BackALL MODULES
CAT 2025 Lesson : Sentence Insertion - Solving Strategies - II
1.3 Function of Sentences
Once we have identified the crux of the paragraph, we can read the given sentence and find the appropriate blank for it. It is typically easier to read the paragraph first and then the given sentence, after you have identified the author's key message. Sometimes, there is an obvious gap in the paragraph. If this is not the case, trying to understand the function which the sentence is performing will also help in selecting the appropriate blank for it. Any sentence may provide any one of the following functions:
1.3.1 Introductory sentence
For instance
Life expectancy has increased rapidly since the Age of Enlightenment. In the early 19th century, life expectancy started to increase in the early industrialized countries while it stayed low in the rest of the world. This led to a very high inequality in how health was distributed across the world. Good health in the rich countries and persistently bad health in those countries that remained poor. Over the last decades this global inequality decreased. No country in the world has a lower life expectancy than the countries with the highest life expectancy in 1800. Many countries that not long ago were suffering from bad health are catching up rapidly.
In this paragraph, the first (underlined) sentence introduces the context – life expectancy – and the author's premise (life expectancy is increasing).
1.3.2 Providing an explanation
For instance
When we talk about the habitability of a region or a planet, we mean the capacity to support life. We also might look for certain environmental parameters that would improve the habitability of a planet. Without its atmosphere, magnetic field, and plate tectonics to recycle the crust, Earth might not have such a large global biosphere. Yet things could have been better. Our planet has gone through extreme climatic swings. During so-called Snowball Earth events, most of the planet was glaciated and covered by ice, which reduced biomass and biodiversity. During the Carboniferous period, though — about 360-300 million years ago — large rain forests and swamps covered much of Earth, and oxygen levels were so high that giant insects with huge wingspans were buzzing around. Earth was in ways even more habitable than it is today.
The underlined sentence explains the habitability of the Earth, and the factors which cause this habitability. The next example, providing a reason, is an answer to the question “why”, whereas an explanation can be the answer to the question “what” or “how”.
1.3.3 Providing a reason
For instance
Environmental determinists sought not only to describe culture as way of life, but also heavily emphasized a sense of civilization or progress – cultural difference was judged through the lens of environmental determinists as moral and intellectual superiority based on a scale of perceived development. Humans were not all considered equal. While humans may have ‘risen’ from ‘nature’, according to environmental determinists, some were less human than others depending upon where they were ‘located’ along a course of ascension ‘above’ nature. Ascendance above the nonhuman world was understood by environmental determinists as a process of becoming civilized, and becoming cultured. Humans were differentiated by being classified into ‘races’. These classifications were regularly disputed, and relied upon crude techniques, such as anthropometrics (body measurement), or drew upon the now discredited scientific ideas of the 1930s, including eugenics and social Darwinism.
In this paragraph, the author explains that not all humans are equal, and the underlined sentences explain why this is so.
1.3.4 Providing data or logical arguments backing a premise
For instance
Global meat production has increased rapidly over the past 50 years – total production has more than quadrupled since 1961. Regionally, Asia is the largest meat producer, accounting for around 40-45 percent of total meat production. This regional distribution has changed significantly in recent decades. In 1961, Europe and North America were the dominant meat producers, accounting for 42 and 25 percent, respectively. In 1961, Asia produced only 12 percent. By 2013, Europe and North America’s share had fallen to 19 and 15 percent, respectively. This reduction in production share was despite a large increase in production in absolute terms: Europe’s meat output has approximately doubled over this period, whilst North American output has increased 2.5-fold. Production increases in Asia, however, have been staggering: meat production has increased 15-fold since 1961.
In this paragraph, we learn that Asia's share in meat production has moved from a relatively small to a major share, despite the considerable increase in meat production in Europe. This is made possible by the data provided in the last sentence.
1.3.5 Supporting a point
For instance
For much of human history, most of the world’s land was wilderness: forests, grasslands and shrubbery dominated its landscapes. Over the last few centuries, this has changed dramatically: wild habitats have been squeezed out by turning it into agricultural land. If we rewind 1000 years, it is estimated that less than 4% of the world’s ice-free and non-barren land area was used for farming. Today, half of all habitable land is used for agriculture. The expansion of agriculture has been one of humanity’s largest impacts on the environment. It has transformed habitats and is one of the greatest pressures for biodiversity. Of the 28,000 species evaluated to be threatened with extinction on the IUCN Red List, agriculture is listed as a threat for 24,000 of them.
The underlined sentence supports the previous one (one of the greatest pressures for biodiversity) by explaining how agriculture negatively impacts all other species.
1.3.6 Providing an example
For instance
Rapid advances in AI capabilities have made it possible to use machines in a wide range of new domains: When you book a flight, it is often an artificial intelligence, and no longer a human, that decides what you pay. When you get to the airport, it is an AI system that monitors what you do at the airport. And once you are on the plane, an AI system assists the pilot in flying you to your destination. AI systems also increasingly determine whether you get a loan, are eligible for welfare, or get hired for a particular job. Increasingly they help determine who gets released from jail. Several governments are purchasing autonomous weapons systems for warfare, and some are using AI systems for surveillance and oppression.
