CAT 2018 Slot 1 — VARC Question 29
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper order for the sentences and key in this sequence of four numbers as your answer.
- The woodland’s canopy receives most of the sunlight that falls on the trees.
- Swifts do not confine themselves to woodlands, but hunt wherever there are insects in the air.
- With their streamlined bodies, swifts are agile flyers, ideally adapted to twisting and turning through the air as they chase flying insects – the creatures that form their staple diet.
- Hundreds of thousands of insects fly in the sunshine up above the canopy, some falling prey to swifts and swallows.
Answer & solution
Answer: 1432
Easy
This is a sentence-rearrangement (para-jumble). Look for the general opener, then follow the logical flow from the setting (the canopy and sunlight) to the insects there, to the swifts that hunt them, and finally a qualifying remark that broadens the scope.
Opener → (1). Sentence 1 sets the scene with a general statement and no back-reference: "The woodland's canopy receives most of the sunlight that falls on the trees." It introduces both the canopy and the sunlight that the next sentence picks up.
(1) → (4): the insects. Sentence 4 builds directly on 1: "Hundreds of thousands of insects fly in the sunshine up above the canopy, some falling prey to swifts and swallows." It reuses "canopy/sunshine" from 1 and introduces the swifts. Pair 1–4.
(4) → (3): about the swifts. Having named swifts, sentence 3 elaborates on them: "With their streamlined bodies, swifts are agile flyers... as they chase flying insects – the creatures that form their staple diet." It explains why swifts catch those insects, so it follows 4. Sequence so far: 1–4–3.
(3) → (2): the qualifier (closer). Sentence 2 broadens and closes: "Swifts do not confine themselves to woodlands, but hunt wherever there are insects in the air." This contrast only makes sense after the woodland-hunting picture is built (1–4–3), so 2 ends the paragraph.
Sequence: 1 – 4 – 3 – 2. Key in 1432.