Parts of a sentence are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the parts in the correct order to form a meaningful sentence. (A) while the employees (B) meeting on time (C) the boss arrived at the (D) despite the heavy traffic (E) were late

Correct — B. Two joins are forced by grammar, and between them they fix the whole order.

C ends on a bare "the" — the boss arrived at the — so the next part has to continue that noun phrase. Of the four remaining parts only B does, opening on the noun meeting. So C is followed by B.

A is a subject with no verb — while the employees — and only E supplies one: were late. So A is followed by E.

D, despite the heavy traffic, is a prepositional phrase, which leaves it to open. D + CB + AE = DCBAE → option (b).

Read out: Despite the heavy traffic the boss arrived at the meeting on time while the employees were late.

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  BACED — BACED puts C in front of E, so "the boss arrived at the" is followed by "were late" — an article with a verb after it. It also opens on the fragment "meeting on time", which cannot start a sentence.
• (c)
  DACEB — DACEB opens correctly with D, then runs A straight into C, leaving "while the employees" with no verb. It lands "were late" after the bare article in C as well.
• (d)
  ACEDB — ACEDB starts on the subordinate clause "while the employees" and then introduces a new subject, so the employees never get their verb, and C is once again stranded in front of "were late".

Part-jumbles are solved by joins, not by reading each option end to end. Find a fragment that is grammatically incomplete and ask what its only possible continuation is.

Two kinds of incompleteness decide this one. A part ending in a determiner (the, a, his) demands the rest of its noun phrase next. A part holding a subject with no verb demands the verb next.

Fix C before B and A before E, and only one of the four sequences contains both pairs. You never have to read the other three in full.

Key facts

• A part ending in a bare determiner such as "the" must be followed by a part that continues the noun phrase, whether that is the noun itself or a modifier in front of it.
• A part carrying a subject and no verb must be followed by the part that supplies the verb.
• Despite is a preposition and takes a noun phrase, so "despite the heavy traffic" is already complete.
• The full sentence reads: Despite the heavy traffic the boss arrived at the meeting on time while the employees were late.

Common traps

• Reading all four sequences end to end instead of testing one forced join
• Opening on a fragment such as "meeting on time" because it reads like a heading
• Putting the while clause first, which strands the employees without a verb

No directly related past PYQ was found.