S1. Al-Biruni was born in 973, in Khwarizm in present-day Uzbekistan S6. He arrived in Ghazni as a hostage, but gradually developed a liking for the city P. In 1017, when Sultan Mahmud invaded Khwarizm, he took several scholars back to his capital, Ghazni: Al-Biruni was one among them Q. He was well versed in several languages; Syriac, Arabic, Persian, Hebrew, and Sanskrit R. Khwarizm was an important centre of learning, and Al-Biruni received the best education available at the time S. However he did not know Greek, although he was familiar with the works of Plato and other Greek philosophers

Correct — B, the order R Q S P. S1 gives his birth at Khwarizm; R develops Khwarizm as a centre of learning where he got the best education; Q then details the languages he mastered; S is the natural contrast — 'However he did not know Greek' — to that list of languages; P moves the story on to 1017, when he was taken to Ghazni, which S6 ('He arrived in Ghazni…') picks up directly.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  Q S R P — Puts Q (the languages) before R establishes his schooling at Khwarizm's centre of learning, and strands R (education) after S's 'however no Greek' contrast — the education must come before the languages.
• (c)
  P Q S R — Begins with P (the 1017 move to Ghazni), leaping to the end of his life right after his birth and leaving the Khwarizm education years (R, Q, S) marooned afterwards.
• (d)
  R P S Q — Inserts P (move to Ghazni) between R and the language material, splitting the education-then-languages block and placing S's 'however he did not know Greek' with no adjacent list of languages to contrast.

A biographical para-jumble ordered chronologically and by contrast — education (R) before the languages (Q), the 'However' sentence (S) hugging that list, and the move to Ghazni (P) leading into S6.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  A sentence beginning 'However, he did not know Greek…' is best placed —

  • (a)before any languages are mentioned
  • (b)right after the list of languages he did know
  • (c)as the opening sentence
  • (d)after he moves to a new city
  Answer(b) right after the list of languages he did know — 'However' contrasts with that list.
• practice — not a real PYQ

  In a life-story para-jumble, which usually comes last among the middle sentences?

  • (a)the subject's birthplace
  • (b)the subject's early education
  • (c)a later event leading into the closing sentence
  • (d)a list of the subject's skills
  Answer(c) a later event leading into the closing sentence — chronology moves toward S6.