What is the best approach to solve RC in CAT?

I am back with another answer. I was also going through the other answer to this question, they are all good answers. My long term approach can be found here https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-prepare-for-the-CAT-VARC-in-a-one-year-period/answer/Praveen-Sharma-452?ch=17&oid=325059206&share=99d35382&srid=3vqDI&target_type=answer.

In this blog I am not going to discuss those long term approaches rather we will go through a short tutorial kind of answer on  how your approach should be while answering your questions. So please , bear with me and make sure you read the whole answer .This answer focuses on how you should eliminate your options with utmost accuracy.So ,let’s start by reading a passage :

Between the eighth and eleventh centuries A. D., the Byzantine Empire staged an almost unparalleled economic and cultural revival, a recovery that is all the more striking because it followed a long period of severe internal decline. By the early eighth century, the empire had lost roughly two-thirds of the territory it had possessed in the year 600, and its remaining area was being raided by Arabs and Bulgarians, who at times  threatened to take Constantinople and extinguish the empire altogether. The wealth of the state and its subjects was greatly diminished, and artistic and literary production had virtually ceased. By the early eleventh century, however, the empire had regained almost half of its lost possessions, its new frontiers were secure, and its influence extended far beyond its borders. The economy had recovered, the treasury was full, and art and scholarship had advanced.

To consider the Byzantine military, cultural, and economic advances as differentiated aspects of a single phenomenon is reasonable. After all, these three forms of progress have gone together in a number of states and civilizations. Rome under Augustus and fifth-century Athens provide the most obvious examples in antiquity. Moreover, an examination of the apparent sequential connections among military, economic, and cultural forms of progress might help explain the dynamics of historical change.

The common explanation of these apparent connections in the case of Byzantium would run like this: when the empire had turned back enemy raids on its own territory and had begun to raid and conquer enemy territory, Byzantine resources naturally expanded and more money became available to patronize art and literature. Therefore, Byzantine military achievements led to economic advances, which in turn led to cultural revival.

No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times during the course of the recovery. Yet it is not clear that military advances invariably came first, economic advances second, and intellectual advances third. In the 860’s the Byzantine Empire began to recover from Arab incursions so that by 872 the military balance with the Abbasid Caliphate had been permanently altered in the empire’s favor. The beginning of the empire’s economic revival, however, can be placed between 810 and 830. Finally, the Byzantine revival of learning appears to have begun even earlier. A number of notable scholars and writers appeared by 788 and, by the last decade of the eighth century, a cultural revival was in full bloom , a revival that lasted until the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Thus the commonly expected order of military revival followed by economic and then by cultural recovery was reversed in Byzantium. In fact, the revival of Byzantine learning may itself have influenced the subsequent economic and military expansion.

1.   Which of the following best states the central idea of the passage? (Main Idea Question)

CORRECT ANSWER E:Please go through the explanations

Main Idea questions are questions that cannot be answered by reading from the passage, that is, the answer is not written in the passage. The main purpose/primary concern/Central Idea type questions will fall under this question type. Note that the passage will never tell you what its main purpose is. However, if you have made a good passage map then you should not have much difficulty in answering this question.

(A) The Byzantine Empire was a unique case in which the usual order of military and economic revival preceding cultural revival was reversed.

Option A looks like a probable answer but there is a catch . This option is one word off, as the highlighted word UNIQUE makes this option very specific because it states that Byzantine was the only case were this commonly accepted order was reversed and this is not explicitly stated anywhere in the passage.Therefore, this option can be eliminated.

(B) The economic, cultural, and military revival in the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries was similar in its order to the sequence of revivals in Augustan Rome and fifth century Athens.

Option B can be eliminated easily. Read the part in the passage where the author talks about Augustan Rome and Athens. You will find that this part is used as a supporting detail in the passage just to substantiate that these three forms of revivals are somehow connected. This detail in the passage helps you to understand how military, cultural and economic revival are interconnected in few empires in history. Another common trap used by the test maker is to give options that contain details or facts mentioned in the passage, so you’ll be tempted to mark these as the answer because you can see that fact mentioned in the passage. However, remember that the answer to a main idea question will never be mentioned in the passage. The author obviously did not write the entire passage just to provide you with some fact or detail; rather he must have had a broader agenda, which you need to identify. So, on main idea questions, if you see options containing details from the passage, you can rest assured that these will not be the correct answer. (Not necessarily true in every passage but the trend is widespread)

(C) After 810 Byzantine economic recovery spurred a military and, later, cultural expansion that lasted until 1453.

Read this option carefully it incorrectly represents the order of revival of Byzantine Empire. It is clearly stated in the last paragraph of the passage   that Byzantine’s cultural revival began by the year 788 , and then economic revival in the period 810-830 and finally military revival in the period 860-872.(read the last paragraph)

(D) The eighth-century revival of Byzantine learning is an inexplicable phenomenon, and its economic and military precursors have yet to be discovered.

Inexplicable means not able to be explained or understood. The passage gives you probable reasons as to how Byzantine empire may have revived . The passage actually gives you reasons of their revival. The use of the word inexplicable undermines the very purpose of this passage and the phrase “have yet to be discovered” is a furthur insult to injury

(E) The revival of the Byzantine Empire between the eighth and eleventh centuries shows cultural rebirth preceding economic and military revival, the reverse of the commonly accepted order of progress.

