CAT Questions | CAT Word Usage Questions

The question is from CAT Word Usage. Word Usage for Verbal Ability for CAT. Word Usage questions that appear in the verbal section of CAT look for the correct usage of words in a sentence. Have a look at this question from Word Usage. Solve CAT Questions from Word Usage to get more practice and 2IIMs CAT questions bank provides you with CAT questions that can help you gear for CAT Exam .

Question 9: Magna Carta was an ephemeral (A)/abiding (B) agreement between 25 nobles and King John, setting out certain baronial rights in England in 1215.

The original agreement was in effect only for a short time after the 15 June sealing, after (A)/ before(B) being voided by Pope Innocent III.

Ostensibly (A)/ Nevertheless (B), the Magna Carta has rocked the Western world for centuries, setting off tremors that still reverberate in the US Bill of Rights about individual liberties and the concept of speaking truth to power.

Until (A)/But while (B) the vellum sheets of Magna Carta are preserved, there is a real debate in the world over whether or not the freedoms that have their beginnings in the charter might well be on the decline.

1. BAAB
2. AABA
3. BBAA
4. ABBB

Explanatory Answer

Method of solving this CAT Question from Word Usage:

Sentence 1- Magna Carta was an ephemeral (A)/abiding (B) agreement between 25 nobles and King John, setting out certain baronial rights in England in 1215.

Without prior knowledge about the Magna Carta, it is difficult to say whether the agreement was ephemeral (transient) or abiding (enduring).

Sentence 2- The original agreement was in effect only for a short time after the 15 June sealing, after (A)/ before (B) being voided by Pope Innocent III.

Clearly, we have the answer to sentence 1 in this sentence. Magna Carta was in effect only for a short time. Therefore, the correct option for sentence 1 is ephemeral.

For sentence 2, the correct word choice is “before�. The agreement could not have been in effect after being voided by the Pope.

Sentence 3- Ostensibly (A)/ Nevertheless (B), the Magna Carta has rocked the Western world for centuries, setting off tremors that still reverberate in the US Bill of Rights about individual liberties and the concept of speaking truth to power.

“Nevertheless� is the correct word choice here.

Sentence 4- Until (A)/But while (B) the vellum sheets of Magna Carta are preserved, there is a real debate in the world over whether or not the freedoms that have their beginnings in the charter might well be on the decline.

The obvious choice here is “but while�.

Hence, the answer is ABBB

Choice D is the correct answer.