CAT 2006 — VARC Question 5
Each of the questions below has a set of sequentially ordered statements. Each statement can be classified as one of the following:
A. Facts, which deal with the pieces of information that one has heard, seen or read, and which are open to discovery or verification (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘F’)
B. Inferences, which are conclusions drawn about the unknown, on the basis of the known (the answer option indicates such a statement with an ‘I’)
C. Judgements, which are opinions that imply approval or disapproval of persons, objects, situations and occurrences in the past, the present or the future (the answer option indicates such a statement with a ‘J’)
Select the answer option that best describes the set of statements.
- Inequitable distribution of all kinds of resources is certainly one of the strongest and most sinister sources of conflict.
- Even without war, we know that conflicts continue to trouble us - they only change in character.
- Extensive disarmament is the only insurance for our future; imagine the amount of resources that can be released and redeployed.
- The economies of the industrialized western world derive 20% of their income from the sale of all kinds of arms.
Answer & solution
- A
IJJI
JIJF
- C
IIJF
- D
JIIF
- E
IJIF
The first sentence is to be evaluated as a judgement or an inference. ‘Most sinister’ is neither verified nor verifiable. It is clearly an opinion, making it a Judgement. This eliminates options 1, 3 and 5.
Evaluating options 2 and 4, one has to decide whether statement 3 is an inference or a judgement. ‘Only insurance’ is neither a verified fact nor a verifiable inference. Hence, it is a judgement, which eliminates option 4.
Hence, the correct answer is option 2.