Sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the…

In a sentence-rearrangement (para-jumble) item the order is fixed by what each sentence presupposes, not by sentence type: no rule says a definition must open or a takeaway must close. An expository paragraph has to orient the reader before it can make demands on him. A sentence that states a requirement ('you need to understand...', 'understanding X is crucial') or that supplies information about what something consists of already assumes the reader knows what is under discussion; an orienting sentence is the one that supplies that, by naming the undertaking and saying what engaging with it is like. Find the sentence that states no requirement and supplies no factual content — that is the opener — then order the remainder by how each one takes up and extends what the sentence before it said.

1. Identify the orienting sentence. Sentence C — 'Embarking on the journey to become an Ironman triathlete can be both exhilarating and daunting, especially for beginners' — is the only one of the four that states no requirement at all and supplies no factual information about what an Ironman event consists of. It simply names the undertaking and says what attempting it feels like, addressing the newcomer directly with 'especially for beginners'. Every other sentence either states a requirement or defines content, so each of them presupposes the orientation C provides. C therefore opens the paragraph.

2. Sentence D — 'Fundamentally you need to understand the core disciplines of swimming, cycling, and running in an Ironman event to experience the unique challenges and rewards that come with crossing the finish line' — takes up C directly and answers it: C's pair 'exhilarating and daunting' is picked up by D's pair 'the unique challenges and rewards', with challenges answering 'daunting' and rewards answering 'exhilarating'. Having said what the journey feels like, the paragraph now states what the newcomer must do about it, so D follows C.

3. Sentence A — 'For fitness enthusiasts looking to venture into the realm of Ironman Triathlon, understanding the disciplines and distances involved is crucial for effective training and preparation' — restates D's requirement and extends it on two points: what must be understood grows from 'the core disciplines' to 'the disciplines and distances', and the reason shifts from experiencing the event to 'effective training and preparation'. A restatement that adds to the claim before it must come after that claim, so A follows D.

4. Sentence B — 'An Ironman Triathlon consists of three disciplines: swimming, cycling, and running, each demanding its own set of skills and endurance' — is the only sentence that states in defining, subject-predicate form what an Ironman Triathlon consists of, and the only one that says what each discipline demands ('its own set of skills and endurance'); that demand appears nowhere else in the paragraph. It is the concrete content behind the understanding A has just called crucial, and it makes no framing or motivational move of its own, so it closes the paragraph.

• BACD opens with the defining sentence and places C third, so the paragraph defines the event and states what must be understood before it ever introduces the undertaking to the newcomer it is addressing.

• DBAC opens on the requirement 'Fundamentally you need to understand...' before anything has introduced the undertaking that requirement applies to, and it places C last, so the sentence addressed to the newcomer arrives only after the paragraph has finished.

• ABCD opens with the requirement already restricted to 'fitness enthusiasts looking to venture into the realm of Ironman Triathlon' and again places C third, so the newcomer is addressed only after the requirement has been stated and the event defined.

Of the four offered orderings, CDAB is the only one in which the orienting sentence C comes before any requirement is stated; the other three all state a requirement, define the event, or both, before the paragraph has introduced the undertaking to its reader. Read as C, D, A, B, the paragraph orients the newcomer, answers the feeling it has just described with what he fundamentally needs to understand, extends that requirement to distances and to training and preparation, and closes with the concrete content of the three disciplines and what each of them demands. The correct order is CDAB.