Sentence Rearrangement
🔒 Log in to trackOpening and closing sentence clues
🔒 Log in to trackWhat cannot open (the fast eliminations):
- A bare pronoun — 'He refused the offer' cannot start; nobody knows who 'he' is.
- A conjunction or connector — But, However, Therefore, So, And, Because cannot open a passage's thought.
- A 'the' on a first mention — 'The boy ran' cannot open; a 'boy' must exist first.
- A consequence phrase — 'This decision proved costly' cannot open; there is no decision yet.
What can open: a full noun phrase with a general or scene-setting statement, a time-frame opener (One day, Last winter, In those days), or a definition.
What closes well:
- A result or summary — Therefore, Thus, Hence, That is why, The need of the hour.
- A judgement or lesson — moral-of-the-story sentences.
- A future glance — 'Life returned to normal after a week', 'Such campaigns must continue.'
The cloze-style check: S1 gives the subject; the first middle part usually continues that subject with a pronoun or elaboration. If two parts both look openable, prefer the more general one — specific examples come after general claims.
| Clue | Verdict |
|---|---|
| 'It improves memory.' as candidate opener | No — 'It' hangs |
| 'Reading improves memory.' as candidate opener | Yes — full noun, general |
| 'But books are costly.' | No — 'But' cannot open |
| 'Thus a reading habit pays for life.' | No — conclusion word |
| 'That is why libraries matter.' | Close only — final position |
Detailed notes
Why openers are easier to spot than middles
The first part after S1 has to connect to S1 alone, so there is only one link to check. Every other part has to connect to parts you have not placed yet. Settle the opener first, then build the chain from it.
The fastest test is the orphan test. Read each part as if it came straight after S1. A part fails if it contains:
- a pronoun whose noun appears only in another part ('It sat down beside the principal' when the dog is introduced in a middle part),
- a 'this/these + noun' that S1 does not supply ('This ability...', 'These halls...'),
- a follow-on word such as 'also', 'even', 'others', 'too', 'in the morning'. Usually two or three parts fail, and the opener is obvious.
Connectors inside a PQRS item
Connector words (However, Yet, But, Therefore) cannot open a free paragraph. In a PQRS item, though, S1 is already there, so a connector part can follow S1 directly when S1 is the claim it responds to. 'Many students think maths is only for the gifted. However, this belief is not true.' — here 'However, this belief' is the right first part, because 'this belief' is S1.
So the real rule is: a connector follows the claim it turns on. If that claim is S1, the connector part comes first; if the claim is in another part, it comes right after that part.
Closers and S6
The Close part usually carries a signal: therefore, thus, hence, clearly, that is why, the need of the hour, the next step. Two checks confirm it:
- It must follow everything it summarises — 'Hence, experts warn the species could vanish' needs the threats listed first.
- It must lead naturally into S6. If S6 is itself a conclusion ('Saving it will need urgent action'), the Close part prepares for it.
General before specific
When two parts could both open, choose the more general one. 'Each region cooks with what grows around it' comes before 'In Kerala, for example...'. An example needs the claim it illustrates. The words 'for example', 'in Punjab', 'during deep sleep' mark specific parts.
Order of work
- Orphan test on all four parts -> the opener.
- Signal words -> the closer.
- The two middle parts -> one pair decides.
Quick revision
- Orphan test: pronoun, 'this + noun', also/even/others -> cannot open.
- A connector follows the claim it turns on — which can be S1 itself.
- Closers: therefore, thus, hence, clearly, that is why — they follow everything they summarise.
- General claim before its example; 'for example' is never first.
- Opener, then closer, then one pair for the middle.
Types of questions asked
Every way this subtopic shows up in exams — how to recognise it, the formula or logic to use, and a solved example.
Type 1: Orphan test for the openervery common3 practice Q
Two or three parts begin with pronouns or 'this + noun' (It sat down..., This ability..., Their protest...), and only one part introduces a new noun.
- Read each part as if it came straight after S1.
- Remove every part whose pronoun or 'this + noun' has nothing to refer to in S1.
- The part that remains is the opener; attach the pronoun parts to it.
Why it works: a pronoun cannot come before the noun it refers to, so the part that introduces the noun must come first.
Example: S1: The morning assembly began as usual. Parts: Suddenly, a stray dog walked onto the stage / It sat down beside the principal / ...
'It' fails the orphan test (S1 has no dog), so the 'stray dog' part opens and the 'It' part follows it directly.
Type 2: Connector follows the claim it turns oncommon2 practice Q
One part begins with However/But/Yet and S1 (or another part) states the claim it disputes.
- Find the claim the connector answers ('this belief', 'the same device').
- If the claim is S1, the connector part comes first; otherwise it follows the part that makes the claim.
- Place its example or support right after it.
Why it works: a contrast needs something to contrast with, and that must come just before it.
Example: S1: Many students think maths is only for the gifted. Part: However, this belief is simply not true.
'This belief' is S1's claim, so the However part comes first; the research and the example support it; 'Therefore' closes.
Type 3: Closing signal partvery common2 practice Q
One part carries hence/therefore/clearly/that is why, or proposes a solution, and S6 is a final judgement.
- Mark the part with the closing signal.
- Check that everything it summarises comes before it.
- Place it last, just before S6, and order the rest.
Why it works: a conclusion depends on all the points before it, so it can only go at the end.
Example: S1: Traffic jams waste millions of hours. Parts include: Clearly, the answer lies in moving people, not vehicles.
'Clearly' concludes the cause, the failed fix and the contrast, so it sits just before S6.
Type 4: General before specificcommon2 practice Q
One part makes a general claim and one or two begin with 'for example', 'in Kerala', 'during deep sleep', or name a particular case.
- Find the general claim that the specific parts illustrate.
- Place it before its examples.
- Pair the examples ('for example' ... 'on the other hand').
Why it works: an example only makes sense after the claim it illustrates.
Example: S1: Indian cuisine changes every few hundred kilometres. Parts: Each region cooks with what grows around it / In Kerala, for example... / In Punjab, on the other hand...
The general part leads, then Kerala, then Punjab ('on the other hand' needs the first example), then the summary.
Shortcut tricks
⚡ Pronoun-orphan test
Any part starting with he/she/it/they/this/these needs its noun earlier. If no earlier part in a string supplies the noun, that string dies.
⚡ Connector ban
But/However/Therefore/Thus/So cannot open. Two of four options often open with such parts — free elimination.
⚡ S6 pull-back
Read S6 and ask 'what sentence must come just before it?' — usually the one with Thus/That is why or the summarising judgement. Pin it, then build backwards.
Where students lose marks
Opening with a 'the' sentence whose noun appears nowhere before.
Treating a general statement and an example as interchangeable order.
Missing that 'Now' signals a present-time contrast and must follow the past-time claim.
Placing the conclusion pair (Thus …) in the middle of the chain.
Practice sets — 12 questions
Sets of 10, mixed across the question types above. Each answer comes with a step-by-step explanation.
Topic test · 12 questions
Suggested time 9 min · wrong answers go to your mistake notebook automatically.