Ordering of Sentences Practice Questions

5 questions per page • Detailed step-by-step solutions

Directions (Q. )

In each of the following questions, a passage consists of six sentences. The first and sixth sentences are given at the beginning and end (as S₁ and S₆). The middle four sentences have been jumbled up and labelled as P, Q, R, and S. Find the proper sequence for the four sentences.

Question 31
Medium
  1. Kangaroos are marsupials that move by hopping on their powerful hind legs.
  2. A female carries her young in a pouch, where the joey continues to develop after birth.
  3. The newborn joey, barely the size of a bean, crawls into the pouch and attaches to a teat.
  4. Their large tendons store elastic energy with each bounce, reducing the effort needed to hop.
  5. At high speeds they hop more efficiently than they could at low speeds.
  6. Their reproductive strategy is as distinctive as their movement.
A PQRS
B RSPQ
C SRQP
D QPSR
Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

R describes the energy-storing tendons, S describes the efficiency at high speed, P describes the pouch as a place of development, and Q describes the newborn joey entering the pouch.
Question 32
Medium
  1. Lightning is a massive electrical discharge in the atmosphere.
  2. A leader stroke ionises a path downward, and a return stroke then carries a bright surge of current back up.
  3. Collisions between ice particles inside storm clouds separate electric charges.
  4. Negative charge gathers at the base of the cloud, while positive charge builds up on the ground below.
  5. The sudden heating of air along this channel produces a shock wave that we hear as thunder.
  6. A single flash can carry enormous energy, yet it lasts only a fraction of a second.
A RPSQ
B SQRP
C PRQS
D QRPS
Correct Answer: D

Explanation:

Q describes charge separation in clouds, R describes the charge distribution, P describes the leader and return strokes, and S explains the origin of thunder.
Question 33
Medium
  1. Sign languages are complete languages with their own grammar and vocabulary.
  2. They are not simply gestures that mirror spoken languages word for word.
  3. Deaf communities have used these languages for centuries, passing them between generations.
  4. Because each sign language develops independently, American and British Sign Language differ greatly.
  5. Signers use handshape, movement, facial expression, and location to convey meaning.
  6. Recognising them as full languages has been an important step for deaf rights.
A RSQP
B QPSR
C PRQS
D SQRP
Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

Q describes the long history of these languages, P clarifies that they are not mere gestures, S explains how meaning is conveyed, and R notes that each develops independently.
Question 34
Hard
  1. Zero is a concept that ancient civilisations approached in very different ways.
  2. Its arrival in Europe transformed calculation, making complex arithmetic far more practical.
  3. Indian mathematicians later developed zero as a true number that could be added and multiplied.
  4. Babylonians used a placeholder symbol, but it did not function as a number in its own right.
  5. This idea travelled to the Islamic world, where scholars refined the arithmetic that used it.
  6. Few ideas have had so simple and so profound an impact.
A SPQR
B RQSP
C QRPS
D PSRQ
Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

R describes the Babylonian placeholder, Q describes the Indian development of zero as a number, S traces its spread to the Islamic world, and P describes its arrival in Europe.
Question 35
Medium
  1. Wetlands are areas where water covers the soil for part or all of the year.
  2. Many wetlands serve as nurseries for fish, amphibians, and waterbirds.
  3. Yet drainage and land reclamation have destroyed a large share of the world's wetlands.
  4. They absorb floodwaters and slowly release them, reducing damage downstream.
  5. Their dense vegetation also filters pollutants before they reach rivers and lakes.
  6. Restoring them is now recognised as a cost-effective way to protect communities.
A QRSP
B RSPQ
C PQRS
D SPQR
Correct Answer: B

Explanation:

R describes flood control, S describes water filtering, P describes their role as nurseries, and Q introduces the threat from drainage.