Rearrange the parts of the sentence and choose the correct order of P, Q, and R: It is a crisis which P – unless policymakers Q – exercise some intelligence R – will get even worse.

Introduction / Context:
This question tests the skill of sentence rearrangement, a very common task in English grammar and competitive examinations. You are given a main clause and three labelled segments P, Q, and R that must be ordered to form a logically correct and grammatically complete sentence. The idea is to understand the meaning of the sentence about a crisis and how the conditional clause with policymakers should be positioned to make sense.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Main part of the sentence: It is a crisis which ...
• P: unless policymakers
• Q: exercise some intelligence
• R: will get even worse
• The final sentence must be meaningful, grammatically correct, and logically ordered.

Concept / Approach:
To solve this, we need to recognize the structure of a conditional sentence that uses unless. The natural meaning is that the crisis will worsen unless policymakers exercise some intelligence. So the future verb phrase about the crisis getting worse should come immediately after which, and the unless clause should follow it. We must therefore identify which sequence of R, P, and Q produces that clear meaning when placed after the words it is a crisis which.

Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Start from the main stem: It is a crisis which ... Step 2: Consider R: will get even worse. If we place R after which, we get It is a crisis which will get even worse..., which is natural and grammatical. Step 3: Now we need the condition introduced by unless, so P must come next: unless policymakers. Step 4: After unless policymakers, we require a verb phrase describing what policymakers must do, which is Q: exercise some intelligence. Step 5: Putting them together after which gives: which will get even worse unless policymakers exercise some intelligence. Step 6: The complete sentence becomes: It is a crisis which will get even worse unless policymakers exercise some intelligence. Step 7: The order used after which is R (will get even worse), P (unless policymakers), Q (exercise some intelligence), that is RPQ.
Verification / Alternative check:
Try another option, such as PQR: unless policymakers exercise some intelligence will get even worse. This produces the sequence which unless policymakers exercise some intelligence will get even worse, which is awkward and ungrammatical. Similarly, RQP or QPR do not produce a natural conditional clause. Only RPQ gives a smooth and correct sentence. This confirms that RPQ is the correct order.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:

• RQP: would give which will get even worse exercise some intelligence unless policymakers, which is incorrect in both word order and logic.
• PQR: gives which unless policymakers exercise some intelligence will get even worse, which is clumsy and not standard word order.
• QPR: yields which exercise some intelligence unless policymakers will get even worse, which does not make sense.

Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to start the clause with unless policymakers directly after which, just because unless looks like a strong connector. But in formal English, the main future clause will get even worse usually comes before the unless clause. Another pitfall is ignoring the subject–verb sequence and just matching words by rough meaning. Always read your reconstructed sentence fully to hear whether it sounds natural and grammatical.

Final Answer:
The correct order of the parts is RPQ, making the full sentence: It is a crisis which will get even worse unless policymakers exercise some intelligence.