PARA JUMBLES

Aim : To formulate a coherent paragraph by rearranging the jumbled sentences.

Task mode : Individual

Procedure : The student has to arrange the jumbled sentences into a coherent
paragraph.

Type I: Noun-Pronoun Relationship Approach

In noun/pronoun relationships, we know that the noun will come first and will be referred to later
using suitable pronouns. Study the following example:
A. People can get infected by handling reptiles and then touching their mouths or an open cut.
B. At first, they look the perfect pets: exotic, quiet and tidy.
C. A study estimates that in 1995, there were as many as 6,700 reptile-caused salmonella
infections.
D. But lizards and other pets can harbour a salmonella bacterium that makes people sick.
A) BCAD B) BCDA C) ACDB D) BDCA
Answer: Read sentences C and D carefully. Sentence D contains the noun phrase “a salmonella
bacterium” and Sentence C contains the noun phrase “salmonella infections”. What is the
relationship between the two? Since the phrase “a salmonella bacterium” introduces the
bacterium, it should logically precede the phrase “salmonella infections”. Therefore, the sentence
that contains the phrase “a salmonella bacterium” should come before the sentence that contains
the phrase “salmonella infections”. So, Sentence D should precede Sentence C! Once you have a
link between two sentences, look at the answer choices to see if you are on the right track. If you
are, then you have the right answer [(Option (d) BDCA)].
Example 2: These enormous “rivers” – quite inconstant, sometimes shifting, often branching and
eddying in manners that defy explanation and prediction – occasionally cause disastrous results.
A. One example is El Nino, the periodic catastrophe that plagues the West Coast of America.
B. It is rich in life.
C. This coast is normally caressed by the cold, rich Humboldt Current.
D. Usually, the Humboldt hugs the shore and extends 200 to 300 miles out to sea.
5. It fosters the largest commercial fishery in the world and is the home of one of the mightiest
game fish on record, the black marlin.
A) ABCD B) DCAB C) ACDB C) CBAD
Answer: Read sentences A and C carefully. Notice the noun/ pronoun relationship between the
two. Sentence A refers to “the West Coast of America” and Sentence C talks about “this coast”.
Which coast? Obviously “the West Coast of America”! Therefore, Sentences A and C are related
and Sentence A must come before Sentence C. Now look again. Sentence C talks about “the
cold, rich Humboldt Current” and Sentence D refers to “the Humboldt” obviously these two
sentences are also related. Which one should come first? Once you have decided, check the
answer choices to see if you are correct. [(Option (c) ACDB)].
Acronym Approach
Full Form vs. Short Form When we introduce someone or something, we use the complete name
or title. When we refer to the same someone or something later in the paragraph, we use just the
surname or the first name if we are on familiar terms with the person being discussed. If we are
discussing an object, we remove the modifiers and just use the noun or a pronoun to refer to it. In

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Parajumbles we encounter full and short names or sometimes acronyms of some term or
institution.
Example 3: A. If you are used to having your stimulation come in from outside, your mind never
develops its own habits of thinking and reflecting.
B. Marx thought that religion was the opiate because it soothed people’s pain and suffering and
prevented them from rising in rebellion.
C. If Karl Marx was alive today, he would say that television is the opiate of the people.
D. Television and similar entertainments are even more of an opiate because of their addictive
tendencies.
(a) BACD (b) ADBC (c) BCDA (d) CBDA
Answer: Sentence B has Marx (short form) and sentence C has Karl Marx (full form). So, C will
come before B. Now look at the options. In option (a), (b) and (c), B is placed before C—hence,
rejected. Option (d) is the right answer.
EXERCISE:
I. DIRECTIONS for the Questions: Sentences given in each question, when properly
sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Choose
the most logical order of the sentences from among the four given choices to
construct a coherent paragraph.

Q 1:
A. By reasoning, we mean the mental process of drawing an inference from two or more
statements or going from the inference to the statements, which yield that inference.
B. So logical reasoning covers those types of questions, which imply drawing an inference from
the problems.
C. Logic means if we take its original meaning, the science of valid reasoning.
D. Clearly, for understanding arguments and for drawing the inference correctly, it is necessary
that we should understand the statements first.
A) ACBD B) CABD C) ABCD D) DBCA
Q 2: Commercially reared chicken can be unusually aggressive, and are often kept in darkened
sheds to prevent them from pecking at each other.
A. The birds spent far more of their time — up to a third — pecking at the inanimate objects in
the pens, in contrast to birds in other pens which spent a lot of time attacking others.
B. In low light conditions, they behave less belligerently but are more prone to ophthalmic
disorders and respiratory problems.
C. In an experiment, aggressive head-pecking was all but eliminated among birds in the enriched
environment.
D. Altering the birds’ environment, by adding bales of wood-shavings to their pens, can work
wonders.
6. Bales could diminish aggressiveness and reduce injuries; they might even improve
productivity since a happy chicken is a productive chicken.
(a) DCAB (b) CDBA (c) DBAC (d) BDCA
Q3.
A. Group Banking is the system in which two or more independently incorporated banks are
brought under the control of a holding company.
B. Under group banking, the individual banks may be unit banks, or banks operating branches or
a combination of the two.
C. That is, each bank in the group has got a separate entity.
D. Participating banks retain their own boards of directors which are responsible to the

