Paragraph Jumble Without Options | Verbal Ability (VA) & Reading Comprehension (RC) - CAT PDF Download

Difference between TITA Parajumbles and non-TITA Parajumbles

• The problem with TITA Parajumbles or parajumbles without option is that the time the candidate will take to arrive at the right answer would be outrageously different in each case.  When the options are given, the test taker is likely to arrive at the right answer in less time.
  But, when the right sequence is asked to be entered, the whole process of arriving at the right answer might be long and frustrating.
• In a parajumble question, when the options are given, they can be used effectively to, first create the right sequence, and then eliminate the wrong answer. But when the options are not given, the test taker has to, from the sentences given, pick the one that is likely to start the paragraph, then the one that is likely to continue the idea, and continue this process until he has finally created the right sequence.
• The chances are that in the process you might, if the question is easy, arrive at the right answer, but if the question turns out to be tough, then you, without ever realizing, might lose precious time (something that happened to me in CAT 15). One of the mysterious things that happen in the actual exam is that we never realize that we have lost significant amount of time until we have a look at the timer.

Approach to CAT Parajumbles

The first and the most important step while attempting CAT verbal questions is to read the question direction; many a time students go wrong just because they did not carefully read the question direction.
In parajumbles, CAT expects you to form a COHERENT paragraph; a paragraph is coherent only when:

• It makes complete sense
• It is a singular unit
• Does not start abruptly
• Does not depend on any other sentence to make itself meaningful

If the right answer of a question does not have any of these, then it is no more a good question and is open to challenge.
Now, we will lay down some of the important points that the test taker must keep in mind while attempting questions on parajumbles.

The parajumbles must form a coherent paragraph

Coherent paragraphs will never have an abrupt start; an abrupt start is the one in which the reader is not introduced to ‘certain concepts’ with which he must be familiar in order to completely comprehend the sentence; in other words,  there are certain ‘ideas’ in the very first sentence that  demand some additional or necessary information. Analyze, for instance, these two paragraphs:

Paragraph 1: Zeus was brother and consort of Hera. By Hera, Zeus sired Ares, Hebe and Hephaestus, though some accounts say that Hera produced these offspring alone. Some also include Eileithyia and Eris as their daughters. The conquests of Zeus among nymphs and the mythic mortal progenitors of Hellenic dynasties are famous.

Paragraph 2: According to Plato, a particular clan would gather on the mountain to make a sacrifice every nine years to Zeus, and a single morsel of human entrails would be intermingled with the animal’s. Whoever ate the human flesh was said to turn into a wolf, and could only regain human form if he did not eat again of human flesh until the next nine-year cycle had ended.
There were games associated with the Lykaia, removed in the fourth century to the first urbanization of Arcadia, Megalopolis; there the major temple was dedicated to Zeus.
The first paragraph is a coherent paragraph; the ideas expressed are clear and have both structural and logical unity.
The second paragraph is not a coherent paragraph because the part that is marked in bold makes us feel that it needs a prior introduction.

The definite article ‘The’

As illustrated above, if the definite article ‘the’ is followed by a common noun, then that common noun must be introduced earlier in the paragraph.
Example: On his way to Agra, Birbal met a king. Wearing a simple white gown, the king was travelling on foot.
The definite article ‘the’ can be effectively used to arrange the sentences in a logical order. 

Pronouns can used to Connect Sentences in a Parajumble Question

• Paragraphs, irrespective of the topic in discussion, are replete with pronouns. These pronouns refer to nouns or noun phrases. The test taker must intelligently connect the pronoun to the right noun. The pronouns usually refer to the nouns or the noun phrases in the sentence that comes immediately before them.
• So, if A, B and C are three sentences, the pronouns in sentence C will refer logically to the nouns/noun phrases in sentence B, provided sentence B has nouns and noun phrases. For example,
• John, Mark and Peter were invited for dinner; John came with his wife, Peter with his sister. Mark was busy with something and so reached a little late. He came with his mother and was wearing a red shirt.
• The pronoun ‘he’ in the last sentence must refer to ‘Mark’ because ‘Mark’ is the noun in the sentence that comes immediately before the sentence that has the pronoun ‘he’.
• In short, the pronouns and the nouns or the noun phrases they refer to must be kept together; any remote reference is likely to create confusion.

