CAT 2024 Slot 3 · VARC · Question 20

CAT 2024 Slot 3 previous year question on Sentence Completion and Insertion, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

Sentence Completion and InsertionVerbal AbilityMultiple choiceMedium

There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.

Sentence: This reality is putting stress on employees who have to pay for transport, desk lunches, more childcare, clothing and that after-work socialisation - costs they haven’t incurred for nearly two years.

Paragraph: ____(1)____. Prices are rising at their fastest rate in 40 years; consequently, return-to-office-related costs have shot up - think petrol and food, for instance. ____(2)____. Yet wages haven’t kept up with inflation - even despite the salary growth many workers have enjoyed during a favourable pandemic labour market. ____(3)____. This is especially jarring for workers who were able to save during remote work, when these expenditures weren’t a factor. ____(4)____. In April 2022, Umus, a London university lecturer, told BBC Worklife that they were spending nearly a quarter of what they made every day on return-to-work costs.

  1. A
    Option 4
  2. B
    Option 3
  3. C
    Option 2
  4. D
    Option 1
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option B

'This reality' in the missing sentence needs a reality just described. By blank 3, the paragraph has established two facts: return-to-office costs have shot up, and wages have not kept up with inflation. Together they are 'this reality', and the missing sentence spells out the strain on employees.

The sentence after blank 3 confirms the fit: 'This is especially jarring for workers who were able to save during remote work, when these expenditures weren't a factor.' 'These expenditures' points back to the list in the missing sentence – transport, desk lunches, childcare, clothing – and 'weren't a factor' echoes 'costs they haven't incurred for nearly two years'.

Blank 1 is too early: there is no reality yet for 'This reality' to refer to.

Blank 2 comes before the point about wages, so the full squeeze has not been described.

Blank 4 would put the list of costs after 'these expenditures' has already been used, leaving that phrase without a referent.

Shortcut: when both the missing sentence and the sentence after a blank use demonstratives ('This reality', 'these expenditures'), place it where it can point back to one thing and be pointed to by the next.

The answer is 'Option 3', which is listed second. Hence, the answer is option 2.

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