CAT 2019 Slot 2 RC-2 Identity of Linguistics—You Are What You Speak

Directions: The passages given below are followed by a set of four or five questions each. Choose the best
answer to each question.
Passage 2

For two years, I tracked down dozens of. . . . Chinese in Upper Egypt [who were] selling lingerie. In a deeply
conservative region, where Egyptian families rarely allow women to work or own businesses, the Chinese
flourished because of their status as outsiders. They didn’t gossip, and they kept their opinions to
themselves. In a New Yorker article entitled “Learning to Speak Lingerie,” I described the Chinese use of
Arabic as another non-threatening characteristic. I wrote, “Unlike Mandarin, Arabic is inflected for gender,
and Chinese dealers, who learn the language strictly by ear, often pick up speech patterns from female
customers. I’ve come to think of it as the lingerie dialect, and there’s something disarming about these
Chinese men speaking in the feminine voice.”. . . .

When I wrote about the Chinese in the New Yorker, most readers seemed to appreciate the unusual
perspective. But as I often find with topics that involve the Middle East, some people had trouble getting past
the black-and-white quality of a byline. “This piece is so orientalist I don’t know what to do,” Aisha Gani, a
reporter who worked at The Guardian, tweeted. Another colleague at the British paper, Iman Amrani, agreed:
“I wouldn’t have minded an article on the subject written by an Egyptian woman—probably would have had
better insight.”. . . .

As an MOL (man of language), I also take issue with this kind of essentialism. Empathy and understanding
are not inherited traits, and they are not strictly tied to gender and race. An individual who wrestles with a
difficult language can learn to be more sympathetic to outsiders and open to different experiences of the
world. This learning process—the embarrassments, the frustrations, the gradual sense of understanding and
connection—is invariably transformative. In Upper Egypt, the Chinese experience of struggling to learn Arabic
and local culture had made them much more thoughtful. In the same way, I was interested in their lives not
because of some kind of voyeurism, but because I had also experienced Egypt and Arabic as an outsider.
And both the Chinese and the Egyptians welcomed me because I spoke their languages. My identity as a
white male was far less important than my ability to communicate.

And that easily lobbed word— “Orientalist”—hardly captures the complexity of our interactions. What exactly
is the dynamic when a man from Missouri observes a Zhejiang native selling lingerie to an Upper Egyptian
woman?. . . . If all of us now stand beside the same river, speaking in ways we all understand, who’s looking
east and who’s looking west? Which way is Oriental?

For all of our current interest in identity politics, there’s no corresponding sense of identity linguistics. You
are what you speak—the words that run throughout your mind are at least as fundamental to your selfhood
as is your ethnicity or your gender. And sometimes it’s healthy to consider human characteristics that are
not inborn, rigid, and outwardly defined. After all, you can always learn another language and change who
you are.

1. According to the passage, which of the following is not responsible for language’s ability to change
us?

1. Language’s ability to mediate the impact of identity markers one is born with.
2. The ups and downs involved in the course of learning a language.
3. Language’s intrinsic connection to our notions of self and identity.
4. The twists and turns in the evolution of language over time.

2. The author’s critics would argue that:

1. Orientalism cannot be practiced by Egyptians.

2. Language is insufficient to bridge cultural barriers.
3. Empathy can overcome identity politics.
4. Linguistic politics can be erased.

3. A French ethnographer decides to study the culture of a Nigerian tribe. Which of the following is most
likely to be the view of the author of the passage?

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 1. The author would encourage the ethnographer and recommend him/her to hire a good translator
for the purpose of holding interviews.
2. The author would discourage the ethnographer from conducting the study as Nigerian
ethnographers can better understand the tribe.
3. The author would encourage the ethnographer, but ask him/her to first learn the language of the
Nigerian tribe s/he wishes to study.
4. The author would encourage the ethnographer, but ask him/her to be mindful of his/her racial and
gender identity in the process.

4. Which of the following can be inferred from the author’s claim, “Which way is Oriental?”

1. Goodwill alone mitigates cultural hierarchies and barriers.

2. Globalisation has mitigated cultural hierarchies and barriers.
3. Orientalism is a discourse of the past, from colonial times, rarely visible today.
4. Learning another language can mitigate cultural hierarchies and barriers.

