CAT 2024 Slot 2 Question Paper

Option D is the correct answer.

The passage highlights that one of the main reasons for carnivores becoming habituated to human presence is their reliance on human-provided food, such as that found at campsites or in rubbish bins. This reduces their instinctive fear of humans, making them less avoidant and more likely to encounter humans, which can lead to attacks or euthanasia. The passage states: “Losing that instinctive fear response puts them into more situations where they could get into an altercation with a human,” directly supporting option D.

Option A: This refers to natural aggression in carnivores, such as protecting offspring or food sources, but this type of aggression does not specifically cause habituation to humans. The passage focuses more on the loss of fear due to food reliance, not on aggression linked to offspring or food guarding.

Option B: This mentions climate change causing scarcity of resources, which leads to more frequent human-carnivore encounters, but this is not the primary factor causing habituation to humans. The passage mentions this in relation to increased conflict, but it doesn't suggest it directly contributes to loss of fear or habituation.

Option C: This talks about carnivores perceiving humans as prey (i.e., predatory attacks), but this is described as a rare occurrence (only 17% of attacks) and does not relate to the habituation of carnivores to human presence. The passage focuses on the loss of fear due to reliance on human food.

Option D is the correct answer. The passage specifically states that landscape heterogeneity — a mix of farmland, forests, and carnivore habitats — in rural areas of low-income countries creates more opportunities for human-carnivore encounters. As Penteriani’s research notes, such landscapes increase the statistical probability of these conflicts because the areas are interspersed with both human and carnivore habitats. This aligns with option D.

Option A: This suggests that low-income countries with contiguous wilderness areas would be less prone to conflicts. However, the passage focuses on the heterogeneity (a mix of farmland and carnivore habitats), not just wilderness areas. A large, undisturbed wilderness area could reduce human-carnivore encounters if human presence is limited, but this is not the main point in the passage.

Option B: This implies that landscape heterogeneity reduces conflicts by offering more refuge for wildlife, but the passage argues that such diversity actually increases the likelihood of encounters, not reduces it.

Option C: The passage does not suggest that homogeneous landscapes cause high rates of conflict due to predictability. Instead, it emphasizes the heterogeneity of landscapes as the factor that increases encounters, making this option inconsistent with the passage's message.

This is an official CAT 2024 Question, and the marked answer is according to the official answer key. We disagree with this answer.

Let us look at falsifying these statements: 

Option A: Climate change has had negligible effects on the frequency of carnivore-human interactions in affected regions. 

False version 1: Climate change has had no effect on the frequency of carnivore-human interactions in affected regions. - Inconsistent with the passage

False version 2: Climate change has had a lot of effect on the frequency of carnivore-human interactions in affected regions. - Consistent

As one of the versions contradicts the passage, we can say that the statement if false is inconsistent.

Option B:

Predatory attacks by carnivores are a common occurrence and have steadily increased over the past few decades.
False Version: Predatory attacks by carnivores are a rare occurrence and have steadily increased over the past few decades.

This is consistent with the passage.

Option C: Carnivores lose their instinctive fear of humans, when consistently exposed to human food sources.
False Version: Carnivores do not lose their instinctive fear of humans, when consistently exposed to human food sources. -- irrelevant to the passage as the author speaks on reliance on human food and not exposure to human food "sources".

Option D: Human efforts to avoid risky behaviours around large carnivores have proven effective in reducing conflict incidents.
False version: Human efforts to avoid risky behaviours around large carnivores have not proven effective in reducing conflict incidents. -- beyond the scope of the passage.

Option D is the correct answer.

The passage mentions that 66% of coyote attacks involve a dog, which can either provoke a carnivore or escalate a dangerous situation when the dog chases a carnivore or vice versa. In areas with large carnivores, unleashing dogs can increase the likelihood of encounters and conflicts. Therefore, option D is the most likely scenario to exacerbate carnivore-human conflicts.

Why the other options are less likely to exacerbate the conflicts:

Option A: Preventing wild animals from being attracted to human food sources would actually reduce carnivore-human conflicts by keeping animals from becoming habituated to humans. This would mitigate potential issues, not exacerbate them.

