Arrange the following words in the order in which they occur in an English dictionary and then select the correct sequence of roman numerals. i. Examination ii. Explicit iii. Expenditure iv. Experience

Introduction / Context:
This question focuses on ordering words that share a common prefix, in this case “ex”. Such problems evaluate the ability to apply strict alphabetical rules when several words begin with the same letters but diverge later. The words Examination, Explicit, Expenditure, and Experience must be arranged exactly as they would appear in a standard English dictionary, and then translated into the correct roman numeral sequence.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Words with roman numerals:
  • i. Examination
  • ii. Explicit
  • iii. Expenditure
  • iv. Experience
• All words start with the letters E X.
• Standard alphabetical ordering applies, letter by letter from left to right.

Concept / Approach:
When several words share an initial sequence like EX, we ignore that common part and compare subsequent letters. After EX, the next important group of letters in each word is A, P E, P E, and P L. Words starting with EXA will precede those starting with EXP. Among the EXP words, we then compare further letters E, E, and L to decide which of Expenditure, Experience, and Explicit comes first, second, and third. This method ensures we follow exact dictionary rules rather than intuition.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Write the words after the common prefix EX: Examination (amination), Explicit (plicit), Expenditure (penditure), Experience (perience). Step 2: Compare the third letters overall: Examination has EXA, while the other three begin with EXP. Since A comes before P, Examination must come first. Step 3: Now focus on the EXP words. Compare Expenditure and Experience, both starting with EXPE. After EXPE, Expenditure has N, and Experience has R. Since N comes before R, Expenditure comes before Experience. Step 4: Explicit starts with EXPL, and L comes after E in the alphabet when we compare the fourth letter after EXP. Therefore Explicit comes after both Expenditure and Experience. The final order is Examination (i), Expenditure (iii), Experience (iv), Explicit (ii) which is i, iii, iv, ii.

Verification / Alternative check:
To verify, we can mentally list them in full: Examination, Expenditure, Experience, Explicit. Many dictionaries list EXA words before EXE and EXI words. When we examine the sequences EXAM, EXPEN, EXPER, and EXPLI, the alphabetical order matches our derived order. Converting this back to roman numerals gives i, iii, iv, ii, which is one of the answer choices and consistent with correct dictionary practice.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A (i, iv, iii, ii) places Experience before Expenditure even though the letter N in Expenditure comes before R in Experience. Option B (i, ii, iii, iv) incorrectly puts Explicit immediately after Examination and ahead of the EXPEN and EXPER words. Option C (i, iv, ii, iii) also misorders the EXP words by placing Experience before Explicit and Expenditure. Option E (iii, i, iv, ii) starts with Expenditure, which is wrong because Examination must come first due to EXA preceding EXP.

Common Pitfalls:
A typical error is to rely on familiarity with word meanings instead of spelling, causing students to guess that Explicit should come earlier due to its strong sound. Another mistake is to compare only the first three letters and overlook subtle differences in later positions. For series where the first few letters are identical, always move forward until the first differing letter and base your ordering solely on that comparison.

Final Answer:
The correct dictionary order is Examination, Expenditure, Experience, Explicit which corresponds to the sequence i, iii, iv, ii in terms of the given roman numerals.