All Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) Practice

All Verbal Ability and Reading Comprehension (VARC) 1 / 557

The following five sentences, labeled 1 to 5, relate to a single topic. Four of these sentences can be arranged to form a logical paragraph. Identify the sentence that does not fit with the others and enter its number as your answer.

1. Within the existentialist paradigm, the concept of authentic existence hinges on an individual's unwavering confrontation with their radical freedom and the concomitant, often burdensome, responsibility for all self-determined choices.
2. This posture fundamentally repudiates "bad faith," a state of self-deception wherein individuals disavow their inherent agency by adopting externally imposed roles or societal expectations.
3. The historical emergence and widespread intellectual resonance of existentialism, particularly in post-war Europe, largely stemmed from its powerful critiques of traditional metaphysics and its valorization of subjective experience.
4. To achieve authenticity is, therefore, to acknowledge the inherent absence of pre-ordained meaning and to actively define one's essence through deliberate actions and unwavering commitment to self-created values.
5. Such a demanding and self-referential mode of being necessitates embracing the existential anxiety born of ultimate self-authorship, rather than finding refuge in conventional norms or collective ideologies.

Correct Answer: 3
Identification of the Theme: The core argument elaborates on the definitional characteristics, challenges, and implications of achieving authentic existence within existentialist philosophy.
Logical Sequence of the Coherent Paragraph: 1-2-4-5.
Sentence 1: Introduces the core concept of authentic existence, linking it to freedom and responsibility.
Sentence 2: Expands on authenticity by contrasting it with "bad faith" and its denial of agency.
Sentence 4: Further defines authenticity as the active creation of meaning in the face of its absence.
Sentence 5: Describes the emotional demands and consequences of adopting such an authentic, self-authored mode of being.
Why Sentence 3 is the Odd One Out: While Sentence 3 is broadly related to existentialism, it shifts focus to the historical emergence, intellectual reception, and foundational critiques of the philosophical movement itself. The other four sentences specifically detail the *nature, characteristics, and implications of authentic existence* as a central tenet *within* existentialist thought, rather than its broader historical or socio-cultural context.

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