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CAT 2021 Slot 1 · Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension · Medium · Verbal Ability

This is a medium Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension question from the CAT 2021 Slot 1 paper. It tests Verbal Ability. The full answer key and a step-by-step explanation are below — try it yourself first, then reveal the solution.

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Five jumbled up sentences, related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd one out and key in the number of the sentence as your answer:

  1. There is a dark side to academic research, especially in India, and at its centre is the phenomenon of predatory journals.
  2. But in truth, as long as you pay, you can get anything published.
  3. In look and feel thus, they are exactly like any reputed journal.
  4. They claim to be indexed in the most influential databases, say they possess editorial boards that comprise top scientists and researchers, and claim to have a rigorous peer-review structure.
  5. But a large section of researchers and scientists across the world are at the receiving end of nothing short of an academic publishing scam.
Answer

5

Explanation

Sentence 1 introduces predatory journals. Sentences 4 and 3 describe how these predatory journals present themselves to look genuine. Sentence 2 exposes the truth ('as long as you pay, you can get anything published'). Sequence 1432 forms a cohesive paragraph. Sentence 5 is a broad generalization about scientists being victims of a publishing scam, making it the odd one out.

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