NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 34 of 150

Correct — D, Q S P R. 'Scientists point out' is a reporting verb and needs a 'that' clause, so Q has to come first. What follows is a chain of 'of' phrases in which each one describes the noun immediately before it — an aftermath of the eleven-year cycle, and that cycle is a cycle of sunspot activity — so S comes before P. R then closes the sentence with the verb belonging to the relative pronoun. Assembled, the parts read: Scientists point out that it is an aftermath of the eleven-year cycle of sunspot activity that has now reached its peak.

• (a)R S P Q — It begins with 'has now reached its peak', a bare verb phrase with no subject, and it leaves the reporting verb at the start of the stem with nothing to report.
• (b)P Q S R — 'Of sunspot activity' cannot follow 'Scientists point out', because a reporting verb of this kind takes a 'that' clause rather than a prepositional phrase.
• (c)Q R P S — This is the near miss. It reads smoothly at first, but it then produces 'of sunspot activity of the eleven-year cycle', which reverses the chain: the cycle belongs to sunspot activity, not sunspot activity to the cycle.

When several 'of' phrases follow one another, each describes the noun immediately before it, so their order is fixed by which thing belongs to which.

Part Q as printed ends with the word 'that'. Read strictly, that stray relative pronoun would want its verb at once, while the key's order builds the natural sentence in which the closing clause 'that has now reached its peak' describes the eleven-year cycle. The safe way to solve the item is by the chain of 'of' phrases, which is the part that is not in doubt.

• The number of sunspots rises and falls in a cycle that averages about eleven years.
• A reporting verb such as 'point out', 'say' or 'argue' is followed by a 'that' clause.
• In a chain of 'of' phrases, each phrase describes the noun immediately in front of it.

• Accepting the first order that reads smoothly, and missing that two 'of' phrases have been swapped.

Asked as a jumbled-parts item in which the order of two 'of' phrases separates the answer from its nearest rival.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arrange the parts to make a correct sentence — Doctors explain / P. of the eating habits / Q. that it is a result / R. that have changed in recent years / S. of the urban young

  • (a)Q P S R
  • (b)P Q S R
  • (c)Q R P S
  • (d)S P Q R

  Answer(a) Q P S R — the 'that' clause opens, then 'a result of the eating habits of the urban young', and the relative clause closes.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arrange the parts to make a correct sentence — Engineers point out / P. of the bridge / Q. of the steel cables / R. that it is a failure / S. that were laid twenty years ago

  • (a)P Q R S
  • (b)R Q P S
  • (c)R P Q S
  • (d)Q R S P

  Answer(b) R Q P S — the cables belong to the bridge, so 'of the steel cables' must come before 'of the bridge'.