CDS General English Solved Paper (I) : 2007
(ORDERING OF SENTENCES)

Directions (For the 15 items which follows): In the following items, each passage consists of six sentences. The first sentence (S1) and the final sentence (S6) are given in the beginning. The middle four sentences in each have been removed and jumbled up. These are labelled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper sequence of the sentences and mark accordingly on the Answer Sheet. Example ‘X’ has been solved for you. X.
S1: There was a boy named Jack.
S6: At last she turned him out of the house.
P : So the mother asked him to find work.
Q : They were very poor.
R : He lived with his mother.
S : But Jack refused to work.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - Q - P - S (b) P - Q - R - S
(c) Q - P - R - S (d) R - P - S - Q

Explanation:

The correct sequence in this example is R - Q - P - S which is marked by (a). Therefore, (a) is the correct answer.
1. S1 : The effect of books is two fold.
S6 : But once printing had been discovered, it did not matter how soon you died or how many copies of what you had written were eaten by mice.
P : Unless you can write it down, your poem or idea will probably die when you do.
Q : They preserve knowledge in time and spread it in space.
R : Suppose, for example, that you think of an important idea or a beautiful poem.
S : Even if you do write it down, it perishes soon as the mice eat the paper.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) Q - P - R - S (b) S - R - P - Q
(c) Q - R - P - S (d) S - P - R - Q

2. S1 : The accident occurred in just a moment.
S6 : The cyclist was thrown a few feet away.
P : The cyclist was blinded by a bullockcart moving slowly in the opposite direction.
Q : The cyclist from the main road did not notice it.
R : The result was a head-on-collision.
S : A speeding car came from a side road.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence
(a) P - Q - S - R (b) S - R - P - Q
(c) P - R - S - Q (d) S - Q - P - R

3. S1 : Man is a fighting animal as much as a thinking one. S6 Their pacificism is only a cloak for their weakness.
S6 : There is no denying the fact that somewhere in the blood of everyone of us there is a war-dance.
P : It is usually the weak and the cowardly who fight shy of war.
R : It excites the inborn pugnaci ty in everyone.
S : The sight of men fighting moves us strangely.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) Q - R - S - P (b) P - S - R - Q
(c) Q - S - R - P (d) P - R - S - Q

4. S1 : It was dark and it was raining heavily.
S6 : Except for the sound of the rain, all was quiet.
P : With a sigh of relief, the tiger crawled under the thatched roof and lay down by the door.
Q : He was wet and cold and his home was far away.
R : A n old t iger ran through the rain looking for shelter.
S : While hurrying to his shelter he saw an old hut.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - P - S - Q (b) S - Q - R - P
(c) R - Q - S - P (d) S - P - R - Q

5. S1 : Tim Severin is a writer.
S6 : Tim eventually found himself facing Atlantic Gale in a small boat.
P : Researching seafaring legends intrigues Tim.
Q : Tim is as likely to be found before the mast as before a typewriter.
R : Tim is very keen on the ancient story of the travels of Brendan.
S : Tim cannot stop shor t of a total reconstruction of historic voyages.
Which one  of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) Q - S - P - R (b) R - P - S - Q
(c) Q - P - S - R (d) R - S - P - Q

6. S1 : When he was only three years old, Mozart could pick out melodies on a clavichord.
S6 : It was evident that he was a prodigy and a musical genius.
P : While he was a very young child, he had started to compose music.
Q : He published the first composi tion when he was twelve.
R : By seven he had learned to play the violin and organ without instruction.
S : By the time he was a young man, he had  played at concerts in most of Europe’sgreat cities.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) P - R - Q - S (b) R - P - Q - S
(c) P - R - S - Q (d) R - P - S - Q

7. S1 : Kanna had to kick open the door, as his arms were full of shopping. S6 : May be, because he did not want to be hit on the head a third time. Tommy .hid under the chair.
P : The dog now jumped up and ran across the room, barking loudly.
Q : The door hit Tommy on the head and on top of that, Kanna also tripped over him dropping the shopping, like a shower on Tommy.
R : Unfortunately Tommy was now in front of the bedroom door which hit him  again.
S : This woke Kanna’s mother up and she r ushed out of the room l i ke a whirlwind.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) Q - P - S - R (b) S - R - Q - P
(c) Q - R - S - P (d) S - P - Q - R

8. S1 : Diagnosis is an important component of health care.
S6 : Doctors at rural health centres are left to rely on their own clinical skill and the stethoscope to determine the nature and extent of an illness.
P : The came the stethoscope, the microscope, labor ator y tests w i th chemicals, screenings and X-rays.
Q : The f i rst barometer to be used in determining a health condition was the pulse, and, along with it, the tongue, throat and eyes.
R : Diagnostic facilities are the single most important qualitative element missing in our rural health services.
S : Now diagnostic technology includes ul t r asoni c gadget s and nuclear equipments which have found their way into some of out urban hospitals.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) Q - S - P - R (b) R - P - S - Q
(c) Q - P - S - R (d) R - S - P - Q

