CAT 2023 Slot 2 · VARC · Question 17
CAT 2023 Slot 2 previous year question on Odd One Out, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.
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. The banning of Northern Lights could be considered a precursor to censoring books for “moral”, world view or religious reasons.
2. Attempts to ban books are attempts to silence authors who have summoned immense courage in telling their stories.
3. Now the banning and challenging of books in the US has escalated to an unprecedented level.
4. The widely acclaimed fantasy novel Northern Lights was banned in some parts of the US, and was the second most challenged book in the US.
5. The American Library Association documented an unparalleled number of reported book challenges in 2022, about 2,500 unique titles.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2
Four sentences give a factual account of book banning in the US, centred on Northern Lights.
Sentence 4 introduces Northern Lights: banned in parts of the US and the second most challenged book.
Sentence 1 comments on that ban: it could be a precursor to censorship for moral or religious reasons.
Sentence 3 brings it to the present: 'Now' banning has escalated to an unprecedented level.
Sentence 5 gives the evidence: about 2,500 titles challenged in 2022. The sequence 4-1-3-5 is coherent.
Sentence 2 is a general opinion about authors' courage and attempts to silence them. It shifts the focus from the scale and history of banning to authors, and nothing else in the set refers to it.
Shortcut: when four sentences form a factual account with names, dates and figures, a sentence of general moral comment is often the odd one.
Hence, the answer is 2.
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