CAT (Common Admission Test) · Verbal Ability & Reading Comprehension
Odd Sentence Out
CAT verbal ability: five sentences, four form one paragraph, name the leftover.
A CAT odd-sentence item gives five sentences. Four of them form one paragraph with a single job — one claim, one process, or one contrast. The task is to name the leftover: a line that may share vocabulary or a neighbouring topic but cannot sit in that paragraph without changing what the paragraph is doing.
- CAT (Common Admission Test)
- Hard level
- 6 concepts
- 12 practice questions
1Four sentences, one paragraph job
The item is not a grammar hunt and not a fact-check. All five lines can be grammatical and true. Four of them develop one paragraph job. The fifth is the answer because it would start a second paragraph.
Related is not the same as belonging. A leftover about reservoirs can sit next to a paragraph about street-tree shade and still be weather-adjacent. Adjacent is the trap, not the test.
What to ask
- Name the jobIn one clause, say what four of the sentences are doing: one claim, one process, or one contrast.
- Seat the fourPut those four in a readable order. If they will not sit without a fifth idea, you have the wrong job.
- Name the leftoverThe sentence that cannot take a seat without changing the job is the odd one — even if it is true and on-topic in a neighbouring sense.
Each wrong hunt answers a different question from the one CAT is asking.
| What students try | What the item asks | Why that hunt fails |
|---|---|---|
| Grammar or error hunt | Which sentence cannot sit in the reconstructed paragraph | CAT verbal ability is not SSC spotting-errors |
| Fact-check | Which line cannot share the paragraph's job | All five lines can be true |
| Least-related word | Which line would start a second paragraph | The leftover is usually topic-adjacent, not alien |
Name the leftover sentence
Five sentences. (A) A tidal turbine turns as the current floods and again as it ebbs. (B) Because tides are driven by the moon, the output is predictable days in advance. (C) Grid operators value that predictability more than raw quantity, since they can schedule around it. (D) Offshore wind farms, by contrast, need long undersea cables to reach shore. (E) A source you can forecast is easier to fit into a supply plan than a larger but erratic one. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- name the four's shared jobA, B, C, E build one claim: tidal output is predictable, and predictability is what operators value
- test Dabout undersea cables for offshore wind, a second topic though ocean-adjacent
- confirm A, B, C, E seat togetherA the fact, B forecastability, C the value of it, E the closing generalisation
- leftoverD is the odd sentence out
Pro tip. The leftover is usually topic-adjacent, not alien; reconstruct the four-sentence job first, and the sentence that would start a second paragraph is the answer.
Five sentences: (A) Street trees lower local air temperature by shading pavement. (B) The same canopy also cuts the heat that buildings re-radiate after sunset. (C) Once pavement stays cooler, night-time indoor temperatures fall without extra air-conditioning. (D) A late-monsoon deficit can still push reservoir levels below the irrigation threshold. (E) Cities that count shade as a cooling asset are tracking this pavement-to-indoor chain, not tree-planting as decoration. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- A — street trees shade pavement
- B — canopy cuts re-radiated heat
- C — cooler pavement lowers night indoor heat
- D — monsoon deficit and irrigation reservoirs
- E — shade counted as a cooling asset
A, B, C and E build one mechanism: shade cools pavement, cuts re-radiation, lowers night indoor heat, which is what a cooling-asset count is tracking. D is true and weather-adjacent, but it is about reservoir irrigation — a second paragraph. A is the mechanism's first beat. B continues the same canopy. C is the indoor consequence E names. E is the closer, not an extra topic.
2Reconstruct the thread before you hunt
Do not start by circling the sentence that 'feels off'. Isolation is how a neighbouring-topic line survives: it looks normal by itself. First name the thread four sentences can share, then see which line cannot take a seat.
Hunting the weird line first is how the adjacent-topic sentence survives. The working question is 'what paragraph can I actually write?', not 'which sentence is strangest?'
Figure. Seat four sentences first: an earnings beat is re-priced as revised cash flows, so a one-off credit should jump less. Preferred shares in a bankruptcy waterfall is D's leftover job, not a weird-looking line.
Reconstruct first
- Collect candidate threadsSkim all five. Write one clause for each possible job you can see — a mechanism, a history, a contrast.
- Seat four sentencesFor the most complete job, place four lines in a readable order. A job that needs all five, or that seats only three, is the wrong job.
