Logical & Chronological Order — CAT Previous-Year Questions

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. To create a synapse, the neuron has specialized structures, often seen as tiny swellings, at its terminal end of the axon where it stores the chemicals that are emitted to transmit a signal to the next neuron.

2. This fetal warm-up act—the soldering of neural connections before the eyes actually function—is crucial to the performance of the visual system.

3. The reasons for this paring back of synapses is a mystery, but synaptic pruning is thought to sharpen and reinforce the “correct” synapses, while removing the weak and unnecessary ones.

4. Neural connections between the eyes and the brain are formed long before birth, establishing the wiring and the circuitry that allow a child to begin visualizing the world the minute she emerges from the womb.

5. During this rehearsal period, synapses—points of chemical connection—between nerve cells are generated in great excess, only to be pruned back during later development.

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. Part of the appeal of forecasting is not just that it seems to work, but that you don’t seem to need specialized expertise to succeed at it.

2. The tight connection between forecasting and building a model of the world helps explain why so much of the early interest in the idea came from the intelligence community.

3. This was true even though the latter had access to classified intelligence.

4. One frequently cited study found that accurate forecasters’ predictions of geopolitical events, when aggregated using standard scientific methods, were more accurate than the forecasts of members of the US intelligence community who answered the same questions in a confidential prediction market.

5. The aggregated opinions of non-experts doing forecasting have proven to be a better guide to the future than the aggregated opinions of experts.

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. To create a synapse, the neuron has specialized structures, often seen as tiny swellings, at its terminal end of the axon where it stores the chemicals that are emitted to transmit a signal to the next neuron.

2. This fetal warm-up act—the soldering of neural connections before the eyes actually function—is crucial to the performance of the visual system.

3. The reasons for this paring back of synapses is a mystery, but synaptic pruning is thought to sharpen and reinforce the “correct” synapses, while removing the weak and unnecessary ones.

4. Neural connections between the eyes and the brain are formed long before birth, establishing the wiring and the circuitry that allow a child to begin visualizing the world the minute she emerges from the womb.

5. During this rehearsal period, synapses—points of chemical connection—between nerve cells are generated in great excess, only to be pruned back during later development.

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. Part of the appeal of forecasting is not just that it seems to work, but that you don’t seem to need specialized expertise to succeed at it.

2. The tight connection between forecasting and building a model of the world helps explain why so much of the early interest in the idea came from the intelligence community.

3. This was true even though the latter had access to classified intelligence.

4. One frequently cited study found that accurate forecasters’ predictions of geopolitical events, when aggregated using standard scientific methods, were more accurate than the forecasts of members of the US intelligence community who answered the same questions in a confidential prediction market.

5. The aggregated opinions of non-experts doing forecasting have proven to be a better guide to the future than the aggregated opinions of experts.

Each of the questions below consists of a set of labelled sentences. These sentences, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Choose the most logical order of sentences from the options.

1. Who can trace to its first beginnings the love of Damon for Pythias, of David for Jonathan, of Swan for Edgar?
2. Similarly with men.
3. There is about great friendships between man and man a certain inevitability that can only be compared with the age old association of ham and eggs.
4. One simply feels that it is one of the things that must be so.
5. No one can say, what the mutual magnetism was that brought about the deathless partnership of these wholesome and palatable foodstuffs.

Each of the questions below consists of a set of labelled sentences. These sentences, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Choose the most logical order of sentences from the options.

1. Luckily the tide of battle moved elsewhere after the American victory at Midway and an Australian victory over Japan at Milne Bay.
2. It could have been no more than a delaying tactic.
3. The Australian military, knowing the position was hopeless, planned to fall back to the south-east in the hope of defending the main cities.
4. They had captured most of the Solomon Islands and much of New Guinea, and seemed poised for an invasion.
5. Not many people outside Australia realize how close the Japanese got.

Directions: Sentences given in each question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Choose the most logical order of the sentences from among the four given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.

1. Group decision-making, however, does not necessarily fully guard against arbitrariness and anarchy, for individual capriciousness can get substituted by collusion of group members.
2. Nature itself is an intricate system of checks and balances, meant to preserve the delicate balance between various environmental factors that affect our ecology.
3. In institutions also, there is a need to have in place a system of checks and balances which inhibits the concentration of power in the hands of only some individuals.
4. When human interventions alter this delicate balance, the outcomes have been seen to be disastrous.

Directions: Sentences given in each question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Choose the most logical order of the sentences from among the four given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.

1. With that, I swallowed the shampoo, and obtained the most realistic results almost on the spot.
2. The man shuffled away into the back regions to make up a prescription, and after a moment I got through on the shop-telephone to the Consulate, intimating my location.
3. Then, while the pharmacist was wrapping up a six-ounce bottle of the mixture, I groaned and inquired whether he could give me something for acute gastric cramp.
4. I intended to stage a sharp gastric attack, and entering an old-fashioned pharmacy, I asked for a popular shampoo mixture, consisting of olive oil and flaked soap.

