CAT 2024 Slot 1 VARC Question 21

Multiple choice (+3 / −1) · Verbal Ability · Parasummary · Try it, then check the answer and solution below.

The passage given below is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.
Certain codes may, of course, be so widely distributed in a specific language community or culture, and be learned at so early an age, that they appear not to be constructed – the effect of an articulation between sign and referent – but to be 'naturally' given. Simple visual signs appear to have achieved a 'near-universality' in this sense: though evidence remains that even apparently 'natural' visual codes are culture specific. However, this does not mean that no codes have intervened; rather, that the codes have been profoundly naturalized. The operation of naturalized codes reveals not the transparency and 'naturalness' of language but the depth, the habituation and the near-universality of the codes in use. They produce apparently 'natural' recognitions. This has the (ideological) effect of concealing the practices of coding which are present.
Answer and solution

Answer: D) Language and visual signs are codes. However, some of the codes are so widespread that they not only seem naturally given but also hide the mechanism of coding behind the signs.

Answer:
The passage discusses how certain codes, whether linguistic or visual, become so ingrained in a culture that they appear natural, despite being constructed. These codes, through naturalization, seem universal and hide their constructed nature, which is an ideological effect.
Correct Answer: Option D
Explanation:
Option D correctly states that language and visual signs are codes. It highlights that some codes, due to their widespread use, appear natural and universal, thereby concealing their constructed nature. This aligns with the passage's emphasis on naturalization and the ideological effect of hiding coding mechanisms.

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