Strategies and approaches for solving questions on jumbles.

Strategies and approaches for solving questions on jumbles.

Questions on Jumbles are usually in a disordered form in terms of alphabets, phrases or sentences. The test-taker is expected to find a logical pattern and reorder the random arrangement of terms. Jumbles can be classified into the following three categories:

  1. Word Jumbles (Jumbled Letters)
  2. Sentence Jumbles (Jumbled Words)
  3. Paragraph Jumbles (Jumbled Sentences)




Solving Questions on Jumbles Strategies and Approaches


Word Jumbles are questions where individual alphabets of a word are jumbled and the test-taker has to find the word. In Sentence Jumbles, the test-taker has to rearrange phrases of a jumbled up sentence. Similarly, in Para Jumbles, the objective is to rearrange the jumbled sentences of a paragraph.





Sentence Jumbles


In sentence arrangement questions, a sentence is broken up into four or five segments and jumbled up. The segments must be sequenced correctly so as to form a coherent sentence that adheres to the basic grammatical rules and syntax.

 


Strategies and Approaches for solving jumbled sentences


The following list includes but is not limited to strategies and approaches for solving jumbled sentences:

  1. Read the jumbled sentence as given and try figuring out the part with which a sentence can start or end
  2. On the basis of the first pointer, eliminate the answer options and focus on the ones remaining
  3. Locate the subject as the part containing it is the one with which the sentence is most likely to start with
  4. Pronouns like they, it, etc. are unlikely to start a sentence and generally follow the subject

 

Paragraph Jumbles


The most common types of jumbled paragraph type of questions are the ones with 4, 5, or 6 sentences. In the 6 sentences jumbled paragraph type, sentence 1 and sentence 6 are fixed and the intervening 4 sentences alone are jumbled and named ABCD. The objective in all the above questions is to form a logically coherent paragraph.

 

Strategies and Approaches for solving Para Jumbles


The following list includes but is not limited to strategies and approaches for solving Sentence Jumbles.

  1. Read the entire sequence quickly and try locating a starting sentence
  2. Links exist between sentences and spotting these links will help in eliminating few answer choices
  3. Discrete sentences do not form a paragraph and a flow has to exist. Most paragraphs are likely to be about either a process or situation or theory, etc. Look out for phrases like ‘as a result’, ‘hence’, etc to find out cause-effect relationships if any between the sentences
  4. Proper nouns are most likely to begin a sequence and pronouns are least likely to do the same
  5. Look out for opening phrases such as ‘In the beginning’, firstly’, etc, and concluding ones like ‘finally’, ‘ultimately’, etc. These can help in identifying the beginning/end of a sequence
  6. In the 6 sentence type of questions, establishing a link between one of the jumbled sentences and either the 1st or 6th sentence can help in eliminating answer choices
  7. Most of the arguments start with some general rule and proceed towards specific cases which will follow that rule. This analysis can be helpful when two sequences seem grammatically correct and you need to break the tie

 

Example Questions on Jumbles


Example 1 Identify the correct sequence.


1) depends not on merit and ability, but on quotas based on caste

2) or have a good work ethic as one of its core values

3) community and gender or any other criterion can hardly be stable

4) a society where access to education and jobs


a) 3241

b) 4231

c) 3214

d) 4132

 

Solution: The only phrase that can start the given sentence is, sentence 4. Sentence 3 follows sentence 1 as ‘caste, community and gender’ form part of the same list. Hence, option d is the correct answer.



 

Example 2 Identify the correct sequence.


1)1971 war changed the political geography of the subcontinent

2) Despite the significance of the event, there has been no serious book about the conflict

3) ‘Surrender at Dacca’ aims to fill this gap

4) It also profoundly altered the geostrategic situation in South-East Asia


a) 1324

b) 3142

c) 2143

d) 1423

 

Solution: Sentence 1 is the only sentence that does not have any pronoun referring to something else in the paragraph. Hence sentence 1 is most likely the starting sentence. Hence, choices ‘b’ and ‘c’ can be eliminated. There is a link between sentences 2 and 3 in that order. The ‘gap’ mentioned in sentence 3 is the absence of a serious book on the conflict mentioned in sentence 2. This link is present in choice ‘d’ and hence is the answer.


For more examples read the article Jumbled Sentences In Aptitude Test


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Solving Questions on Jumbles  Strategies and Approaches