The essay P. like that of the human face Q. because its variety is infinite R. is a literary form S. which is not easy to define The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P Q S R
- (c)R S Q P
- (d)R S P Q
Correct — C, R S Q P. 'The essay' is a bare subject and R ('is a literary form') gives it its verb; S ('which is not easy to define') describes that literary form; Q ('because its variety is infinite') explains why it is hard to define; and P ('like that of the human face') can only come last, because the 'that' in it stands for 'variety', which Q has just introduced — giving 'The essay is a literary form which is not easy to define because its variety is infinite, like that of the human face.'
- (a)P Q R S — It opens 'The essay like that of the human face', where 'that' stands for a noun the sentence has not yet mentioned, and it delivers the reason before there is anything to give a reason for.
- (b)P Q S R — It carries the same fault at the start and additionally places the relative clause 'which is not easy to define' before the noun 'a literary form' that it describes.
- (d)R S P Q — It puts the comparison before the reason, so 'that of the human face' still has no noun to stand in for when it appears.
An ordering item decided by a substitute pronoun that cannot appear before the noun it replaces.
Options (c) and (d) both begin correctly and differ only in the order of the last two fragments, so the whole question comes down to P. The word 'that' in 'like that of the human face' is a stand-in for a noun, and a stand-in has to come after the thing it stands for. Only Q supplies that noun, 'variety', so Q must come before P. This is a useful habit to build — find the pronoun, find its noun, and put them in that order.
- 'That of' and 'those of' replace a noun already used, as in 'the population of Bihar exceeds that of Kerala'.
- 'Because' introduces a reason and therefore follows the statement it explains, unless the whole clause is deliberately fronted.
- Allowing a pronoun or a substitute word to appear before the noun it points back to.
Asked with two options that open identically, so the answer rests entirely on the order of the last two fragments.
Sports cars (P) appeal (Q) to some motorists only (R) with noisy exhausts (S) The proper sequence should be
- (a) R Q S P
- (b) P S Q R
- (c) R S P Q
- (d) P Q S R
Answer(b) P S Q R
Both items reward the habit of finishing the subject before releasing the verb. There 'with noisy exhausts' has to be tucked in behind 'Sports cars' before 'appeal' can come; here the relative clause and the reason clause have to be settled around the noun before the comparison closes the sentence.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which sequence makes a correct sentence — The novel P. because its scope is enormous Q. is a form R. like that of an epic S. which resists definition
- (a)Q S P R
- (b)R P Q S
- (c)Q S R P
- (d)P R Q S
Answer(a) Q S P R — 'that' stands for 'scope', so the comparison has to come after the reason clause that names it.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which sequence makes a correct sentence — The climate of Shillong P. than that Q. is far wetter R. of Jodhpur S. in every season
- (a)Q S P R
- (b)P R Q S
- (c)S Q R P
- (d)Q P S R
Answer(a) Q S P R — the comparison is completed by 'than that of Jodhpur', with 'that' standing in for 'the climate'.