CAT 2024 Slot 1 · VARC · Question 16
CAT 2024 Slot 1 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. Urbanites also have more and better options for getting around: Uber is ubiquitous; easy-to-rent dockless bicycles are spreading; battery-powered scooters will be next.
2. When more people use buses or trains the service usually improves because public-transport agencies run more buses and trains.
3. Worsening services on public transport, terrorist attacks in some urban metros and a rise in fares have been blamed for this trend.
4. It seems more likely that public transport is being squeezed structurally as people's need to travel is diminishing as a result of smartphones, videoconferencing, online shopping and so on.
5. There has been a puzzling decline in the use of urban public transport in many countries in the west, despite the growth in urban populations and rising employment.
Answer & solution
Answer: 2
Sentence 5 opens: it introduces the topic in full, with no back-reference – 'a puzzling decline in the use of urban public transport in many countries in the west'. 'Puzzling' sets up the explanation that follows.
Sentence 3 comes next, because 'this trend' can only mean the decline just described. It gives the usual explanations that 'have been blamed' – worse services, terrorist attacks, higher fares.
Sentence 4 offers the author's alternative; 'It seems more likely' only makes sense once rival explanations are on the table. The squeeze is structural: smartphones, videoconferencing and online shopping reduce the need to travel.
Sentence 1 adds to that case with 'also' – urbanites who do travel now have Uber, dockless bikes and scooters. The sequence 5-3-4-1 is complete.
Sentence 2 describes a cycle running the other way – more riders leading to better service. It neither explains the decline nor connects to any sentence in the chain.
Shortcut: once you find the paragraph's puzzle (here, why ridership is falling), check each sentence for whether it helps answer it. A sentence about what happens when ridership rises is off-topic.
Hence, the answer is 2.
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