CAT 2022 Slot 1 — VARC Question 20
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3 and 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:
- The creative element in product design has become of paramount importance as it is one of the few ways a firm or industry can sustain a competitive advantage over its rivals.
- In fact, the creative element in the value of world industry would be larger still, if we added the contribution of the creative element in other industries, such as the design of tech accessories.
- The creative industry is receiving a lot of attention today as its growth rate is faster than that of the world economy as a whole.
- It is for this reason that today’s trade issues are increasingly involving intellectual property, as Western countries have an interest in protecting their revenues along with freeing trade in non-tangibles.
Answer & solution
Answer: 3214
Easy
Para-jumble on the creative industry. Pick the general opener, lock the cause-effect pair, then place the remaining sentence.
Opener = 3. Sentence 3 introduces the topic broadly — the creative industry is getting attention because it is growing faster than the world economy. It needs no prior context, so it starts the paragraph.
Mandatory pair 1 → 4. Sentence 1 says the creative element gives a firm a competitive advantage. Sentence 4 opens "It is for this reason that today's trade issues increasingly involve intellectual property" — Western countries protect that creative advantage. "This reason" points straight back to 1. So 1 → 4.
Place 2. Sentence 2 ("In fact, the creative element... would be larger still...") elaborates on the scale/importance of the creative element — it belongs next to the opener 3, bridging into 1. It can't sit after 4, which closes on intellectual property. So order: 3 → 2 → 1 → 4.
3214