NDA (II) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 43 of 146

Correct — B, RSPQ. The opening line ends in 'that', which leaves a clause hanging, and a clause has to begin with its own subject and verb — that is R, 'the apple falls'. S ('on the ground') completes it. P then adds the cause, 'due to the gravitational pull', and Q ('of the earth') says whose pull it is, so it must sit immediately after the noun 'pull'. The sentence is 'Newton discovered that the apple falls on the ground due to the gravitational pull of the earth.'

• (a)QPRS — It begins the 'that' clause with 'of the earth', a phrase with no noun in front of it to modify, and it also places 'of the earth' before 'the gravitational pull' instead of after it.
• (c)QSPR — The same opening fault, and it strands 'the apple falls' at the very end, by which point the clause has already been filled.
• (d)SQRP — It opens the 'that' clause with 'on the ground', so the reader is told where before being told what, and 'due to the gravitational pull' is left at the end with nothing to attach to.

An ordering item built on two rules — a 'that' clause opens with its subject and verb, and an 'of' phrase attaches to the noun immediately before it.

The opening line ends in 'that', and that single word is the strongest clue in the item, because whatever follows must be a full statement and so must begin with a subject and a verb. Only R offers one, and only option (b) starts with R, so the answer can be reached before the second rule is even needed. The second link, P before Q, then confirms it, since 'of the earth' means nothing until 'pull' has been named.

• A 'that' clause after a reporting verb such as discovered, said or found keeps ordinary statement order rather than question order.
• An 'of' phrase modifies the noun it follows, so it can never be separated from that noun.
• 'Due to' introduces a cause and is followed by a noun phrase, not by a clause.

• Beginning a 'that' clause with a prepositional phrase.
• Separating 'of the earth' from the noun 'pull' that it belongs to.

Asked as an ordering item where the opening line ends in 'that', which alone fixes what the first part must be.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arrange the parts — The report states that / P. because of the heavy rainfall / Q. of the past week / R. the river has risen / S. above the danger mark. The correct sequence should be

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

  Answer(a) RSPQ — 'The report states that the river has risen above the danger mark because of the heavy rainfall of the past week.'

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Arrange the parts — Everyone knows that / P. of the class / Q. the youngest boy / R. won the prize / S. for mathematics. The correct sequence should be

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

  Answer(a) QPRS — 'Everyone knows that the youngest boy of the class won the prize for mathematics.'