One of the most challenging parts of the Civil Service Exam is the set of Paragraph Organization questions. More often than not, most examinees also find this to be the MOST TIME-CONSUMING since you will have to read several sets of five or six long sentences.
To lessen the difficulty of this part of the CSE, you should use this GOLDEN RULE - scan and USE YOUR OPTIONS. Use the choices as your guide as you go through the following TIPS and TRICKS in answering PARAGRAPH ORGANIZATION questions (or, as what others call it - Questions on Parajumbled Sentences)
The opening sentence can also be an introduction. It may be a sentence which talks about something in general and then, all the other sentences will talk about specific things in support or surrounding that general thought.
Now, let's go back to our Golden Rule. If the choices are BCDEA, CDBCA, CEABD, BEDAC, and CADBE, then you know that you only have two options for the opening sentence. Focus on sentences B and C and choose which is a better opening sentence. When you've made your decision, you've successfully narrowed down your choices for the final answer.
If you can't find the opening sentence, then maybe you can find the closing sentence - or the sentence which may offer: (a) conclusive judgment, opinion, or decision about the main topic; (b) summary of the thoughts expressed in the other sentences; (c) words which conclude: finally, all in all, finally, in general, thus, hence, eventually, etc.
As with the first trick, use the golden rule to narrow down your choices for the final answer by eliminating those which do not have your chosen closing sentence at the end.
A pair of sentences may be linked because:
(a) They positively talk about the same specific thing;
(b) The antecedent of the pronoun in one sentence is in the other sentence.
(c) The cause or effect expressed in one sentence can be found in the other.
(d) There are contrast words in the two sentences which show comparison amongst ideas;
(e) There is an acronym in one sentence and there is the full form in another;
(f) There are time sequence hints (A year after, After WW2, When she graduated);
(g) The solution to a problem presented in one sentence can be found in another.
Again, as with the first two tricks, you can narrow down your choices for the final answer by eliminating the options which do not have your linked sentences in your deemed order.
EXAMPLE
To be able to apply the tricks presented above, let's answer this one without options:
A. To avoid this, the QWERTY layout put the keys most likely to be hit in rapid succession on opposite sides. This made the keyboard slow, the story goes, but that was the idea.
B. A different layout, which had been patented by August Dvorak in 1936, was shown to be much faster.
C. The QWERTY design aimed to solve a mechanical problem of early typewriters.
D. Yet the Dvorak layout has never been widely adopted, even though (with electric typewriters and then PCs), the anti-jamming rationale for QWERTY has been defunct for years.
E. When certain combinations of keys were struck quickly, the typebars often jammed.
SOLUTION:
- Trick #1:
If you scan all the sentences, you'll know that the main topic is QWERTY and the only sentence which talks about it in a general and introductory tone is C.
- Trick #2: Cannot be applied outrightly here so we go to Trick #3.
- Trick #3:
1. ADCEB
2. BEADC
3. BDECA
4. ADCBE
5. BADCE
ANSWER and SOLUTION:
Option 2. BEADC
Considering the answer options, we only have two choices for the opening sentence - A and B. Among the two, B is most likely the opening sentence because it introduces the study. Sentence E then follows Opening Sentence B as it further discusses the study. At this point, we can already find the answer (Option 2), but for the sake of instruction, let us discuss the other sentences.
Sentence A comes next because it names the "new species" and further describes the evolution. Sentence D is a follow-up description. This time, describing the "period". Finally, we have Sentence C which discusses what happened "Following this global warming event".
To lessen the difficulty of this part of the CSE, you should use this GOLDEN RULE - scan and USE YOUR OPTIONS. Use the choices as your guide as you go through the following TIPS and TRICKS in answering PARAGRAPH ORGANIZATION questions (or, as what others call it - Questions on Parajumbled Sentences)
TRICK #1: Find the OPENING SENTENCE
The opening sentence is usually - but not always - the MAIN TOPIC of the paragraph. That means all the other sentences either talk about it or simply support it. Ask yourself - what exactly is being talked about in this paragraph?The opening sentence can also be an introduction. It may be a sentence which talks about something in general and then, all the other sentences will talk about specific things in support or surrounding that general thought.