Generic ideas vis-à-vis specific ideas in a Parajumble

The test taker must be sharp enough to distinguish between a generic idea and a specific idea. In logical arrangement of ideas, a specific idea must come after a generic idea.
Example: India is the biggest democracy and the seventh largest country in the world. It is a country of immense diversity.  It has 16 official languages, with each language having a more than thousand dialects.
‘Immense diversity’-generic idea
’16 official languages…’-specific idea
While distinguishing between a generic idea and a specific idea, the reader must be very careful. Compared with the specific ideas, the generic ideas are broader in scope and impact. Diversity, in the above example, is a generic idea because diversity can be in language, in food, in dress, and in many other things.
Diversity of culture will include diversity of languages, while diversity in languages will include variations in dialects.

Gravity of information or ideas

Ideas or information that are of greater magnitude must be placed before ideas or information of relatively smaller magnitude, though this may not always be the rule.

Example: Germany is one of the most successful national teams in international competitions, having won a total of four World Cups (1954, 1974, 1990, 2014) and three European Championships (1972, 1980, 1996). They have also been runners-up three times in the European Championships, four times in the World Cup, and have won a further four third places. East Germany won Olympic Gold in 1976. Germany is the only nation to have won both the men’s and women’s World Cups.
Since, in football, winning the world cup is an achievement of a greater magnitude than winning the European championship or winning the Olympic Gold, the writer first speaks about Germany’s four World Cup wins followed by the other feats. This sort of logical arrangement demands general knowledge, which is not always dispensable in CAT Verbal.

Sentence Connectors should be used to connect sentences in a Parajumble

• Sentence connectors are words that connect ideas between sentences; the connectors could be words or phrases; they could be conjunctions (coordinating conjunctions or subordinating conjunctions), adverbial conjunctions, and some compound prepositions.
• Coordinating conjunctions connect equal ideas; some coordinating conjunctions are: and, but, for, nor, so, yet.
• Some subordinating conjunctions are: though, although, when, while, because, if, as , whenever etc.
• Some adverbial conjunctions are: moreover, nevertheless, furthermore, accordingly, consequently, therefore, besides, however, thus, instead, in fact, hence, similarly, etc.
• Compound prepositions: in addition to, to begin with, aside from, because of, as far as, etc.

Adverbs

• Adverbs, unlike adverbial conjunctions, don’t connect sentences. They modify verbs, adjectives and sometimes entire sentences. By modifying words, phrases or sentences, adverbs give a different meaning to already stated ideas.
• Some of the most common adverbs are: also, too, even, just, already, only, still, as etc.
• Imagine having a paragraph that starts with the sentence:
• She is unhappy too (the presence of the adverb ‘too’ indicates that a similar idea is required before this sentence; not having that idea makes the sentence a little illogical)

Units of ideas: Once you have formed units within which the sentences are inseparable, you must look for the options that have those mandatory pairs. Use elimination to arrive at the answers.

Chronology of events: The chronology of events must be kept in mind; the conjunctions and adverbs of time will help you determine the chronology of events; the conjunctions of time such as: before, after, as, when, while, since etc. help you correctly understand the sequence of events, understand the cause and effect relationship between events, which, in turn, help you in logically arranging the sentences.

Example: Stanley Kubrick won many accolades for his film ‘Paths of Glory’ for which he won numerous awards as well.  After this success, he would go on to direct Spartacus, an epic based on the life of the Thracian gladiator ‘Spartacus’.
Note the conjunction ‘after’, and how it creates a logical sequence of two events, telling us the right order in which the events occurred.

Conclusion in a Parajumble Question

Just as the opening lines are important in introducing the paragraph, so closing lines are important in concluding the paragraph; and just as the opening lines must be generic and not abrupt, so the concluding lines must be smooth and aptly close the paragraph. The adverbial conjunctions here, too, play a very important role. The adverbial conjunctions such as hence, therefore, accordingly, consequently, thus must be noted by the test takers.
Example: Sachin Tendulkar started his test career in 1989. He went on to play the highest no of test matches and went on to become the highest scorer in both the popular versions of the game. He won the Wisden cricketer of the year in 1997. Thus, we can say that he is one of the greatest batsmen who ever took guard on the cricket pitch. 

