Rearrange the following sentences to form a coherent paragraph: 1. This process, a cornerstone of evolution, ensures that only individuals best suited to their environment survive to reproduce. 2. The diversity of life on Earth is the result of a gradual process of change over vast spans of time. 3. This leads to the gradual accumulation of favorable traits within a population. 4. It begins with inherited variation among individuals, where some possess characteristics that give them an advantage over others.
- (a)2, 1, 4, 3
- (b)4, 3, 1, 2
- (c)2, 4, 3, 1
- (d)1, 2, 4, 3
Answer
Why
Correct — C. Sentence 2 opens: it states the topic, the diversity of life, and calls it the result of 'a gradual process of change'.
2 → 4: It begins with inherited variation — 'it' is that process.
4 → 3: This leads to the accumulation of favorable traits — the advantage in 4 builds up.
3 → 1: This process, a cornerstone of evolution, names the mechanism just described and closes.
Order 2, 4, 3, 1 → option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)2, 1, 4, 3 — A cornerstone of evolution makes sentence 1's process a part of evolution, so it cannot restate sentence 2's 'gradual process of change', which is evolution itself. Sentence 1 has to follow the mechanism set out in 4 and 3.
- (b)4, 3, 1, 2 — It begins with needs a process named before it, so 4 cannot open. Ending on sentence 2 also puts the topic statement last.
- (d)1, 2, 4, 3 — This process has nothing to refer to in first position. Sentence 1 sums up a mechanism the reader has not yet been told about.
Concept
Link words carry this parajumble. It and This open sentences 4, 3 and 1, and each points back, so sentence 2, which points nowhere, opens.
Begins with and leads to mark steps in order: the start of the process, then its result.
An appositive such as a cornerstone of evolution says what kind of thing 'this process' is. A part of evolution cannot be the change sentence 2 describes, so it refers to the mechanism of 4 and 3.
Do not carry over the photosynthesis item at 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.24, keyed 2, 1, 4, 3 with its 'This process' sentence second.
There, 'This process, known as photosynthesis' names the ability sentence 2 describes. Here, 'a cornerstone of evolution' makes the process a part of evolution, so it cannot restate sentence 2.
Key facts
- 'It begins with' marks the first step of a process named just before it.
- 'This leads to' marks the result of the step just described.
- The mechanism the passage describes — inherited variation, an advantage, survival of the best suited to reproduce — is natural selection.
Study next
Common traps
- Putting sentence 1 second because 'This process' seems to point at the 'process' that ends sentence 2.
- Opening with sentence 4 because it sounds like a first step — its 'It' still needs something to refer to.
The same closing move, a 'This process, a crucial part of …' sentence placed last, is keyed at 19 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.24 (the water cycle, 2, 4, 3, 1) and 14 Sep 2025, 12:30, English Q.25 (pollination, 2, 3, 4, 1).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.