Free Verbal Reasoning - 13 Practice Test - CAT 

Question 1

A. In America, highly educated women, who are in stronger position in the labor market than less qualified ones, have higher rates of marriage than other groups.
B. Some work supports the Becker thesis, and some appears to contradict it.
C. And, as with crime, it is equally inconclusive.
D. But regardless of the conclusion of any particular piece of work, it is hard to establish convincing connections between family changes and economic factors using conventional approaches.
E. Indeed, just as with crime, an enormous academic literature exists on the validity of the pure economic approach to the evolution of family structures

(2007)

A. BCDE
B. DBEC
C. BDCE
D. ECBD
E. EBCD

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Answer Option D

Looking at the pattern, we see that EC is repeating pattern. E talks about the existence of academic literature on family structures and compares them with that of crime, while C adds to that comparison saying both are inconclusive. So EC definitely goes together. So our answer lies between option b and d. Between them, now checks the sequence of B and D. D starts with a linking word "but regardless" and is very clearly a continuation of option B. Hence (d) is the answer.

Question 2

A. I had six thousand acres of land, and had thus got much spare land besides the coffee plantation. Part of the farm was native forest, and about one thousand acres were squatters' land, what [the KikuyuJ called their shambas.
B. The squatters' land was more intensely alive than the rest of the farm, and was changing with the seasons the year round. The maize grew up higher than your head as you walked on the narrow hard-trampled footpaths in between the tall green rustling regiments.
C. The squatters are Natives, who with their families hold a few acres on a white man's farm, and in return have to work for him a certain number of days in the year. My squatters, I think, saw the relationship in a different light, for many of them were born on the farm, and their fathers before them, and they very likely regarded me as a sort of superior's quatter on their estates.

D. The Kikuyu also grew the sweet potatoes that have a vine like leaf and spread over the ground like a dense entangled mat, and many varieties of big yellow and green speckled pumpkins.
E. The beans ripened in the fields, were gathered and thrashed by the women, and the maize stalks and coffee pods were collected and burned, so that in certain seasons thin blue columns of smoke rose here and there all over the farm

(2007)

A. CBDE
B. CBED
C. BCDE
D. DBCE
E. EDBC

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Answer Option B

In the first look, we know that we have a pair BC or CB. Statement B talks about squatters land whereas statement C talks about squatters. We first talk about squatters and then about squatters land. Logically, statement B follows statement C   i.e. we have a pair CB. The author starts statement D with "The Kikuyu also grew the". The word "also" in statement D is a clue here. We get a hint that in a statement, previous to D, the author must talk about growing of varieties of products. Therefore, we have statement D following statement E. Hence answer option B

Question 3

A) But this does not mean that death, was the Egyptians' only preoccupation.
B) Even papyri come mainly from pyramid temples.
C) Most of our traditional sources of information about the Old Kingdom are monuments of the rich like pyramids and tombs.
D) Houses in which ordinary Egyptians lived have not been preserved, and when most people died they were buried in simple graves.
E) We know infinitely more about the wealthy people of Egypt than we do about the ordinary people, as most monuments were made for the rich.
(2004)

A. CDBEA
B. ECDAB
C. EDCBA
D. DECAB

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option C

There are a number of meaningful pairs that can be identified in this question that leads to the correct answer: ED, DC and CB. This can lead to the pair EDCB.
Hence, option C is the correct answer.

Question 4

A) This is now orthodoxy to which I subscribe-up to a point.
B) It emerged from the mathematics of chance and statistics.
C) Therefore, the risk is measurable and manageable.
D) The fundamental concept: Prices are not predictable, but the mathematical laws of chance can describe their fluctuations.
E) This is how what business schools now call modern finance was born.
(2005)

A. ADCBE
B. EBDCA
C. ABDCE
D. DCBEA

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option B

There is a link EB. Statement E introduces "modern finance" and statement B then explains the factors responsible for its emergence. The word "it" in statement B refers to modern finance.
Hence, option B is the correct answer.

