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CAT VARC

CAT para jumbles practice

Para jumbles are worth attention because they are short and, unlike reading comprehension, rewarded without a negative mark when typed in. The method is simple: find the sentence that can stand alone as an opening, find the pairs that must stay together because of a pronoun or connector, and then check the order for logic. Try the four below and write down which clue settled each one.

Key ideas

  • Find the opening sentence: it introduces the topic and does not depend on an earlier sentence.
  • Look for mandatory pairs: a pronoun (this, they) needs its noun, and connectors (however, therefore) need the idea before them.
  • A closing sentence often gives a conclusion or a consequence.
  • Check chronology when events are described in time order.
  • If two orders look possible, the one that keeps the idea flowing in a single direction is usually right.

Common traps

  • Choosing an opening sentence that starts with a pronoun.
  • Ignoring a connector such as however that signals a contrast with an earlier sentence.
  • Spending more than 90 seconds on one jumble.

Practice questions with solutions

Try each question first, then open the solution.

  1. Arrange the sentences in the correct order and type the four digit sequence. 1. As a result, many now count visitors rather than loans as a measure of success. 2. Libraries once existed mainly to lend books. 3. This shift has changed what a library is for. 4. Over the past decade they have added computers, classes and quiet study spaces.

    Type in the answer (no options).

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: 2431

    The opening states the old role, the second describes the change, 'This shift' names it and 'As a result' gives the consequence, so it must come last. The correct order is 2431.

  2. Arrange the sentences in the correct order and type the four digit sequence. 1. Soon astronomers turned them towards the planets. 2. These observations challenged the belief that everything circled the Earth. 3. The first telescopes were used mainly to look at the Moon. 4. They found moons around Jupiter that moved in regular orbits.

    Type in the answer (no options).

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: 3142

    The opening gives the starting use, then the widening of use, the discovery and its consequence. The correct order is 3142.

  3. Arrange the sentences in the correct order and type the four digit sequence. 1. By then, the worst of the decline may already be over. 2. Most people think of a recession as a sudden event. 3. Statisticians need several quarters of data before they can confirm a fall in output. 4. In practice, it is usually recognised only months after it has begun.

    Type in the answer (no options).

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: 2431

    The opening states the common belief, the contrast comes next, the reason follows and the closing gives the implication. The correct order is 2431.

  4. Arrange the sentences in the correct order and type the four digit sequence. 1. Cafes then became places where news and ideas were exchanged. 2. Coffee reached Europe in the seventeenth century. 3. In time, some of those cafes grew into institutions of finance and publishing. 4. Merchants in port cities were the first to adopt it.

    Type in the answer (no options).

    Show answer and solution

    Answer: 2413

    It runs in time order: arrival, early adopters, cafes as meeting places, and later institutions. The correct order is 2413.

Keep practising