Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: RPQ
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
Sentence rearrangement questions present broken parts of a sentence labeled with letters and ask you to choose the order that forms a grammatically correct and meaningful statement. In this item, the idea is to describe how elections around the world can feel dull because they are dominated by numbers, percentages, and tallies. To solve it, you must identify a natural subject–verb structure and a logical placement of descriptive phrases.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
A well-formed sentence about elections needs a main verb phrase. Among the parts, 'can be dry affairs' (R) clearly functions as the predicate for the subject 'Elections globally'. The phrase 'dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies' works as a participial phrase describing how or why they can be dry. Therefore, the main structure should be 'Elections globally can be dry affairs ...' followed by the descriptive phrase 'dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies.' The descriptive phrase itself must be internally coherent: 'dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies' is the natural order P followed by Q.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Identify the predicate: 'can be dry affairs' (R) clearly serves as the main verb phrase for 'Elections globally'.
Step 2: Start by joining 'Elections globally' with R: 'Elections globally can be dry affairs ...' This sounds grammatically complete and sensible.
Step 3: Examine P: 'dominated by numbers, percentages' – this looks like a participial phrase that further describes 'Elections globally' or explains why they can be dry affairs.
Step 4: Examine Q: 'and tallies' – it naturally continues the list in P, giving 'numbers, percentages and tallies' as a group.
Step 5: Combine R + P + Q after the subject to get: 'Elections globally can be dry affairs dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies.'
Step 6: Conclude that the correct order of parts is R-P-Q, so the answer is 'RPQ'.
Verification / Alternative check:
Check the sentence with the chosen sequence: 'Elections globally can be dry affairs dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies.' This is grammatically correct, logically flows from the general statement to explanation, and sounds natural. Now test another order, for example P-Q-R: 'Elections globally dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies can be dry affairs.' This also seems possible, but notice that the given options use 'PQR' without clearly attaching R correctly; the exam pattern, however, treats the choice where the main clause appears earlier and is followed by a modifying phrase as more straightforward. Among the offered sequences, 'RPQ' most cleanly connects the predicate and the descriptive phrase.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
'RQP' would yield 'Elections globally can be dry affairs and tallies dominated by numbers, percentages', which is ungrammatical and confused. 'PQR' expects the sequence 'dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies can be dry affairs', which disconnects the subject 'Elections globally' awkwardly. 'QRP' starts with 'and tallies', which cannot logically or grammatically follow immediately after 'Elections globally'. These orders disrupt either the subject–verb connection or the internal list structure.
Common Pitfalls:
A frequent mistake is to focus only on local pairings like 'percentages and tallies' and ignore the need for a complete main clause with a clear verb. Candidates also sometimes place conjunctions like 'and' (Q) at the beginning, even though they normally continue a list. A good strategy is always to first locate the main predicate, then attach descriptive phrases around it, and finally ensure that list markers like 'and' sit in the middle of lists, not at the start of the sentence.
Final Answer:
The correct order is RPQ, forming 'Elections globally can be dry affairs dominated by numbers, percentages and tallies.'
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