Sentences of a paragraph are given below in jumbled order. Arrange the sentences in the correct order to form a meaningful and coherent paragraph. A. The genuine beliefs, though not unconsciously acquired by most children; and even if they depart from these beliefs in later life B. Something of them remains deeply implanted, ready to emerge in a time of stress of crisis C. The importance of education in forming character and opinion is very great and well recognised by all D. Education is, as a rule, the strongest force on the side of what exists and again fundamental change

Correct — D. Sentence A stops in mid-thought. 'and even if they depart from these beliefs in later life' is a subordinate clause with no main clause of its own.

B supplies that main clause: 'Something of them remains deeply implanted'. So A is followed immediately by B, and any order that splits the pair is out.

'these beliefs' in A has to point back to something, and it is C that has introduced education forming character and opinion. So C, then A, then B.

D is left, and it closes well: 'Education is, as a rule, the strongest force on the side of what exists' is the broad conclusion the earlier observation earns. That is CABD, option (d).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  DABC — DABC ends on C, but 'The importance of education in forming character and opinion is very great and well recognised by all' states the topic. It is a first line, not a conclusion drawn from what came before.
• (b)
  CBAD — CBAD puts B before A, so 'Something of them' arrives before any beliefs have been mentioned, and A's if-clause is then left with no main clause to complete it.
• (c)
  DCAB — DCAB keeps C, A and B in the right order but opens on D. D's 'as a rule' generalises from an observation already made, which is the work of a closing line rather than a first one.

Paragraph-order items are settled by links between sentences, not by judging the sense of each one on its own.

The grammatical link does most of the work here. A sentence that trails off in a subordinate clause must be followed by the clause that completes it, which chains A to B.

The reference link does the rest. A demonstrative like 'these beliefs' or a pronoun like 'them' can only point backwards, so a sentence carrying one cannot come first.

That leaves the opener-and-closer decision, which turns on which sentence states the topic and which draws the widest conclusion from it.

Key facts

• A fragment ending on an if-clause has to be followed by the clause that completes it, which is what fixes A before B.
• A demonstrative such as 'these beliefs' points backwards, so the sentence carrying it cannot open a paragraph.
• The order the key takes is C, then A, then B, then D.

Common traps

• Reading all four options end to end instead of finding one fixed pair and eliminating on it
• Choosing DCAB because C, A and B sit correctly inside it, without asking which sentence should open

No directly related past PYQ was found.