- Read the leftoverConfirm the unused line would change the job if forced in. That leftover is the answer.
Five sentences: (A) When a firm reports earnings above the consensus, its stock often jumps the same morning. (B) The jump is usually a re-pricing of expected cash flows, not a change in the firm's factories that day. (C) Analysts then revise the path of future earnings, which is what the new price is trying to discount. (D) Preferred shares sit between debt and common equity in a bankruptcy waterfall. (E) If the beat was a one-off tax credit, the revision — and the jump — should be smaller. Four of these form one paragraph. What job do those four share?
- They explain how an earnings beat becomes a same-day price move
- They rank claim priority in a bankruptcy waterfall
- They argue that factories expand the morning after a beat
- They define preferred stock against common equity
A, B, C and E write one paragraph: a beat is re-priced as revised cash flows, so a one-off credit should move the price less. That is the shared job. Ranking a bankruptcy waterfall is D's job — the leftover, not the four. Factories expanding the next morning is what B denies. Defining preferred stock is again D, not the paragraph you can reconstruct.
3Same words, different job
The leftover is often dressed in the same domain nouns as the four: reef, bank, court, monsoon. Shared vocabulary is not a shared job. If you cannot state the paragraph's job in a clause that uses that sentence, the sentence is a neighbour, not a member.
Ask whether dropping the line loses a beat of the same claim, or only loses a second topic that happened to share a setting.
Separate words from job
- List shared nounsUnderline the domain words that appear in more than one sentence — ocean, court, bank, city.
- State the jobWrite the paragraph's job in one clause that does not lean on those nouns alone.
- Drop the neighbourIf a sentence only shares the nouns and would open a second claim, it is the leftover.
A domain noun can sit in two paragraphs. The job cannot.
| What is shared | Belongs? | Test |
|---|---|---|
| Domain nouns (reef, bank, court) | Not by itself | Can you state the job without that sentence? |
| One claim, process, or contrast | Yes | The four read as one paragraph |
| A neighbouring institution or episode | Usually no | It would start a second paragraph |
Five sentences: (A) Coral bleaching events have become more frequent as marine heatwaves lengthen. (B) When zooxanthellae leave the host, the coral loses both colour and its main energy source. (C) Recovery is possible if cooler water returns before the colony starves. (D) Deep-sea mining leases have expanded on abyssal plains far from reef systems. (E) Repeated bleaching on the same reef lowers the chance of that recovery. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- A — bleaching more frequent as heatwaves lengthen
- B — zooxanthellae leave and the coral loses energy
- D — deep-sea mining leases on abyssal plains
- E — repeated bleaching lowers recovery chances
A, B, C and E write one paragraph: heatwaves bleach coral by driving zooxanthellae out, recovery needs a cool return, and repeat bleaching makes that recovery less likely. D shares ocean vocabulary and is true, but abyssal mining is a second job. A is the trend the mechanism explains. B is the mechanism. E continues C's recovery beat, so it belongs.
4Right topic, wrong grain
A leftover can be about the same subject and still fail because it changes the grain. A true sentence at the wrong grain is still the leftover. Historical mechanism plus a closing name for the phases is one paragraph; a 'should now subsidise' line is advice, and advice is a different grain.
The same break appears as a one-year case inside a general mechanism, or a global 'always' claim inside a one-firm or one-trial caselet. Match the four's level of generality before you keep a line.
Match the grain
- Name the four's grainAre they a history, a general mechanism, or a single case? Write that level down.
- Check each candidateMark any line that jumps to advice, to a lone anecdote, or to a globe-wide claim the others do not use.
- Drop the scope jumpThe line that changes the grain cannot sit, even when every noun matches.
Same subject, different level of generality — that is enough to exclude.
| Grain of the four | Odd-sentence grain | Why it cannot sit |
|---|---|---|
| Historical mechanism | Policy 'should now' | Turns description into advice |
| General mechanism | One-country or one-year case | Narrows a general claim to an anecdote the others do not use |
| One-firm or one-trial caselet | Global or unrestricted claim | Widens past the case the others are building |
Drop the sentence at the wrong grain
Five sentences. (A) In the 1600s, Dutch fluyt ships cut crew sizes by simplifying the rigging. (B) Fewer sailors per ton lowered the cost of carrying bulk goods. (C) That cost edge let Dutch traders undercut rivals on grain and timber routes. (D) Governments today should subsidise merchant shipping to protect supply chains. (E) Historians later treated the fluyt as a case of design driving trade dominance. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- name the four's grainA, B, C, E are a historical mechanism plus its later naming
- test Dsame shipping topic, but 'should subsidise today' is present-day advice, a different grain
- confirm the fourA opens, B the cost effect, C the trade edge, E names the case
- leftoverD changes the grain from history to policy, the odd one
Pro tip. Advice inside a history, a single case inside a general mechanism, or a global claim inside a one-firm story cannot sit even when every noun matches.
