Sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the…
2023
Sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the sentences in the correct order to form a meaningful and coherent paragraph.
A. Diwali, referred to as the ‘festival of lights’, ushers in the winter season with joy, shopping, presents, and a slew of new occasions and celebrations, such as Dussehra, Dhanteras, Govardhan, Bhaidooj, and Narak Chaturdashi.
B. In the spiritual world, the event symbolises ‘the triumph of light over darkness’.
C. The five-day festival of Diwali is observed during the Hindu month of Kartika as an event.
D. In India, Diwali is also known as Deepawali.
Answer: D. ACBD — Concept: In a sentence-rearrangement item the order is fixed by cohesion, not by which idea sounds most important. Two tests settle almost every set. First,…
- A.
BACD
- B.
DBCA
- C.
CDBA
- D.
ACBD
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: In a sentence-rearrangement item the order is fixed by cohesion, not by which idea sounds most important. Two tests settle almost every set. First, the opening sentence must be self-contained: it names its subject with a full noun phrase and carries no backward-pointing reference. Second, every later sentence must stand immediately after the sentence that supplies the antecedent for its own backward reference — a definite noun phrase such as 'the event', a pronoun, or an additive phrase such as 'also known as'.
Application: apply the opening test to each of the four labelled sentences.
Sentence | Backward-pointing reference it carries | Can it open the paragraph? |
|---|---|---|
A — Diwali, referred to as the 'festival of lights', ushers in the winter season… | None; the subject is introduced in full with an appositive definition. | Yes |
B — In the spiritual world, the event symbolises 'the triumph of light over darkness'. | 'the event' is a definite noun phrase and needs an earlier sentence that has already called Diwali an event. | No |
C — The five-day festival of Diwali is observed during the Hindu month of Kartika as an event. | None; it names the subject in full and itself supplies the noun 'event'. | Yes |
D — In India, Diwali is also known as Deepawali. | 'also known as' is additive and presupposes a name already given. | No |
Only A and C pass the opening test, so the paragraph must begin with one of those two.
C ends by classifying Diwali 'as an event' and B opens with 'the event'; that is a direct reference chain, so C stands immediately before B.
A gives the broadest introduction — the name, the epithet 'festival of lights' and the seasonal setting — while C narrows to the five-day Kartika observance, so the general sentence precedes the specific one and A opens the paragraph.
D only adds the alternative name Deepawali; it opens no new thread and therefore closes the paragraph.
The order is A, then C, then B, then D — that is, ACBD.
Cross-check: measure the remaining arrangements against the same two tests.
BACD begins with 'the event', a definite reference with nothing before it to anchor it.
DBCA begins with 'also known as', an additive phrase with no name supplied before it.
CDBA has a legal opening but pushes the Deepawali naming detail between 'as an event' and 'the event', breaking that reference chain, and it ends with the broad festival overview after the specific details, reversing the general-to-specific movement.
ACBD is the only arrangement that keeps a self-contained opening and preserves the 'as an event' to 'the event' chain.