CAT 2020 Slot 2 — VARC Question 26
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer:
1. But the attention of the layman, not surprisingly, has been captured by the atom bomb, although there is at least a chance that it may never be used again.
2. Of all the changes introduced by man into the household of nature, [controlled]largescale nuclear fission is undoubtedly the most dangerous and most profound.
3. The danger to humanity created by the so-called peaceful uses of atomic energy may, however, be much greater.
4. The resultant ionizing radiation has become the most serious agent of pollution of the environment and the greatest threat to man’s survival on earth.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2413
Medium
Locate the broad opening claim, follow the cause-to-effect link, then place the contrast ("but") and the qualifying conclusion ("however"). The topic: large-scale nuclear fission is the most profound change man has introduced, and its "peaceful" uses may be even more dangerous than the bomb.
Opener - sentence 2. Sentence 2 makes the overarching claim: "Of all the changes introduced by man into the household of nature, [controlled] large-scale nuclear fission is undoubtedly the most dangerous and most profound." It is the general thesis, so it opens.
Pair 2-4. Sentence 4 begins "The resultant ionizing radiation has become the most serious agent of pollution..." - "resultant" points to a consequence of the nuclear fission named in 2. So 4 follows 2 as its direct effect.
Pair 4-1 (the contrast). Sentence 1 opens with "But the attention of the layman... has been captured by the atom bomb, although there is at least a chance that it may never be used again." The "But" contrasts the genuinely serious radiation hazard of 4 with the layman's misplaced focus on the bomb, so 1 follows 4.
Closer - sentence 3. Sentence 3 - "The danger... created by the so-called peaceful uses of atomic energy may, however, be much greater" - turns from the bomb (a weapon, raised in 1) to peaceful uses, the "however" contrasting with the layman's bomb-fixation. It cannot follow 4 directly because 4 already describes the radiation hazard, leaving no contrast for "however." Hence 3 concludes, giving 2-4-1-3.
Proper order: 2413.