Sentence Insertion: Arguments as Freestanding Entities
CAT 2023 Slot 3 · Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension · Medium · Verbal Ability
This is a medium Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension question from the CAT 2023 Slot 3 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.
There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
Sentence: For theoretical purposes, arguments may be considered as freestanding entities, abstracted from their contexts of use in actual human activities.
Paragraph: (1). An argument can be defined as a complex symbolic structure where some parts, known as the premises, offer support to another part, the conclusion. Alternatively, an argument can be viewed as a complex speech act consisting of one or more acts of premising (which assert propositions in favor of the conclusion), an act of concluding, and a stated or implicit marker ("hence", "therefore") that indicates that the conclusion follows from the premises.(2). The relation of support between premises and conclusion can be cashed out in different ways: the premises may guarantee the truth of the conclusion, or make its truth more probable; the premises may imply the conclusion; the premises may make the conclusion more acceptable (or assertible).(3). But depending on one's explanatory goals, there is also much to be gained from considering arguments as they in fact occur in human communicative practices.(4).
- A.
Option 1
- B.
Option 4
- C.
Option 2
- D.
Option 3
D
Explanation
Option D (Option 3) is correct. The sentence sets up the contrast with the final sentence, which begins with "But depending on one's explanatory goals...". Placing the sentence at position (3) bridges the theoretical/abstract view of arguments with the practical communicative context introduced next.
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