CAT 2024 Slot 1 — VARC Question 2
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. To create a synapse, the neuron has specialized structures, often seen as tiny swellings, at its terminal end of the axon where it stores the chemicals that are emitted to transmit a signal to the next neuron.
2. This fetal warm-up act—the soldering of neural connections before the eyes actually function—is crucial to the performance of the visual system.
3. The reasons for this paring back of synapses is a mystery, but synaptic pruning is thought to sharpen and reinforce the “correct” synapses, while removing the weak and unnecessary ones.
4. Neural connections between the eyes and the brain are formed long before birth, establishing the wiring and the circuitry that allow a child to begin visualizing the world the minute she emerges from the womb.
5. During this rehearsal period, synapses—points of chemical connection—between nerve cells are generated in great excess, only to be pruned back during later development.
Answer & solution
Answer: 1
Easy
In odd-sentence jumbles, first identify the single theme that ties four of the five sentences into one paragraph, then spot the sentence that talks about something else. Here four sentences form a narrative about the pre-natal wiring of the visual system and the overproduction-then-pruning of synapses; one sentence is a stand-alone general definition that does not belong to that story.
Build the core paragraph (4 → 2 → 5 → 3). Sentence 4 opens the topic: neural connections between eyes and brain form long before birth. Sentence 2 calls this the "fetal warm-up act" crucial to the visual system. Sentence 5 says during "this rehearsal period" synapses are generated in excess only to be pruned. Sentence 3 explains the reason for "this paring back of synapses". The chain 4→2→5→3 is held together by the linkers "this fetal warm-up", "this rehearsal period" and "this paring back", forming one coherent paragraph about vision development.
Why 1 is the odd one. Sentence 1 is a generic anatomical definition of how any neuron creates a synapse (specialized swellings at the axon terminal that store transmitter chemicals). It has no reference to the eyes, to pre-birth wiring, or to over-production and pruning, and none of the four linked sentences require it. It is a free-standing fact, not part of the visual-development narrative.
1. Sentences 4, 2, 5 and 3 form the paragraph on pre-natal visual wiring and synaptic pruning; sentence 1 is an unrelated general definition of a synapse.