CAT Question 136
Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which the last sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
Q.1. Federer’s fifth grand slam win prompted a reporter to ask whether he was the best ever. Federer is certainly not lacking in confidence, but he wasn’t about to proclaim himself the best ever. “The best player of this generation, yes”, he said, “But nowhere close to ever. Just look at the records that some guys have. I’m a minnow.”_____
(1) His win against Agassi, a genius from the previous generation, contradicts that.
(2) Sampras, the king of an earlier generation, was as humble.
(3) He is more than a minnow to his contemporaries.
(4) The difference between ‘the best of this generation’ and ‘the best ever’ is a matter of perception.
Q.2. Thus the end of knowledge and the closing of the frontier that it symbolizes is not a looming crisis at all, but merely one of many embarrassing fits of hubris in civilization’s long industry. In the end, it will pass away and be forgotten. Ours is not the first generation to struggle to understand the organizational laws of the frontier, deceive itself that it has succeeded, and go to its grave having failed._____
(1) One would be wise to be humble.
(2) But we might be the first generation to actually reach the frontier.
(3) But we might be the first generation to deal with the crisis.
(4) However, this time the success is not illusory.
Q.3. The audiences for crosswords and sudoku, understandably, overlap greatly, but there are differences, too. A crossword attracts a more literary person, while sudoku appeals to a keenly logical mind. Some crossword enthusiasts turn up their noses at sudoku because they feel it lacks depth. A good crossword requires vocabulary, knowledge, mental flexibility and sometimes even a sense of humour to complete. It touches numerous areas of life and provides an “Aha!” or two along
the way._____
(1) Sudoku, on the other hand, is just a logical exercise, each one similar to the last.
(2) Sudoku, incidentally, is growing faster in popularity than crosswords, even among the literati.
(3) Sudoku, on the other hand, can be attempted and enjoyed even by children.
(4) Sudoku, however, is not exciting in any sense of the term.
Q.4. Most firms consider expert individuals to be too elitist, temperamental, egocentric, and difficult to work with. Force such people to collaborate on a high-stakes project and they just might come to fisticuffs. Even the very notion of managing such a group seems unimaginable. So most organizations fall into default mode, setting up project teams of people who get along nicely._____
(1) The result, however, is disastrous.
(2) The result is mediocrity.
(3) The result is creation of experts who then become elitists.
(4) Naturally, they drive innovations.