Para-jumbles broadly fall in three categories. In each category, the jumbled
sentences are coded with an alphabet (usually A, B, C and D).
1. 4/5 sentences are given in a random order and you have to unjumble all of
them. Toughest of the lot!
2. The opening sentence + 4/5 sentences are given and you have to rearrange
the group of 4/5 sentences, having been given prior knowledge of the thought
that starts off the flow of the discussion.
3. 4/5 sentences + the closing sentence is given and you need to correctly
sequence 4/5 sentences so that they flow into the last sentence.
4. Opening sentence + 4/5 Sentences + Closing Sentence are given. Easiest of
the lot. You know where the story starts and where it ends. You only have to
figure out the screenplay in between!
The smartest approach
a) The best approach to solving PJ questions is the 'free fall' one. That is,
develop a high reading speed and scan all 4-5 sentences. Try to get a feel of
what the passage is about.
b) At this point you need to decide whether this particular paragraph is one which
you are comfortable with or not.
c) If you decide to go ahead, then scan the answer options. Are they of any help?
If , for example the options are,
a) BDAC b) BCAD c) CABD d) CBDA
Then you know for sure that this paragraph has to start either with B or C. A
quick look at B and C will tell you which one looks like a better opening sentence
and already your choices will be halved.
Similarly, with options,
a) BDCA b) CDBA c) DCAB d) ACDB
then we know that it has to end with either B or A. So browse sentences A and B
and see if any one of them look like a concluding sentence.
There might be other indicators to keep an eye out for. For example if three of
the five options start with A and the other two with C/B/D there is a good
probability that A is the starting sentence.
If, say, a link CB occurs in more than 2 options then it is something worth paying
attention to.
PJ strategies to save time and increase accuracy
Strategy 1: Once upon a time long ago... / ...and they lived happily after: Identify
the opening/closing sentence using what we discussed above. Either the tone of
the paragraph or the option elimination method.
Strategy 2: Where's the interlock dude? Identify links between two sentences
and try to see if that link exists in multiple answer options (a sure way to know
that you are on the right track). A combination of 1 and 2 will take you home most
of the time.
Place your magnifying glass on the following,
Strategy 2a: Make it 'personal'. Look out for personal pronouns (he, she, it, him,
her, you, they). Personal pronouns always refer to a person, place or thing.
Therefore, if a sentence has a personal pronoun without mentioning the person,
place or object it is referring to, mark it in your head and scan the paragraph for
the original person, place or object that it refers to.
For example if you go back to the opening jumbled paragraph of this article, the
third sentence starts with 'it'. We now need to figure out what 'it' refers to and the
sentence containing the original 'it' will come before this sentence.
Strategy 2b: Look for 'Poriborton' (Change, in Mamata Banerjee's tongue).
Certain words called 'transition words' help the author to shift from one thought
flow to another. In other words, they usher in change. Some transition words that
appear regularly are --- hence, besides, simultaneously, in conclusion, etc. While
you practice PJs whenever you come across a transition word --- note it down.
Make a list!
Strategy 2c: Demonstrate! Look for demonstrative pronouns --- this, that, these,
those, etc. Again, if you look at our opening paragraph, the first line starts with
'for this' --- now we know that we need to figure out what 'this' refers to and the
sentence containing the original 'this' will come before this sentence.
Strategy 3: Main samay hoon! Sometimes the events mentioned in the
paragraph can be arranged in a chronological order making it easy for you to
identify the sequence. Example,
A: Alexander Bain, Scottish clockmaker, patented the electric clock.
B: The next development in accuracy occurred after 1656 with the invention of
the pendulum clock.
C: Clocks have played an important role in man's history.
D: Spring-driven clocks appeared during the 15th century, although they are
often erroneously credited to Nuremberg watchmaker Peter Henlen around 1511.
It is quite obvious by studying the chronology what the sequence should be.
Strategy 4: The Chota Rajan Approach. Sometimes you will find that for some
terms in the paragraph both the full form and the abbreviation have been used.
For Example IMF --- International Monetary Fund, Charles Dickens --- Dickens,
Dr Manmohan Singh --- Dr Singh. In these cases where both the full form as well
as the abbreviation is present in different sentences, then the sentence
containing the full form will obviously come before the sentence containing the
abbreviation.
Strategy 5: What an Idea Sirji! If there are two sentences, one containing an
idea and another giving examples of the same idea then the sentence containing
the idea should come before the sentence containing the examples. But they
need not necessarily be exactly side by side. Example,
A: Russia possesses the largest stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction in
the world.
B: 489 missiles carrying up to 1,788 warheads and 12 submarines carrying up to
609 warheads form a looming threat.
A will come before B in this case, even though there might be sentences in
between.
Strategy 6: An article of faith. It is highly unlikely that the definite article 'the' will
be part of an opening sentence. If 'a/an' and 'the' both are used for the same
noun then the sentence containing 'the' will come after the sentence containing
a/an.
Tips for beginners
Focus on improving your reading skills. Also try to improve your cognitive ability.
For example --- Go to a random website article. Go immediately to the second
paragraph and after reading it try to guess what the author could have possibly
said in the previous paragraph and the next paragraph. This will help you with a
couple of other types of questions as well which we shall discuss in later articles.
To-do practice activity for all of you
Team up with another friend. Both of you select passages from newspaper
editorials, magazines, etc. Paste them to Microsoft Word. Break them up into
sentences. Jumble up the sentences. Exchange and solve.
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