The knocking P. were still in the house Q. for some time R. although the echoes of it S. ceased The correct sequence should be
- (a)SRPQ
- (b)SQRP
- (c)PQSR
- (d)RSPQ
Correct — A, SRPQ. Start with agreement. 'The knocking' is singular, so its verb is 'ceased' in S and not the plural 'were' in P, while 'the echoes' in R is plural and therefore owns 'were still in the house'. That gives 'The knocking ceased' followed by the concession 'although the echoes of it were still in the house', with Q ('for some time') closing the sentence as the stretch over which the echoes lasted — 'The knocking ceased, although the echoes of it were still in the house for some time.'
- (b)SQRP — This is the near-miss and it is grammatical, but it attaches 'for some time' to 'ceased', which would say the knocking stopped only temporarily. The contrast the sentence sets up is between a sound that ended and echoes that lingered, and 'still' in P is waiting for exactly the stretch of time that Q names.
- (c)PQSR — It gives the singular 'The knocking' the plural verb 'were', and then leaves the 'although' clause dangling at the end with no verb of its own.
- (d)RSPQ — It drops the 'although' clause in before the main clause has any verb, so 'ceased' is taken over by 'the echoes of it' and 'The knocking' never gets a verb at all.
An ordering item settled first by subject-verb agreement and then by deciding which clause a trailing time phrase belongs to.
Two of the four options can be cut on agreement alone, without reading for sense, since a singular 'knocking' cannot take 'were' and a plural 'echoes' cannot take 'ceased'. That leaves the two options that both begin with S, and there the decision is about meaning. 'Still' and 'for some time' describe the same lingering, so they belong in the same clause. Put 'for some time' with 'ceased' instead and the sentence says the knocking merely paused, which fights the concession that 'although' is setting up.
- 'Knocking' here is a singular noun formed from a verb, so it takes a singular verb.
- 'Although' introduces a concession and needs a full clause of its own, with its own subject and verb.
- A duration phrase such as 'for some time' normally follows the verb whose stretch it measures.
- Ignoring agreement and ordering by sense alone, which leaves two options looking equally good.
- Attaching a duration phrase to the nearest verb rather than to the one it actually measures.
Asked as an ordering item where two options survive the grammar test and the meaning of the concession decides between them.
The clerk P. on the desk Q. left the money R. in the safe S. which he should have locked up The proper sequence should be
- (a) S R Q P
- (b) Q R S P
- (c) P Q R S
- (d) Q P S R
Answer(d) Q P S R
The same second stage of reasoning. Once the subject has been given its verb, the item turns entirely on which part of the sentence a trailing phrase attaches to.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts — The shouting / P. although the crowd / Q. died down / R. outside the gate / S. remained. The correct sequence should be
- (a)QPSR
- (b)QRPS
- (c)PQRS
- (d)SPQR
Answer(a) QPSR — 'The shouting died down, although the crowd remained outside the gate.'
- practice — not a real PYQ
Arrange the parts — The rain / P. for another hour / Q. although the wind / R. stopped / S. went on blowing. The correct sequence should be
- (a)RQSP
- (b)RPQS
- (c)QSRP
- (d)SRQP
Answer(a) RQSP — 'The rain stopped, although the wind went on blowing for another hour.'