Strategies to solve Para jumbles

Para-Jumble as the name refers to a paragraph wherein the sentences of the paragraph are in jumbles and are in some number or alphabetic form. So, the question is what should we do in para jumble questions? We are required to arrange the sentences in a proper manner such that they link and form a coherent paragraph, and we must do this rearrangement by choosing the appropriate option from the given option.

The name of the topic is in a way misleading because we are not jumbling paragraphs here but we are actually straightening out jumbled sentences in a paragraph. This sort of question is quite common in various competitive exams. The right approach to such type of questions can fetch you good marks in competitive exams.

Types of Para Jumbles

Depending upon the pattern of paras and questions, Para Jumbles are of the following types.

General Type: Old Pattern

This type is very common, either 4 or 6 sentences are there in a jumble manner and you have to arrange them in a proper sequence such that they link and form a coherent paragraph.

Q) Some parts of a sentence are in jumble form and they have labels like P, Q, R, and S. Select the option that gives the correct sequence to form a meaningful and grammatically correct sentence.

P: Ashish is a good person.

Q: I have a friend

R: He and I are friends for a very long time.

S: His name is Ashish.

Ans: The correct sequence is Q-S-P-R

1. Q is placed first because it ‘introduces the subject’.
2. S follows Q because it follows the introductory statement only. It introduces the name of the person/friend.
3. P follows S because it tells the quality of ‘Ashish’. It adds the adjective to the subject.
4. R follows P because it conveys the relationship between ‘Ashish’ and ‘I’.

Fixed Sentences

In this type of questions, the position of few sentences are fixed and you are required to arrange the remaining in a meaningful sequence. The fixed sentence can be the first and the last sentence or any position from the sequence.

Q) In the following question, there are six parts: S1, S6, P, Q, R and S. The position of S1 and S6 are fixed. Some parts of the sentence have been jumbled up. Rearrange these parts and choose the proper sequence from the given options.

(S1) One hot day, an ant was searching for some water, after walking around for some time, she came to a spring.

(P) While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water

(Q) To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass

(R) She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her

(S) Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly plucked a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant

(S6) The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up onto it, and the leaf drifted to dry ground, and the ant jumped out, and she was safe at last.

Ans: The correct sequence is Q-P-R-S.

• S1 begins the story by telling us about a thirsty ant, who sees a spring and in Q it explains how she was climbing a blade of grass to reach the spring, but in P it tells us the fall of hers into the water; however, in R we meet her saviour noticing her, so in S the dove drops a leaf near the ant, and luckily in S6 the ant climbs up the leaf and as it reaches on land the ant could safely jump out.
• (S1) One hot day, an ant was searching for some water, after walking around for some time, she came to a spring.
• (Q) To reach the spring, she had to climb up a blade of grass.
• (P) While making her way up, she slipped and fell into the water.
• (R) She could have drowned if a dove up a nearby tree had not seen her.
• (S) Seeing that the ant was in trouble, the dove quickly plucked a leaf and dropped it into the water near the struggling ant.
• (S6) The ant moved towards the leaf and climbed up onto it, and the leaf drifted to dry ground, and the ant jumped out, and she was safe at last.

Omission of Irrelevant Sentences

In this type, in each question, some sentences follow, find the sentence which is not really contributing to the main theme and OUT of the passage or find the odd sentence and rearrange the remaining sentences to make a coherent paragraph.

Q) In the question below, some sentences follow, find the sentence which is not really contributing to the main theme and OUT of the passage or find the odd sentence and rearrange the remaining sentences to make a coherent paragraph.

(A) Dozens more were missing.

(B) The deaths occurred in the cities of Guaruja, Santos and Sao Vicente of Sao Paulo state, with the former hardest hit, according to a statement from its civil defence office.

(C) The ban led to plummeting trade volumes and exchanges shutting their businesses.

(D) The office estimates 200 people on displacement in Guaruja.

(E) A storm that pummeled Brazil’s south-eastern coast early Tuesday caused landslides and killed at least 16 people.

1. E-B-D-A-C
2. C-D-A-E
3. E-A-B-D
4. D-C-B-E-A

Ans. The correct sequence is E-A-B-D How to attempt:

• In this type of question, take a bird’s eye view, find out the common theme which describes all the statements, and rearrange the jumbled-up sentences.
• The statement which is not contributing to the main theme of the passage needs to be kept out.
• After going through all the given five sentences, we can easily mark sentence C as the odd one it is talking about businesses but this whole paragraph is about landslides and casualties.

The complete paragraph follows below:

A storm that pummeled Brazil’s south-eastern coast early Tuesday caused landslides and killed at least 16 people. Dozens more were missing. The deaths occurred in the cities of Guaruja, Santos and Sao Vicente of Sao Paulo state, with the former hardest hit, according to a statement from its civil defense office. The office estimates 200 people on displacement in Guaruja.

