3. Solved Examples
Example 17
Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.
[CAT 2019]
1. Ocean plastic is problematic for a number of reasons, but primarily because marine animals eat it.
2. The largest numerical proportion of ocean plastic falls in small size fractions.
3. Aside from clogging up the digestive tracts of marine life, plastic also tends to adsorb pollutants from the water column.
4. Plastic in the oceans is arguably one of the most important and pervasive environmental problems today.
5. Eating plastic has a number of negative consequences such as the retention of plastic particles in the gut for longer periods than normal food particles.
Solution
This paragraph is about the issues with marine plastic. The author starts by telling us that this is a major problem in statement 4. once we have identified this, we can infer that there are two problems mentioned – marine animals ingesting plastic, and plastic adsorbing pollutants.
Statements 15 are about the first problem. Statement 1 leads from statement 4, and then statement 5 explains why this is an issue.
The next issue is mentioned in statement 3. This statement should follow statements 15 based on the first clause in this sentence (aside from...marine life). Therefore, the sequence is 4153.
Thus, statement 2 is the odd one, as it is speaking about the size of plastic and not an issue.
Answer: (2) The largest numerical proportion of ocean plastic falls in small size fractions.
Example 18
Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.
1. Nelson's Column had gone! Nelson's column had gone and there would be no outcry, because there was no one left to make an outcry.
2. He prodded his feelings by thinking that his parents and sister had gone. No reaction.
3. He thought of all the people he had been close to. No reaction.
4. There was no way his imagination could feel the impact of the whole Earth having gone, it was too big.
5. Then he thought of a complete stranger he had been standing behind in the queue at the supermarket two days before and felt a sudden stab - the super market was gone, everyone in it was gone.
Solution
This paragraph is a narration of the protagonist's feelings after the Earth probably having been destroyed. Based on the message in the sentences, we can infer that statement 4 is the first sentence (note that this is despite statement D having the pronoun he because all the sentences have he).
We can also infer that statement 2 and statement 3 come after statement 1, as the protagonist is starting to analyse his feelings. This sequence 423 is then followed by statement 5, which describes how an unrelated stranger puts the protagonist in touch with his feelings. Therefore, 4235 is the correct sequence, and statement 1 is the odd sentence to be eliminated. This is also logical, as statement 1 describes an emotional thought, which is unlikely given that the sequence 423 establishes that he is not emotional as yet. Therefore, we can eliminate statement 1.
Answer: (1) Nelson's Column had gone! Nelson's column had gone and there would be no outcry, because there was no one left to make an outcry.
Example 19
A partially completed paragraph is below, followed by fillers A, B and C. From the options, identify the right combination and order of fillers A, B or C that will best complete the paragraph.
[IIFT 2001]
Forests are gifts of nature. ____________________________________________________________.
Yet, with the spread of civilisation, man has not only spurned the forests, but has been ruthlessly destroying them.
A. It is on historical record that the vast Sahara desert of today once used to be full of thick forests.
B. A large part of humanity still lives deep inside forests, particularly in the tropical regions of the earth.
C. Human evolution itself has taken place in the forests.
(1) Only A and B
(2) Only C and A
(3) Only C and B
(4) C and A or B
Solution
We have to fill the blank between the two given sentences with one or more of the three statements given. In order to do that, let us understand the first and last sentence. The first sentence tells us of the importance of forests, and the last one tells us that humans have been destroying them. The use of yet in the second sentence tells us that the sentences between these two should also be establishing the importance of forests. Therefore, let us look for such sentences among the three statements A, B and C.
We can see that statements B and C are providing reasons for the importance of forests (humans living there and the evolution of humans, respectively). Statement A, on the other hand, is more on the lines of the last sentence – it could occur after the last sentence as an example of human destruction of forests (a forest which has changed into a desert).
Therefore, we can select option (3) as the correct choice.
Answer: (3) Only C and B
Example 20
Five sentences related to a topic are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a meaningful and coherent short paragraph. Identify the odd one out.
[CAT 2020]
(1) For feminists, the question of how we read is inextricably linked with the question of what we read.
(2) Elaine Showalter’s critique of the literary curriculum is exemplary of this work.
(3) Androcentric literature structures the reading experience differently depending on the gender of the reader.
(4) The documentation of this realization was one of the earliest tasks undertaken by feminist critics.
(5) More specifically, the feminist inquiry into the activity of reading begins with the realization that the literary canon is androcentric, and that this has a profoundly damaging effect on women readers.
Solution
In this paragraph, the author explains the issues with androcentric literature. The word androcentric means focused or centred on men, and we can infer that androcentric literature is literature focussing on males.
Based on the meaning, we can infer that statement 3 is the weakest link in this sequence, as the remaining statements are discussing the actions of feminists. However, let us try and form a sequence to validate this.
The key information is present in statement 5, which tells us that most literature is androcentric, and thus, damaging for women. Because of the words more specifically, we can infer that another statement probably comes before this one. This can only be statement 1. The context is clear to us form the sequen ce 15.
The author also tells us how feminists have countered this – statement 4 tells us that feminists started by documenting this (that most literature is androcentric), and statement 2 provides an example of a feminist doing this.
These four statements (1542) are in a logical sequence, and therefore, we can definitely identify statement 3 as the odd one.
Answer: (3) Androcentric literature structures the reading experience differently depending on the gender of the reader.
4. Cheatsheet
Odd-one-out questions are a variant of Parajumbles questions. These questions will have 4-5 jumbled up sentences, with an additional sentence that is not part of the paragraph. We have to find this sentence, called the odd-one-out.
These questions do not have negative marks in CAT, and hence, should definitely be attempted.
Solving strategies:
The following techniques can be used:
- Identifying the key message, and then eliminating the odd statement that is not supporting it.
- Identifying the statement which is not logically consistent with the rest of the statements.
- Eliminating statements which are interdependent or symbiotic (each statement needs the other to be present in the sequence), and choosing the odd one from the remaining statements.
- Using the techniques for Parajumbles to form sequences (first sentence, sequences, last sentence, etc.), and then eliminating the remaining statement.
- Identifying the tone or style of writing, and eliminating the statement which is not in the same tone.
- Identifying the statement which contributes the least to the key message (e.g. the weaker explanation, reason or example).
- If two sentences are repetitions (similar logic, facts or examples), the weaker one may be the odd one.
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