ParaSummary Question 4 - CAT 2020
Passage: As Soviet power declined, the world became to some extent multipolar, and Europe strove to define an independent identity. What a journey Europe has undertaken to reach this point. It had in every century changed its internal structure and invented new ways of thinking about the nature of international order. Now at the culmination of an era, Europe, in order to participate in it, felt obliged to set aside the political mechanisms through which it had conducted its affairs for three and a half centuries. Impelled also by the desire to cushion the emergent unification of Germany, the new European Union established a common currency in 2002 and a formal political structure in 2004. It proclaimed a Europe united, whole, and free, adjusting its differences by peaceful mechanisms.
A) Europe has consistently changed in keeping with the changing world order and that has culminated in a united Europe.
B) The establishment of a formal political structure in Europe was hastened by the unification of Germany and the emergence of a multipolar world.
C) Europe has consistently changed its internal structure to successfully adapt to the changing world order.
D) Europe has chosen to lower political and economic heterogeneity, in order to adapt itself to an emerging multi-polar world.
Step-by-Step Explanation
Correct Answer: D- Passage Analysis: The text describes an active, defensive adaptation. Driven by a shifting, multipolar global field and internal challenges like German unification, European nations consolidated. They compromised their historical individual mechanisms to set up a unified political framework and a shared currency—fundamentally lowering their political and economic heterogeneity (differences) to survive as a unified player.
- Elimination:
- A and C are incorrect because they represent overly generalized historical descriptions that strip away the core strategic cause-and-effect profile (how reducing internal differences was utilized specifically to counter a multipolar landscape).
- B is incorrect because the passage notes Europe was "impelled" (motivated) by German unification, but never makes the specific claim that the timeline was "hastened" or accelerated.