All the underlined sentences are examples of AI being used in different domains.
1.3.7 Contrasting or contradicting
For instance
For most of human history, most people across the world lived in small communities. Over the past few centuries – and particularly in recent decades – this has shifted dramatically. There has been a mass migration of populations from rural to urban areas. over half of the world (55% in 2017) live in urban settings. The UN estimates this milestone event – when the number of people in urban areas overtook the number in rural settings – occurred in 2007.
In this paragraph, the underline sentences bridges the parts before and after it by providing a contrasting point – with this sentence, we move from people living in smaller communities to more urban ones.
1.3.8 Emphasising or concluding
For instance
While some might associate workplace gossip with a toxic office culture, many studies show its benefits: confiding in colleagues can deepen trust and improve mental health. And though a quick grumble about a bad manager may be harder when employees no longer share an office, our innate need to seek – and share – information about others persists in the pandemic era of hybrid work. In fact, office gossip has become a crucial means of connection for many employees in virtual work arrangements. However, the current reality of hybrid work has made the normal channels of office gossip – watercooler whispers and desk-side chats – more difficult. A new era of workplace surveillance and digital communication has raised the stakes around venting about a boss or other colleagues. More than ever, workers now run the risk of having their complaints monitored by suspicious bosses, something most people would like to avoid amid the current rounds of layoffs.
This paragraph explains that workplace gossip is actually beneficial, but has reduced with the rise of technology. The underlined sentence emphasises how technology can sabotage gossiping workers.
Example 4
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: Plastic in our oceans can arise from both land-based or marine sources.
Paragraph: ______(1)_______ Plastics pollution from marine sources refers to the pollution caused by fishing fleets that leave behind fishing nets, lines, ropes, and sometimes abandoned vessels. _______(2)_______ There is often intense debate about the relative importance of marine and land sources for ocean pollution. _______(3)_______ What is the relative contribution of each? At the global level, best estimates suggest that approximately 80 percent of ocean plastics come from land-based sources, and the remaining 20 percent from marine sources. Of the 20 percent from marine sources, it’s estimated that around half arises from fishing fleets (such as nets, lines and abandoned vessels). This is supported by figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which suggests abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear contributes approximately 10 percent to total ocean plastics. _______(4)_______
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Blank (1) is most appropriate, as the given sentence is an introductory sentence. We can also see that this sentence is an overarching one, as the paragraph is primarily about marine sources. There is no other blank where this sentence is appropriate, as the sources of pollution has to be mentioned before sharing details about the (sources, proportion).
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option (1) for this question.
Answer: Option (1)
Sentence: Plastic in our oceans can arise from both land-based or marine sources.
Paragraph: ______(1)_______ Plastics pollution from marine sources refers to the pollution caused by fishing fleets that leave behind fishing nets, lines, ropes, and sometimes abandoned vessels. _______(2)_______ There is often intense debate about the relative importance of marine and land sources for ocean pollution. _______(3)_______ What is the relative contribution of each? At the global level, best estimates suggest that approximately 80 percent of ocean plastics come from land-based sources, and the remaining 20 percent from marine sources. Of the 20 percent from marine sources, it’s estimated that around half arises from fishing fleets (such as nets, lines and abandoned vessels). This is supported by figures from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which suggests abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear contributes approximately 10 percent to total ocean plastics. _______(4)_______
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Solution
Here, the author provides details about plastic pollution from marine sources, and then brings on the debate between plastic pollution from land and marine sources. The given sentence introduces the context – plastic can be from land or marine sources – and therefore, should be placed in blank (1). After this blank, the next sentence explains the sources of marine pollution.Blank (1) is most appropriate, as the given sentence is an introductory sentence. We can also see that this sentence is an overarching one, as the paragraph is primarily about marine sources. There is no other blank where this sentence is appropriate, as the sources of pollution has to be mentioned before sharing details about the (sources, proportion).
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option (1) for this question.
Answer: Option (1)
Example 5
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: Intensely conscious of both the domestic and international implications of their aesthetic choices, the revolutionaries thought carefully about what a free and enlightened state should look like.
Paragraph: _______(1)_______ The Jacobins, the anti-royalist faction who played a leading role in the French Revolution, embraced neoclassicism, not because of any necessary connection with revolutionary politics, but because it was the one pervasive elite aesthetic that readily lent itself to a revolutionary interpretation. _______(2)_______ The striking canvases of the neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, for example, were originally commissioned by members of the French nobility; only retroactively, once David himself had thrown in with the Jacobins, did he receive the title of ‘the painter of Brutus and the Horatii, the patriot and Frenchman, whose genius anticipated the Revolution’. _______(3)________ Denouncing ‘the ridiculous hieroglyphs’ of monarchy and aristocracy, the legislature of the First French Republic called for new symbols capable of ‘grabbing hold of the senses’ in order to promote the proper mode of civic consciousness. _______(4)_______
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
The given sentence tells us that the Jacobins thought a lot about the aesthetics of a free and enlightened state – this is relevant to art, and is suitable for blank (3), as the sentence following it explains the result of their deliberation (wanting new symbols for the republic). Therefore, we can select blank (3).