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 EXPLANATORY ANSWERS

Passage 2
SUITABLE TITLE: Identity of Linguistics—You Are What You Speak

Difficult Words/Phrases (in the order of their appearance)

1. lingerie: (n) women's underwear and nightclothes.
2. disarming: (adj) (of manner or behaviour) having the effect of allaying suspicion or hostility,
especially through charm: “…and there’s something disarming about these Chinese men speaking
in the feminine voice.”
3. appreciate: (v) to understand (a situation) fully; grasp the full implications of: “…most readers
seemed to appreciate the unusual perspective.”
4. orientalist: (adj) style, artefacts, or traits considered characteristic of the peoples and cultures of
Asia; the representation of Asia in a stereotyped way that is regarded as embodying a colonialist
attitude. [ "Orientalism” is a way of seeing that imagines, emphasizes, exaggerates and distorts
differences of Arab peoples and cultures as compared to that of Europe and the U.S. It often
involves seeing Arab culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized,]
5. take issue with: (phrase) disagree with; challenge.
6. essentialism: (n) a belief that things have a set of characteristics which make them what they are,
and that the task of science and philosophy is their discovery and expression; the doctrine that
essence is prior to existence: “…I also take issue with this kind of essentialism.”
7. thoughtful: (adj) showing consideration for the needs of other people; sympathetic: “…the Chinese
experience of struggling to learn Arabic and local culture had made them much more thoughtful.”
8. voyeurism: (n) the practice of gaining pleasure in watching others, especially sexual pleasure: “I
was interested in their lives not because of some kind of voyeurism…”
9. identity politics: (n) a tendency for people of a particular religion, race, social background, etc., to
form exclusive political alliances, moving away from traditional broad-based party politics.
10. linguistic identity: (n) means that you consider yourself belonging to a certain group of people that
speak your language, which provides you with a sense of identity.
11. mediate: (v) to bring about (an agreement or solution) by intervening in a dispute. find a way over
or through (an obstacle or difficult route): “Language’s ability to mediate the impact of identity
markers one is born with.”
12. ethnography: (n) is defined as an illuminative account of social life and culture in a particular
social system based on multiple detailed observations of what people actually do in the social
setting being observed.
13. mitigate: (v) to make (something bad) less severe, serious, or painful; lessen the gravity of (an
offence or mistake): “Goodwill alone mitigates cultural hierarchies and barriers.”

MAIN IDEA: The author’s main argument in the passage is that learning a new language gives us a new
identity because (1) “the words that run throughout your mind are at least as fundamental to your
selfhood as is your ethnicity or your gender”; (2) “an individual who wrestles with a difficult language can
learn to be more sympathetic to outsiders and open to different experiences of the world”; and (3) “This
learning process—the embarrassments, the frustrations, the gradual sense of understanding and
connection—is invariably transformative.” In a nutshell, learning a new language is sufficient to bridge
cultural barriers regardless of differences in ethnicity or gender.

1. Ans. 4.

Explanation
Option 4: relating to the evolution of language per se is not even discussed in the passage and is
certainly NOT responsible for language’s ability to change people. Hence, Option 4 is the correct
answer.

All other options relate to language’s ability to change people. Option 1: is clear from the experience
of Chinese dealers who by learning the Arabic language overcame the barriers of ethnicity and gender
and could comfortably interact with their clients, Egyptian women, while selling lingerie to them.
Option 2 is directly from: “This learning process—the embarrassments, the frustrations, the gradual

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 sense of understanding and connection—is invariably transformative.” Option 3 is the main point of
the author and directly stated in the passage: “…corresponding sense of identity linguistics. You are
what you speak—the words that run throughout your mind are at least as fundamental to your
selfhood as is your ethnicity or your gender.”

2. Ans. 2.

Explanation
Option 2: The author’s main argument in the passage is that learning a new language gives us a new
identity because (1) “the words that run throughout your mind are at least as fundamental to your
selfhood as is your ethnicity or your gender”; (2) “an individual who wrestles with a difficult language
can learn to be more sympathetic to outsiders and open to different experiences of the world”; and
(3) “This learning process—the embarrassments, the frustrations, the gradual sense of understanding
and connection—is invariably transformative.” In a nutshell, learning a new language is sufficient to
bridge cultural barriers regardless of differences in ethnicity or gender. But the author’s critics would
argue to the contrary as in Option 2 that language is insufficient to bridge cultural barriers. Hence,
Option 2 is the correct answer.

The rest of the options are quite irrelevant to main point of the author and also irrelevant to the
question asked; hence, options 1, 3 and 4 can easily be eliminated.

3. Ans. 3.

Explanation
Option 3: The author would naturally encourage the ethnographer to study new cultures but ask
him/her to first learn the new language which is a necessary as well as a sufficient condition to bridge
cultural barriers, as already brought out in the SUMMARY. The remaining options can easily be
eliminated.

4. Ans. 4.

Explanation
Option 4: When a white American male is observing Chinese male dealers selling lingerie to Egyptian
women—all speaking in the Arabic language in ways they all understand, differences of ethnicity are
irrelevant; this can be inferred from— “Which way is Oriental?”, because the common language Arabic
in this case has bridged all cultural hierarchies and barriers. Hence, Option 4 is the correct answer.

The rest of the options are irrelevant to the pointed question asked. Hence, options 1, 2 and 3 can
easily be eliminated.

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