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CAT 2025 Lesson : Sentence Insertion - Elimination of Blanks
3. Elimination of blanks
We can use elimination techniques in two ways:
1) We can use the techniques above to eliminate 1, 2 or 3 blanks which are not suitable for the given sentence.
2) We can use elimination if we are torn between 2 blanks and cannot decide which one is more appropriate.
We can typically use context, logical sequences, chronology and grammar to eliminate 1 – 2 blanks and narrow down the blanks. If we have to choose between two blanks (where both seem suitable) we can look for missing gaps, key message of the paragraph, function of the given sentence and similar techniques. Let us look at a few examples to get a better idea.
Example 23
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: Language models have been around for decades.
Paragraph: ______(1)_____ Biologists, physicists, ecologists and other scientists use the term “emergent” to describe self-organizing, collective behaviors that appear when a large collection of things acts as one. Combinations of lifeless atoms give rise to living cells; water molecules create waves; murmurations of starlings swoop through the sky in changing but identifiable patterns; cells make muscles move and hearts beat. Critically, emergent abilities show up in systems that involve lots of individual parts. ______(2)_____ But researchers have only recently been able to document these abilities in language models as those models have grown to enormous sizes. ______(3)_____ Until about five years ago, the most powerful ones were based on what’s called a recurrent neural network. These essentially take a string of text and predict what the next word will be. What makes a model “recurrent” is that it learns from its own output: Its predictions feed back into the network to improve future performance. ______(4)_____
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
The given sentence can be placed in blank (3), establishing when language models started and then continuing to the advanced ones. Blank (4) can be eliminated as the words the most powerful ones after blank (3) can only be referring to the language models mentioned in the given sentence.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option 3 for this question.
Answer: (3) Option 3
Sentence: Language models have been around for decades.
Paragraph: ______(1)_____ Biologists, physicists, ecologists and other scientists use the term “emergent” to describe self-organizing, collective behaviors that appear when a large collection of things acts as one. Combinations of lifeless atoms give rise to living cells; water molecules create waves; murmurations of starlings swoop through the sky in changing but identifiable patterns; cells make muscles move and hearts beat. Critically, emergent abilities show up in systems that involve lots of individual parts. ______(2)_____ But researchers have only recently been able to document these abilities in language models as those models have grown to enormous sizes. ______(3)_____ Until about five years ago, the most powerful ones were based on what’s called a recurrent neural network. These essentially take a string of text and predict what the next word will be. What makes a model “recurrent” is that it learns from its own output: Its predictions feed back into the network to improve future performance. ______(4)_____
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Solution
This paragraph tells us about emergent (self-organised collective) behaviours, and how scientists have been studying them. The given sentence is about language models, which is introduced just before blank (3). Therefore, we can eliminate blanks (1) and (2), as they are placed in the paragraph before this concept is introduced and not relevant. Blank (2) may seem suitable but the sentences before and after the blank are connected and the contrasting word but is also suitable.The given sentence can be placed in blank (3), establishing when language models started and then continuing to the advanced ones. Blank (4) can be eliminated as the words the most powerful ones after blank (3) can only be referring to the language models mentioned in the given sentence.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option 3 for this question.
Answer: (3) Option 3
Example 24
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
[CAT 2022 Slot 2]
Sentence: This was years in the making but fast-tracked during the pandemic, when "people started being more mindful about their food", he explained.
Paragraph: For millennia, ghee has been a venerated staple of the subcontinental diet, but it fell out of favour a few decades ago when saturated fats were largely considered to be unhealthy. ___(1)___ But more recently, as the thinking around saturated fats is shifting globally, Indians are finding their own way back to this ingredient that is so integral to their cuisine. ___(2)___ For Karmakar, a renewed interest in ghee is emblematic of a return-to-basics movement in India. ___(3)___ This movement is also part of an overall trend towards "slow food". In keeping with the movement's philosophy, ghee can be produced locally (even at home) and has inextricable cultural ties. ___(4)___ At a basic level, ghee is a type of clarified butter believed to have originated in India as a way to preserve butter from going rancid in the hot climate.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
The given sentence has the word he, which can only be referring to Karmakar. Therefore, we can eliminate blanks (1) and (2), which occur before Karmakar is mentioned. The sentence can be placed in blank (3), continuing the return-to-basics movement which could have been fast-tracked during the pandemic.
Blank (4) can be eliminated as anything which is cultural is much more than years in the making, for instance, ghee would have been consumed in India for centuries.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option 3 for this question.