Directions: Sentences given in each question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Choose the most logical order of the sentences from among the four given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.

1. Since then, intelligence tests have been mostly used to separate dull children in school from average or bright children, so that special education can be provided to the dull.
2. In other words, intelligence tests give us a norm for each age.
3. Intelligence is expressed as intelligence quotient, and tests are developed to indicate what an average child of a certain age can do …. What a five-year-old can answer, but a four-year-old cannot, for instance.
4. Binet developed the first set of such tests in the early 1900s to find out which children in school needed special attention.
5. Intelligence can be measured by tests.

A. He was carrying his jacket and walked with his head thrown back.
B. As Annette neared the lamp she saw a figure walking slowly.
C. For a while Michael walked on and she followed 20 paces behind.
D. With a mixture of terror and triumph of recognition she slackened her pace.

A. There was nothing quite like a heavy downpour of rain to make life worthwhile.
B. We reached the field, soaked to the skin, and surrounded it.
C. The wet, as far as he was concerned, was ideal.
D. There, sure enough, stood Claudius, looking like a debauched Roman emperor under a shower.

A. Alex had never been happy with his Indian origins.
B. He set about rectifying this grave injustice by making his house in his own image of a country
manor.
C. Fate had been unfair to him; if he had had his wish, he would have been a count or an Earl on
some English estate, or a medieval monarch in a chateau in France.
D. This illusion of misplaced grandeur, his wife felt, would be Alex's undoing.

A. The influence is reflected the most in beaded evening wear.
B. Increasingly, the influence of India's colours and cuts can be seen on western styles.
C. And even as Nehru jackets and Jodhpurs remain staples of the fashion world, designers such as
Armani and McFadden have turned to the sleek silhouette of the churidar this year.
D. Indian hot pink, paprika and saffron continue to be popular colours, year in and year out.

A. Such a national policy will surely divide and never unite the people.
B. In fact, it suits the purpose of the politicians; they can drag the people into submission by appealing to them in the name of religion.
C. In order to inculcate the unquestioning belief they condemn the other states, which do not follow their religion.
D. The emergence of the theocratic states, where all types of crimes are committed in the name of religion, has revived the religion of the Middle Ages.

A. The director walked into the room and took a look around the class.
B. Mitch wanted to scream — the illogicality of the entire scene struck him dumb.
C. The managers stared at him with the look of fear that no democratic country should tolerate in its people.
D. He walked out of the room — it was his irrevocable protest against an insensible and insensitive situation.

A. The establishment of the Third Reich influenced events in American history by starting a chain of events which culminated in war between Germany and the United States.
B. The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936 prohibited trade with any belligerents or loans to them.
C. While speaking out against Hitler's atrocities, the American people generally favoured isolationist policies and neutrality.
D. The complete destruction of democracy, the persecution of Jews, the war on religion, the cruelty and barbarism of the allies, caused great indignation in this country and brought on fear of another World War.

A. By reasoning we mean the mental process of drawing an inference from two or more statements or going from the inference to the statements, which yield that inference.
B. So logical reasoning covers those types of questions, which imply drawing an inference from the problems.
C. Logic means, if we take its original meaning, the science of valid reasoning.
D. Clearly, for understanding arguments and for drawing the inference correctly, it is necessary that we should understand the statements first.

Direction: Arrange the sentences A, B, C and D in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. But the last decade has witnessed greater voting and political participation by various privileged sections.
B. If one goes by the earlier record of mid-term elections, it is likely that the turnout in 1998 will drop by anything between four and six percentage points over the already low polling of 58 per cent in
1996.
C. If this trend offsets the mid-term poll fatigue, the fall may not be so steep.
D. Notwithstanding a good deal of speculation on this issue, it is still not clear as to who benefits from a lower turnout.

Direction: Arrange the sentences A, B, C and D in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. Good advertising can make people buy your products even if it sucks.
B. A dollar spent on brainwashing is more cost-effective than a dollar spent on product improvement.
C. That's important because it takes pressure off you to make good products.
D. Obviously, there's a minimum quality that every product has to achieve: it should be able to withstand the shipping process without becoming unrecognizable.

Direction: Arrange the sentences A, B, C and D in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. But, clearly, the government still has the final say.
B. In the past few years, the Reserve Bank of India might have wrested considerable powers from the government when it comes to monetary policy.
C. The RBI's announcements on certain issues become effective only after the government notifies them.
D. Isn't it time the government vested the RBI with powers to sanction such changes, leaving their ratification for later?

Direction: Arrange the sentences A, B, C and D in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. I sat there frowning at the checkered tablecloth, chewing the bitter cud of insight.
B. That wintry afternoon in Manhattan, waiting in the little French restaurant, I was feeling frustrated and depressed.
C. Even the prospect of seeing a dear friend failed to cheer me as it usually did.
D. Because of certain miscalculations on my part, a project of considerable importance in my life had fallen through.

