But the project is raising questions about Google's motivations and about who should own the digital copyrights. Some critics call it a form of "digital colonialism."
When it comes to archaeological treasures, the losses have been mounting. ISIS blew up parts of the ancient city of Palmyra in Syria and an earthquake hit Bagan, an ancient city in Myanmar, damaging dozens of temples, in 2016. In the past, all archaeologists and historians had for restoration and research were photos, drawings, remnants and intuition.
But that's changing. Before the earthquake at Bagan, many of the temples on the site were scanned. . . . [These] scans . . . are on Google's Arts & Culture site. The digital renditions allow viewers to virtually wander the halls of the temple, look up-close at paintings and turn the building over, to look up at its chambers. . . . [Google Arts & Culture] works with museums and other nonprofits . . . to put high-quality images online.
The images of the temples in Bagan are part of a collaboration with CyArk, a nonprofit that creates the 3D scanning of historic sites. . . . Google . . . says [it] doesn't make money off this website, but it fits in with Google's mission to make the world's information available and useful.
Critics say the collaboration could be an attempt by a large corporation to wrap itself in the sheen of culture. Ethan Watrall, an archaeologist, professor at Michigan State University and a member of the Society for American Archaeology, says he's not comfortable with the arrangement between CyArk and Google. . . . Watrall says this project is just a way for Google to promote Google. "They want to make this material accessible so people will browse it and be filled with wonder by it," he says. "But at its core, it's all about advertisements and driving traffic." Watrall says these images belong on the site of a museum or educational institution, where there is serious scholarship and a very different mission. . . .
[There's] another issue for some archaeologists and art historians. CyArk owns the copyrights of the scans — not the countries where these sites are located. That means the countries need CyArk's permission to use these images for commercial purposes.
Erin Thompson, a professor of art crime at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City, says it's the latest example of a Western nation appropriating a foreign culture, a centuries-long battle. . . . CyArk says it copyrights the scans so no one can use them in an inappropriate way. The company says it works closely with authorities during the process, even training local people to help. But critics like Thompson are not persuaded. . . . She would prefer the scans to be owned by the countries and people where these sites are located.
Based on his views mentioned in the passage, one could best characterise Dr. Watrall as being:
Based on his views mentioned in the passage, one could best characterise Dr. Watrall as being:
dismissive of laypeople’s access to specialist images of archaeological and cultural sites.
- opposed to the use of digital technology in archaeological and cultural sites in developing countries.
- uneasy about the marketing of archaeological images for commercial use by firms such as Google and CyArk.
critical about the links between a non-profit and a commercial tech platform for distributing archaeological images.
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Dr. Watrall's characterization can best be deduced by examining his viewpoint in the context of the provided passage. The passage discusses Google's efforts to preserve archaeological sites by making them accessible through 3D images. However, there is criticism about the commercial relationships and motivations behind these actions.
Dr. Watrall, an archaeologist, expresses discomfort with the collaboration between CyArk, a nonprofit, and Google, which is a commercial entity. He suggests that Google's true motive is to drive traffic and promote its brand under the guise of cultural preservation, rather than purely for educational or scholarly purposes. He argues that these images would be more appropriately housed on a museum or educational institution's site, reflecting a mission focused on scholarship. This highlights his critical view of how commercial interests intersect with non-profit endeavors in distributing archaeological images.
Therefore, based on the passage, Dr. Watrall is best characterized as being:
- critical about the links between a non-profit and a commercial tech platform for distributing archaeological images.
By “digital colonialism”, critics of the CyArk–Google project are referring to the fact that:
- countries where the scanned sites are located do not own the scan copyrights.
- CyArk and Google have not shared the details of digitisation with the host countries.
the scanning process can damage delicate frescos and statues at the sites.
- CyArk and Google have been scanning images without copyright permission from host countries.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
The correct answer to the question about the "digital colonialism" critique of the CyArk–Google project is: "countries where the scanned sites are located do not own the scan copyrights." The comprehension passage outlines several crucial aspects of this critique:
1. Background Context: Google, in collaboration with CyArk, is using 3D scanning technology to digitally preserve archaeological sites, making them available on Google's Arts & Culture site. This is positioned as a preservation effort amidst threats like war, natural disasters, and climate change.
2. Access and Control: Critics raise concerns about who controls the digital copyrights of these scanned cultural sites. Despite being located in other countries, the 3D scan copyrights are owned by CyArk, not the host countries.
3. Criticism Details: As highlighted by critics like Erin Thompson, this arrangement is seen as a form of Western appropriation of foreign cultural heritage—a centuries-old issue. The concern is that ownership of digital representations is not with the local authorities, which implies the need for permission from CyArk for commercial use by the host countries.
4. Commercial Interests: Ethan Watrall argues that even though Google claims not to profit from this venture directly, the underlying motivation may still be commercial, intending to increase site traffic and visibility for Google's broader business interests.