Option B: Addressing the impact of climate change on the availability of resources for wildlife is unlikely to exacerbate conflicts. In fact, the passage suggests that climate change could increase the frequency of human-carnivore encounters due to scarcity of resources. Therefore, addressing climate change would likely help mitigate the issue rather than exacerbate it.

Option C: Photographing wild animals in secured viewing areas not a major driver of carnivore-human conflicts according to the passage. Conflicts typically arise from behaviours that encourage animals to approach humans or interact in risky ways, not from passive observation in protected zones. Therefore, this is unlikely to exacerbate conflicts.

We are given that the numbers keep increasing from left to right (clue 1), and the number keeps decreasing from top to bottom (clue 2)

The key takeaway from this is that 10 must be placed in Row 1, column 4, as placing it anywhere else would mean that the number above it, or right to it, must be greater than 10, which is not an option. 

Clue 3 says that one is either in the same row or the same column as 10. 
The same logic that we used for 10 applies for 1; it must be either in Row 1, column 1, or Row 4, column 4; we don't know which one yet. 

We are given that 2 and 3 are not in the same column or row as 10, meaning that they must occupy two spots from (Row 2, Col. 2), (Row 2, Col. 3), and (Row 3, Col. 3)

2 and 3 must be present in Row 2, column 2 or Row 3, column 3, as there is no number smaller than it to be in the cell left to it. 

Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row; this can be rows 1, 2, or 3. 

Clue 5 is a good starting point. 
Once we found the position of 10, the only positions possible for 9 are R1C3 or R2C4

If 9 is placed in R2C4, 7 and 8 must be placed in row 1. 
Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row, but with 7 and 8 in row 1, no rows are left with two spaces. Hence, 9 can not be in R2C4, and the arrangement must be:

7 and 8 must be in column 4, occupying R3C4 and R2C4, respectively. 

Hence, 4, 6 must be in row 1:

The lowest sum is of the 4th row. 

Therefore,  is the correct answer. 

We are given that the numbers keep increasing from left to right (clue 1), and the number keeps decreasing from top to bottom (clue 2)

The key takeaway from this is that 10 must be placed in Row 1, column 4, as placing it anywhere else would mean that the number above it, or right to it, must be greater than 10, which is not an option.

Clue 3 says that one is either in the same row or the same column as 10.
The same logic that we used for 10 applies for 1; it must be either in Row 1, column 1, or Row 4, column 4; we don't know which one yet.

We are given that 2 and 3 are not in the same column or row as 10, meaning that they must occupy two spots from (Row 2, Col. 2), (Row 2, Col. 3), and (Row 3, Col. 3)

2 and 3 must be present in Row 2, column 2 or Row 3, column 3, as there is no number smaller than it to be in the cell left to it.

Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row; this can be rows 1, 2, or 3.

Clue 5 is a good starting point.
Once we found the position of 10, the only positions possible for 9 are R1C3 or R2C4

If 9 is placed in R2C4, 7 and 8 must be placed in row 1.
Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row, but with 7 and 8 in row 1, no rows are left with two spaces. Hence, 9 can not be in R2C4, and the arrangement must be:

7 and 8 must be in column 4, occupying R3C4 and R2C4, respectively.

Hence, 4, 6 must be in row 1:

We can see that the positions 10 and 1 are fixed and agree with the given statements. 
Both the statements are true. 
Therefore, Option A is the correct answer. 

We are given that the numbers keep increasing from left to right (clue 1), and the number keeps decreasing from top to bottom (clue 2)

The key takeaway from this is that 10 must be placed in Row 1, column 4, as placing it anywhere else would mean that the number above it, or right to it, must be greater than 10, which is not an option.

Clue 3 says that one is either in the same row or the same column as 10.
The same logic that we used for 10 applies for 1; it must be either in Row 1, column 1, or Row 4, column 4; we don't know which one yet.

We are given that 2 and 3 are not in the same column or row as 10, meaning that they must occupy two spots from (Row 2, Col. 2), (Row 2, Col. 3), and (Row 3, Col. 3)

2 and 3 must be present in Row 2, column 2 or Row 3, column 3, as there is no number smaller than it to be in the cell left to it.

Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row; this can be rows 1, 2, or 3.

