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Para Jumbles

  • Verbal Ability
  • 3 worked examples
  • 5 rules to know

What it is

Do not try to order all the sentences. Find the one that must come first, find two that must be adjacent, and then eliminate options - the answer choices do most of the work if you let them.

The opening sentence introduces its subject by full name and uses no back-references. Every other sentence will contain a pronoun, a "this", a "such" or a connective pointing at something already said.

What you need to know

  1. The first sentence names its subject in full and contains no it, this, these, such, therefore or however.
  2. A sentence beginning with a pronoun must follow the one naming that noun. These pairs are the strongest clue available.
  3. Connectives fix order: however and but reverse, therefore and so conclude, for example illustrates the sentence before.
  4. Chronology and cause run forwards. Dates, stages and "then" give the sequence directly.
  5. Use the options. Find one pair you are sure of and strike out every option that breaks it.

Worked examples

Try each one before opening the answer. A solution you have read is not a solution you can produce under time pressure, which is the only kind that counts.

Q1 Order these: (A) It was later adopted across Europe. (B) The printing press was invented in the fifteenth century. (C) This made books cheap enough for ordinary households. (D) Before it, every copy was written by hand.

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B, D, A, C.

B is the only sentence naming its subject in full with no back-reference, so it opens. D says "Before it", which must follow the mention of the press. A continues the history with "later adopted". C begins with "This", referring to the spread just described, so it closes.

Q2 Which sentence opens the paragraph? (A) However, the results were inconclusive. (B) Researchers studied the effect of sleep on memory. (C) They tested two hundred volunteers. (D) Such findings are common in early work.

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(B).

A begins with "However", which must contrast with something earlier. C begins with "They", needing an antecedent. D begins with "Such findings", pointing back to findings not yet mentioned. Only B stands alone.

Q3 Two sentences are: (X) The scheme was announced in March. (Y) It was withdrawn three months later. Which order, and why?

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X then Y.

Y opens with "It", which needs the scheme to have been named first, and "three months later" is relative to the March in X. Both the pronoun and the chronology point the same way, which is the ideal case - a pair you can be certain of and use to eliminate options.

Where people lose marks

  • Trying to construct the full order before looking at the options.
  • Choosing an opener that contains a pronoun or a connective.
  • Ignoring a date or a stage marker, which usually settles the sequence outright.

More verbal ability

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