Paracompletion Question 1 - CAT 2024
Sentence: Science has officially crowned us superior to our early-rising brethren.
Paragraph: My fellow night owls, grab a strong cup of coffee and gather around; I have great news. __(1)__. For a long time, our kind has been unfairly maligned. Stereotyped as lazy and undisciplined. Told we ought to be morning larks. Advised to go to bed early so we can wake before 5am and run a marathon before breakfast like all high-flyers seem to do. Now, however, we are having the last laugh. __(2)__. It may be a tad more complicated than that. A study published last week, which you may have already seen while scrolling at 1am, suggests that staying up late could be good for brain power. __(3)__. Is this study a thinly veiled PR exercise conducted by a caffeine-pill company? Nope, it’s legit. __(4)__. Research led by academics at Imperial College London studied data on more than 26,000 people and found that “self-declared ‘night owls’ generally tend to have higher cognitive scores”.
Step-by-Step Explanation
The sentence before Option 2 says, “Now, however, we are having the last laugh.” The next sentence explains why they are having the last laugh: “Science has officially crowned us superior to our early-rising brethren.” So, Option 2 fits best because the two sentences connect naturally and make the paragraph easy to follow.
Option 4: This does not fit well here because the sentences around Blank 4 already connect smoothly. Adding this sentence would break the flow.
Option 3: This would also feel out of place. The sentences before Blank 3 are talking about the study supporting night owls. Bringing in the idea of being “superior” at this point would feel sudden and unnecessary.
Option 1: This might seem like a possible answer, but it doesn’t fit as well because the negative stereotypes have not been discussed yet. The idea of being “superior” makes more sense after those points have been explained.