5. Recommendations: Critics suggest that digital copyrights should belong to the host countries, ensuring cultural heritage control remains with the originating culture and community.
Which of the following, if true, would most strongly invalidate Dr. Watrall’s objections?
- CyArk uploads its scanned images of archaeological sites onto museum websites only.
- There is a ban on CyArk scanning archeological sites located in other countries.
- CyArk does not own the copyright on scanned images of archaeological sites.
- Google takes down advertisements on its website hosting CyArk’s scanned images.
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
To identify which statement would most strongly invalidate Dr. Watrall’s objections, we need to understand the core of his argument. Dr. Watrall's primary concern is that the partnership between CyArk and Google serves Google's interests by driving advertisement traffic rather than benefiting educational or scholarly purposes. He suggests that the digital images belong on museum or educational institution platforms that prioritize scholarship. Thus, any evidence that counters this idea could invalidate his objection. Analyzing the provided options:
- CyArk uploads its scanned images of archaeological sites onto museum websites only: This directly addresses Watrall's concern. If the images are hosted on museum websites, which are educational institutions, it aligns with his preference for scholarly use, thereby invalidating his objection.
- There is a ban on CyArk scanning archaeological sites located in other countries: This doesn't address Watrall's concerns about the hosting platform and educational context.
- CyArk does not own the copyright on scanned images of archaeological sites: This relates to copyright ownership but not directly to the objection about fostering scholarship versus commercialism.
- Google takes down advertisements on its website hosting CyArk’s scanned images: While this reduces commercial intent, it doesn't address the placement of images on an educational platform, which is Watrall's key issue.
Therefore, the strongest counter to Dr. Watrall’s objections is: CyArk uploads its scanned images of archaeological sites onto museum websites only.
In Dr. Thompson’s view, CyArk owning the copyright of its digital scans of archaeological sites is akin to:
- the illegal downloading of content from the internet.
- the seizing of ancient Egyptian artefacts by a Western museum.
- tourists uploading photos of monuments onto social media.
- digital platforms capturing users’ data for market research.
The Correct Option is B
Solution and Explanation
Dr. Thompson’s comparison of CyArk owning the copyright of its digital scans to "the seizing of ancient Egyptian artefacts by a Western museum" is rooted in the concept of cultural appropriation. The argument is that similar to how Western museums have often seized and exhibited foreign cultural artefacts, the ownership of digital scans by a non-local entity is seen as a continuation of this practice.
Here's the explanation:
1. Contextual Background: The passage highlights how the digitization of archaeological sites raises questions about digital ownership and cultural representation. Critics express concerns that these digital endeavours, while preserving culture, might also represent a form of "digital colonialism."
2. Critical Perspective: Critics believe that these digital scans should belong to the cultural nations rather than external organizations like CyArk, as this echoes historical patterns where foreign cultures were controlled by Western powers.
3. Dr. Thompson’s Stance: Dr. Thompson sees this as an extension of a "centuries-long battle" of Western appropriation of foreign cultures. She supports the perspective that these cultural digitizations should be owned by the originating countries.
4. Comparative Analysis: The seizing of ancient Egyptian artefacts; similar to CyArk's digital copyrights, reflects the perceived imbalance of cultural authority and ownership, reinforcing Dr. Thompson's view.
Thus, the correct analogy, as per Dr. Thompson's view, equates CyArk's digital retention of cultural scans to the historic practice of Western museums acquiring cultural artefacts.
Of the following arguments, which one is LEAST likely to be used by the companies that digitally scan cultural sites?
It provides images free of cost to all users.
- It helps preserve precious images in case the sites are damaged or destroyed.
- It allows a large corporation to project itself as a protector of culture.
It enables people who cannot physically visit these sites to experience them.
The Correct Option is C
Solution and Explanation
In light of the provided comprehension passage, several arguments are put forward both in favor of and against the digital scanning of cultural sites. The passage discusses Google's efforts to make the world's heritage available online, alongside criticism against the corporation's motives and actions.
Firstly, let's analyze the arguments that are commonly used to justify the scanning of cultural sites:
- Preservation Argument: It is stated that scanning helps preserve the images of cultural sites in case they are damaged or destroyed, which is a strong justification for the practice.
- Accessibility Argument: Allowing worldwide access to these images is cited as an advantage, particularly for individuals who cannot physically visit the locations.
- Cost-Free Access Argument: The digital content is available at no cost, which promotes educational and cultural enrichment among a global audience.
However, among the options provided, the argument that a company uses scanning to project itself as a protector of culture is not a genuine benefit that aligns with the aims of preserving and democratizing access to cultural sites. This argument refers to corporate interests more than the preservation or educational goals.
Therefore, the argument: "It allows a large corporation to project itself as a protector of culture." is the one least likely to be promoted as a legitimate reason for digital scanning by the companies involved, as it primarily benefits their image rather than contributing to cultural preservation or education.
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