Question 5

A) Similarly, turning to caste, even though being lower caste is undoubtedly a separate cause of disparity, its impact is all the greater when the lower-caste families also happen to be poor.
B) Belonging to a privileged class can help a woman to overcome many barriers that obstruct women from less thriving classes.
C) It is the interactive presence of these two kinds of deprivation - being low class and being female - that massively impoverishes women from the less privileged classes.
D) A congruence of class deprivation and gender discrimination can blight the lives of poorer women very severely.
E) Gender is certainly a contributor to societal inequality, but it does not act independently of class.
(2005)

A. EABDC
B. EBDCA
C. DAEBC
D. BECDA

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option B

Looking at the information conveyed by the paragraph, we logically get an idea that E is the opening statement. The next clue is the CA link, where the author talks about gender and class in statement C and then about caste in statement A. The word "Similarly" in the link here. We can reach to the conclusion by using the second clue only.
Hence, option B is the correct answer.

Question 6

A) The two neighbours never fought each other.
B) Fights involving three male fiddler crabs have been recorded, but the status of the participants was unknown.
C) They pushed or grappled only with the intruder.
D) We recorded 17 cases in which a resident that was fighting an intruder was joined by an immediate neighbour, an ally.
E) We, therefore, tracked 268 intruder males until we saw them fighting a resident male.
(2004)

A. BEDAC
B. DEBAC
C. BDCAE
D. BCEDA

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Option A

The clue to solve this question is the combination of sentences DAC. It shows that the two neighbors fought only with the intruder and did not get into a fight with each other. If we see option 1 and read it carefully, we see a sequence of events being established with the author observing fights between three crabs to begin with, then moving to total cases of intrusion and then to specific cases where a resident male fought with an intruder male.

Question 7

A. In the west, Allied Forces had fought their way through southern Italy as far a Rome.
B. In June 1944, Germany's military position in World War II appeared hopeless.
C. In Britain, the task of amassing the men and materials for the liberation of northern Europe had been completed.
D. The Red Army was poised to drive the Nazis back through Poland.
E. The situation on the eastern front was catastrophic.
(2004)

A. EDACB
B. BEDAC
C. BDECA
D. CEDAB

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option B

Looking at the structure of the statement and logically, it appears that statement B is the opening statement of the paragraph. When we go through the remaining statements, the author mentions the directions like "northern", "west", "southern" and "eastern". We can conclude that ED is the link. Statement E says the "situation was catastrophic". Statement D gives the explanation for it.
Hence, option B is the correct answer.

Question 8

A. Passivity is not, of course, universal.
B. In areas where there are no lords or laws, or in frontier zones where all men go armed, the attitude of the peasantry may well be different.
C. So indeed it may be on the fringe of the un-submissive.
D. However, for most of the soil-bound peasants the problem is not whether to be normally passive or active, but when to pass from one state to another.
E. This depends on an assessment of the political situation.
(2001)

A. BEDAC
B. CDABE
C. EDBAC
D. ABCDE

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option D

Going through the statements, either statement A or statement B can be the opening statement. The reason for this is that all other statements have pronouns in them. Logically, we could infer that AB is the pair and not BA. In statement A, the author says "Passivity is not universal" and then in statement B an explanation is given to support his statement A.
Hence, option D is the correct answer.

Question 9

A) Experts such as Larry Burns, head of research at GM, reckon that only such a full hearted leap will allow the world to cope with the mass motorization that will one day come to China or India.
B) But once hydrogen is being produced from biomass or extracted from underground coal or made from water, using nuclear or renewable electricity, the way will be open for a huge reduction in carbon emissions from the whole system.
C) In theory, once all the bugs have been stored out, fuel cells should deliver better total fuel economy than any existing engines.
D) That is twice as good as the internal combustion engine, but only five percentage points better than a diesel hybrid.
E) Allowing for the resources needed to extract hydrogen from hydrocarbon, oil, coal or gas, the fuel cell has an efficiency of 30%.
(2006)

A. CEDBA
B. CEBDA
C. AEDBC
D. ACEBD

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Option A

Looking at the answer options, either statement C or statement A could be the opening statement. Statement A is not the opening statement because the author uses the word "such" in it. This implies that there has to be a statement before it which talks about something related to "full heated leap". Therefore, statement C is the opening statement. Next we have a pair ED. At the end of statement E, the author gives a quantitative figure for the efficiency of the fuel, that is, "30%". Statement D begins with the word "That" which refers to the quantitative figure of the efficiency.
Hence, option A is the correct answer.

