CAT 2019 Slot 1 — VARC Question 31
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.
- If you’ve seen a little line of text on websites that says something like "customers who bought this also enjoyed that” you have experienced this collaborative filtering firsthand.
- The problem with these algorithms is that they don’t take into account a host of nuances and circumstances that might interfere with their accuracy.
- If you just bought a gardening book for your cousin, you might get a flurry of links to books about gardening, recommended just for you! – the algorithm has no way of knowing you hate gardening and only bought the book as a gift.
- Collaborative filtering is a mathematical algorithm by which correlations and cooccurrences of behaviors are tracked and then used to make recommendations.
Answer & solution
Answer: 4123
Easy
For a four-sentence jumble, fix the opener (the sentence that introduces the topic without assuming prior context), then track linking words and pronouns. Here the topic is collaborative filtering: define it, illustrate it, critique it, then exemplify the critique.
Find the opener: 4. Sentence 4 gives the definition — "Collaborative filtering is a mathematical algorithm…" Only a defining sentence can stand first; the others all refer back to the concept, so 4 must lead.
Link 4 → 1. Sentence 1 says "you have experienced this collaborative filtering firsthand" — the demonstrative "this" needs the just-given definition from 4. So 1 follows 4 with a relatable example.
Turn to the critique: 2. Sentence 2 introduces the flaw — "The problem with these algorithms…" — shifting from how it works to its weakness. It naturally comes after the concept is established.
Close with the example: 3. Sentence 3 (the gardening-book gift) is a concrete illustration of the "problem" raised in 2, so it must follow 2 and end the paragraph.
Proper order: 4–1–2–3. Key in 4123.