CAT 2021 Slot 1 — VARC Question 18
Directions for sentence exclusion: Five sentences are given below; out of these, four come together to form a coherent paragraph, but one sentence does not fit into the sequence. Choose the sentence that does not fit into the sequence.
Answer & solution
- A
The legal status of resources mined in space remains ambiguous; and while the market for asteroid minerals is currently nonexistent, this is likely to change as technical hurdles diminish.
- B
Outer space is a commons, and all of it is open for exploration, however, space law developed in the 1950s and 60s is state-centric and arguably ill-suited to a commercial future.
- C
Laws adopted by the US and Luxembourg are first steps, but they only protect firms from competing claims by their compatriots; a Chinese company will not be bound by US law.
Critics say the US is conferring rights that it has no authority to confer; Russia in particular has condemned this, citing the US' disrespect for international law.
- E
At issue now is commercial activity, as private firms - rather than nation states - look to space for profit.
Easy
This is an odd-sentence-out. First fix the shared theme of the four that cohere, then spot the sentence that drifts off-topic. Here the theme is the legal/commercial regime for activity in outer space — who may claim space resources and whether existing law fits a commercial future.
Find the opener. Sentence 5 introduces the subject: "At issue now is commercial activity, as private firms... look to space for profit." It sets up the commercial framing the rest develops.
Build the coherent chain. Sentence 2 says space law from the 1950s-60s is "state-centric and arguably ill-suited to a commercial future" — the core tension. Sentence 1 extends this to a concrete case: the legal status of mined resources is ambiguous and the asteroid-mineral market will grow. Sentence 3 then notes partial fixes: laws by the US and Luxembourg are "first steps" but bind only their own firms. So 5-2-1-3 forms a tight argument about commerce and outdated law.
Spot the misfit. Sentence 4 shifts to a political dispute — critics and Russia condemning the US for "disrespect for international law." That is about diplomatic objection, not the commercial-activity / property-rights thread the others share. It breaks the theme.
The sentence that does not fit is option (d) (sentence 4).