Blank (1) and (2) are not suitable as the author has to explain the context before we can come to the Jacobins' aesthetic choices. Blank (4) is also not suitable, as they had to think carefully before they chose new symbols, not after. Therefore, we can eliminate these options and select option (3).
Answer: (3) Option 3
Sentence: Intensely conscious of both the domestic and international implications of their aesthetic choices, the revolutionaries thought carefully about what a free and enlightened state should look like.
Paragraph: _______(1)_______ The Jacobins, the anti-royalist faction who played a leading role in the French Revolution, embraced neoclassicism, not because of any necessary connection with revolutionary politics, but because it was the one pervasive elite aesthetic that readily lent itself to a revolutionary interpretation. _______(2)_______ The striking canvases of the neoclassical painter Jacques-Louis David, for example, were originally commissioned by members of the French nobility; only retroactively, once David himself had thrown in with the Jacobins, did he receive the title of ‘the painter of Brutus and the Horatii, the patriot and Frenchman, whose genius anticipated the Revolution’. _______(3)________ Denouncing ‘the ridiculous hieroglyphs’ of monarchy and aristocracy, the legislature of the First French Republic called for new symbols capable of ‘grabbing hold of the senses’ in order to promote the proper mode of civic consciousness. _______(4)_______
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Solution
This paragraph is about the Jacobins' (anti-royalists) preference for neoclassicism, as it could be interpreted in a revolutionary context. The author goes on to provide an example of a painter who joined the Jacobins. The author ends by explaining that they rejected the symbols of monarchy and aristocracy for new symbols.The given sentence tells us that the Jacobins thought a lot about the aesthetics of a free and enlightened state – this is relevant to art, and is suitable for blank (3), as the sentence following it explains the result of their deliberation (wanting new symbols for the republic). Therefore, we can select blank (3).
Blank (1) and (2) are not suitable as the author has to explain the context before we can come to the Jacobins' aesthetic choices. Blank (4) is also not suitable, as they had to think carefully before they chose new symbols, not after. Therefore, we can eliminate these options and select option (3).
Answer: (3) Option 3
Example 6
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: Social media are narcissistic because they enable individuals to recycle their own selves without being confronted with the culture of the other.
Paragraph: _______(1)_______ Algorithms tell us which books we like, based on previous choices. The narcissist structure of this model is obvious. _______(2)_______ Through algorithms, signs are quantified and classified along the guidelines of abstract forms of excellence. _______(3)_______ In a decultured world, the self becomes the only remaining ethical reference. _______(4)_______ When there is no cultural other, only the “I” will be taken for granted. In the worst case, this system produces self-centered “alternative truths” and conspiracy theories, which are “kitsch-theories” because of their narcissistic, self-confirming structures.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
The other blanks are not suitable as we need to understand that the algorithms referred to are social media algorithms. Inserting the sentence into other blanks will also break the flow of the paragraph. We could have considered a blank at the end of the paragraph (assuming the given sentence is a conclusion), but we can easily eliminate this possibility as there is no blank at the end.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option (1) for this question.
Answer: (1) Option 1
Sentence: Social media are narcissistic because they enable individuals to recycle their own selves without being confronted with the culture of the other.
Paragraph: _______(1)_______ Algorithms tell us which books we like, based on previous choices. The narcissist structure of this model is obvious. _______(2)_______ Through algorithms, signs are quantified and classified along the guidelines of abstract forms of excellence. _______(3)_______ In a decultured world, the self becomes the only remaining ethical reference. _______(4)_______ When there is no cultural other, only the “I” will be taken for granted. In the worst case, this system produces self-centered “alternative truths” and conspiracy theories, which are “kitsch-theories” because of their narcissistic, self-confirming structures.
(1) Option 1
(2) Option 2
(3) Option 3
(4) Option 4
Solution
This paragraph explains how algorithms recommend books based on books we have previously liked, referring to our past preferences, making us narcissistic with self-confirming beliefs. The given sentence provides a context to this – the given sentence is the author's premise, which is explained in the rest of the paragraph. It should be the first sentence in this paragraph, and fits into blank (1).The other blanks are not suitable as we need to understand that the algorithms referred to are social media algorithms. Inserting the sentence into other blanks will also break the flow of the paragraph. We could have considered a blank at the end of the paragraph (assuming the given sentence is a conclusion), but we can easily eliminate this possibility as there is no blank at the end.
Therefore, we can eliminate the other options and select option (1) for this question.
Answer: (1) Option 1
Want to read the full content
Unlock this content & enjoy all the features of the platform
Subscribe Now
