CAT (VARC) PYQs

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.

Paragraph: Research has hypothesised that the earliest evidence of human lip kissing originated in a very specific geographical location in South Asia 3,500 years ago ___ (1) ___ . From there it may have spread to other regions, simultaneously accelerating the spread of the herpes simplex virus 1. According to Dr Troels Pank Arbøll and Dr Sophie Lund Rasmussen, who in a new article in the journal Science draw on a range of written sources from the earliest Mesopotamian societies, kissing was already a well-established practice 4,500 years ago in the Middle East ___ (2) ___ . In ancient Mesopotamia, people wrote in cuneiform script on clay tablets ___ (3) ___ . Many thousands of these clay tablets have survived to this day, and they contain clear examples that kissing was considered a part of romantic intimacy in ancient times ___ (4) ___ . "Kissing could also have been part of friendships and family members' relations," says Dr Troels Pank Arbøll, an expert on the history of medicine in Mesopotamia.

Sentence: And probably much earlier, moving the documentation for kissing back 1,000 years compared to what was acknowledged in the scientific community.

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.

Paragraph: My fellow night owls, grab a strong cup of coffee and gather around: I have great news ___ (1) ___ . For a long time, our kind has been unfairly maligned. Stereotyped as lazy and undisciplined. Told we ought to be morning larks. Advised to go to bed early so we can wake before 5am and run a marathon before breakfast like all high-flyers seem to do. Now, however, we are having the last laugh ___ (2) ___ .It may be a tad more complicated than that. A study published last week, which you may have already seen while scrolling at lam, suggests that staying up late could be good for brain power ___ (3) ___ .Is this study a thinly veiled PR exercise conducted by a caffeine-pill company? Nope, it's legit ___ (4) ___ . Research led by academics at Imperial College London studied data on more than 26,000 people and found that “self-declared 'night owls' generally tend to have higher cognitive scores".

Sentence: Science has officially crowned us superior to our early-rising brethren.

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.

Paragraph: Bringing workers back to their desks has been a rocky road for employers and employees alike. The evolution of the pandemic has meant that best laid plans have often not materialised. ___ (1) ___ . The flow of workers back into offices has been more of a trickle than a steady stream. ___ (2) ___ Yet while plenty of companies are still working through their new policies, some employees across the globe are now back at their desks, whether on a full-time or hybrid basis. ___ (3) ___ . That means we're beginning to get some clarity on what return-to-office means what's working, as well as what has yet to be settled. ___ (4) ___ .

Sentence: This has meant a lot of uncertainty around what a wide-scale return to office might look like in practice.