CAT 2023 Slot 2 — VARC Question 19
Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
1. Self-care particularly links to loneliness, behavioural problems, and negative academic outcomes.
2. “Latchkey children” refers to children who routinely return home from school to empty homes and take care of themselves for extended periods of time.
3. Although self-care generally points to negative outcomes, it is important to consider that the bulk of research has yet to track long-term consequences.
4. In research and practice, the phrase “children in self-care” has come to replace latchkey in an effort to more accurately reflect the nature of their circumstances.
5. Although parents might believe that self-care would be beneficial for development, recent research has found quite the opposite.
Answer & solution
Answer: 3
Easy
Find the four sentences that form one tight chain on defining "self-care" and its negative outcomes; the leftover sentence is the odd one.
2 introduces the term "latchkey children." 4 says the phrase "children in self-care" has come to replace "latchkey" — so 4 must follow 2 (it needs "latchkey" to already be defined). Pair 2→4.
5 says parents think self-care helps, but research found "quite the opposite." 1 then spells out that opposite — "self-care particularly links to loneliness, behavioural problems, negative academic outcomes." Pair 5→1. Chain: 2→4→5→1.
3 begins "Although self-care generally points to negative outcomes..." — a concluding caveat that presupposes the negative findings of 1/5. It works only as a closing remark and isn't needed to complete the four-sentence definition-and-effects paragraph. It is the leftover.
3 is the odd sentence (the paragraph is 2-4-5-1).