Difficulty: Medium
Correct Answer: RPQ
Explanation:
Introduction / Context:
This question assesses your skill in reorganising jumbled sentence fragments into a coherent and meaningful statement. The opening They are even poorer suggests a comparison, and the remaining parts describe who they are poorer than and what happens if crops fail. Such rearrangement questions are common in competitive exams to test both grammar and logical sequencing. You must identify which order of the given parts forms a fluent sentence with proper syntax and sense.
Given Data / Assumptions:
Concept / Approach:
To rearrange such fragments, start by examining which part can naturally follow the given beginning. The phrase They are even poorer invites a comparison with someone else, so than farmers; and crop in R fits immediately after it, producing They are even poorer than farmers; and crop. Next, we need to describe what crop failure will do to these people. The phrase crop failure will deprive them of jobs altogether is logical and grammatically sound. To achieve this, we must place P failure will deprive after the word crop and then Q them of jobs altogether after P, resulting in the smooth sequence R P Q. Thus, the complete sentence becomes They are even poorer than farmers; and crop failure will deprive them of jobs altogether.
Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Start with the fixed opening They are even poorer. A comparison word like than is expected next.
Step 2: Among the three parts, R than farmers; and crop clearly continues the comparative structure, so place R next to get They are even poorer than farmers; and crop.
Step 3: Now consider what should follow crop. The remaining parts P failure will deprive and Q them of jobs altogether can be combined to form crop failure will deprive them of jobs altogether.
Step 4: Place P failure will deprive immediately after crop to get crop failure will deprive, which is grammatically correct.
Step 5: Place Q them of jobs altogether after P to complete the idea: crop failure will deprive them of jobs altogether.
Step 6: Combine all pieces to form the final sentence: They are even poorer than farmers; and crop failure will deprive them of jobs altogether. This is grammatically correct and makes clear sense, so the order is R P Q.
Verification / Alternative check:
Test the other possible orders quickly. Q cannot directly follow They are even poorer because them of jobs altogether does not complete the comparison. P failure will deprive directly after the opening is also awkward, as it leaves the comparison incomplete. Orders such as PQR or QPR result in fragments like failure will deprive them of jobs altogether than farmers; and crop, which are clearly incorrect. Only RPQ produces a smooth and meaningful sentence.
Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option RQP leads to They are even poorer than farmers; and crop them of jobs altogether failure will deprive, which is ungrammatical.
Option PQR produces They are even poorer failure will deprive them of jobs altogether than farmers; and crop, which breaks the comparative structure and word order.
Option QPR results in They are even poorer them of jobs altogether failure will deprive than farmers; and crop, which is also incorrect and confusing.
Common Pitfalls:
A common mistake is to focus only on which fragments look like they can join grammatically, without paying attention to the logic of the comparison and the cause effect relationship. Another pitfall is ignoring punctuation clues such as the semi colon and the placement of crop, which hint at how the clauses should be arranged. Paying attention to both grammar and meaning will help you solve similar rearrangement questions more reliably.
Final Answer:
The correct arrangement is They are even poorer than farmers; and crop failure will deprive them of jobs altogether, which corresponds to the sequence RPQ.
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