Reading Comprehension - Ice Cream Cones and Consumerism

CAT 2008 Slot 1 · VARC · Medium · Reading Comprehension

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Passage / data set

When I was little, children were bought two kinds of ice cream, sold from those white wagons with canopies made of silvery metal: either the two-cent cone or the four-cent ice-cream pie. The two-cent cone was very small... [Passage on memories of eating ice cream cones vs four-cent pies and the philosophy of excess and consumerism].

Question 1 of 5

Which of the following cannot be inferred from the passage?

  1. A.

    Today's society is more extravagant than the society of the 1930s.

  2. B.

    The act of eating two ice cream cones is akin to a ceremonial process.

  3. C.

    Elders rightly suggested that a boy turning eyes from one cone to the other was more likely to fall.

  4. D.

    Despite seeming to promise more, the consumer civilization gives away exactly what the thing is worth.

  5. E.

    The consumer civilization attempts to spoil children and adults alike.

Answer

C

Explanation

The author explicitly calls the elders' suggestion 'pathetic, and obviously mendacious'. Thus option (3) cannot be inferred.

Question 2 of 5

In the passage, the phrase "little parvenus" refers to

  1. A.

    naughty midgets.

  2. B.

    old hags.

  3. C.

    arrogant people.

  4. D.

    young upstarts.

  5. E.

    foolish kids.

Answer

D

Explanation

Parvenu means a person who has suddenly risen to a higher social status; in this context, 'young upstarts'.

Question 3 of 5

The author pined for two two-cent cones instead of one four-cent pie because

  1. A.

    it made dietetic sense.

  2. B.

    it suggested intemperance.

  3. C.

    it was more fun.

  4. D.

    it had a visual appeal.

  5. E.

    he was a glutton.

Answer

B

Explanation

The passage states that two cones suggested excess / intemperance.

Question 4 of 5

What does the author mean by "nowadays the moralist risks seeming at odds with morality"?

  1. A.

    The moralists of yesterday have become immoral today.

  2. B.

    The concept of morality has changed over the years.

  3. C.

    Consumerism is amoral.

  4. D.

    The risks associated with immorality have gone up.

  5. E.

    The purist's view of morality is fast becoming popular.

Answer

B

Explanation

The author implies that what was once considered immoral (excess) is now promoted, showing a shift in moral concepts.

Question 5 of 5

According to the author, the justification for refusal to let him eat two cones was plausibly

  1. A.

    didactic.

  2. B.

    dietetic.

  3. C.

    dialectic.

  4. D.

    diatonic.

  5. E.

    diastolic.

Answer

A

Explanation

The author describes the secret justification as 'cruelly pedagogical', which corresponds to 'didactic'.

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