Five sentences: (A) In the 1990s, several East Asian economies grew by moving workers from farms into export factories. (B) That shift raised average productivity because factory output per worker exceeded farm output per worker. (C) Once the farm-to-factory pool shrank, the same growth rate required productivity gains inside the factories themselves. (D) Governments in the region should now subsidise semiconductor fabs to lock in the next decade of growth. (E) Economists later called the first phase structural transformation and the second within-sector upgrading. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- A — farm-to-factory growth in the 1990s
- B — factory output per worker exceeded farm output
- D — governments should now subsidise semiconductor fabs
- E — the two phases later received names
A, B, C and E are a historical mechanism plus the names later given to its two phases. D is the same region and the same growth topic, but 'should now subsidise' is advice — a grain the others never take. A opens the history. B explains the first phase. E names both phases C has just distinguished, so it belongs as the closer.
5Right domain, wrong speech act
Four sentences can share a role: stages of one process, premises of one argument, or the identification logic of one design. A new argument in the same domain is a new paragraph. A marketing complaint next to a randomised-trial identification paragraph is still a leftover, even when both mention water.
The cue is the speech act, not the setting. If the four are doing one job — walking a design, building one case — a line that argues something else cannot sit.
Match the speech act
- Name the four's roleProcess steps, premises of one claim, or design logic — write the shared speech act.
- Mark a new argumentA rebuttal, a recommendation, or a complaint that needs a different conclusion is a second speech act.
- Drop the foreign roleKeep only the line that continues the same act. The foreign role is the leftover.
Same setting can host two speech acts. Only one of them is this paragraph.
| Shared role of the four | Odd role | Cue |
|---|---|---|
| Stages of one process | A parallel process | New agent or new outcome |
| Premises of one argument | A different argument's premise | A second conclusion in the background |
| Identification or design logic | A marketing or policy complaint | Different speech act, same domain nouns |
Five sentences: (A) A randomised trial assigns some villages a new well and leaves others on the old source. (B) After a year, the treated villages show lower diarrhoeal incidence. (C) The design's point is to make the well the only systematic difference between the two groups. (D) Critics of bottled-water marketing say brands overstate purity relative to municipal supply. (E) If households in treated villages also received hygiene kits, the incidence drop cannot be attributed to the well alone. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- A — trial assigns wells to some villages
- C — the well should be the only systematic difference
- D — bottled-water brands overstate purity
- E — extra hygiene kits would break attribution
A, B, C and E are one identification paragraph: randomise the well, read the incidence gap, and note what would confound attribution. D is also about drinking water, but it is a marketing complaint — a different speech act. A is the assignment. C states the design's point. E is the confound that C's 'only systematic difference' has to survive, so it belongs.
6A connector is not a ticket in
This, however, and therefore look like glue. They are not membership. A real connector can still point at the wrong prior claim. If however needs a different contrast from the one the four are running, the sentence is odd even though the adverb is doing real work.
The reverse trap is the SSC opener test imported whole: a clean full-noun sentence is not automatically the leftover, and a this-line is not automatically in. Test the prior claim the glue needs against this paragraph's job.
Figure. Both lines open with However. C continues judicial review versus Kesavananda's basic-structure limit. D needs a High-Court roster claim this paragraph never runs, so the glue is real and the sentence is still odd.
Test the glue
- Find the glueMark this, that, such, however, therefore, and similar back-references.
- Name the prior claimWrite the claim each glue word needs. If that claim is not this paragraph's job, the line is a neighbour.
- Keep only a matching priorA however that continues this contrast stays. A however that starts a High-Court roster paragraph does not, even if both sentences begin with the same word.
