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. 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. Down in the dust though my spirit was, I might have tried to strike him for those words if at that moment I had not noticed something very surprising.
A. When, therefore, Mr. Preston gave me the coat which he had picked up from the floor, I saw with terror that my own was already hanging on my arm and that the two were alike in every way.
B. My coat had cost more money than most men could spend, and it had been made especially for me.
C. I remembered that the strange being who had so mysteriously entered and left the room had had a coat.
D. It was different, I thought, from every other coat in the world.
S2. No one else in the group had been wearing one.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Explanation
S1 (Fixed): "Down in the dust though my spirit was, I might have tried to strike him for those words if at that moment I had not noticed something very surprising."
Context: The narrator is upset but is distracted by a "surprising" observation related to something he sees.
Sentence B: "My coat had cost more money than most men could spend, and it had been made especially for me."
Reason: After S1 mentions a "surprising" observation, the narrator starts describing the object of interest—his own unique coat.
Sentence D: "It was different, I thought, from every other coat in the world."
Reason: This follows B perfectly. Sentence B mentions the coat was "made especially for me," and D reinforces this by saying it was "different... from every other coat."
Sentence A: "When, therefore, Mr. Preston gave me the coat which he had picked up from the floor, I saw with terror that my own was already hanging on my arm and that the two were alike in every way."
Reason: The "therefore" connects back to the uniqueness described in B and D. Because his coat was unique (B and D), seeing an identical one (A) causes "terror."
Sentence C: "I remembered that the strange being who had so mysteriously entered and left the room had had a coat."
Reason: Now that the narrator sees two identical coats, he tries to recall where the second one might have come from, remembering the "strange being."
S2 (Fixed): "No one else in the group had been wearing one."
Reason: This concludes the thought by eliminating other possibilities, leaving only the "strange being" (from C) as the source of the second coat.
The correct sequence is BDAC.