Bingo, this option makes sense. Whenever answering main idea questions make sure you ask these two questions to yourself:

1)who or what is paragraph about? (in this case the “who”  is Byzantine Empire)

2)what aspect or idea about the “who” or “what” is the author concerned with?(The aspect is “Revival that defies the commonly accepted order”)

2.         The primary purpose of the second paragraph is which of the following?

            CORRECT ANSWER: C

Make sure you read the question correctly. Students often assume that a primary purpose question will always ask for the primary purpose of the entire passage, whereas sometimes the question may ask you for the primary purpose of only one particular paragraph. To confuse you further, the answer choices will contain options that explain the primary purpose of a different paragraph or of the entire passage.

Let me write this in Hindi: apko khud se ye puchna hai ki agar ye paragraph lekhak ne nhi likhi hoti to mujhe kaun si baat pta ni chlti. Iss passage ke hisab se agar lekhak ne ye panktiyan nhi likhi hoti to apko ye pta ni chlta ki military , cultural or economic revival ek dusre se kaise connected hai  :-)

A)To establish the uniqueness of the Byzantine revival

Uniqueness what uniqueness. The author gives you examples of Athens and Rome to support the fact that military , Cultural and Economic revival are connected and that too in the same order. An later on in the subsequent paragraphs substantiates that this connection was not applicable in case of Byzantine Empire.phewww…..

B)To show that Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens are examples of cultural, economic, and military expansion against which all subsequent cases must be measured

Read the highlighted part of the option it says that all the empires in history should be measured in these terms when it comes to their revival. According to the passage this was not applicable in the case of Byzantine Empire.

(C) To suggest that cultural, economic, and military advances have tended to be closely interrelated in different societies

Bingo, this makes sense. Let’s assume if the 2nd paragraph was not written would you have been able to establish that these three forms of revival are somehow interrelated.

(D) To argue that, while the revivals of Augustan Rome and fifth-century Athens were similar, they are unrelated to other historical examples

The tone of the author throughout the passage in neutral. He or She has nowhere tried to argue in or against the favor of anything or anyone in the passage. The use of word argue was enough to eliminate this option For example, if you know that the author’s tone is neutral, then options that start with words such as arguing, praising, criticizing, etc., will never be correct because these have either a positive or a negative connotation. The correct answer in this case would start with neutral words such as describe, explain, analyze, etc.(READ TONES AND THEMES OF A PASSAGE FOR FURTHUR CLARIFICATIONS).

 (E) To indicate that, wherever possible, historians should seek to make comparisons with the earliest chronological examples of revival

3.         In the third paragraph, the author most probably provides an explanation of the apparent connections among economic, military, and cultural development in order to

CORRECT ANSWER :B

This is again a purpose based question as it ends with the phrase “in order to”(hindi-Kisliye or kyu). To answer this question we will first have to look at the organization of the second and third paragraph in the passage. In the second paragraph the author introduces the idea that the three forms of revival are interrelated and in the third paragraph he or she tries to use this connection to explain Byzantine’s revival. But the last paragraph clearly states that this sequential connection was reversed in case of Byzatine’s revival.

(A) suggest that the process of revival in Byzantium accords with this model

    This option directly contradicts the idea stated in the passage because in case of Byzantium this model  was reversed.

B)set up an order of events that is then shown to be not generally applicable to the case of Byzantium

  This is the correct answer.(read the explanation before option no A)

C)cast aspersions on traditional historical scholarship about Byzantium

ASPERSIONS means a false or misleading charge meant to harm someone’s reputation. The tone of the author throughout the passage in neutral. He or She has nowhere tried to argue in or against the favor of anything or anyone in the passage. The use of word argue was enough to eliminate this option For example, if you know that the author’s tone is neutral, then options that start with words such as arguing, praising, criticizing, etc., will never be correct because these have either a positive or a negative connotation. The correct answer in this case would start with neutral words such as describe, explain, analyze, etc.(READ TONES AND THEMES OF A PASSAGE FOR FURTHUR CLARIFICATIONS).

(D) suggest that Byzantium represents a case for which no historical precedent exists

The part highlighted again indirectly implies that Byzantine’s revival was a unique case. It has never happened earlier in history. The information provided in the passage is insufficient to make this claim.

(E) argue that military conquest is the paramount element in the growth of empires

The tone of the author throughout the passage in neutral. He or She has nowhere tried to argue in or against the favor of anything or anyone in the passage. The use of word argue was enough to eliminate this option For example, if you know that the author’s tone is neutral, then options that start with words such as arguing, praising, criticizing, etc., will never be correct because these have either a positive or a negative connotation. The correct answer in this case would start with neutral words such as describe, explain, analyze, etc.(READ TONES AND THEMES OF A PASSAGE FOR FURTHUR CLARIFICATIONS).

4.         According to the author, “The common explanation” of connections between economic, military, and cultural development is

CORRECT ANSWER: C

(A) revolutionary and too new to have been applied to the history of the Byzantine Empire

The use of word revolutionary makes this option one word off as the common explanation (stated in the 2nd paragraph) was not revolutionary as  according the passage even Rome and Athens have revived and there revival also uses the same common explanation i.e. the sequential connection between three forms of revival.

(B) reasonable, but an antiquated theory of the nature of progress

Half true, the use of word antiquated in this option makes it look like as if this sequential connection was an obsolete idea but passage states that this form of recovery was pretty common in a number of  states and civilizations.

(C) not applicable to the Byzantine revival as a whole, but does perhaps accurately describe limited periods during the revival

 This is correct. Read the first line of the last paragraph “No doubt this hypothetical pattern did apply at times during the course of the recovery”. This line suggests that the sequential connection mentioned in the third paragraph may have been there during Byzantine’s revivial but if you see the overall revival the sequence was reversed.

(D) equally applicable to the Byzantine case as a whole and to the history of military, economic, and cultural advances in ancient Greece and Rome

Contradicts the idea stated in the passage

(E) essentially not helpful, because military, economic, and cultural advances are part of a single phenomenon