Sentences of a paragraph are given below. While the first and the last…

Concept: In a sentence-rearrangement question with fixed opening and closing lines, the middle sentences are ordered by tracking cohesion devices — pronouns, discourse connectors (however, although, but), and referring expressions — each of which needs its antecedent already stated in an earlier sentence of the chosen order. The correct sequence is the one where every such device has already been introduced by the time it appears, and the paragraph's given closing contrast (marked by “But”) follows logically from the clause immediately before it.

Application:

1. Sentence 1 introduces Emma's new interest — pottery, discovered through evening classes — while her main occupation is not yet stated.

2. D) “She had done a degree in fine art at university” supplies that background first, since it introduces the course of study that the next sentence refers back to.

3. B) “However, after finishing her studies, she worked in the marketing department” follows D directly: “her studies” now has its antecedent (the fine-art degree), and “however” signals the contrast between that degree and an unrelated marketing role.

4. C) “Although she didn't have much responsibility, she found it quite stressful” follows B, describing her day-to-day experience in the marketing department that B has just introduced.

5. A) “She had intended to work there only temporarily” follows C, stating her original plan for that same job.

6. Sentence 6, “But ended up staying for nearly ten years,” uses “But” to directly contrast with “only temporarily” in A — she meant a short stay but remained for a decade.

Cross-check:

• BDCA opens with B directly after sentence 1, so “her studies” would appear before any sentence names what those studies were — the fine-art degree in D has not yet been introduced at that point.

• CBDA opens with C directly after sentence 1, so “she didn't have much responsibility” and “she found it quite stressful” would appear before any sentence names the job or department they describe.

• DBAC places C last, immediately before sentence 6, so the paragraph's closing contrast (“But ended up staying”) would follow a remark about workload and stress rather than pairing with A's explicit statement of a temporary plan — the natural contrast partner for “only temporarily” is left one step earlier in the sequence.

Only the order D → B → C → A introduces every referring expression after its antecedent and lets the closing “But” pair directly with “only temporarily.” The correct arrangement is DBCA.