Given below are six sentences taken from a paragraph. The first and the last sentences are numbered S1 and S2 and are placed in the first and last positions respectively and are fixed in their positions. The other four sentences between the first and last sentences are jumbled up and are numbered A, B, C, and D. Rearrange the jumbled sentences in a logical sequence keeping the unity and coherence of the paragraph intact. Choose the correct alternative that best describes the sequence.
S1. When he came on deck next morning they were close to land.
A. There was a thin strip of silver beach rising quickly to hills covered to the top with luxuriant vegetation.
B. The coconut trees, thick and green, came nearly to the water's edge, and among them you saw the grass houses of the Samoans; and here and there, gleaming white, a little church.
C. He looked at it with greedy eyes.
D. Mrs Davidson came and stood beside him.
S2. She was dressed in black and wore round her neck a gold chain, from which dangled a small cross.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Correct Answer
CABD
Explanation
Sentence S1 establishes that "he" came on deck and saw that they were close to land. Sentence C naturally follows S1 because the pronoun "it" in "He looked at it..." refers directly back to the "land" mentioned at the end of S1.
Once he looks at the land, sentences A and B describe the details of what he sees on that land. Sentence A introduces the landscape ("a thin strip of silver beach rising quickly to hills"). Sentence B continues this visual description by adding finer details ("The coconut trees... houses of the Samoans... a little church").
Finally, sentence D introduces a new character ("Mrs Davidson came and stood beside him"). This creates a perfect link to the fixed sentence S2, which begins with "She was dressed in black...", where "She" refers directly back to Mrs Davidson.
Key Points
To solve sentence jumbles efficiently, find the strongest link to the fixed terminal sentence first. Seeing that fixed sentence S2 starts with "She" tells you immediately that the sentence right before it must introduce a female character, making D the mandatory final link in your sequence.