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. Two days and two nights did Peter sleep without once awakening.
A. He looked; there were two bags of gold.
B. When he came to himself, on the third day, he looked long at all the corners of his hut but in vain did he endeavour to recollect what had taken place; his memory was like a miser's pocket from which you cannot entice a quarter of a kopek.
C. Stretching himself, he heard something clash at his feet.
D. Then only, as if in a dream, he recollected that he had been seeking for treasure and that something had frightened him in the woods.
S2. But at what price he had obtained it, and how, he could by no means tell.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
Fixed Starting Point (S1): "Two days and two nights did Peter sleep without once awakening."
Next Action: What happens immediately after waking up?
Sentence B: "When he came to himself, on the third day..."
This is the natural successor to S1. He wakes up on the third day and tries to remember what happened. Note that he currently remembers nothing ("in vain did he endeavour to recollect").
Sentence C: "Stretching himself, he heard something clash at his feet."
As he physically wakes up and moves (stretches), he hears a noise. This physical interaction leads to the discovery.
Sentence A: "He looked; there were two bags of gold."
He looks down to see what made the "clash" mentioned in Sentence C. He finds the treasure.
Sentence D: "Then only, as if in a dream, he recollected that he had been seeking for treasure..."
Seeing the gold triggers his memory. This resolves the memory loss mentioned in Sentence B.
Fixed Ending Point (S2): "But at what price he had obtained it... he could by no means tell."
This flows perfectly from the "dream-like" recollection in Sentence D.
Correct sequence is BCAD.