CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Question Paper with Solution: PDF Download

Updated on Aug 17, 2026 14:42 IST

By Abhishek Dhawan, Deputy Manager - MBA & BBA Content

IIM Calcutta conducted CAT 2024 Slot 2 on November 24 from 12:30 PM to 2:30 PM. The VARC section had 24 questions to be attempted in 40 minutes. It included 16 Reading Comprehension questions and eight Verbal Ability questions.

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CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Question Paper with Solutions

24 Questions

40 Minutes

✓ Detailed Solutions

    CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Questions.pdf
   

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CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC was rated moderate. The section had four Reading Comprehension passages, each followed by four questions. The passages covered topics related to the spice trade, peer review, externalities and conflict between humans and carnivores.

The Verbal Ability part had three para-summary questions, three para-completion questions and two odd-one-out questions. No para-jumble questions were asked in this slot.

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CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Questions with Solutions

Find selected question types from the CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC question paper below:

Question 1: Five jumbled-up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

The UK is a world leader in developing cultivated meat, and the approval of a cultivated pet food is an important milestone.
If we're to realise the full potential benefits of cultivated meat the government must invest in research and infrastructure.
The first UK applications for cultivated meat produced for humans remain under assessment with the Food Standards Agency.
The previous UK government had been looking at fast-tracking the approval of cultivated meat for human consumption.
It underscores the potential for new innovation to help reduce the negative impacts of intensive animal agriculture.

Correct Answer: 4

📖RC Passage for Ques 2, 3, & 4Click to Expand / Collapse

There are three other common drivers for carnivore-human attacks, some of which are more preventable than others. Natural aggression-based conflicts - such as those involving females protecting their young or animals protecting a food source - can often be avoided as long as people stay away from those animals and their food.

Carnivores that recognise humans as a means to get food, are a different story. As they become more reliant on human food they might find at campsites or in rubbish bins, they become less avoidant of humans. Losing that instinctive fear response puts them into more situations where they could get into an altercation with a human, which often results in that bear being put down by humans. "A fed bear is a dead bear," says Servheen, referring to a common saying among biologists and conservationists.

Predatory or predation-related attacks are quite rare, only accounting for 17% of attacks in North America since 1955. They occur when a carnivore views a human as prey and hunts it like it would any other animal it uses for food. (...)

Then there are animal attacks provoked by people taking pictures with them or feeding them in natural settings such as national parks which often end with animals being euthanised out of precaution. "Eventually, that animal becomes habituated to people, and [then] bad things happen to the animal. And the folks who initially wanted to make that connection don't necessarily realise that," says Christine Wilkinson, a postdoctoral researcher at UC Berkeley, California, who's been studying coyote-human conflicts.

After conducting countless postmortems on all types of carnivore-human attacks spanning 75 years, Penteriani's team believes 50% could have been avoided if humans reacted differently. A 2017 study co-authored by Penteriani found that engaging in risky behaviour around large carnivores increases the likelihood of an attack

Two of the most common risky behaviours are parents leaving their children to play outside unattended and walking an unleashed dog, according to the study. Wilkinson says 66% of coyote attacks involve a dog. "[People] end up in a situation where their dog is being chased, or their dog chases a coyote, or maybe they're walking their dog near a den that's marked, and the coyote wants to escort them away," says Wilkinson.

Experts believe climate change also plays a part in the escalation of human-carnivore conflicts, but the correlation still needs to be ironed out. "As finite resources become scarcer, carnivores and people are coming into more frequent contact, which means that more conflict could occur," says Jen Miller, international programme specialist for the US Fish & Wildlife Service. For example, she says, there was an uptick in lion attacks in western India during a drought when lions and people were relying on the same water sources. (. . .) The likelihood of human-carnivore conflicts appears to be higher in areas of low-income countries dominated by vast rural landscapes and farmland, according to Penteriani's research. "There are a lot of working landscapes in the Global South that are really heterogeneous, that are interspersed with carnivore habitats, forests and savannahs, which creates a lot more opportunity for these encounters, just statistically," says Wilkinson.

Question 2: According to the passage, which of the following scenarios would MOST likely exacerbate the frequency of carnivore-human conflicts?

Addressing the impact of climate change on the availability of resources for wildlife.
Unleashing dogs by pet owners in areas with known high concentrations of large carnivores.
Implementing 'food waste' management strategies to prevent wild animals being attracted to human food sources.
Attempting to photograph wild animals from within secured viewing areas in national parks and protected zones.

Correct Answer: B

Question 3: According to the passage, what is a significant factor that contributes to the habituation of carnivores to human presence?

