Rearrange the following sentences in correct order to make a logical passage. 1. This provides real-time information for decision-making. 2. Data analytics is transforming modern business. 3. It involves collecting, processing, and interpreting large datasets. 4. Companies leverage data to identify trends and predict consumer behavior.
- (a)2-1-3-4
- (b)4-3-2-1
- (c)2-4-1-3
- (d)2-3-1-4
Answer
Why
Correct — D. Sentence 2, 'Data analytics is transforming modern business', names the topic. Sentences 1 ('This') and 3 ('It') point back, so 2 opens.
'It involves collecting, processing, and interpreting large datasets' defines data analytics, so 3 follows 2 directly.
'This provides real-time information' — the processing just described yields that information, so 1 follows 3.
Sentence 4 turns to what companies do with data and closes.
2-3-1-4 → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)2-1-3-4 — Puts 'This provides' before the process it refers to. Sentence 1 then sits between Data analytics and 'It involves', so 'It' could be read as the real-time information.
- (b)4-3-2-1 — Opens with companies using data and pushes the topic sentence, 'Data analytics is transforming modern business', to third place. 'It involves' would then describe 'data'.
- (c)2-4-1-3 — Holds the definition, 'It involves collecting, processing, and interpreting', to the end, far from Data analytics and after its uses have already been described.
Concept
Two checks settle this jumble. First, the opener: the sentence that introduces the topic and points back to nothing. Here that is 2, because 1 ('This') and 3 ('It') lean on something earlier.
Second, put each pointer right after what it points to. 'It' means data analytics, so 3 follows 2. 'This' means the collecting and processing, so 1 follows 3.
Option (a), 2-1-3-4, is the closest rival: read loosely, 'This' and 'It' could both mean data analytics. The key's order is tighter — each pointer sits right after its antecedent, and the definition comes before the benefit.
Key facts
- A sentence that opens with a referring 'It' or 'This' needs an earlier sentence to refer to.
- A pointer is clearest right after its antecedent: 'Data analytics …' then 'It involves …'.
- Leverage, as a verb, means to use something to maximum advantage.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing 2-1-3-4 because 'This provides' seems to follow the topic sentence — it fits after sentence 3's process, and it pushes 'It' away from its antecedent.
- Starting with sentence 4 because it mentions companies and data — it never names the topic, data analytics.
The same topic, then 'It', then 'This' chain decides 12 Sep 2025, 09:00, English Q.25 (2, 1, 3, 4): 'Research is a foundational pillar…' opens, 'It is a process that involves…' defines it, and 'This can be either theoretical…' follows.
The climate jumble at English Q.24 of this shift is ordered by the same find-the-opener check.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.