Question 10

A) In the case of King Merolchazzar's courtship of the Princess of the Outer Isles, there occurs a regrettable hitch.
B) She acknowledges the gifts, but no word of a meeting date follows.
C) The monarch, hearing good reports of a neighboring princess, dispatches messengers with gifts to her court, beseeching an interview.
D) The princess names a date, and a formal meeting takes place; after that everything buzzes along pretty smoothly.
E) Royal love affairs in olden days were conducted on the correspondence method.
(2003)

 

A. ACBDE
B. ABCDE
C. ECDAB
D. ECBAD

SOLUTION

Solution : C

Option C

Statement E talks about the "correspondence method" for love affairs. When we go through the statements, the author explains the "correspondence method" in statement C and D. Logically, we infer that D follows C i.e. we have combination ECD.
Hence, the correct answer is option C.

Question 11

A) He felt justified in bypassing Congress altogether on a variety of moves.
B) At times he was fighting the entire Congress.
C) Bush felt he had a mission to restore power to the presidency.
D) Bush was not fighting just the democrats.
E) Representative democracy is a messy business, and a CEO of the White House does not like a legislature of second guessers and time wasters.
(2004)

A. CAEDB
B. DBAEC
C. CEADB
D. ECDBA

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option D

The easiest pair to identify in this question is DB. The author talks about Bush dealing with Congress in all the three statements. Logically we have statement A following the pair DB. EC is clearly a pair. Statement C talks about restoring power to presidency. The combination DBA explains how Bush was doing so. Therefore, we have statement C coming before combination DBA.
Hence, the correct answer is option D.

Question 12

A) Luckily the tide of battle moved elsewhere after the American victory at Midway and an Australian victory over Japan at Milne Bay.
B) It could have been no more than a delaying tactic.
C) The Australian military, knowing the position was hopeless, planned to fall back to the south-east in the hope of defending the main cities.
D) They had captured most of the Solomon Islands and much of New Guinea, and seemed poised for an invasion.
E) Not many people outside Australia realize how close the Japanese got.
(2003)

A. EDCBA
B. ECDAB
C. ADCBE
D. CDBAE

SOLUTION

Solution : A

Option A

Easiest pair to identify is ED. "They" in statement D refers to Japanese. Statement C follows the pair ED. Statement D talks about the position of Japanese. Then statement C talks about the position of Australian military being hopeless because of Japanese being in such a strong position.
Hence, option A is the correct answer.

Question 13

A) Call it the third wave sweeping the Indian media.
B) Now, they are starring in a new role, as suave dealmakers who are in a hurry to strike alliances and agreements.
C) Look around and you will find a host of deals that have been inked or are ready to be finalized.
D) Then the media barons wrested back control from their editors, and turned marketing warriors with the brand as their missile.
E) The first came with those magnificent men in their mahogany chambers who took on the world with their mighty fountain pens
(2003)

A. ACBED
B. CEBDA
C. CAEBD
D. AEDBC

SOLUTION

Solution : D

Option D

In statement E, the author talks about the power of editors. Then in statement D, the author talks about media taking away the control from their editors and then in statement B, the author talks about starring of editors in a new role. The pronoun "they" in statement B refers to editors. Therefore, we have a combination EDB.  
Hence, option D is the correct answer.

Question 14

A) The wall does not simply divide Israel from a putative Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders.
B) A chilling omission from the road map is the gigantic 'separation wall' now being built in the West Bank by Israel.
C) It is surrounded by trenches, electric wire and moats; there are watch towers at regular intervals.
D) It actually takes in new tracts of Palestinian land, sometimes five or six kilometers at a stretch.
E) Almost a decade after the end of South African apartheid, this ghastly racist wall is going up with scarcely a peep from Israel's American allies who are going to pay for most of it.
(2003)

A. BCADE
B. BADCE
C. AEDCB
D. ECADB

SOLUTION

Solution : B

Option B

Logically, we have a pair AD. Starting of both the statements give us a hint that they form a pair. Statement A starts with "The wall does not simply divide" and statement D starts with "It actually". Therefore we have a pair AD. Statement C starts with a pronoun "It" which basically refers to "wall". So, we have a combination ADC.
Hence, option B is the correct answer.