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supervising and regulatory authority and depositors for the proper operation of the bank.
E. The holding company may or may not be a banking company.
(a). CDBAE (b). EADCB (c). AEBDC (d). ECBDA

Q4 S1: In the opinion of many, the only way to prevent wars is to set up some sort of
government for the whole world.
S6: It was hoped that quarrelling nations who had previously gone to war to settle their
disputes, would now go to these organizations instead.
P)The first, which followed the First World War was called the League of Nations.
Q)Two attempts have already been made in this direction.
R) The second, which followed the Second World War was called the United Nations.
S) The purpose of both organizations was to provide a sort of law for nations to which
they could bring their disputes for settlement.
The proper sequence should be
(a)PRSQ (b) PRQS (c) SPRQ (d) QPRS

Q5. S1: Comrades, you have heard already about the strange dream that I had last night.
S6: It is about this that I wish to speak to you .
P) l have had a long life, I have had much time for thought as I lay alone in my stall, and
I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any animal
now living.
Q) But I will come to the dream later.
R) I have something else to say first.
S) I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I
die, I feel it is my duty to pass on to you the wisdom that I have acquired.
The proper sequence should be
(a) QRPS (b) RSQP (C) QRSP (d) RSPQ

Q6. S1: The best kinds of routine exercises are activities such as walking, cycling and
swimming.
S6: Their purpose is to strengthen the muscles gradually so that a person can work up to the
more demanding exercises.
P) Many people get enough exercise in their ordinary daily routine, while others prefer
to follow an organized programme of exercises.
Q) The early exercises should be easy and designed not to tax the strength of the
person.
R) These should be chosen with care.
S) For example, if a person is not used to regular physical activity, a certain kind of
exercise can cause him great trouble.
The proper sequence should be
(a)PRSQ (b) RPQS (c) PRQS (d) RPSQ

Q7. S1: Reading is a good habit.

S6: To read is to commune with one’s soul.
P) This joy is absolutely incomparable.
Q) It also provides a nice entertainment.
R) It broadens one’s mind and adds to one’s knowledge.
S) But apart from these, reading has a very special attribute that it fills one with pure joy.

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The proper sequence should be
(a) RQPS (b) RQSP (c) QRPS (d) QRSP

Q8 S1: There is a touching story of Professor Hardy visiting Ramanujan as he lay desperately in
hospital at Putney.
S6: It is the lowest number that can be expressed in two different ways as the sum of two
cubes.”
P) “No, Hardy, that is not a dull number in the very least.
Q) Hardy, who was a very shy man, could not find the words for his distress.
R) It was 1729
S) The best he could do, as he got to the bedside was: “ I say, Ramanujan, I thought the
number of the taxi I came down in was a very dull number.”
The proper sequence should be
(a) RPSQ (b)QSRP (c)QSPR (d) SQRP

Q9. S1: There is only one monkey we can thoroughly recommend as an indoor pet.
S6: Finally, let me say that no other monkey has a better temper or more winning ways.
P) They quickly die from colds and coughs after the first winter fogs.
Q) It is the beautiful and intelligent Capuchin monkey.
R) The lively little Capuchins, however, may be left for years in the English house
without the least danger to their health.
S) The Marmosets, it is true, are more beautiful than the Capuchins and just as pleasing,
but they are too delicate for the English climate.
The proper sequence should be
(a) PQRS (b)QRPS (c)QSRP (d) RPSQ

Q10 S1: Growing up means not only getting larger, but also using our senses and our brains to
become more aware of the things around us.
S6: In other words, we must develop and use our ability to reason, because the destruction
or the preservation of the places in which we live depends on us.
P) Not only does he have a memory but he is able to think and reason.
Q) In this, men differs from all animals.
R) Before we spray our roadside plants or turn sewage into our rivers, we should
pause to think what the results of our actions are likely to be.
S) That is to say, he is able to plan what he is going to do in the light of his
experience before he does it.
The proper sequence should be
(a)QRSP (b) SPQR (c) SPRQ (d)QPSR

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