The question below comprises four scattered segments of a paragraph. Identify…
2025
The question below comprises four scattered segments of a paragraph. Identify from among the four choices the sequences that correctly assemble the segments and complete the paragraph.
A. They found the stains of blood on an abandoned shirt in a dumpster in the next street.
B. The detective believes that the clues of a crime scene are hidden in the periphery.
C. So, against the word of the inspector, the search team spread out all over the area, checking small streets and pathways.
D. Check the dumpsters and small streets, the detective said.
- A.
BCDA
- B.
BACD
- C.
ACBD
- D.
ABDC
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: In a sentence-rearrangement item, first find the sentence that can OPEN the paragraph on its own — one with no pronoun, connective ("so", "therefore"), or quoted instruction that depends on something not yet introduced. Then order the remaining sentences by tracing cause-and-effect and reference: a result must follow the action that produces it, a reported instruction needs its speaker already named, and a sentence beginning with a connective like "so" needs the cause it is responding to already stated.
Application: B (“The detective believes…”) introduces the detective and his belief with no dependency on anything before it, so it must open the paragraph. That belief is what drives the search, so C (“So, against the word of the inspector, the search team spread out…”) follows next as the resulting action. D (“Check the dumpsters and small streets, the detective said.”) is the detective’s own instruction, naming what the team was told to look for, and reads as the specific detail behind that search. A (“They found the stains of blood…”) is the discovery the search produces, so it can only come last — giving the order B–C–D–A.
Cross-check: A cannot open or come early, since “they found the stains of blood” presupposes a search has already happened; and D’s quote needs “the detective” already named by B. That rules out every arrangement that opens with A or leaves D without a named speaker before it.
Why the other orders fail:
B–A–C–D reports the discovery right after the belief, before any search of the dumpsters or streets has been described — a find cannot precede the search that produces it — and it leaves the “so, against the word of the inspector” sentence with no prior action to respond to.
A–C–B–D opens with the discovery itself, before the detective or his belief is even introduced — the case would appear solved before the investigation has a stated cause.
A–B–D–C also opens with the discovery, and then places the actual search after the result it is supposed to produce, running cause and effect backward.
Result: The paragraph is coherent only in the order B–C–D–A.