CAT 2024 Question Paper | VARC Slot 3

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Question 2 :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.

Sentence: Taken outside the village of Trang Bang on June 8, 1972, the picture captured the trauma and indiscriminate violence of a conflict that claimed, by some estimates, a million or more civilian lives.

Paragraph: The horrifying photograph of children fleeing a deadly napalm attack has become a defining image not only of the Vietnam War but the 20^th century. ___(1)___. Dark smoke billowing behind them, the young subjects' faces are painted with a mixture of terror, pain and confusion. ___(2)___. Soldiers from the South Vietnamese army's 25^th Division follow helplessly behind. ___(3)___. The picture was officially titled "The Terror of War," but the photo is better known by the nickname given to naked 9-year-old at its centre "Napalm Girl". ___(4)___.

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Explanatory Answer

Tricky question. The missing sentence states when and where 'the picture' was taken and details of the violent conflict it captures. At first glance, it looks as if this sentence can fit in any of the given blanks.
Consider blank 1. The sentence before it says the horrifying photograph is a defining image not only of the Vietnam War but the 20th century. The sentence that follows the blank details the scene the photograph captures. If the missing sentence were to be placed in blank 1, while it would continue from the first line very logically, it would not transition very well into the second line describing the scene. The missing sentence talks of the million civilian lives lost in the conflict. This idea is not followed up in the description of the photo. So, blank 1 is not a very good fit.
Blank 2 is the easiest one to rule out, as both the sentence before and after it describe the scene captured in the photo. The missing sentence would break the flow of ideas if it is placed here.
Blank 3 seems a good place to plug the missing sentence in as the line that follows this blank is a description of the picture as "The Terror of War" and this description fits the idea in the missing sentence that it was a traumatic and violent conflict that claimed a million civilian lives.
Now, the sentence before blank 4 says the picture was officially titled “The Terror of War" but it is better known as “Napalm Girl”. If the missing sentence were to be placed in blank 4, the paragraph would pivot from the Napalm girl to when and where the picture was taken. This is hence not a good choice.
Blank 3 is the correct choice.

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Hence, the answer is 'Option 3'

Choice B is the correct answer.

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