Direction: Arrange the four sentences in their proper order so that they make a logically coherent paragraph.

A. Still, Sophie might need an open heart surgery later in life and now be more prone to respiratory infections.
B. But with the news that his infant daughter Sophie has a hole in her heart, he appears quite vulnerable.
C. While the condition sounds bad, it is not life threatening, and frequently corrects itself.
D. Sylvester Stallone has made millions and built a thriving career out of looking invincible.

Direction: Arrange the four sentences in their proper order so that they make a logically coherent paragraph.

A. However, the severed head could not grow back if fire could be applied instantly to the amputated part.
B.To get rid of this monstrosity was truly a Herculean task, for as soon as one head was cut off, two new ones replaced it.
C. Hercules accomplished this labour with the aid of an assistant who cauterized the necks as fast as Hercules cut off the heads!
D. One of the twelve labours of Hercules was the killing of hydra, a water monster with nine heads.

Direction: Arrange the four sentences in their proper order so that they make a logically coherent paragraph.

A. That Hollywood is a man's world is certainly true, but it is not the whole truth.
B. Even Renaissance film actress, Jodie Foster, who hosts this compendium of movie history, confesses surprise at this.
C. She says that she had no idea that women were so active in the industry even in those days.
D. During the silent era, for example, female scriptwriters outnumbered males 10 to 1.

Direction: Arrange the four sentences in their proper order so that they make a logically coherent paragraph.

A. Its business decisions are made on the timely and accurate flow of information.
B. It has 1,700 employees in 13 branch and representative offices across the Asia-Pacific region.
C. For employees to maintain a competitive edge in a fast-moving field, they must have quick access to JP Morgan's proprietary trade related data.
D. JP Morgan's is one of the largest banking institutions in the US and a premier international trading firm.

Direction: Arrange the four sentences in their proper order so that they make a logically coherent paragraph.

A. The Saheli Programme, run by the US Cross-Cultural Solutions, is offering a three week tour of India that involves a lot more than frenzied sightseeing.
B. Participants interested in women's issues will learn about arranged marriages, dowry and infanticide.
C. Holiday packages include all sorts of topics, but female infanticide must be the first for tourism.
D. Interspersed with these talks and meetings are visits to cities like New Delhi and Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.

Direction: Arrange the four sentences in their proper order so that they make a logically coherent paragraph.

A. Something magical is happening to our planet.
B. Some are calling it a paradigm shift.
C. Its getting smaller.
D. Others call it business transformation.

Four sentences are marked A, B, C and D. You are required to arrange the sentences in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. Where there is division there must be conflict, not only division between man and woman, but also division on the basis of race, religion and language.
B. We said the present condition of racial divisions, linguistic divisions has brought out so many wars.
C. Also we went into the question as to why does this conflict between man and man exist.
D. May we continue with what we were discussing last evening?

Four sentences are marked A, B, C and D. You are required to arrange the sentences in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. These high plans died, slowly but definitively, and were replaced by the dream of a huge work on philosophy.
B. In doing whatever little he could of the new plan, the poet managed to write speculations on theology, and political theory.
C. The poet's huge ambitions included writing a philosophic epic on the origin of evil.
D. However, not much was done in this regard either, with only fragments being written.

Four sentences are marked A, B, C and D. You are required to arrange the sentences in a proper sequence so as to make a coherent paragraph.

A. There is no complete knowledge about anything.
B. Our thinking is the outcome of knowledge, and knowledge is always limited.
C. Knowledge always goes hand in hand with ignorance.
D. Therefore, our thinking which is born out of knowledge, is always limited under all circumstances.

The questions below consist of a group of sentences followed by a suggested sequential
arrangement. Select the best sequence.

1. And that the pursuit of money by whatever design within the law is always benign.
2. And it holds broadly that the greater the amount of money, the greater the intelligence.
3. This is the institutional truth of Wall Street, this you will be required to believe.
4. The institutional truth of the financial world holds that association with money implies intelligence.

The questions below consist of a group of sentences followed by a suggested sequential arrangement. Select the best sequence.

1. By intelligence we mean a style of life, a way of behaving in various situations, and particularly in new, strange and perplexing situations.
2. When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get a good score on a certain kind of test, or even the ability to do well at school.
3. The true test of intelligence is not how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.
4. These are at best only indicators of something large, deeper and far more important.

The questions below consist of a group of sentences followed by a suggested sequential
arrangement. Select the best sequence.

1. In formal speech, syllables are likely to be more deliberately sounded than in informal speech.
2. Yet dictionary editors have no choice but to deal with each word as an individual entity.
3. The pronunciation of words is influenced by the situation.
4. Further, the pronunciation of a word is affected by its position in the sentence and by the meaning it carries.