Clue 5 is a good starting point.
Once we found the position of 10, the only positions possible for 9 are R1C3 or R2C4

If 9 is placed in R2C4, 7 and 8 must be placed in row 1.
Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row, but with 7 and 8 in row 1, no rows are left with two spaces. Hence, 9 can not be in R2C4, and the arrangement must be:

7 and 8 must be in column 4, occupying R3C4 and R2C4, respectively.

Hence, 4, 6 must be in row 1:

Positions 2 and 3 can be switched. 
Either of them can be in column 2 or 3 

Neither of the statements is necessarily true. 
Therefore, Option C is the correct answer. 

We are given that the numbers keep increasing from left to right (clue 1), and the number keeps decreasing from top to bottom (clue 2)

The key takeaway from this is that 10 must be placed in Row 1, column 4, as placing it anywhere else would mean that the number above it, or right to it, must be greater than 10, which is not an option.

Clue 3 says that one is either in the same row or the same column as 10.
The same logic that we used for 10 applies for 1; it must be either in Row 1, column 1, or Row 4, column 4; we don't know which one yet.

We are given that 2 and 3 are not in the same column or row as 10, meaning that they must occupy two spots from (Row 2, Col. 2), (Row 2, Col. 3), and (Row 3, Col. 3)

2 and 3 must be present in Row 2, column 2 or Row 3, column 3, as there is no number smaller than it to be in the cell left to it.

Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row; this can be rows 1, 2, or 3.

Clue 5 is a good starting point.
Once we found the position of 10, the only positions possible for 9 are R1C3 or R2C4

If 9 is placed in R2C4, 7 and 8 must be placed in row 1.
Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row, but with 7 and 8 in row 1, no rows are left with two spaces. Hence, 9 can not be in R2C4, and the arrangement must be:

7 and 8 must be in column 4, occupying R3C4 and R2C4, respectively.

Hence, 4, 6 must be in row 1:

Placements of all the numbers except 2 and 3 can be determined. 

Therefore, 2 is the correct answer. 

We are given that the numbers keep increasing from left to right (clue 1), and the number keeps decreasing from top to bottom (clue 2)

The key takeaway from this is that 10 must be placed in Row 1, column 4, as placing it anywhere else would mean that the number above it, or right to it, must be greater than 10, which is not an option.

Clue 3 says that one is either in the same row or the same column as 10.
The same logic that we used for 10 applies for 1; it must be either in Row 1, column 1, or Row 4, column 4; we don't know which one yet.

We are given that 2 and 3 are not in the same column or row as 10, meaning that they must occupy two spots from (Row 2, Col. 2), (Row 2, Col. 3), and (Row 3, Col. 3)

2 and 3 must be present in Row 2, column 2 or Row 3, column 3, as there is no number smaller than it to be in the cell left to it.

Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row; this can be rows 1, 2, or 3.

Clue 5 is a good starting point.
Once we found the position of 10, the only positions possible for 9 are R1C3 or R2C4

If 9 is placed in R2C4, 7 and 8 must be placed in row 1.
Clue 6 says that 4 and 6 are in the same row, but with 7 and 8 in row 1, no rows are left with two spaces. Hence, 9 can not be in R2C4, and the arrangement must be:

7 and 8 must be in column 4, occupying R3C4 and R2C4, respectively.

Hence, 4, 6 must be in row 1:

The sum of numbers in the 4th column is 10+8+7+1 = 26

Therefore, 26 is the correct answer. 

The first thing to realise here is the lengths of the paths.

KN should be equal to LM, giving the length of KO using Pythagoras theorem as 500m 

Similarly, the length of HJ=OP=150m and length of GJ=EL=200m, giving the length of HG as 250 m

The shortest path from L to B and then to P (or the other way around would involve) using these hypotenuses as much as possible instead of the two adjacent sides. The shortest can be visualised as shown below or multitude of others variations, as there are multiple ways that would make one travel the shortest distance)

The below figure is the simplest one for visualisation. 

Other possible paths are L-E-F-C-.. and following the same path. 

The shortest distance in each of these instance would be LE+ED+DC+CB+BG+GI+IP+PO+OK+KL

Which would be 200+400+300+300+400+250+400+150+500+300 = 3200

Therefore, Option B is the correct answer.