IPMAT Indore 2022 · Verbal Ability · Question 15

Step 1 — the blank is the opening sentence, so it must introduce the theme the rest develops.

Step 2 — see what follows. The second sentence begins “In Southeast Asia, for example” — an example requires a general claim to exemplify, and the example contrasts Southeast Asian with European shopping habits. That is a claim about culture.

Step 3 — test option (d).

“Culture plays an important role in shaping the shopping experience.”

The Southeast Asia / Europe contrast is exactly an instance of culture shaping shopping. ✔ And the paragraph then moves on with “Then there are gender variations” — then signals a second factor being added to the first, confirming that the opener named a factor.

Step 4 — eliminate.

(a) “People enjoy shopping and comparing brands” — a general statement, but the example that follows is about how much time different cultures spend, not about enjoyment or comparison.

(b) Retail discounts — introduces promotions, which nothing in the paragraph picks up.

(c) “Men hunt, women gather” — this belongs to the gender strand, which the paragraph explicitly introduces later with “Then there are gender variations”. Putting it first would make that sentence redundant and would leave the Southeast Asia example unexplained.

Answer: Option 4

Shortcut. “For example” in sentence two tells you the blank is a generalisation, and the example’s content — one region compared with another — tells you it is about culture.

Option (c) is the strongest distractor and fails on position, not content. It is a genuine summary of the paragraph’s closing idea, but the connective “Then there are gender variations” shows gender is the second factor. An opener cannot be the paragraph’s second theme.

Two cues to carry forward: for example demands a preceding generalisation, and then there are… confirms the paragraph is listing factors in order — so the opener is factor one.