CAT 2003 Slot 2 — VARC Question 10
Fill in the blanks in the passage with the most appropriate set of words from the options for each blank.
The Athenians on the whole were peaceful and prosperous, they had _____ to sit at home and think about the universe and dispute with Socrates, or to travel abroad and _____ the world.
Answer & solution
leisure, explore
- B
time, ignore
- C
ability, suffer
- D
temerity, understand
If the Athenians traveled abroad, they would not ignore or suffer the world. We can thus do away with options 2 and 3.
One does not require temerity (option 4) or boldness to sit at home.
Logically, to have the time or leisure to sit at home sounds fine. And the word ‘leisure’ (option 1) also applies to the other elements of the sentence as well – ‘dispute with Socrates, or to travel abroad’.
Hence, the correct answer is option 1.