The following paragraphs are from an essay about the historic discovery of a rare fish. To make the essay most logical and cohesive, in what order should the paragraphs be placed?
- 1In December 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a museum curator in South Africa, received a call from a local trawler captain about an unusual catch. Intrigued, she visited the docks and spotted a strange, bright blue fish with limblike fins buried beneath a pile of sharks.
- 2Recognizing that the creature was unlike any local species, Courtenay-Latimer searched her reference books but found no matches. Desperate to preserve the specimen, she brought it to a local taxidermist and sent a sketch of the fish to James Leonard Brierley Smith, a prominent South African ichthyologist.
- 3Upon receiving the sketch, Smith was stunned by its resemblance to prehistoric fossils. He rushed to the museum and identified the specimen as a coelacanth, a primitive fish thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago.
- 4This dramatic discovery, often called the 'find of the century,' reshaped our understanding of evolutionary history. Today, the coelacanth stands as a living testament to the resilience of deep-sea life.
Answer
The paragraphs should be placed in the order starting with the discovery of the fish in South Africa, followed by the curation and sending of the sketch, then the scientist's identification of the specimen, and ending with the historic impact of the find.
The correct order follows a clear chronological and logical progression: introducing the initial discovery of the fish, attempting to identify the creature and sending a sketch, receiving the sketch and identifying the coelacanth, and finally discussing the modern significance of this discovery.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Logical paragraph sequencing relies on tracking chronological events, identifying pronoun antecedents, and linking parallel transitions (like sending a sketch and receiving it) to ensure smooth rhetorical cohesion.
Estimated Time:1m 30s