Now, let's go back to our Golden Rule. If the choices are BCDEA, CDBCA, CEABD, BEDAC, and CADBE, then you know that you only have two options for the opening sentence. Focus on sentences B and C and choose which is a better opening sentence. When you've made your decision, you've successfully narrowed down your choices for the final answer.
TRICK #2: Find the CLOSING SENTENCE
If you can't find the opening sentence, then maybe you can find the closing sentence - or the sentence which may offer: (a) conclusive judgment, opinion, or decision about the main topic; (b) summary of the thoughts expressed in the other sentences; (c) words which conclude: finally, all in all, finally, in general, thus, hence, eventually, etc.
As with the first trick, use the golden rule to narrow down your choices for the final answer by eliminating those which do not have your chosen closing sentence at the end.
TRICK #3: Find the LINKED SENTENCES
A pair of sentences may be linked because:
(a) They positively talk about the same specific thing;
(b) The antecedent of the pronoun in one sentence is in the other sentence.
(c) The cause or effect expressed in one sentence can be found in the other.
(d) There are contrast words in the two sentences which show comparison amongst ideas;
(e) There is an acronym in one sentence and there is the full form in another;
(f) There are time sequence hints (A year after, After WW2, When she graduated);
(g) The solution to a problem presented in one sentence can be found in another.
Again, as with the first two tricks, you can narrow down your choices for the final answer by eliminating the options which do not have your linked sentences in your deemed order.
EXAMPLE
To be able to apply the tricks presented above, let's answer this one without options:
A. To avoid this, the QWERTY layout put the keys most likely to be hit in rapid succession on opposite sides. This made the keyboard slow, the story goes, but that was the idea.
B. A different layout, which had been patented by August Dvorak in 1936, was shown to be much faster.
C. The QWERTY design aimed to solve a mechanical problem of early typewriters.
D. Yet the Dvorak layout has never been widely adopted, even though (with electric typewriters and then PCs), the anti-jamming rationale for QWERTY has been defunct for years.
E. When certain combinations of keys were struck quickly, the typebars often jammed.
SOLUTION:
- Trick #1:
If you scan all the sentences, you'll know that the main topic is QWERTY and the only sentence which talks about it in a general and introductory tone is C.
- Trick #2: Cannot be applied outrightly here so we go to Trick #3.
- Trick #3:
Sentence C talks about a mechanical problem of typewriters - and only Sentence E presented a problem of typewriters (type bars often jammed.
Now, notice the problem-solution link between Sentences E and A. The problem presented in Sentence E is solved with the solution presented in Sentence A.
The comparison link is also present in this example. In Sentence A, it has been noted that the QWERTY design is "slow" and in Sentence B, the Dvorak design is presented as "faster" than the former.
D, then sums up the entire paragraph, mentioning both QWERTY and Dvorak designs.
ANSWER: C-E-A-B-D
ANOTHER EXAMPLE:
A. The hyena-like animal, Palaeonictis wingi, evolved from the size of a bear to the size of a coyote during a 200,000-year period.
B. Extinct carnivorous mammals shrank in size during a global warming event that occurred 55 million years ago, according to a new University of Florida study.
C. Following this global warming event, Earth’s temperature cooled and the animal evolved to a larger size.
D. Earth’s average temperature in this period increased about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
E. The study describes a new species that evolved to half the size of its ancestors during this period of global warming.
A. The hyena-like animal, Palaeonictis wingi, evolved from the size of a bear to the size of a coyote during a 200,000-year period.
B. Extinct carnivorous mammals shrank in size during a global warming event that occurred 55 million years ago, according to a new University of Florida study.
C. Following this global warming event, Earth’s temperature cooled and the animal evolved to a larger size.
D. Earth’s average temperature in this period increased about 15 degrees Fahrenheit.
E. The study describes a new species that evolved to half the size of its ancestors during this period of global warming.
1. ADCEB
2. BEADC
3. BDECA
4. ADCBE
5. BADCE
ANSWER and SOLUTION:
Option 2. BEADC
Sentence A comes next because it names the "new species" and further describes the evolution. Sentence D is a follow-up description. This time, describing the "period". Finally, we have Sentence C which discusses what happened "Following this global warming event".
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