The statement P. therefore you must listen carefully Q. what the speaker has said R. in order to understand S. will be made just once The proper sequence should be
- (a)S P R Q
- (b)S R Q P
- (c)R S P Q
- (d)S P Q R
Correct — A, S P R Q. The opener 'The statement' is a bare subject with no verb, so S ('will be made just once') has to follow it at once; 'therefore' in P then draws the consequence from that fact; and R ('in order to understand') is an infinitive of purpose left hanging without an object, which Q ('what the speaker has said') supplies — so R must be immediately followed by Q. That gives 'The statement will be made just once, therefore you must listen carefully in order to understand what the speaker has said.'
- (b)S R Q P — It makes the statement itself something made 'in order to understand what the speaker has said', which reverses the purpose, and it leaves 'therefore' at the very end with no consequence left to introduce.
- (c)R S P Q — It opens 'The statement in order to understand will be made just once', wedging a purpose phrase between the subject and its verb, and it strands Q at the end with nothing to attach to.
- (d)S P Q R — Q is put before R, giving 'listen carefully what the speaker has said in order to understand' — the object clause is left with no verb to govern it and 'in order to understand' finishes the sentence with its own object missing.
An ordering item in which two links are forced — a bare subject must meet its verb, and a purpose infinitive must meet its object.
All four option sequences use the same four letters, so scanning them for the 'best-sounding' string is wasted effort. The economical route is to fix the pairs first. 'The statement' cannot stand without a predicate, which fixes S in the opening slot and eliminates option (c) outright; 'in order to understand' cannot stand without an object, which locks R before Q and eliminates (d). Only one arrangement survives both tests.
- 'Therefore' is a conjunctive adverb and always introduces the result, never the cause.
- An infinitive of purpose answers the question 'why', and a transitive verb inside it still needs its own object.
- Reading each option aloud in full instead of testing one forced link and discarding whole options at a stroke.
Asked with four near-identical sequences, so the winning method is to lock one or two compulsory pairs rather than to read every string.
They (P) should implant (Q) in the minds of young children (R) sound principles (S) The proper sequence should be
- (a) P Q R S
- (b) P Q S R
- (c) R P Q S
- (d) P R Q S
Answer(b) P Q S R
The same decisive link in both. There a transitive verb has to keep its object next to it, so 'sound principles' comes before the place phrase; here 'in order to understand' has to keep its object next to it, so R comes before Q.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which sequence makes a correct sentence — The meeting / P. therefore the agenda / Q. before Monday / R. has been postponed / S. must be circulated again
- (a)R P S Q
- (b)P R Q S
- (c)Q R P S
- (d)R Q P S
Answer(a) R P S Q — the subject takes its verb first, then 'therefore' draws the consequence and 'before Monday' closes it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which sequence makes a correct sentence — He switched on the lamp / P. what the note / Q. in order to read / R. on the table / S. actually said
- (a)R Q P S
- (b)Q P R S
- (c)P S Q R
- (d)Q R P S
Answer(b) Q P R S — 'in order to read' must be handed its object at once, and 'on the table' belongs with 'the note' rather than with 'said'.