Solved Examples

Instructions
The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4) given below, when properly sequenced would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequence of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.
Q1: 1. 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.
2. Participants interested in women’s issues will learn about arranged marriages, dowry and infanticide.
3. Holiday packages include all sorts of topics, but female infanticide must be the first for tourism.
4. Interspersed with these talks and meetings are visits to cities like New Delhi and Agra, home to the Taj Mahal.
Ans: 1324
Sol: 1 should start the para as it introduces the Saheli Programme. It also states that an offer being made by the programme. 3 further takes the idea forward and gives details about it. 2 and 4 form a pair as 4 refers to some talks, the topic for which is mentioned in 2. Thus, the correct order is 1324.

Q2: The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper order for the sentences and key in this sequence of four numbers as your answer.
1. The eventual diagnosis was skin cancer and after treatment all seemed well.
2. The viola player didn’t know what it was; nor did her GP.
3. Then a routine scan showed it had come back and spread to her lungs.
4. It started with a lump on Cathy Perkins’ index finger.
Ans: 4213
Sol: Sentence 4 should be the opening sentence since it sets the scene and introduces the person suffering from cancer. Sentence 2 states that the viola player and her physician did not know what it was. ‘It’ refers to the lump on the finger. Sentence 1 should follow sentence 2 since it states what the eventual diagnosis was. The GP did not know what the lump was and later it was identified to be skin cancer. Sentence 1 states that all seemed well after the treatment, implying it was not. Sentence 3 should be the last sentence since it states that the cancer had spread to her lungs. Sentences 4213 form a coherent paragraph and hence, 4213 is the right answer.

Q3: The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper order for the sentences and key in this sequence of four numbers as your answer.
(1) The woodland’s canopy receives most of the sunlight that falls on the trees.
(2) Swifts do not confine themselves to woodlands, but hunt wherever there are insects in the air.
(3) With their streamlined bodies, swifts are agile flyers, ideally adapted to twisting and turning through the air as they chase flying insects – the creatures that form their staple diet.
(4) Hundreds of thousands of insects fly in the sunshine up above the canopy, some falling prey to swifts and swallows
Ans: 1432
Sol: 1 should be the opening sentence since it sets the context. Sentence 1 states that the woodland’s canopy receives most of the sunshine that falls on the trees. Sentence 4 continues sentence 1 by stating that thousands of insects fly above the canopy in the sunlight. The insects fall prey to the swifts and swallows. We have to decide whether the order of the remaining 2 sentences is 32 or 23. Sentence 3 states that swifts are agile flyers, adapted to chasing flying insects. Sentence 3 states that flying insects form the staple diet of the swifts. Sentence 2 states that swifts do not confine themselves to woodlands and hunt wherever they can find insects. Therefore, sentence 3 should precede sentence 2 (We cannot introduce that insects form the staple diet after stating that swifts hunt wherever they can find flying insects). Sentences 1432 form a coherent paragraph.
Therefore, 1432 is the correct answer.

Q4: The four sentences (labelled 1,2,3,4) given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a number. Decide on the proper sequence of order of the sentences and key in this sequence of four numbers as your answer:
1. In the era of smart world, however, ‘Universal Basic Income’ is an ineffective instrument which cannot address the potential breakdown of the social contract when large swathes of the population would effectively be unemployed.
2. In the era of industrial revolution, the abolition of child labour, poor laws and the growth of trade unions helped families cope with the pressures of mechanised work.
3. Growing inequality could be matched by a creeping authoritarianism that is bolstered by technology that is increasingly able to peer into the deepest vestiges of our lives.
4. New institutions emerge which recognise ways in which workers could contribute to and benefit by economic growth when, rather than if, their jobs are automated.
Ans: 4213
Sol: 4 should be the opening sentence since it states that new institutions recognize ways in which workers can contribute to the economy. The other 3 sentences provide examples and elaborate on the same and hence, sentence 4, which introduces the topic of discussion, should be the opening sentence.
2 talks about the period of industrial revolution. 1 talks about the smart world. Chronologically, 1 should follow 2. Moreover, 2 talks about an example that conformed to the point mentioned in sentence 4. On the other hand, 1 talks about an inadequacy. Therefore, 2 should have preceded 1. 3 should be the last sentence of the paragraph.
Sentences 4213 form a coherent paragraph and hence, 4213 is the correct answer.