The natural aggression exhibited by carnivores, exacerbated by human interference, particularly when they are safeguarding their offspring or food sources.
The reduction in carnivores' instinctive fear response, resulting from their reliance upon human-provided food.
The increased scarcity of resources due to climate change, forcing carnivores to venture outside their natural habitats in search of sustenance.
The predatory perception of humans as potential prey within the carnivores' food chain.

Correct Answer: B

Question 4: Which of the following statements, if false, would be inconsistent with the concerns raised in the passage regarding the drivers of carnivore-human conflicts?

Predatory attacks by carnivores are a common occurrence and have steadily increased over the past few decades.
Climate change has had negligible effects on the frequency of carnivore-human interactions in affected regions.
Human efforts to avoid risky behaviours around large carnivores have proven effective in reducing conflict incidents.
Carnivores lose their instinctive fear of humans, when consistently exposed to human food sources.

Correct answer: B

Question 5: The passage is followed by four alternate summaries. Choose the option that best captures the essence of the passage.

📖Para Summary PassageClick to Expand / Collapse

Recent important scientific findings have emerged from crossing the boundaries of scientific fields. They stem from physicists collaborating with biologists, sociologists and others, to answer questions about our world. But physicists and their potential collaborators often find their cultures out of sync. For one, physicists often discard a lot of information while extracting broad patterns; for other scientists, information is not readily disposed. Further, many non-physicists are uncomfortable with mathematical models. Still, the desire to work on something new and different is real, and there are clear benefits from the collision of views.

Large data sets and mathematical models in physics research, combined with the research methods of non-physicist collaborators, have yielded important scientific findings.
The desire to diversify their research and answer important questions has led to several collaborations between physicists and other social scientists.
Despite differences in their research styles, physicists' research collaborations with scholars from other disciplines have yielded important research findings.
Physicists have successfully buried their differences on research methods applied in other fields in their desire to find answers to baffling scientific questions.

Correct Answer: C

NOTE: For CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC question paper solutions, refer to the PDF above.

CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Question Paper: MCQ & TITA Weightage

Find the weightage for MCQ vs TITA questions in CAT 2024 slot 2 VARC question paper below:

Question Type	Total Questions	MCQs	TITA
Reading Comprehension	16	16	0
Para Summary	3	3	0
Para Completion	3	3	0
Odd One Out	2	0	2
TOTAL	24	22	2

CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Topic-wise Weightage

Check topic wise weightage in CAT VARC section of 2024 slot 2 question paper below:

Topic	Weightage (No. of Questions)
Spices Trade RC	4
Peer Review RC	4
Externalities RC	4
Carnivore-Human Conflict RC	4
Para Summary	3
Para Completion	3
Odd One Out	2
Para Jumbles	0

CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Question Paper: Sub Topics and Weightage

Check the weightage between Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension questions in CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC question paper:

Section	Questions	Time	Difficulty Level
Reading Comprehension	16	40 Minutes	Easy to Moderate
Verbal Ability	8	40 Minutes	Moderate
TOTAL	24	40 Minutes	Moderate

FAQs on CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC Question Paper

Check some important FAQs related to CAT 2024 Slot 2 VARC question paper:

Q: What is the best preparation strategy for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension?

To prepare for Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension, stick to the traditional path of concepts first and practice later. Study English grammar and Verbal Ability first to understand the concept. Then practice a number of sample questions of different kinds to gain confidence, speed and accuracy. For RC passages, develop the habit of reading from early stages. Read books from all walks of life.

Practicing sample Reading Comprehension passages and questions in a crucial part of VARC preparation. This will help you understand the types of questions and RC passages asked in various entrance exams.

As an aspirant, you will be appearing for more than one entrance exam, thus you need to have the practice of different types of RC passages.

Q: How many RC questions does CAT have?

The CAT VARC section is dominated by RC questions. Out of 24 questions about 14-16 are based on Reading Comprehension passages and the rest of them are based on parajumbles, para completion, etc.

CAT has about 12-16 RC question. Since, it is not mandatory to solve all the questions, candidates can maximize their scores by leaving out the questions related to the passage they find the toughest. There is negative marking in CAT so candidates must ensure that they mark only the correct options or do not mark any option at all.

Q: What is the difference between slot 1, 2 and 3 of CAT exam paper?

There is no difference between slot 1, 2 and 3 of CAT exam paper in terms of structure and patten. The sectional break up, marking scheme and time limit are the same in all slots. However, due to unique sets of questions in each slot leads to difference in difficulty levels. There is usually a slight difference in the CAT question papers of different slots. Sometimes, topic wise weightage of the questions also vary. To negate advantage or disadantage to candidates due to difference in difficulty level of slots, CAT scores are normalised for result preparation.

Q: How many question should I solve for 99 percentile in CAT exam?

To get 99 percentile and above, candidates must attempt 40-45 out of 68 questions in CAT, with maximum accuracy.