CAT Questions | CAT Reading Comprehension

The question is from CAT Reading Comprehension. RC for CAT. RC Passages that appear in the verbal section of CAT test on the Reading ability of the candidate. Solve CAT RC Passages to get more practice and 2IIMs CAT questions bank provides you with CAT questions that can help you gear for CAT Exam .

Question 1: Which of the following cannot be reasonably inferred from the passage?

1. Before the 12th century BC , the use of syllabic writing existed in Ancient Greece.
2. Phoenician traders flourished in Greece at the time the Homeric epics were composed.
3. Greek, Roman and modern European literacy can be traced back to the Phoenicians.
4. Iliad and Odyssey are purely oral poetic speech, set to rhyme.

Explanatory Answer

Method of solving this CAT Question from Reading Comprehension:

Statement a - Before the 12th century BC, the use of syllabic writing existed in Ancient Greece.

We know this to be true from the passage, which talks of the Mycenaean fore-bearers of the Greeks using syllabic writing.

Statement b - Phoenician traders flourished in Greece at the time the Homeric epics were composed.

The passage states that the Phoenicians traders were much admired for their work during the time the Illiad was composed and about a century later, when the Odyssey was composed, the Phoenicians did not enjoy much favor in Greece due to their competitive penetration of the Greek market.

Statement c - Greek, Roman and modern European literacy can be traced back to the Phoenicians.

This is stated in the passage and is true.

Statement d - Iliad and Odyssey are purely oral poetic speech, set to rhyme.

False. While these epics were composed in oral poetic speech, this was in the traditional meter of unrhymed dactylic hexameters. They are not set to rhyme.

The question is "Choose the Correct option "

Hence, the answer is D

Choice D is the correct answer.