Arrange the following words in the order in which they would appear in a standard English dictionary, and then select the correct sequence of roman numerals: i. Amateur ii. Abominable iii. Amalgamable iv. Accumulate.

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: ii, iv, iii, i

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This verbal reasoning question asks you to place four words in dictionary order and then choose the option that represents that order using roman numerals. The words are Amateur, Abominable, Amalgamable and Accumulate. To answer correctly, you must compare the spellings of these words according to the same alphabetical rules that govern entries in an English dictionary. Such questions test your precision in comparing letters position by position, not just by initial sounds or intuitive guesses.


Given Data / Assumptions:

  • Words with labels: i. Amateur, ii. Abominable, iii. Amalgamable, iv. Accumulate.
  • We assume standard English alphabetical order is used.
  • Capitalization does not affect ordering; only the sequence of letters matters.
  • Our task is to determine the correct ordering of ii, iii, iv and i when sorted alphabetically.


Concept / Approach:
To arrange words alphabetically, we compare them letter by letter from left to right. The first letter that differs between two words decides their relative order. If one word is a complete prefix of another, the shorter word appears first. To solve this correctly, we should first group words by their initial letters (which all happen to be A here), then examine the second, third and subsequent letters until a difference appears that determines the ordering. Careful attention to the letter sequence 'ab', 'ac' and 'am' is crucial in this particular problem.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Write the words with their first few letters: Abominable (ab...), Accumulate (ac...), Amateur (am...), Amalgamable (am...). Step 2: Compare second letters. All words start with A, so we move to the second letter: Abominable has 'b', Accumulate has 'c', Amateur has 'm' and Amalgamable has 'm'. Alphabetically, 'b' comes before 'c', and both come before 'm'. Step 3: Therefore Abominable (ii) must come first, followed by Accumulate (iv), before we consider the two words starting with 'am'. Step 4: Now compare Amalgamable (iii) and Amateur (i). They both begin with 'ama'. At the fourth letter, Amalgamable has 'l' (amal...) while Amateur has 't' (amat...). Since 'l' comes before 't' in the alphabet, Amalgamable comes before Amateur. Step 5: Combining these results, the dictionary order is: Abominable (ii), Accumulate (iv), Amalgamable (iii), Amateur (i). Step 6: This corresponds to the sequence ii, iv, iii, i.


Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, you can list the words in a column and sort by the first two letters: ab, ac, am, am. The 'ab' word, Abominable, clearly comes first. The 'ac' word, Accumulate, comes next. For the two 'am' words, you then compare the next letters: Amal... versus Amat.... Since 'l' precedes 't', Amalgamable precedes Amateur. Reading down the sorted list gives Abominable, Accumulate, Amalgamable, Amateur, which mapped back to labels is ii, iv, iii, i. No alternative ordering remains that is consistent with these comparisons, so the result is secure.




Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option ii, i, iv, iii places Amateur before Accumulate and Amalgamable, which contradicts the fact that 'am' words should come after 'ac' in alphabetical order. Option iii, iv, ii, i suggests that Amalgamable comes before Abominable and Accumulate, ignoring that 'ab' and 'ac' both precede 'am'. Option ii, iv, i, iii reverses the correct order between Amalgamable and Amateur, placing Amateur before Amalgamable despite 'l' coming before 't'. These inconsistencies disqualify all of the incorrect options.




Common Pitfalls:
Learners sometimes focus only on the first two letters and ignore later differences, especially when words share the same starting syllables. Others may be influenced by common usage frequency or by how familiar a word looks, rather than by strict alphabetical rules. To avoid such mistakes, systematically compare letters until you find the first point of difference, and remember that even a small difference at the fourth or fifth position can determine the correct ordering in a dictionary.




Final Answer:
Arranged in dictionary order, the words are Abominable, Accumulate, Amalgamable and Amateur, corresponding to the label sequence ii, iv, iii, i. Therefore ii, iv, iii, i is the correct answer.

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