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. Personally, I was doing everything that occurred to me at the moment.
A. This part of the story I always hurry over, because it is really rather horrible.
B. I stormed and scolded and coaxed in English and French and gamekeeper language; I made absurd, ineffectual cuts in the air with my thong less hunting-crop; I hurled my sandwich case at the brute; in fact, I really don't know what more I could have done.
C. Suddenly Esme bounded aside into some thick bushes, where we could not follow; the wail rose to a shriek and then stopped altogether.
D. And still we lumbered on through the deepening dusk, with that dark, uncouth shape lumbering ahead of us, and a drone of lugubrious music floating in our ears.
S2. When the beast joined us again, after an absence of a few minutes, there was an air of patient understanding about him, as though he knew that he had done something of which we disapproved, but which he felt to be thoroughly justifiable.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Explanation
Correct Answer
BDCA
Explanation
The correct sequence is BDCA because it follows the events in a logical and chronological order. After the narrator states that he was doing everything he could (S1), sentence B explains the various unsuccessful attempts he made to stop the beast. Sentence D then continues the narrative by describing their movement through the deepening dusk while the beast remained ahead of them. Next, sentence C describes the sudden moment when Esme ran into the bushes and the mysterious sound stopped. Finally, sentence A naturally follows because the narrator remarks that this particular incident is too horrible to describe in detail before leading into S2, where the beast returns.
The other sequences disrupt the flow of the narrative by placing descriptive or reflective sentences before the events that lead to them, resulting in a loss of coherence.
Key Point
In paragraph rearrangement questions, arrange the sentences according to the sequence of actions, descriptions, and consequences. Narrative passages usually follow a chronological order, so identifying the event that logically follows the introduction helps determine the correct sequence.