CAT Critical Reasoning Practice question with Solution 60

The sentence “at the same time that the clock opened up some avenues, it closed others” gives it away; it introduces the notion of something having both a liberating and a restricting effect. Since we’re looking for a proposition (a generality) illustrated by this example, (A) fits the bill by expanding the author’s observation about the double effect of clocks and applying it to new machines in general.

(B) is never suggested, and besides, we’re looking for a general concept that can be illustrated by the clock example, not a recommendation of what to do.

(C) The clock example doesn’t match this at all, as it illustrates that new technologies can improve our lives, even those that also have a restricting effect.

(D) The author does not offer a final judgment about clocks, and once again, since we’re looking for a generally-stated proposition based on the clocks example, any choice containing only a clocks-related soundbite must be wrong.

(E) mistakenly takes a specific attribute of clocks, the fact that they increase synchronization and productivity, and attributes it to most machines. The actual functioning of the clock, and the specific effects it has (like adding synchronization), cannot be generalized and applied to other machines, which may, after all, have entirely different functions and effects.