience comparisons is self-esteem. Individuals with high self-esteem are more likely to interpret upward comparison as informative rather than threatening. They are more resilient in the face of others’ success and more likely to believe they can reach their own goals. In contrast, people with low self-esteem are more prone to interpret comparison as judgment, reinforcing negative self-views and triggering feelings of inadequacy.
This dynamic creates a self-reinforcing loop. People with high self-esteem are less vulnerable to upward comparison, which intensifies those doubts. Those with a secure sense of self are more likely to use comparison as a learning tool. The same external stimulus—a colleague’s achievements, a friend’s popularity—can have radically different effects depending on internal stability.
Self-esteem also influences how people choose their comparison targets. Research has found that individuals often engage in “selective comparison,” seeking out those who confirm their existing beliefs about themselves. This can become a subtle form of self-sabotage. Someone who feels unworthy may subconsciously seek out targets that reinforce that sense, perpetuating a narrative of inferiority. One of the most promising antidotes to social comparison is temporal comparison—evaluating oneself not against others, but against one’s own past. This method has been shown to increase motivation and satisfaction, especially when individuals can see concrete progress. Temporal comparison activates the same reward circuits as social comparison but avoids the threat systems associated with social ranking. It also reinforces agency: individuals focus on what they can control and improve rather than what others control. In therapeutic and coaching settings, temporal comparison is used to help clients build self-efficacy and track growth over time.
Moreover, people who focus on self-improvement rather than social dominance are less likely to fall into cycles of envy or self-pity. They can still use others as inspiration, but they do so without attaching their self-worth to the outcome. This is not to say they never compare—but that they focus on learning, rather than judgment. The most skilful approach to comparison may lie in eliminating it, but in reframing it as feedback. When we interpret comparison as information rather than a verdict, we can ask, “What can I learn from this?” This shift turns comparison into a growth tool. Teachers mentor their students, not as rivals. Psychologists emphasize that the key variable here is mindset.
A fixed mindset sees comparison as a threat. If someone else is better, it means we are worse. A growth mindset sees comparison as a map. If someone else has reached a certain level, it means the path exists. This reframing is not just a cognitive trick. It changes the emotional tone of comparison, making it more likely to inspire than to wound. Reframing also requires emotional regulation—the ability to notice an initial pang of envy or shame without reacting impulsively. With practice, individuals can learn to pause, reflect, and reinterpret their emotional responses. Over time, this builds resilience and self-trust, allowing comparison to become a learning tool rather than a cage.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
When people who are talking don’t share the same culture, knowledge, values, and assumptions, mutual understanding can be especially difficult. Such understanding is possible through the negotiation of meaning. To negotiate meaning with someone, you have to become aware of and respect both the differences in your backgrounds and when these differences are important. You need enough diversity of cultural and personal experience to be aware that divergent world views exist and what they might be like. You also need the flexibility in world view, and a generous tolerance for mistakes, as well as a talent for finding the right metaphor to communicate the relevant parts of unshared experiences or to highlight the shared experiences while demphasizing the others. Metaphorical imagination is a crucial skill in creating rapport and in communicating the nature of unshared experience. This skill consists, in large measure, of the ability to bend your world view and adjust the way you categorize your experiences. Problems of mutual understanding are not exotic; they arise in all extended conversations where understanding is important.
When it really counts, meaning is almost never communicated according to the CONDUIT metaphor, that is, where one person transmits a fixed, clear proposition to another by means of expressions in a common language, where both parties have all the relevant common knowledge, assumptions, values, etc. When the chips are down, meaning is negotiated: you slowly figure out what you have in common, what it is safe to talk about, how you can communicate unshared experience or create a shared vision. With enough flexibility in bending your world view and with luck and charity, you may achieve some mutual understanding.
