CAT 2021 Slot 3 — VARC Question 24
Four sentences that are a part of paragraph are given below; the sentences may or may not be in the right order; create the sequence that forms a coherent paragraph.
- Businesses find automation, such as robotic employees, a big asset in terms of productivity and efficiency.
- But in recent years, robotics has had increasing impacts on unemployment, not just of manual labour, as computers are rapidly handling some white-collar and service-sector work.
- For years politicians have promised workers that they would bring back their jobs by clamping down on trade, offshoring and immigration.
- Economists, based on their research, say that the bigger threat to jobs now is not globalisation but automation.
Answer & solution
Answer: 3412
Easy
A para-jumble. Use the contrast marker "But" in sentence 2 and the topic introductions to order it. Theme: automation, not globalisation, is now the bigger threat to jobs.
Opener = (3). Sentence 3 sets the backdrop: "For years politicians have promised workers that they would bring back their jobs by clamping down on trade, offshoring and immigration" — i.e. blaming globalisation. It establishes the old narrative the paragraph will overturn.
3 → 4 (the turn). Sentence 4 corrects that narrative: "Economists... say that the bigger threat to jobs now is not globalisation but automation." It directly responds to the politicians-and-globalisation claim in 3 and pivots the topic to automation.
4 → 1. Having named automation, sentence 1 explains why businesses embrace it: "Businesses find automation, such as robotic employees, a big asset in terms of productivity and efficiency." It presents automation positively — setting up the contrast that follows.
1 → 2 (the "But" pair). Sentence 2 begins "But in recent years, robotics has had increasing impacts on unemployment..." — the "But" reverses the positive view of automation in 1, so 12 is a mandatory pair and closes the paragraph. Final order: 3 → 4 → 1 → 2.
The coherent sequence is 3412.