Reconstruction of Sentence Questions and Answers

Answer: B

Correct answer: RQSP

The sentence reads:

I was very excited when my father told me that I could go with him and stay for a few days in Delhi.

R completes I was, so it must come first. Q opens the when clause, S is what was said, and P adds the second half of what was permitted, joined by and to go.

Answer: A

Correct answer: PSQR

The sentence reads:

On reaching the station he first looked around for a coolie and walked down to the platform, and when he could find none he just lifted his luggage.

P must follow the opening participial phrase, since it supplies the subject and verb. S completes looked around for. Q then opens a when clause and R is its main clause; none in Q can only refer to the coolie in S.

Answer: B

Correct answer: RPSQ

The sentence reads:

They are mostly people who work in the neighbourhood, and they find the club very convenient, because it enables them without too much trouble to get a reasonable meal.

R is a relative clause describing people and must follow it at once. P joins the second main clause, S gives the reason, and Q completes enables them… to get.

Answer: C

Correct answer: QPRS

The sentence reads:

I have never met, in your city, a friendliness and hospitality like the one I have met in Calcutta.

Q is a parenthetical phrase and sits next to the verb it qualifies. P is the object of met, R begins the comparison, and S completes it. Putting S before Q would say the speaker met Calcutta rather than met something in it.

Answer: D

Correct answer: SQPR

The sentence reads:

Every body in the universe, whether big or small, attracts every other body with the force of gravitation.

S and Q both describe every body, so they stay with the subject, and only then can the verb in P arrive. R completes every other with its noun and adds the instrument.

Answer: D

Correct answer: SQRP

The sentence reads:

A Sub-inspector of police bent on doing justice to his uniform rounded up a group of 18 miscreants disturbing a public meeting and marched them to the local jail in Shimoga.

S and Q form a participial phrase describing the officer and must follow him. R supplies the main verb, and P is a participle describing the miscreants, so it must follow them.

Answer: C

Correct answer: QPRS

The sentence reads:

He dared to fight the forty thieves who challenged him to a duel.

Q completes dared with its infinitive, P is the object of fight, and R and S form the relative clause describing the thieves.

Answer: C

Correct answer: QPSR

The sentence reads:

The food poisoning occurred when a chemical substance was mistaken for salt and used in the food preparations.

Q is the only part with a main verb, so it must open the sentence; P begins the subordinate clause with when, and S supplies that clause's verbs. R can only attach to used, so it goes last.

Answer: C

Correct answer: QSRP

The sentence reads:

Those who cannot treat others well should not expect others to treat them well.

Those who needs a verb immediately, and Q supplies it; S completes that clause with the object of treat. R then begins the main clause, and P completes it. Note that S carries two jobs - it ends the relative clause and begins the infinitive that P governs.

Answer: B

Correct answer: PRSQ

The sentence reads:

If a foreigner wishes to learn English he will, of course, learn standard English.

The if clause must be completed before the main clause begins, so P and R go together - wishes to learn English. S then opens the main clause with its subject and auxiliary, and Q supplies the verb phrase it needs.