Examkin

Question

Difficulty: MediumSentence Reordering and Placement

Consider the passage below about a significant scientific discovery:

[1] In 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, a museum curator in South Africa, received a call from a local fisherman who had caught an unusual blue fish. [2] Recognizing its scientific importance, she contacted her colleague, chemistry professor and amateur ichthyologist J.L.B. Smith, to help identify it. [3] Unfortunately, due to the remote location and limited communication options of the era, Smith did not receive her letter for several weeks. [4] By the time he finally arrived to examine the specimen, it had already been taxidermied, making detailed internal analysis impossible. [5] Nevertheless, Smith immediately identified the creature as a coelacanth, a prehistoric fish thought to have gone extinct 66 million years ago.

The writer wants to insert this sentence into the paragraph:

"During this delay, the fish's soft tissues began to decay rapidly in the warm weather."

For the paragraph to remain coherent, where is the best position for this sentence?

  1. A
    before sentence 1
  2. B
    following sentence 2
  3. following sentence 3Answer
  4. D
    following sentence 4

Answer

following sentence 3
Placing the sentence after sentence 3 is correct because it links the chronological timeline: sentence 3 introduces a weeks-long delay, which provides a direct logical referent for the phrase 'this delay.' Additionally, the decay of the fish's soft tissues provides the cause that led to the taxidermy described in sentence 4.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the target sentence for logical and grammatical clues.
The phrase 'During this delay' indicates that the target sentence must follow a sentence that describes a period of waiting or delayed progress.
Identifying transition markers helps locate the necessary context in the paragraph.
2
Scan the paragraph for a sentence describing a delay.
Sentence 3 states that J.L.B. Smith 'did not receive her letter for several weeks,' which constitutes a significant delay.
Finding the antecedent for 'this delay' narrows down the potential insertion points.
3
Check the cause-and-effect relationship with the surrounding sentences.
Inserting the sentence after sentence 3 explains why the fish had to be taxidermied by the time Smith arrived (sentence 4), completing the logical chain of events.
Ensuring the sentence fits seamlessly between the preceding and succeeding sentences confirms the correct placement.

Key Concept

Sentence Reordering and Placement
Rate this question

Topics

Sentence Reordering and Placement

More questions from this topic