CAT 2006 — VARC Question 9
Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
Age has a curvilinear relationship with the exploitation of opportunity. Initially, age will increase the likelihood that a person will exploit an entrepreneurial opportunity because people gather much of the knowledge necessary to exploit opportunities over the course of their lives, and because age provides credibility in transmitting that information to others. However, as people become older, their willingness to bear risks declines, their opportunity costs rise, and they become less receptive to new information.____________________________
Answer & solution
- A
As a result, people transmit more information rather than experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age.
- B
As a result, people are reluctant to experiment with new ideas as they reach an advanced age.
- C
As a result, only people with lower opportunity costs exploit opportunity when they reach an advanced age.
As a result, people become reluctant to exploit entrepreneurial opportunities when they reach an advanced age.
- E
As a result, people depend on credibility rather than on novelty as they reach an advanced age.
'As a result' is a constant in the options. One needs to identify the direct consequence of what is stated in the paragraph. Also establish the purpose of the paragraph by looking at the first and the last sentences given to you. ('Age has …' and 'however, as people become older...').
Options 3 and 5 get eliminated most easily. Neither of these options is a consequence of the curvilinear relationship between age and exploitation of opportunity.
The reluctance to “experiment with new ideas” (options 1 and 2) does not necessarily translate into ‘entrepreneurial opportunity” given in the paragraph.
Option 4 includes all this and is specific to the ideas presented in the paragraph and is a direct consequence.
Hence, the correxct answer is option 4.