NDA (II) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 42 of 146

Correct — C, RQSP. Two locked pairs settle it. 'More inspiring' in R is a comparative and must be answered by its own 'than', so Q follows R immediately. And 'makes' in P is singular, so its subject cannot be the plural 'Bold rocks' — it has to be the singular 'the thick fern upon a heath' in S, which is why S runs straight into P. Setting the two pairs in order gives 'Bold rocks near at hand are more inspiring than distant Alps, and the thick fern upon a heath makes a fine forest for the imagination.'

• (a)QRSP — It puts 'than distant Alps' before 'are more inspiring', so the comparison arrives before the comparative that licenses it, which no English sentence allows.
• (b)RSQP — It keeps R at the front correctly but then slides S between the comparative and its partner, splitting 'more inspiring' from 'than distant Alps'.
• (d)SRQP — It drags S to the front, so 'Bold rocks near at hand and the thick fern upon a heath' becomes one plural subject. The singular verb 'makes' is then left with nowhere to go.

An ordering item decided by a comparative needing its 'than', and by subject-verb agreement fixing which subject a singular verb belongs to.

When four option strings are shuffles of the same four letters, the way through is to find pairs that must be adjacent. Here there are two of them. 'More' obliges 'than', so R and Q are locked in that order, and the singular 'makes' obliges a singular subject, so S and P are locked in that order. Once both pairs are fixed, only the order of the pairs is left, and the sentence has to begin with the verb its opening subject is waiting for.

• A comparative made with 'more' or with the ending '-er' takes 'than' before what it is compared with.
• A verb ending in -s is singular, which is often the fastest agreement clue available in an ordering item.
• Only option (c) keeps R next to Q and S next to P at the same time.

• Comparing the four strings letter by letter instead of locking the pairs that must be adjacent.
• Missing the -s on 'makes', which is the only sign of which subject belongs to it.

Asked as an ordering item in which a comparative and an agreement clue each fix one pair of parts.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arrange the parts — The narrow lanes of the old town / P. than the wide new roads / Q. are far more interesting / R. and the little shrine at the corner / S. draws visitors all year. The correct sequence should be

  • (a)QPRS
  • (b)PQRS
  • (c)RSQP
  • (d)QRPS

  Answer(a) QPRS — 'The narrow lanes of the old town are far more interesting than the wide new roads, and the little shrine at the corner draws visitors all year.'

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arrange the parts — The new library / P. is much quieter / Q. than the old reading room / R. and its long windows / S. let in the morning light. The correct sequence should be

  • (a)PQRS
  • (b)QPRS
  • (c)RSPQ
  • (d)PRQS

  Answer(a) PQRS — 'The new library is much quieter than the old reading room, and its long windows let in the morning light.'