Direction: Arrange these parts so as to form a complete meaningful…

2024

Direction: Arrange these parts so as to form a complete meaningful sentence/paragraph and then choose the correct combination.

Propensity to addiction

P: predisposition of the individual.

Q: in other words, is not a.

R: but the result of the social context.

  1. A.

    PRQ

  2. B.

    PQR

  3. C.

    RPQ

  4. D.

    QPR

Attempted by 6 students.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D

Concept: In a jumbled-sentence question, a single sentence is broken into unordered clauses, which must be reassembled using grammatical signals: a clause that opens with a contrast conjunction such as 'but' cannot begin the sentence, because a contrast needs an already-stated idea to oppose; a clause introduced by a paraphrase marker such as 'in other words' must sit immediately next to the idea it restates; and a clause that is only a bare noun phrase needs a verb-bearing clause before it to attach to grammatically.

Application: Starting from the fixed stem 'Propensity to addiction', each part is placed by checking what it must connect to:

  1. R ('but the result of the social context.') cannot open — 'but' signals a contrast, and nothing has been stated yet for it to oppose, so R must follow some other clause.

  2. Q ('in other words, is not a.') attaches directly to the stem: the marker 'in other words' restates the idea immediately before it, giving 'Propensity to addiction, in other words, is not a...'.

  3. P ('predisposition of the individual.') follows Q to complete the negated noun phrase: '...is not a predisposition of the individual.'

  4. R closes the sentence, supplying the contrasting clause this negation now needs: '...but the result of the social context.'

Contrast: none of the other orderings resolves the connector and grammar constraints:

  • PRQ attaches the bare noun phrase 'predisposition of the individual' straight onto the stem with no verb, then immediately places the 'but' clause after it — leaving that contrast with nothing established to oppose.

  • PQR likewise attaches 'predisposition of the individual' straight onto the stem, then places the paraphrase marker 'in other words' after an unrelated noun phrase instead of right after the idea it restates.

  • RPQ opens with the 'but' clause, putting the contrast conjunction first with no preceding statement for it to oppose.

Hence the coherent sentence is: 'Propensity to addiction, in other words, is not a predisposition of the individual, but the result of the social context.' — order Q-P-R (QPR).

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