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. Having thus laid his little plan of philosophy in his closet, Memnon put his head out of the window.
A. The one was old, and appeared quite at her ease.
B. The other was young, handsome, and seemingly much agitated: she sighed, she wept, and seemed on that account still more beautiful.
C. Our philosopher was touched, not, to be sure, with the beauty of the lady (he was too much determined not to feel any uneasiness of that kind) but with the distress which he saw her in.
D. He saw two women walking under the plane trees near his house.
S2. He came downstairs and accosted the young Ninevite in the design of consoling her with philosophy.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Explanation
. S1 (Fixed): Memnon "put his head out of the window." This establishes his physical position and perspective.
D: Naturally follows S1 by describing what he saw from that window: "He saw two women walking under the plane trees near his house."
A: Begins the specific description of the two women: "The one was old, and appeared quite at her ease."
B: Provides the contrast for the second woman: "The other was young, handsome, and seemingly much agitated..."
C: Explains Memnon's reaction to the second woman described in B: "Our philosopher was touched... with the distress which he saw her in."
S2 (Fixed): Concludes the action prompted by his reaction in C: "He came downstairs and accosted the young Ninevite..."
Correct sequence is DACB.