Arrange the given English words in alphabetical order and choose the one that comes first: Accumulate, Actate, Account, Achieve.

Introduction / Context:
This question asks which of four given English words comes first in dictionary order. The words are Accumulate, Actate, Account and Achieve. All begin with the letters Ac, so you need to apply accurate alphabetical comparison beyond just the first character. Such problems check simple but important skills used when consulting dictionaries, indexes or ordered lists.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The words to compare are Accumulate, Actate, Account and Achieve.
• All words are to be ordered using standard English alphabetical rules.
• We assume that capitalisation does not affect ordering.
• The task is to identify the single word that would appear first among these in a dictionary.
• All four options are candidates, plus an explicit None of these option.

Concept / Approach:
To place words in alphabetical order, compare them character by character from left to right. When all words share the same first and second letters, focus on the third letter, then the fourth and so on until you see a difference. The word whose letter is earliest in the alphabet at the first differing position will come first. Here, attention to the exact spelling of each word is essential, since small differences like c versus h or c versus t can change ordering significantly.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Write the words: Accumulate, Actate, Account, Achieve. All begin with A, then c at the second position. Compare the third letter: Accumulate has c, Account has c, Achieve has h and Actate has t. Words with c as the third letter, Accumulate and Account, will come before Achieve and Actate, because c comes before h and t. Now compare Accumulate and Account. Look at their spellings: Accumulate is A c c u m u l a t e and Account is A c c o u n t. At the fourth letter, Accumulate has u and Account has o, and o comes before u, so Account precedes Accumulate. Since Account beats all other words at the first differing letter, it must be the word that comes first in alphabetical order.

Verification / Alternative check:
You can propose a tentative alphabetical list as Account, Accumulate, Achieve, Actate and then verify each adjacent pair. Account versus Accumulate: at the fourth letter, o comes before u, so Account is correctly earlier. Accumulate and Achieve: c comes before h at the third position, so Accumulate precedes Achieve. Achieve versus Actate: h comes before t at the third position, so Achieve comes before Actate. This confirms that Account is indeed the first word overall in the list.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A, Accumulate, shares the first three letters with Account but loses at the fourth letter where u follows o. Option B, Actate, has t as the third letter, which comes after both c and h, so it must appear later. Option D, Achieve, has h as the third letter, which also comes after c, placing it after both Accumulate and Account. Option E, None of these, is wrong because Account clearly satisfies the requirement of being alphabetically first among the given words.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to choose the shortest word or the most familiar word rather than comparing exact spellings. Another error arises when test takers confuse the order of consonants like c, h and t in the middle of words. To avoid such pitfalls, always write the words beneath each other, align them by letters and then systematically scan from left to right until you find the decisive difference for ranking.

Final Answer:
Among the given words, the one that appears first in dictionary order is Account.