Tips to Solve Para Jumbles

Each Para Jumble can make use of one or more of these tips for solving. Do note that these tips should be applied depending on the unique Para Jumble question posed to you. Some problems can be solved by taking articles as a clue, while some may need pronouns as a guide. Here are a few tips to successfully solve Para Jumbles:

1. Identifying the Opening Statement

Look for the sentence that clearly introduces a person, place, committee, or concept in the Para Jumble. That will most likely be the opening sentence.

Example:

1. He was looking forward to opening up the presents in the solitude of his room.
2. Sanjay’s birthday was celebrated with a big bash.
3. But the guests insisted he open them up right there.
4. Several people arrived at his home bearing gifts, both big and small.

Introductory Line: Clearly the first line must be statement B. This is because the whole passage talks about gifts and guests and what happens at birthdays. So the first sentence must necessarily introduce the person whose birthday it is. He is referred to by his name in this sentence whereas the remaining sentences refer to him as ‘he’. This is another indication that sentence B is the opening line.

2. Identifying Central Theme

Always spot the central theme of each Para Jumble. The flow of the story/dialogue goes a long way in piecing together the paragraph in the correct order.

3. Follow the Activities

At times, the Para Jumble will have sentences talking about activities. In such cases by just analyzing which activity happens when the question can be solved very easily.

Testbook Trick to Solve Para Jumbles

If the sentences are too lengthy, do not spend a lot of time reading every detail of it. Be vigilant and quick in spotting ‘special words’ like connectives, articles, pronouns and adjectives.

Conjunctions

There will be sentences having ‘connectives’ like although, though, if, until, since, but, after, alternatively, besides, then, yet, because, consequently, notwithstanding, and, when, meanwhile, so, however, for, whoever, whatever, whenever, nevertheless, therefore, furthermore, whereas, moreover etc. These sentences are almost never the opening ones. They always refer to people or events mentioned in previous sentences.

Example:

1. Friendly wash by many other smaller brands has challenged the giants by offering prices that attracted the value-conscious Indian consumer.
2. In fact unbranded players are offering packs that are twice the size of a branded product with similar or better quality at cheaper prices.

Ans: The correct sequence is A-B Central theme: The tough competition given to FMCG companies by smaller brands

• Here the connective ‘in fact’ clearly indicates that sentence B should follow A.
• Hence the correct order is A-B.

Articles

Even articles can help to some extent in these questions. ‘The’ is a definite article, whereas ‘a’ and ‘an’ are indefinite articles. ‘The’ is used to denote something or someone specific or when the person or thing for which the article has been used has already been introduced. ‘A’ or ‘an’ are used while introducing something for the first time and also for stating general facts. Like, ‘A hit-and-run case usually has a ten year jail term as punishment in India.’

Example:

1. A boy and his friend played all day in the garden near our house.
2. The next day, I didn’t see the boy in the garden, though his friend was there. .

Central theme: Boy playing in the garden In the second sentence, ‘the’ has been used along with ‘boy’ because he has already been introduced to the reader in another sentence. Also here we are talking specifically about ‘that’ boy. Hence, the correct order is A-B.

Pronouns

Pronouns like he, she, they, it, them, their, him, her etc. are used when the person being talked about has already been introduced. Some Para Jumbles can be tackled by taking pronouns as a guide.

Example:

1. They gathered together the death certificates from residents of the town, going back to as many years as they could.
2. Wolf decided to investigate.
3. He enlisted the support of his students and colleagues from Oklahoma.

Ans: The correct sequence is B-C-A. Central theme: An act of investigation

• Since sentence B clearly states the person, Wolf, it is undoubtedly the opening sentence.
• Next comes sentence C where the pronoun ‘he’ refers to Wolf.
• It would make no sense if sentence C came before B. Only after Wolf has been introduced, should we use ‘he’ to refer to Wolf.
• After Wolf has enlisted the support of his friends, we can refer to them as ‘they’. So sentence A is the final one in the passage. Clearly sentence A cannot be used before this because the only one introduced in the first sentence is Wolf and the group of people has only been introduced in the second sentence. So we can refer to the group as ‘they’ only after this second introduction.
• The complete answer is thus B-C-A.

Exception: In the case of pronouns in the first person like ‘I’, taking cues from them can get baffling. Such Para Jumbles have to be solved using other approaches.

Example:

1. I am a student preparing for the SBI PO
2. I request you to provide some helpful tips to solve the logical reasoning questions.

Ans: The correct sequence is A-B. Central theme: An SBI PO aspirant and his request

• Here, pronouns can be of no help. It is best to think of it this way: only after introducing yourself, you can talk about your need for some helpful tips.
• Hence, the order is A-B.
• Since sentence B clearly states the person, Wolf, it is undoubtedly the opening sentence.

Adjectives

Adjectives like ‘simpler’, ‘better’, ‘cleverer’ etc. are comparative. Hence they always hold a relation to other things. Such adjectives can also be of good help in solving Para Jumbles.

Example:

1. The solution that you had put up was good.
2. Riya had posted her solution that I found to be better.

Ans: The correct sequence is A-B Central theme: Solutions posted by two people Here, of course, sentence B has to come after A due to the comparative adjective ‘better’.