Skip to main content

CAT VARC Practice Test 12

CAT VARC • Medium • 12 Questions
Progress 0 / 12
25:00

Untranslatable Words

Lists of untranslatable words are popular on the internet: a word in one language for the pleasure of reading in bed, another for the light that falls through leaves. The lists are charming, but they can mislead. Almost any idea can be expressed in any language; what differs is whether a language has a single, everyday word for it. The absence of a word does not mean that speakers cannot feel or notice the thing it describes.

Translators therefore talk less about impossible words than about trade offs. A short word may become a long phrase, a joke may lose its wordplay, and a term rich with cultural associations may become accurate but flat. The translator's task is to decide which qualities of the original matter most in a given passage and to preserve those, accepting losses elsewhere.

Seen this way, the existence of words that are hard to translate is not evidence that cultures cannot understand each other. It is evidence that languages package experience differently, and that understanding across languages requires effort and judgment rather than a dictionary alone.

Passage 1 Questions Questions 1-4
1

The author's main point is that:

2

According to the author, lists of untranslatable words can mislead because they suggest that:

3

The 'trade offs' that translators face involve:

4

Which of the following would the author most likely agree with?

The Economics of Free Apps

Many of the most popular apps cost nothing to download. The services are paid for in other ways: through advertising, through selling premium features to a minority of users, or through the data that users generate. Economists describe these as two sided markets, in which a platform serves one group, the users, in order to attract another, the advertisers or business customers who pay.

Free pricing has real benefits. It lowers barriers to access and allows services to grow quickly, which can make them more useful for everyone, as a messaging app is more valuable when more people use it. But it also changes incentives. If revenue depends on attention, the product may be designed to maximise time spent rather than value delivered, and users may find it hard to judge the true cost of a service they do not pay for directly.

Regulators have begun to ask whether users should be told more clearly what they give up in exchange for free services, and whether data should be treated as a form of payment. The answers are not simple, but the question itself marks a shift: free is increasingly understood as a price of a different kind.

Passage 2 Questions Questions 5-8
5

In a two sided market, as described in the passage, a platform:

6

Which benefit of free pricing does the passage mention?

7

According to the passage, free pricing can change incentives because:

8

The final sentence suggests that 'free' services:

Type in the answer for the para-jumble and odd-sentence questions. For the rest, choose the best option.

Verbal Ability Questions Questions 9-12
9

The four sentences below, labelled 1, 2, 3 and 4, form a coherent paragraph when arranged in the right order. Type the correct order as a four-digit sequence (for example, 1234). 1. Merchants carried them thousands of miles from the islands where they grew. 2. The search for a direct route to these islands drove some of the great voyages of exploration. 3. Spices were once among the most valuable goods in world trade. 4. Each stage of the journey added a cost, so prices in Europe were many times higher than at the source.

10

Four of the five sentences below form a coherent paragraph; one is out of place. Type the number of the odd sentence. 1. A good night's sleep helps the brain consolidate memories. 2. Students who sleep after studying often recall more the next day. 3. The first alarm clocks were mechanical and had to be wound by hand. 4. Sleep deprivation, by contrast, impairs attention and learning. 5. Teachers therefore advise against studying all night before an exam.

11

Choose the option that best summarises the following paragraph. Open plan kitchens became fashionable because they connect cooking with family life. But they also spread noise and cooking smells through the home and leave little privacy. Some architects now design broken plan layouts, in which partial walls and shelves create separate zones while keeping a sense of openness.

12

Choose the option that best summarises the following paragraph. Volunteering is often described as giving, but volunteers also gain. Studies link regular volunteering with better mood and a stronger sense of purpose, and volunteers develop skills and contacts that help their careers. The benefits are greatest when people choose causes they care about rather than volunteering out of obligation.

What is in this test

  • Passage 1, questions 1-4
  • Passage 2, questions 5-8
  • Verbal Ability, questions 9-12

12 questions in 25 minutes, marked +3 for a correct answer and -1 for a wrong multiple choice answer, with no penalty on type in the answer questions. When you finish you get your marks, a section breakdown and a written explanation for every question. Learn the method first on the topic practice pages and keep the formula sheet handy while you review.