CAT 2019 Slot 2 — VARC Question 25
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.
- Living things—animals and plants—typically exhibit correlational structure.
- Adaptive behaviour depends on cognitive economy, treating objects as equivalent.
- The information we receive from our senses, from the world, typically has structure and order, and is not arbitrary.
- To categorize an object means to consider it equivalent to other things in that category, and different—along some salient dimension—from things that are not.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2431
Easy
This is a four-sentence rearrangement. Fix the mandatory pairs first (sentences that share a keyword or that one clearly elaborates), then decide which pair opens the paragraph. The general topic is how the mind imposes structure on the world and categorises objects.
Spot the “object/category” pair: 2–4. Sentence 4 defines what it means to categorize an object — to treat it as equivalent to others in its category. Sentence 2 says adaptive behaviour depends on this “cognitive economy” of treating objects as equivalent. The shared phrase “treating objects as equivalent” links them, with 2 stating the principle and 4 spelling out what it means: order 2–4.
Spot the “structure/order” pair: 3–1. Sentence 3 makes the general claim that the information from our senses “typically has structure and order.” Sentence 1 gives a concrete instance of that structure — living things “typically exhibit correlational structure.” So 3 states the general point and 1 illustrates it: order 3–1.
Choose the opener and join the blocks. We now have two blocks, 2–4 and 3–1. The 2–4 block states the broad cognitive principle (why we categorise), which then leads naturally into the claim that the world we sense is structured (3–1), letting such categorisation work. Opening with 24 and following with 31 reads best, giving 2–4–3–1.
The correct sequence is 2431.