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. This was a crucial piece of information, because I feared she was an unforgettable woman whose real name I never knew, and who wore a similar ring on her right forefinger which, in those days, was even more unusual than it is now.
A. I had come from Rome that morning, and I still remember my immediate response to her splendid soprano's bosom, the languid foxtails on her coat collar, and that Egyptian ring in the shape of a serpent.
B. But no, she had been born in Colombia and had come to Austria between the wars, when she was little more than a child, to study music and voice.
C. She spoke an elementary Spanish in a metallic accent without pausing for breath, and I thought she was the only Austrian at the long wooden table.
D. I had met her thirty-four years earlier in Vienna, eating sausage with boiled potatoes and drinking draft beer in a tavern frequented by Latin American students.
S2. She was about thirty, and did not carry her years well, for she had never been pretty and had begun to age before her time.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
Correct Answer
DACB
Explanation
After S1 introduces the narrator's concern about the woman's identity, Sentence D naturally follows by explaining when and where the narrator first met her. Sentence A continues this memory by describing the narrator's first impressions of her appearance. Sentence C then explains why the narrator assumed she was Austrian, based on her accent and presence at the table. Finally, Sentence B corrects that assumption by revealing that she was actually born in Colombia and later moved to Austria. This sequence leads smoothly to S2, which continues describing the woman.
The other sequences disturb the logical flow. They either introduce the correction before the mistaken assumption or describe events without first establishing the context of the narrator's first meeting.
Key Points
In para-jumble questions, look for sequences where an assumption is immediately followed by its explanation or correction. Words like “But,” “No,” and pronouns often indicate the natural order of ideas.