Rearrange the following sentences to form a coherent paragraph: 1. This process, known as photosynthesis, is fundamental to life on Earth as it forms the base of most food webs. 2. Plants, algae, and some bacteria possess a unique ability to convert light energy into chemical energy. 3. The captured light energy is then used to synthesize glucose molecules from water and carbon dioxide. 4. It begins with the absorption of photons by chlorophyll pigments within the plant cells.
- (a)1, 4, 3, 2
- (b)2, 1, 4, 3
- (c)4, 3, 2, 1
- (d)3, 2, 1, 4
Answer
Why
Correct — B. Sentence 2 opens: 'Plants, algae, and some bacteria possess a unique ability to convert light energy into chemical energy.' It points back to nothing.
1 names that conversion: 'This process, known as photosynthesis'.
4 starts the steps, its It meaning that process: 'It begins with the absorption of photons'.
3 comes next: 'The captured light energy is then used' — captured picks up the absorption → 2, 1, 4, 3, option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)1, 4, 3, 2 — Opens with sentence 1, whose This process has nothing before it to point to. The conversion it names is described in sentence 2, which (a) puts last.
- (c)4, 3, 2, 1 — Opens with sentence 4, whose It has no antecedent — the reader has not been told what begins with the absorption of photons.
- (d)3, 2, 1, 4 — Opens with sentence 3, 'The captured light energy is then used', which assumes the capture is already described. Then marks a later step, not a first one.
Concept
Solve a jumble in two passes. First find the opener: the sentence that introduces its subject without pointing back.
Then chain the rest by links. This process and It need the idea they refer to just before them, and The captured … then needs the capture already told.
Here the chain runs ability (2), its name (1), first step (4), next step (3).
The opener settles this item on its own: (b) is the one option that begins with sentence 2, and sentences 1, 4 and 3, which open (a), (c) and (d), each point back to something.
Key facts
- A sentence that opens with This process or a pronoun such as It needs the sentence it refers to placed before it.
- Photosynthesis converts light energy into chemical energy, making glucose from water and carbon dioxide.
- Chlorophyll pigments absorb the light that drives photosynthesis.
Study next
Common traps
- Opening with sentence 1 because it names photosynthesis — This process shows it follows the sentence that describes the process.
- Putting 3 before 4 — The captured light energy needs the absorption in sentence 4 first.
The same This process link appears at 19 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.24, a water-cycle jumble keyed 2, 4, 3, 1, where 'This process, a crucial part of the water cycle' closes the paragraph.
At 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.25, 'It is a process' likewise follows the sentence it refers to, 'Research is a foundational pillar', keyed 2, 1, 3, 4.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.