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CAT 2019 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. Choose its number as your answer and key it in.

  1. Socrates told us that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’ and that to ‘know thyself’ is the path to true wisdom
  2. It suggests that you should adopt an ancient rhetorical method favored by the likes of Julius Caesar and known as ‘illeism’ – or speaking about yourself in the third person.
  3. Research has shown that people who are prone to rumination also often suffer from impaired decision making under pressure and are at a substantially increased risk of depression.
  4. Simple rumination – the process of churning your concerns around in your head – is not the way to achieve self-realization.
  5. The idea is that this small change in perspective can clear your emotional fog, allowing you to see past your biases.

Answer & solution

Correct answer: 1

Answer: 1

Solution

Easy

For odd-one-out: first identify the common theme that links four of the five sentences, then the misfit is the one that does not slot into that chain. Build the paragraph and whatever is left over is the answer.

1

Spot the theme. Sentences 2, 3, 4, 5 are about rumination and a remedy for it — "illeism," speaking about yourself in the third person to gain perspective. Sentence 1 is about Socrates, self-examination, and "know thyself" as the path to wisdom — a different idea.

2

Build the chain: 4 → 3. Sentence 4 introduces the problem — "Simple rumination... is not the way to achieve self-realization." Sentence 3 elaborates its harm — ruminators suffer "impaired decision making" and higher depression risk.

3

2 → 5. Sentence 2 offers the fix — "adopt an ancient rhetorical method... known as 'illeism' — speaking about yourself in the third person." Sentence 5 explains its benefit — "this small change in perspective can clear your emotional fog." So the coherent paragraph is 4 – 3 – 2 – 5.

4

The misfit = 1. Sentence 1 (Socrates, "the unexamined life," "know thyself") talks about deliberate self-examination as the route to wisdom — it neither names rumination nor the illeism remedy, and it has no connector into the 4-3-2-5 sequence. It is the odd one out.

Odd one out: 1

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CAT 2019 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