Farm workers (P) spend (Q) outdoors (R) most of their time (S) The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P R Q S
- (c)P Q S R
- (d)R P Q S
Correct — C, P Q S R. In this section each label stands immediately after the part it names. So (P) is 'Farm workers', (Q) is 'spend', (R) is 'outdoors' and (S) is 'most of their time'. Reading P Q S R gives 'Farm workers spend most of their time outdoors', because 'spend' is transitive and must be followed straight away by the time expression it governs, with the adverb of place coming last.
- (a)P Q R S — This puts the adverb 'outdoors' between the verb and its object, breaking the fixed 'spend time somewhere' pattern.
- (b)P R Q S — Placing 'outdoors' between the subject and the verb makes it read as a description of the workers rather than of where the time goes.
- (d)R P Q S — Opening with the bare adverb before the subject is not the neutral order for this sentence and leaves the statement sounding inverted for no reason.
A word-order item on keeping a transitive verb beside its object, with the adverb of place at the end.
The safest first move is to find the subject and the verb, then ask what the verb needs immediately. 'Spend' cannot stand without its time object, which fixes S right after Q.
- Letting an adverb slip between a verb and its object.
Asked as an ordering item where the verb's object must be identified and locked next to the verb.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. The children (P) enjoyed (Q) at the fair (R) themselves thoroughly (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P Q S R
- (c)P R Q S
- (d)Q P S R
Answer(b) P Q S R — 'The children enjoyed themselves thoroughly at the fair.'
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. She (P) reads (Q) in the library (R) the newspaper (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q S R
- (b)P Q R S
- (c)P R Q S
- (d)Q P R S
Answer(a) P Q S R — 'She reads the newspaper in the library.'