CAT 2019 Slot 1 — VARC Question 27
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. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.
- One argument is that actors that do not fit within a single, well-defined category may suffer an “illegitimacy discount”.
- Others believe that complex identities confuse audiences about an organization’s role or purpose.
- Some organizations have complex and multidimensional identities that span or combine categories, while other organizations possess narrow identities.
- Identity is one of the most important features of organizations, but there exist opposing views among sociologists about how identity affects organizational performance.
- Those who think that complex identities are beneficial point to the strategic advantages of ambiguity, and organizations’ potential to differentiate themselves from competitors.
Answer & solution
Answer: 1
Easy
For a sentence-exclusion set, first find the common theme and the four sentences that build one tight paragraph; the leftover sentence is the odd one out. Identify the opener (the sentence that introduces the topic at the broadest level), then chain the rest and see which sentence cannot be slotted in.
Opener = (4). Sentence 4 frames the whole topic: identity is important, but sociologists hold opposing views about how it affects organizational performance. The word "opposing views" sets up the two camps that the other sentences describe.
(4) -> (3). Sentence 3 specifies the contrast 4 promised: some organizations have complex, multidimensional identities, others have narrow ones. It defines the very "complex identities" that the debate then argues about.
(3) -> (5) -> (2): the two camps. Sentence 5 gives the pro view ("Those who think that complex identities are beneficial...") and sentence 2 gives the con view ("Others believe that complex identities confuse audiences..."). Together 5 and 2 deliver the "opposing views" set up in 4. A coherent paragraph forms as 4 - 3 - 5 - 2.
Misfit = (1). Sentence 1 introduces a fresh, narrower idea — an "illegitimacy discount" for actors that don't fit a single category. It is a specific consequence that neither continues the pro/con framing of 5 and 2 nor is set up anywhere in 4-3-5-2. It is the odd one out.
Coherent paragraph: 4 - 3 - 5 - 2. The odd one out is 1.