CAT 2026 Slot 1 VARC: Sentence Placement Questions with Solutions

2 questions: Q17, Q18. Solve each one here: tap the answer, press Check, then open the solution.

Question 17Sentence Placement

MCQ · +3 / −1

The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph.

Sentence: Technological advances, once expected to shorten the working week, now primarily serve to intensify the demands of labour.

Paragraph: Sociologists now argue that burnout is no longer a by-product of overwork but a condition of it. (1). Unlike physical exhaustion, burnout reflects not just hours logged but also access to autonomy, favourable workplace conditions - such as flexible schedules - and corporate policies like unlimited leave and remote work. (2). In other words, burnout depends on organizational culture in ways that sheer fatigue currently does not. It's not just the exhaustion itself that is the issue but the erosion of boundaries that once protected it. (3). Work and personal life are linked, but where wages have stagnated and collective bargaining has weakened, digital connectivity - derived from smartphones, laptops and cloud networks - has been weaponized by design. (4).

Answer and solution

Correct answer: D

Solution

The paragraph argues that burnout is a feature of modern work, shaped by autonomy, institutions and policy, and shows how digital connectivity has been "weaponized by design" while protective boundaries eroded. The sentence states the result of that: technology now intensifies labour rather than shortening the week. It works as the conclusion at blank 4.

Question 18Sentence Placement

MCQ · +3 / −1

The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph.

Sentence: In each of the affected individuals, the metabolic abnormality was traced to a single enzyme in the mitochondrial matrix.

Paragraph: The earliest documented link between a hereditary metabolic disorder and severe neurological decline came from a clinical survey in 1987. ___(1)___ Biochemical and enzymatic assays were performed on a large Finnish family in which several siblings presented with a syndrome of developmental regression and episodic lethargy. ___(2)___ The clinical deterioration included seizures, loss of motor milestones, and recurrent coma. ___(3)___ A missense mutation was identified in the coding region of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex E1-alpha gene which substitutes an arginine for a histidine. ___(4)___

Answer and solution

Correct answer: A

Solution

The paragraph moves from the study, to the methods (assays on a Finnish family), to the symptoms (seizures, lost milestones, coma). The enzyme localisation should come next, before the precise point mutation. At (1) it would come before the study is introduced; at (2) it breaks the link between the family and the assays; at (4) it would follow the more specific mutation detail. So blank (3).

An expected paper by Cetking, not the actual CAT paper. CAT is conducted by the IIMs.