NDA (I) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 33 of 150

Correct — A, R S P Q. S breaks off on the bare article 'the' — 'It began with a mutiny of the' — so the noun phrase P has to follow it at once, which welds S and P into one unit. R begins with 'and' and carries a second predicate for the subject of S1, so it belongs immediately after S1; Q begins with 'but' and sets the spread of the revolt against the mutiny it started as, so it closes. The passage reads: 'A mighty popular Revolt broke out in Northern and Central India in 1857 and nearly swept away the British rule. It began with a mutiny of the Sepoys, or the Indian soldiers of the Company's army, but soon engulfed wide regions and involved the masses. Millions of peasants, artisans and soldiers fought heroically and wrote a glorious chapter.'

• (b)P Q R S — It opens on a bare noun phrase with no verb, and it ends on 'It began with a mutiny of the', so the paragraph runs into S6 with a sentence snapped off after an article.
• (c)S R P Q — It pushes 'and nearly swept away the British rule' in between 'of the' and 'Sepoys', tearing the article away from its noun and leaving 'Sepoys' with nothing to attach to.
• (d)Q R P S — It opens with 'but', which has to contrast with something already said, and it again leaves the fragment ending in 'of the' hanging at the end of the paragraph.

An ordering item welded together by a fragment that stops at an article, so that only one other fragment can follow it.

Look first for the fragment that cannot possibly end where it ends. 'It began with a mutiny of the' is that fragment, and the only noun phrase in the set is P, so S P is fixed before anything else is considered. The two connectives then place themselves: 'and' extends what S1 has said about the revolt, 'but' turns against what S has just said about a mere mutiny. Only one option keeps S and P together and puts the two connectives on the right sides.

• An English clause cannot end on an article such as 'a' or 'the'; the noun it introduces must follow immediately.
• A fragment beginning with 'and' continues the clause before it, usually adding a second predicate for the same subject.
• A fragment beginning with 'but' needs a statement in front of it to push against, so it can never open a paragraph.
• 'Sepoys, or the Indian soldiers of the Company's army' is an appositive — the words after 'or' rename and explain the noun before it, and the whole unit has to move as one.

• Separating 'of the' from the noun it introduces because another fragment also seems to fit after S.
• Placing a 'but' fragment early, before there is anything for it to contrast with.

Asked as a sentence-ordering item in which an incomplete noun phrase forces two fragments to be read as one.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which sequence makes a correct paragraph — S1: A serious strike began in the mills in March. S6: Work restarted only after the monsoon. P: weavers, or the men who ran the looms Q: but soon spread to the dyeing sheds as well R: and closed three of the largest units S: It started with a walkout by the

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

  Answer(a) R S P Q — a clause cannot end on 'the', so the noun phrase must follow at once, and 'but' has to come after what it contradicts.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which sequence makes a correct paragraph — S1: The scheme was announced with much publicity in June. S6: A review committee was set up the following year. P: sarpanches, or the elected heads of the village councils Q: but reached very few households in the first year R: and was welcomed by every party in the assembly S: It was to be run by the

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

  Answer(b) R S P Q — the article at the end of S can only be completed by the noun phrase P, and 'but' closes the contrast.