Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: RSPQ
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This para jumble question asks you to arrange four sentences about consumerism, advertising, loans and materialistic culture into a logical paragraph. The sentences explain how customers are lured into buying more, how loans are extended to them, and what happens when the creditworthy segment of the market is exhausted. Understanding logical flow and cause effect relations is crucial to solving such questions correctly.
Given Data / Assumptions:
The four sentences are:
- P: When all the creditworthy people were given loans to a logical limit, they ceased to be a part of the market.
- Q: Even this would have been understandable if it could work as an eye opener.
- R: Owing to the materialistic culture elsewhere, it was possible to keep selling newer products to the consumers despite having existing ones which served equally well.
- S: They were lured through advertising and marketing techniques of 'dustbinisation' of the customer; and then finally, once they became ready customers, they were given loans and credits to help them buy more and more.
We must identify the order that yields a coherent narrative of how consumers are drawn into over consumption and debt.
Concept / Approach:
A logical paragraph starts with a general background, then explains the mechanism or process, then states the consequence, and finally comments on it. Sentence R broadly describes the materialistic culture and the possibility of selling newer products even when old ones are still useful. Sentence S then explains how advertising and 'dustbinisation' convert people into ready customers who are given loans to buy more. Sentence P logically follows as a consequence: once creditworthy people have taken loans up to a limit, they drop out of the effective market. Sentence Q comments on this outcome, saying that even this could have been understandable if it had served as an eye opener. The sequence R S P Q therefore provides the clearest progression.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Look for a sentence that gives broad context. R, with its reference to 'materialistic culture elsewhere' and 'selling newer products', clearly sets the scene and should come first.
Step 2: Next, see how consumers are actually manipulated within this materialistic culture. S explains this by describing advertising, 'dustbinisation' of customers and the use of loans and credits to keep them buying more, so S follows R.
Step 3: After consumers are loaded with loans, a natural consequence appears in P: when all creditworthy people have been lent up to a logical limit, they can no longer function as fresh buyers in the market, so they cease to be an effective part of it.
Step 4: Finally, Q evaluates this consequence by saying that even such a situation would have been understandable if it had acted as an eye opener for people. This reflective tone makes Q suitable as the concluding sentence.
Step 5: Thus, the sequence R S P Q corresponds to option RSPQ.
Verification / Alternative check:
Reading the sentences in the RSPQ order, you get a coherent explanation: first the background of materialistic culture (R), then how advertising and credit systems lure consumers (S), then the result when credit capacity is exhausted (P), and finally a commentary on whether this result teaches a lesson (Q). Other options, such as PRQS or RPQS, start in the middle of the story or place Q, with its 'Even this would have been understandable', too early, before the 'this' is fully explained, which damages the logical flow.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
PRQS is wrong because starting with P immediately discusses what happens 'when all the creditworthy people were given loans', even though the process that led to that situation has not been described yet. QSPR is wrong because it starts with Q, which uses 'Even this' and clearly refers back to a situation that must first be presented. RPQS starts well with R but then jumps to P, stating the consequence before explaining how consumers were lured through advertising and loans; S appears too late, breaking the cause effect chain.
Common Pitfalls:
Many candidates focus only on time words or pronouns and ignore subtle cue phrases such as 'Even this would have been understandable', which obviously refers to a previously described situation. Always ask: what is being evaluated in such a sentence? If the answer is another sentence that has not yet appeared, then that sentence must come earlier. Also, keep track of the overall story: context first, process next, consequence after that and evaluative comment last.
Final Answer:
The most logical and coherent order of the sentences is R S P Q, corresponding to option RSPQ.
Discussion & Comments