CAT 2021 Question Paper | VARC Slot 2

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Question 17 : Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:
1. The care with which philosophers examine arguments for and against forms of biotechnology makes this an excellent primer on formulating and assessing moral arguments.
2. Although most people find at least some forms of genetic engineering disquieting, it is not easy to articulate why: what is wrong with re-engineering our nature?
3. Breakthroughs in genetics present us with the promise that we will soon be able to prevent a host of debilitating diseases, and the predicament that our newfound genetic knowledge may enable us to enhance our genetic traits.
4. To grapple with the ethics of enhancement, we need to confront questions that verge on theology, which is why modern philosophers and political theorists tend to shrink from them.
5. One argument is that the drive for human perfection through genetics is objectionable as it represents a bid for mastery that fails to appreciate the gifts of human powers and achievements.

Explanatory Answer

Sentences 2 and 5 form a unit: 5 answers the question posed in 2. In the same way 3 and 4 form a unit. But while these four sentences focus on genetic engineering – the promise it offers on one hand and the ethical predicament it presents on the other, sentence 1 talks about a slightly different, broader discipline– biotechnology– and a different idea – how the examination of biotechnology by philosophers may help formulate and assess moral arguments. Sentence 1 is hence the odd one out.

The answer is '1'