Q5: The four sentences (labelled 1,2,3,4) given in this question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a number. Decide on the proper sequence of order of the sentences and key in this sequence of four numbers as your answer:
1. They would rather do virtuous side projects assiduously as long as these would not compel them into doing their day jobs more honourably or reduce the profit margins.
2. They would fund a million of the buzzwordy programs rather than fundamentally question the rules of their game or alter their own behavior to reduce the harm of the existing distorted, inefficient and unfair rules.
3. Like the dieter who would rather do anything to lose weight than actually eat less, the business elite would save the world through social-impact-investing and philanthro-capitalism.
4. Doing the right thing — and moving away from their win-win mentality — would involve real sacrifice; instead, it’s easier to focus on their pet projects and initiatives.
Ans: 3241
Sol: After reading all the sentences, we know that the paragraph is about the businessmen who, instead of tackling the root causes, focus on superficial solutions. Statement 3 is the opening sentence as it introduces the topic by comparing businessmen with a dieter who is ready to do everything except eating less. Statement 2 mentions the examples of some of the specious solutions mentioned in statement 3. Statement 4 provides the reason why businessmen are hesitant to execute the genuine solutions which will bring real change. Statement 4 mentions the alternative taken by businessmen. The word ‘rather’ in statement 1 connects it with statement 4. Thus, the correct order is 3 – 2 – 4 – 1. Hence, 3241 is the correct answer.

Q6: 1. To the uninitiated listener, atonal music can sound like chaotic, random noise.
2. Atonality is a condition of music in which the constructs of the music do not ‘live’ within the confines of a particular key signature, scale, or mode.
3. After you realize the amount of knowledge, skill, and technical expertise required to compose or perform it, your tune may change, so to speak.
4. However, atonality is one of the most important movements in 20th century music.
Ans: 2143
Sol: After reading all the sentences , it can be inferred that though atonal music can sometimes sound random and chaotic, there is a lot of knowledge and skill that is required to perform atonal music.
Sentence 2 talks about what exactly atonal music is. Hence, this sentence must be the first sentence of the paragraph. Sentence 1 talks about the misconceptions of atonal music that the uninitiated make. This sentence must be the second sentence of the passage. 
Sentence 4, now clears the misconception about atonality and states that it is one of the most important movements in music. Sentence 3 gives the reason why atonality is music is so difficult to attain and says that the untrained listener would change his mind when he understands the amount of knowledge and skill required to produce atonality. Therefore, sentences 4 and 3 form a block.
Therefore the correct sequence of sentences is 2-1-4-3.

Q7: 1. Living things—animals and plants—typically exhibit correlational structure. 
2. Adaptive behaviour depends on cognitive economy, treating objects as equivalent. 
3. The information we receive from our senses, from the world, typically has structure and order, and is not arbitrary. 
4. To categorize an object means to consider it equivalent to other things in that category, and different—along some salient dimension—from things that are not.
Ans: 2431
Sol: After reading all the sentences, it can be inferred that the passage talks about how comparisons are made between objects in different aspects, and how such comparisons are important facets of cognitive ability and consequently our adaptive behaviour. Sentence 2 introduces how adaptive behavior depends on cognitive economy. Hence, it is the first sentence of the paragraph. Sentence 4 elaborates on how different objects are compared. This sentence logically follows sentence 2. Sentence 3 shows how such comparisons have structure and order, and how they are not arbitary. Hence, sentence 3 follows sentence 4. Sentence 1 is completes the passage in a way that elucidates how animals and plats are equivalent to each other by exhibiting correlatoinal structure. The correct sequence is 2-4-3-1.