In this sentence arrangement question, three labelled fragments X, Y, and Z are given within a base sentence: “It was a somewhat X-carried it off as Y-trying ordeal, but we Z-best as we could.” Choose the option that arranges X, Y, and Z to form the most logical and grammatically correct English sentence.

Introduction / Context:
This question tests your ability to rearrange labelled sentence fragments to form a coherent, grammatically correct English sentence. Such questions are common in English language sections of competitive examinations and assess both your sense of natural word order and your understanding of clause structure. The base sentence mentions an ordeal and how the speakers managed it, but the internal pieces are jumbled and marked as X, Y, and Z.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• The base sentence skeleton is: “It was a somewhat X-carried it off as Y-trying ordeal, but we Z-best as we could.”
• X = “carried it off as”
• Y = “trying ordeal, but we”
• Z = “best as we could”
• We must choose the order of X, Y, and Z that produces a smooth, meaningful sentence.

Concept / Approach:
To solve sentence arrangement questions, you should first mentally reconstruct what a natural English sentence conveying this idea would look like. The intended meaning here is that the experience was somewhat difficult, but they managed to handle it as well as possible. A logical English version would be: “It was a somewhat trying ordeal, but we carried it off as best as we could.” Once you identify the target sentence, you can map the fragments X, Y, and Z to their appropriate positions in that structure and determine the required order.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Imagine a natural sentence: “It was a somewhat trying ordeal, but we carried it off as best as we could.”Step 2: Locate the phrase “trying ordeal, but we” in the imagined sentence. It comes immediately after “It was a somewhat.” This phrase is given as Y, so the first fragment after the introductory words must be Y.Step 3: After the words “but we,” the next natural fragment is “carried it off as,” which is labelled X.Step 4: Finally, the sentence ends with “best as we could,” which is fragment Z.Step 5: Combine them in the order Y, X, Z to get: “It was a somewhat trying ordeal, but we carried it off as best as we could.”Step 6: Confirm that this sentence is grammatically correct and expresses a clear meaning.

Verification / Alternative check:
We can test the other possible orders to verify our choice. For example, order XZY would produce: “It was a somewhat carried it off as best as we could trying ordeal, but we,” which is clearly ungrammatical and jumbled. Similarly, XYZ or ZYX lead to broken phrases like “somewhat carried it off as trying ordeal” that do not follow natural English word order. Only YXZ yields the fluent sentence that describes a somewhat trying ordeal successfully managed by the speakers. This confirms that YXZ is the correct arrangement.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option XZY places “carried it off as” directly after “It was a somewhat,” which breaks the idiomatic pattern because “somewhat” normally qualifies an adjective like “trying.” Option XYZ forces “carried it off as” to precede “trying ordeal,” but the phrase “carried it off as trying ordeal” is not meaningful. Option ZYX starts the sequence with “best as we could,” which cannot logically follow the introductory “It was a somewhat.” All these orders result in awkward, grammatically incorrect sentences that do not express the intended meaning.

Common Pitfalls:
Candidates often try to solve these questions by purely visual matching without first imagining a fully correct sentence. This can lead to accepting partially correct but still awkward structures. Another mistake is ignoring idiomatic combinations such as “trying ordeal” and “as best as we could,” which give strong clues to proper ordering. Always identify familiar phrases and let them guide the arrangement of fragments. Reading the reconstructed sentence aloud in your mind can also help you detect unnatural breaks or misplaced clauses.

Final Answer:
The most logical and grammatically correct order of the fragments is YXZ, forming the sentence “It was a somewhat trying ordeal, but we carried it off as best as we could.”