NinetynineCAT 2025 Slot 1 VARC Q6 Sentence Placement
Question 6 of the Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension (VARC) section, CAT 2025 Slot 1, with CAT's official answer and a worked solution.
The given sentence is missing in the paragraph below. Decide where it best fits among the options 1, 2, 3, or 4 indicated in the paragraph.
Sentence: Historically, silver has been, and still is, an important element in the business of 'show' visible in private houses, churches, government and diplomacy.
Paragraph: ____(1) ____. Timothy Schroder put it succinctly in suggesting that electric light and eating in the kitchen eroded this need. As he explained to the author, 'Silver, when illuminated by flickering candlelight, comes alive and almost dances before the eyes, but when lit by electric light it becomes flat and dead.' ____(2) ____. Domestic and economic changes may have worked against the market, but the London silver trade remained buoyant, thanks to the competition of collectors seeking grand display silver at the top end, and the buyers of 'collectables', like spoons and wine labels and 'novelties', at the bottom. ____(3) ____. Another factor that came into play was the systematic collection building of certain American museums over the period. Boston, Huntington Art Gallery and Williamsburg, among others, were largely supplied by London dealers. ____(4) ____.
Sentence: Historically, silver has been, and still is, an important element in the business of 'show' visible in private houses, churches, government and diplomacy.
Paragraph: ____(1) ____. Timothy Schroder put it succinctly in suggesting that electric light and eating in the kitchen eroded this need. As he explained to the author, 'Silver, when illuminated by flickering candlelight, comes alive and almost dances before the eyes, but when lit by electric light it becomes flat and dead.' ____(2) ____. Domestic and economic changes may have worked against the market, but the London silver trade remained buoyant, thanks to the competition of collectors seeking grand display silver at the top end, and the buyers of 'collectables', like spoons and wine labels and 'novelties', at the bottom. ____(3) ____. Another factor that came into play was the systematic collection building of certain American museums over the period. Boston, Huntington Art Gallery and Williamsburg, among others, were largely supplied by London dealers. ____(4) ____.
- AOption 1
- BOption 3
- COption 4
- DOption 2
Answer: (B) Option 3 Sentence Placement MCQ
Solution
- The paragraph lists why the London silver trade 'remained buoyant' despite domestic changes: collectors of grand display silver at the top end, buyers of collectables at the bottom.
- Blank 3 is followed by 'Another factor that came into play...', so the sentence before it must itself be a factor sustaining demand.
- The missing sentence does this: silver 'has been, and still is' central to 'show' in houses, churches, government and diplomacy, an ongoing source of demand for display silver. So it sits at Option 3.
- At blank 1 it would not work: 'this need' in the next sentence refers to a need for silver lit by candlelight at the dining table (set up before the excerpt), not to the 'business of show', and 'still is' would clash with the decline that follows.
Shortcut. 'Another factor' signals that the sentence just before it is a factor in the same list.