CAT 2026 Slot 2 VARC Analysis: Expected Paper, Questions & Solutions

Which one of the options below best summarises the passage?

According to the incentive or moral hazard argument, which one of the designs below is most consistent with the claim that some inequality can raise growth?

The passage refers to “democratization”. Choose the one option below that comes closest to the opposite of this process.

The primary function of the three-part case for a positive income inequality–economic growth link in the first half of the passage is to show that:

All of the following statements, if true, would weaken the passage's claim about the relationship between mainstream English-language fiction and Mediterranean novels EXCEPT:

On the basis of the nature of the relationship between the items in each pair below, choose the odd pair out:

Which statement is NOT supported by the passage’s account of Mediterranean connections and movement?

All of the following claims contribute to the “remapping” discussed by the passage, EXCEPT:

The author compares streaming algorithms' curated playlists with "elevator music" for all of the following reasons EXCEPT:

The author of the passage is least likely to agree with which one of the following claims?

Which statement is NOT used to illustrate a perceived gap between platforms’ claims and users’ experience?

On the basis of the purpose of the examples in the passage, pick the odd one out from the following examples and explanations mentioned in the passage:

Which one of the following options does NOT represent the characteristics of the little spotted kiwi?

Which one of the following statements provides the best gist of the passage?

Which one of the following best explains why the programme keeps the Cook Strait kiwis in predator-free exclosures while exposing takahes and keas to controlled numbers of stoats?

Which one of the following inferences best captures the broader significance of the kiwis' return to the mainland, as described in the final paragraphs?

Spying and the use of covert intelligence are features of statecraft that predate the modern intelligence agency. A prime example dates back to ancient China, when military strategist Sun Tzu wrote about the necessity of spies to secure victory, advising rulers to use "secret agents" to deceive their enemies. The ruler who mastered this became the first Emperor of China, and "covert intelligence had allowed him to unify the warring states once and for all." But the 21st century has seen the weaponization of cyber-intelligence on an unprecedented scale. Powerful new algorithms make the hacking of personal data simple, and global networks amplify cyber-espionage peddled by rogue states, populist leaders, and dishonest corporations. The digital platforms have become fertile ground for state-sponsored hacking, 'phishing' and 'bot armies'.

Q9. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Global trade is not a modern phenomenon. World history is full of examples of one society gradually expanding by trading goods with adjacent territories and establishing markets in newly contacted regions. In the fifteenth century, global trade changed decisively because of technological developments in maritime navigation that began to connect more remote parts of the world. The modern European trading empire emerged when it became possible to move massive quantities of cargo across the ocean and to maintain commercial monopolies in spite of geographical dispersion. The term mercantilism is used to describe the process of European commercial expansion, violent exploitation of resources, and economic domination over the rest of the world, including the Americas, Africa, and parts of Asia.

Q10. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

Sentences:
1. This international reach is especially evident when entire regions adopt the same seed varieties: widespread harvest failures, initially blamed on genetic vulnerabilities, can disrupt distant farming and trading communities.
2. That initial diagnosis can be misleading: in the cases considered here, the plants are not inherently defective but absorb persistent toxins from contaminated soil.
3. This distinction between the seed and its environment explains why replacing a variety may be easier than repairing soil polluted over decades.
4. A failed harvest may remain a local crisis in subsistence farming, whereas modern industrial agriculture can transmit the loss across international supply chains.

Q11. Arrange all four sentences into a coherent paragraph and enter the sequence.

Five jumbled 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 out and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

1. Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that can enter the environment as larger plastic products break down.
2. Recent studies indicate that ingestion of common microplastic particles alters cellular function and that these alterations are associated with medical conditions including respiratory issues, reproductive failures, and immune system deficiencies.
3. These synthetic particles are termed "perpetual pollutants" because they do not organically degrade in marine ecosystems.
4. The investigations might also reveal additional illnesses potentially triggered by microplastics that have not yet been documented.
5. The results represent a crucial advancement in understanding the biological pathway through which these particles trigger illness and could assist physicians in diagnosing, screening, and managing health issues for individuals exposed to microplastics before symptoms worsen.

Q12. Identify the odd sentence out and key in its number.

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. Sentient creatures experience pain and pleasure, and because of this capacity, human beings are morally obligated to treat them with compassion.
2. Regan positioned himself as a rights theorist, and offers a deontological framework regarding animal liberation, which stands in opposition to consequentialist approaches, like utilitarian models.
3. He contended that we must grant basic moral rights to animals because, just like humans, animals are "subjects-of-a-life" who possess inherent value.
4. The pivotal moment that officially introduced the animal rights discourse into mainstream academia was Tom Regan's The Case for Animal Rights in 1983.
5. Therefore, we must regard animal lives as having the same inherent worth as human lives, which gives us a duty to respect their basic rights rather than treat them merely as tools for others’ benefit.

Q17. Identify the odd sentence and key in its number.

Q22. 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: Comprehending Central Asia's significance makes historical shifts comprehensible not just throughout Asia, but also in Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

Paragraph:
The territories of the Silk Roads are occasionally labeled as 'third-world nations', yet they are in fact among the globe's most historically advanced regions, the absolute intersection of civilizations, currently in advanced states of decay. (1) These regions sit at the heart of world events: they have since the dawn of time. Stretching across the backbone of Asia, they create a network of links branching out in all directions, pathways along which monks and conquerors, nomads and traders have journeyed, commodities and goods have been traded, and philosophies exchanged, modified and perfected. (2) They have transported not just wealth, but also plague and warfare, famine and catastrophe. (3) The Silk Roads are the world's central nervous system, connecting otherwise distant populations and locations…. (4) It enables us to observe connections and causality, triggers and consequences that stay hidden if one examines only Europe, or North America.

Q23. 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: While capturing a fleeting array of light and shadow, Impressionist painters nonetheless rendered these effects in a unified and harmonious manner.

Paragraph:
Interest in new approaches to painting grew in late nineteenth-century France. Artists exhibited work that departed from established academic conventions and explored a wider range of everyday subjects. (1) The resulting artistic activity included landscapes, portraits and scenes of modern life. (2) Among these painters, the Impressionists gave particular attention to outdoor light and colour. (3) This harmonious rendering of transient light avoids harsh contrasts in line, perspective and rigid form. (4) The brushstrokes in Impressionist art tend to have a loose, rapid flow instead of a tight, well-defined precision.

Sentences:
1. Because this mineral form is inaccessible, it must first be physically broken down before plants can use the phosphorus it contains.
2. This required physical breakdown begins with rock weathering, the gradual wearing-down of the bedrock.
3. Within that bedrock, much of the phosphorus is held in insoluble minerals and is therefore unavailable to plants.
4. Through that weathering, phosphorus-bearing material is released for further processes that can make the nutrient available in soil.
5. Phosphorus is an essential plant nutrient, and large reserves of it are locked in the bedrock beneath our feet.

Q24. Arrange all five sentences into a coherent paragraph and enter the sequence.