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CAT 2017 Slot 2 — VARC Question 33

Mixed PracticeEasy

Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.

  1. Over the past fortnight, one of its finest champions managed to pull off a similar impression.
  2. Wimbledon’s greatest illusion is the sense of timelessness it evokes.
  3. At 35 years and 342 days, Roger Federer became the oldest man to win the singles title in the Open Era – a full 14 years after he first claimed the title as a scruffy, pony-tailed upstart.
  4. Once he had survived the opening week, the second week witnessed the range of a rested Federer’s genius.
  5. Given that his method isn’t reliant on explosive athleticism or muscular ball-striking, both vulnerable to decay, there is cause to believe that Federer will continue to enchant for a while longer.

Answer & solution

Correct answer: 4

Answer: 4

Solution

Easy

Find the theme of the four coherent sentences, then drop the one the paragraph does not need. The hook here is Wimbledon's "timelessness" and how Roger Federer embodies it — note the pronoun "its" in sentence 1, which must point back to something.

1

Anchor the opener pair. Sentence 2 introduces the idea — "Wimbledon's greatest illusion is the sense of timelessness it evokes." Sentence 1 then says "one of its finest champions managed to pull off a similar impression" — "its" can only refer to Wimbledon in sentence 2. So 2 and 1 are locked together (2 → 1) and neither can be removed.

2

Identify the champion. Sentence 3 reveals who the "finest champion" is — Federer, "the oldest man to win the singles title in the Open Era... 14 years after he first claimed the title." It follows directly from 1. Sentence 5 closes the thought — because his game "isn't reliant on explosive athleticism... there is cause to believe Federer will continue to enchant." So the spine is 2 → 1 → 3 → 5.

3

Spot the misfit. Sentence 4 — "Once he had survived the opening week, the second week witnessed the range of a rested Federer's genius" — gives a tournament-by-the-week detail. The coherent paragraph moves from Wimbledon's timelessness to Federer's enduring genius; this week-by-week match report is not required by any of the other sentences and breaks the flow from 3 to 5. It is the odd one out.

Sentences 2, 1, 3, 5 form the coherent paragraph; 4 is the odd one out. The answer is 4.

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CAT 2017 Slot 2 VARC Q33: Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and c — Solution | TheCATExam