Communication theories based on the CONDUIT metaphor turn from the pathetic to the evil when they are applied indiscriminately on a large scale, say, in government surveillance or computerized files. There, what is most crucial for real understanding is almost never included, and it is assumed that the words in the file have meaning in themselves—disembodied, objective, understandable meaning. When a society lives by the CONDUITmetaphor on a large scale, misunderstanding, persecution, and much worse are the likely products.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Later, I realized that reviewing the history of nuclear physics served another purpose as well: It gave the lie to the naive belief that the physicists could have come together when nuclear fission was discovered (in Nazi Germany!) and agreed to keep the discovery a secret, thereby sparing humanity such a burden. No. Given the development of nuclear physics up to 1938, development that physicists throughout the world pursued in all innocence of any intention of finding the engine of a new weapon of mass destruction—only one of them, the remarkable Hungarian physicist Leo Szilard, took that possibility seriously—the discovery of nuclear fission was inevitable. To stop it, you would have had to stop physics. If German scientists hadn’t made the discovery when they did, French, American, Russian, Italian, or Danish scientists would have done so, almost certainly within days or weeks. They were all working at the same cutting edge, trying to understand the strange results of a simple experiment bombarding uranium with neutrons. Here was no Faustian bargain, as movie directors and other naifs still find it intellectually challenging to imagine. Here was no evil machinery that the noble scientists might hide from the problems and the generals. To the contrary, there was a high insight into how the world works, an energetic reaction, older than the earth, that science had finally devised the instruments and arrangements to coart forth. “Make it seem inevitable,” Louis Pasteur used to advise his students when they prepared to write up their discoveries. But it was. To wish that it might have been ignored or suppressed is barbarous. “Knowledge,” Niels Bohr once noted, “is itself the basis for civilization.” You cannot have the one without the other; the one depends upon the other. Nor can you have only benevolent knowledge; the scientific method doesn’t filter for benevolence. Knowledge has consequences, not always intended, not always comfortable, but always welcome. The earth revolves around the sun, not the sun around the earth. “It is a profound and necessary truth,” Robert Oppenheimer would say, “that the deep things in science are not found because they are useful; they are found because it was possible to find them.”
...Bohr proposed once that the goal of science is not universal truth. Rather, he argued, the modest but relentless goal of science is “the gradual removal of prejudices.” The discovery that the earth revolves around the sun has gradually removed the prejudice that the earth is the center of the universe. The discovery of microbes is gradually removing the prejudice that disease is a punishment from God. The discovery of evolution is gradually removing the prejudice that Homo sapiens is a separate and special creation.- XAT - 2026
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Reading Comprehension
Questions Asked in CAT exam
- The passage given below is followed by four summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
In the dynamic realm of creativity, artists often find themselves at the crossroads between drawing inspiration from diverse cultures and inadvertently crossing into the territory of cultural appropriation. Inspiration is the lifeblood of creativity, driving artists to create works that resonate across borders. In a globalized era of the modern world, artists draw from a vast array of cultural influences. When approached respectfully, inspiration becomes a bridge, fostering understanding and appreciation of cultural diversity. However, the line between inspiration and cultural appropriation can be thin and easily blurred.
Cultural appropriation occurs when elements from a particular culture are borrowed without proper understanding, respect, or acknowledgment. This leads to the commodification of sacred symbols, the reinforcement of stereotypes, and the erasure of the cultural context from which these elements originated. It is essential to recognize that the impact of cultural appropriation extends beyond the realm of artistic expression, influencing societal perceptions and perpetuating power imbalances.- CAT - 2025
- Para Summary
- The number of distinct integers $n$ for which $\log_{\left(\frac14\right)}(n^2 - 7n + 11)>0$ is:
- CAT - 2025
- Linear Inequalities
- In the set of consecutive odd numbers $\{1, 3, 5, \ldots, 57\}$, there is a number $k$ such that the sum of all the elements less than $k$ is equal to the sum of all the elements greater than $k$. Then, $k$ equals?
- CAT - 2025
- Number Systems
- The number of distinct pairs of integers $(x, y)$ satisfying the inequalities $x>y \ge 3$ and $x + y<14$ is:
- CAT - 2025
- Number Systems
For any natural number $k$, let $a_k = 3^k$. The smallest natural number $m$ for which \[ (a_1)^1 \times (a_2)^2 \times \dots \times (a_{20})^{20} \;<\; a_{21} \times a_{22} \times \dots \times a_{20+m} \] is:
- CAT - 2025
- Linear Inequalities