He (P) almost (Q) planned the entire strategy of operation (R) single-handed (S) The proper sequence should be
- (a)R S P Q
- (b)P R Q S
- (c)S Q R P
- (d)Q P S R
Correct — B, P R Q S. In this section each label stands immediately after the part it names. So (P) is 'He', (R) is 'planned the entire strategy of operation', (Q) is 'almost' and (S) is 'single-handed'. Reading P R Q S gives 'He planned the entire strategy of operation almost single-handed', because 'almost' is a degree word qualifying 'single-handed' and the two have to stay side by side.
- (a)R S P Q — The sentence would begin with the verb phrase and leave the subject 'He' near the end with a stray adverb after it.
- (c)S Q R P — The subject is pushed to the very last position, which no ordinary English statement allows.
- (d)Q P S R — 'Almost' cannot stand in front of the subject here, and it is separated from 'single-handed', the word it is meant to soften.
A word-order item on a degree adverb, which must sit immediately before the word it qualifies.
Moving 'almost' next to the verb would say the planning nearly happened. Next to 'single-handed' it says the work was nearly all his own, which is the sense the parts were written to carry.
- Parking 'almost' or 'only' in front of the verb by habit.
Asked as an ordering item where the position of a small adverb decides what is being qualified.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. They (P) almost (Q) finished the repair work (R) unaided (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P Q R S
- (b)P R Q S
- (c)R P Q S
- (d)Q P R S
Answer(b) P R Q S — 'They finished the repair work almost unaided.'
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts. He (P) quite (Q) solved the puzzle (R) unaided (S). The proper sequence should be
- (a)P R Q S
- (b)P Q R S
- (c)Q P R S
- (d)R Q P S
Answer(a) P R Q S — 'He solved the puzzle quite unaided.'