9. S1 : Time is our tyrant.
S6 : To us, for example, the moment 8.17 A.M. means something-something very important , i f i t happens to be the starting time of our daily train.
P : We are chronically aware of the moving minute hand, even of the moving second hand.
Q : There are trains to be caught, cards to be punched, tasks to be done in specified periods, records to be broken by fraction of a second.
R : Our consciousness of the smallest units of time is now acute.
S : We have to be.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) S - P - R - Q (b) P - S - R -Q
(c) S - P - Q - R (d) P - S - Q - R

10. S1 : Sceptics say that writing cannot be taught; it is too personal a process, depending too much on the aptitude of the writer.
S6 : In writing, words can be moved or al tered, sentences and paragraphs broken up or joined together, passages added or taken away, until the writer feels satisfied that he has expressed  imself asadequately as he can.
P : They could certainly maintain that offering to teach it is a rash act for anyone to undertake. 
Q : For the writer the great virtue of the written word is that it is improvable.
R : What can be taught , how ev er, i s preparation : a certain mastery of your material and orderly planning of how to set it out.
S : Another thing that can be taught is revision.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) Q - S - R - P (b) P - S - R - Q
(c) P - R - S - Q (d) R - S - P - Q

11. S1 : The energy in coal is chemical energy.
S6 : The engine t r ansmi t s mechani cal energy to the machine.
P : These compounds were formed in trees many millions of years ago and the energy used to build them was the light of the Sun.
Q : This heat can be used to change water into steam, giving the steam the energy to expand, which drives the steam  engine.
R : When the coal is burned, the energy trapped by the trees millions of years  ago is released and becomes heat.
S : This is the energy that binds the atoms of the chemical compounds in coal together.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - Q - S - P (b) S - P - R - Q
(c) R - P - S - Q (d) S - Q - R - P

12. S1 : A f ter the r ain has fal len on the mountains, most of it sinks into the ground where i t col lect s in poolsunderground.
S6 : After a river has flowed through a human habitation it collects debris and other waste material.
P : Hence we have the beginnings of a mountain stream.
Q : The water which col lects in pools underground may bur st out into springs and flow down the slope.
R : Some of the water joins the streams andeventually flows into bigger r ivers which then carry it to the seas or oceans.
S : Usual l y the w ater at the top of mountains is clean and pure as it has not been polluted by men who usually pollute the rivers flowing through the plains.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - P - Q - S (b) S - Q - P - R
(c) R - Q - P - S (d) S - P - Q - R

13. S1 : Human beings are not the natural prey of tigers.
S6 :Then it is compelled to take to a diet of human flesh.
P : A tiger becomes man-eater through  stress of circumstances.
Q : The wounded tiger is incapacitated.
R : The stress of circumstances is mostly wounds.
S : It cannot hunt its natural prey.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) R - P - S - Q (b) P - R - Q - S
(c) R - P - Q - S (d) P - R - S - Q

14. S1 : Nature can produce acidity in rains.
S6 : It can damage vegetation and wild life, cor rode steel st ructures, br idges, buildings, statues and etch car finishes and harm human health too.
 P : Acid rain has made thousands of lakesfishless in Scandinavia, Canada and the United States.
 Q : Lightening bolt can form oxides of nitrogen which in turn form nitric acid.
R : Recent ly i t has been know n that bilogical processes in the oceans are responsible for the product ion of sulphuric acid.
S : However, it is believed that the amount of acid produced in atmosphere by nature is insignificant when compared to the amount produced f rom manmade sources.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) P - S - R - Q (b) Q - R - S - P
(c) P - R - S - Q (d) Q - S - R - P

15. S1 : There is no organizat ion or agency controlling activity on the Internet.
S6 : However, a number of laws apply to communications and activities on the Internet, and Internet-wide rules of etiquet te and rules. for acceptable behaviour exist.
P : Thi s al low s for the format ion of discussions, exchange of ideas, and the spread of information in a free and open member.
Q : Control is in the hands of individuals and local organizations, schools, or businesses. R : Some people describe the Internet as a  form of anarchy, mainly because thereisn’t any central control.
S : The users come f rom a var iety of count r ies and cul tures, and thi s diversity contributes to the Internet’s utility and vigour.
Which one of the following is the correct sequence ?
(a) S - R - Q - P (b) Q - P - S - R
(c) S - P - Q - R (d) Q - R - S - P

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