Answer: (3) Option 3
[CAT 2022 Slot 2]
Sentence: This was years in the making but fast-tracked during the pandemic, when "people started being more mindful about their food", he explained.
Paragraph: For millennia, ghee has been a venerated staple of the subcontinental diet, but it fell out of favour a few decades ago when saturated fats were largely considered to be unhealthy. ___(1)___ But more recently, as the thinking around saturated fats is shifting globally, Indians are finding their own way back to this ingredient that is so integral to their cuisine. ___(2)___ For Karmakar, a renewed interest in ghee is emblematic of a return-to-basics movement in India. ___(3)___ This movement is also part of an overall trend towards "slow food". In keeping with the movement's philosophy, ghee can be produced locally (even at home) and has inextricable cultural ties. ___(4)___ At a basic level, ghee is a type of clarified butter believed to have originated in India as a way to preserve butter from going rancid in the hot climate.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Solution
This paragraph is about the fluctuation in the popularity of ghee. Ghee was popular, but its popularity reduced when saturated fats were considered unhealthy, but have become popular again now. The author also quotes Karmakar, who describes the return of ghee's popularity as part of the return-to-basics and the slow food trend.The given sentence has the word he, which can only be referring to Karmakar. Therefore, we can eliminate blanks (1) and (2), which occur before Karmakar is mentioned. The sentence can be placed in blank (3), continuing the return-to-basics movement which could have been fast-tracked during the pandemic.
Blank (4) can be eliminated as anything which is cultural is much more than years in the making, for instance, ghee would have been consumed in India for centuries.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option 3 for this question.
Answer: (3) Option 3
Example 25
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide in which blank (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: But the fact that the average itself has moved also has important implications.
Paragraph: The planet has already warmed by 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) on average since the industrial revolution. _____(1)_____ That change is worsening events like coastal flooding, stemming from rising seas and more extreme rainfall — the kind of catastrophes that grab headlines. “When the average changes, the biggest impact we often see is actually in the extremes,” said Boustead, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. _____(2)_____ Climate change is often told as a story of record-breaking disasters that destroy homes, flood the land, and take lives. _____(3)_____ But outside of the extremes, the weather is undergoing more subtle transformations, extending the length of seasons, drying out some areas, and adding water to others. _____(4)_____ That moving baseline is now starting to change how we grow food, where certain animals live, and is having effects on our health.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
The given sentence is about the increase in the average temperature, and the word but helps us infer that it has to be contrasting with the sentence before it. This helps us eliminate blank (1), which is similar in tone to the given sentence. The two sentences before and after blank (1) also form a strong sequence.
The sentence can be placed in blank (2), as the previous one is about changes in the extreme temperatures – the word but brings in the contrast as this sentence explains that the increase in averages also has important implications, which are then explained in the rest of the paragraph.
Blank (3) is not suitable, as it is not logical here and the sentence following it has another but with no contrast. Blank (4) is also not logical for this sentence, as the sentence following it is also about the average increasing. Therefore, the but in the given sentence is unnecessary.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option 2 for this question.
Answer: (2) Option 2
Sentence: But the fact that the average itself has moved also has important implications.
Paragraph: The planet has already warmed by 2 degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 degrees Celsius) on average since the industrial revolution. _____(1)_____ That change is worsening events like coastal flooding, stemming from rising seas and more extreme rainfall — the kind of catastrophes that grab headlines. “When the average changes, the biggest impact we often see is actually in the extremes,” said Boustead, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service. _____(2)_____ Climate change is often told as a story of record-breaking disasters that destroy homes, flood the land, and take lives. _____(3)_____ But outside of the extremes, the weather is undergoing more subtle transformations, extending the length of seasons, drying out some areas, and adding water to others. _____(4)_____ That moving baseline is now starting to change how we grow food, where certain animals live, and is having effects on our health.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Solution
This paragraph is about the increase in the earth's temperature, its impact – catastrophes as well as subtle changes.The given sentence is about the increase in the average temperature, and the word but helps us infer that it has to be contrasting with the sentence before it. This helps us eliminate blank (1), which is similar in tone to the given sentence. The two sentences before and after blank (1) also form a strong sequence.
The sentence can be placed in blank (2), as the previous one is about changes in the extreme temperatures – the word but brings in the contrast as this sentence explains that the increase in averages also has important implications, which are then explained in the rest of the paragraph.
Blank (3) is not suitable, as it is not logical here and the sentence following it has another but with no contrast. Blank (4) is also not logical for this sentence, as the sentence following it is also about the average increasing. Therefore, the but in the given sentence is unnecessary.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option 2 for this question.
Answer: (2) Option 2
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