CAT 2022 Slot 2 — VARC Question 17
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:
1. From chemical pollutants in the environment to the damming of rivers to invasive species transported through global trade and travel, every environmental issue is different and there is no single tech solution that can solve this crisis.
2. Discourse on the threat of environmental collapse revolves around cutting down emissions, but biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are caused by myriad and diverse reasons.
3. This would require legislation that recognises the rights of future generations and other species that allows the judiciary to uphold a much higher standard of environmental protection than currently possible.
4. Clearly, our environmental crisis requires large political solutions, not minor technological ones, so, instead of focusing on infinite growth, we could consider a path of stable-state economies, while preserving markets and healthy competition.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2143
Easy
Find the opening sentence (introduces the topic without back-reference), then track the logical chain. The paragraph is about why our environmental crisis needs political, not technological, fixes. Watch for the demonstrative "This" in sentence 3, which must point back to a specific solution already mentioned.
Opener = 2. Sentence 2 sets up the whole debate: discourse focuses on cutting emissions, "but biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are caused by myriad and diverse reasons." It introduces the subject generally and needs nothing before it.
2 → 1. Sentence 1 illustrates those "myriad and diverse reasons" with examples (chemical pollutants, damming, invasive species) and concludes "there is no single tech solution that can solve this crisis." It directly elaborates 2's claim about diverse causes. So 2–1 is a mandatory pair.
1 → 4. Sentence 4 draws the conclusion: "Clearly, our environmental crisis requires large political solutions, not minor technological ones" — the word "Clearly" signals an inference from 1's point that no tech fix exists. It then proposes stable-state economies.
4 → 3. Sentence 3 begins "This would require legislation..." — "This" refers to the large political solution / path proposed in 4. So 3 must follow 4, closing the paragraph.
Sequence 2 – 1 – 4 – 3, i.e. 2143.