Five sentences: (A) The Supreme Court of India can strike down a statute that violates a fundamental right. (B) This power, called judicial review, is what keeps ordinary legislation inside the constitutional frame. (C) However, a constitutional amendment that alters the basic structure can still be struck down after Kesavananda. (D) However, several High Courts have added commercial benches to clear contract disputes. (E) The basic-structure limit is why Parliament cannot use the amendment route to empty judicial review of content. Which sentence cannot sit in the paragraph?
- B — this power called judicial review
- C — however, basic-structure amendments can still be struck down
- D — however, High Courts added commercial benches
- E — Parliament cannot empty judicial review by amendment
A, B, C and E write one paragraph: judicial review of statutes, then the Kesavananda limit on amendments that touch the basic structure. C's however continues that contrast — statute review is not the whole story; amendments can still fall. D's however is real glue, but the prior claim it needs is about High Court rosters and contract disputes, a second paragraph. B's this power points at A's strike-down power, so the glue matches. E closes the basic-structure beat C opened.
Notes
- Four sentences make one paragraph: All five lines can be grammatical and true. Four of them develop one job - one claim, one process, or one contrast - and the answer is the line that would start a second paragraph.
- Reconstruct before hunting: Naming the thread that four sentences can share comes first; circling the line that feels off comes last. In isolation a neighbouring-topic sentence looks perfectly normal, which is how it survives.
- Shared words are not a shared job: The leftover is usually dressed in the same domain nouns as the four. Ask whether dropping the line loses a beat of the same claim, or only loses a second topic that happened to share a setting.
- Right topic, wrong grain: Advice inside a history, a single-year case inside a general mechanism, or a globe-wide claim inside a one-firm caselet cannot sit, even when every noun matches. Match the four’s level of generality before keeping a line.
- Right domain, wrong speech act: If the four are walking one process or building one argument, a rebuttal, a recommendation or a complaint is a second speech act and therefore a second paragraph.
- A connector is not a ticket in: This, however and therefore look like glue, but a real connector can still point at the wrong prior claim - and a clean full-noun sentence is not automatically the leftover.
Formulas
- Four of five lines share one job — one claim, one process, or one contrast; the answer is the line that would start a second paragraph.
- Reconstruct first: name the thread four sentences can share, then look for the leftover. In isolation the leftover reads perfectly normal.
- Shared domain nouns are not a shared job: ask whether dropping the line loses a beat of the same claim or only a second topic.
- Grain rule: advice inside a history, a single-year case inside a general mechanism, or a global claim inside a one-firm caselet cannot sit however well the nouns match.
- Speech-act rule: if the four walk one process or build one argument, a rebuttal, a recommendation or a complaint is a second paragraph.
- A connector is not a ticket in — this, however and therefore can point at the wrong prior claim, and a clean full-noun sentence is not automatically the leftover.
Exam traps & shortcuts
- The leftover is dressed in the same domain nouns as the four; matching vocabulary is exactly why it survives a first read.
- Do not circle the line that feels off before you can state the job the other four share.
- A recommendation inside a description, or a description inside a recommendation, is the giveaway even when every noun matches.
- A globe-wide claim planted in a one-firm caselet is a grain mismatch, not a summary sentence.
- A sentence carrying "this" or "however" can still be the leftover if its pointer lands on nothing the four supplied.
Reference tables
Night-before sheet: run these four tests on the leftover candidate before you lock.
| Test | Keep the sentence if | Drop it if |
|---|---|---|
| Thread | It develops the same claim, process, or contrast | It only shares a domain word |
| Grain | Same level of generality as the four | Advice in a history; a case in a theory; a globe in a caselet |
| Role | Same speech act as the four | Rebuttal in a description; a definition of a different term |
| Glue | The this/however/therefore points at this paragraph's claim | The connector is real but the prior claim is a sibling topic |
Recap
Keep these on exam day; each one kills a planted odd-sentence leftover.
- Related ≠ in
- A true, on-topic neighbour is still the leftover if it would start a second paragraph.
- Reconstruct first
- Name the four-sentence job before you hunt the weird line — isolation is how the neighbour survives.
- Words ≠ job
- Shared domain nouns (reef, bank, court) are not membership.
- Match the grain
- Advice in a history, a case in a theory, or a globe in a caselet is odd even when the subject matches.
- Match the act
- A new argument in the same domain is a new paragraph.
- Glue can lie
- However/this/therefore can still point at the wrong prior claim; a full-noun line can still belong.
Practise Odd Sentence Out
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