Reconstruction of Sentence Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The correct order is PSQR: Mahatma Gandhi and Lord Buddha have taught us that men should live in peace and with one another and should show kindness to every living creature.

Taught us is followed by its content clause, (P) that men should live. (S) in peace and with one another completes live. (Q) and should show kindness adds the second duty, and (R) to every living creature says to whom.

Orders starting with S put the description before the verb it describes, and PSRQ leaves to every living creature hanging before show kindness, which it must follow.

Answer: B

The proper sequence is PRQS: The guide said that nowhere in the world you will find a fairer building than the Taj Mahal.

Nowhere in the world (P) sets the scope, you will find (R) supplies the verb, and its object a fairer building (Q) must come next, with the comparison than the Taj Mahal (S) completing it. A comparative such as fairer must come before its than phrase.

RQPS and RQSP separate nowhere in the world from the start of the clause or put it after the comparison, and PSQR puts than the Taj Mahal before a fairer building. (In formal English the verb would be inverted, will you find, but the parts are given as printed.)

Answer: D

The correct sequence is PRSQ.

The sentence reads: 'She had (P) such a winning smile (R) that I could not say (S) no to her (Q).'

The 'such ... that' construction fixes the order: 'such a winning smile' must come before the 'that' clause it leads into, and 'say no to her' completes it. The other orders break up 'had such a winning smile' or 'say no to her'.

Answer: B

The proper sequence is PRSQ.

The sentence reads: 'Everyone knows that it is difficult (P) to go to the manager (R) and tell him that he ought (S) to speak more politely (Q).'

'It is difficult' needs the infinitive that follows it ('to go'), and 'he ought' needs 'to speak' to complete it. Orders beginning with Q or ending with P leave 'ought' without its verb or 'difficult' without its subject clause.

Answer: A

The keyed order is PRSQ: 'Despite the heavy rain, the determined trekkers continued their journey to reach the Summit.'

The sentence opens with the phrase P, 'despite the heavy rain', which sets the contrast. The subject R, 'the determined trekkers', follows, then the verb phrase S, 'continued their journey', and the infinitive of purpose Q, 'to reach the Summit', closes it. Each part attaches directly to the one before.

QSPR and QPSR begin with 'to reach the Summit', which cannot open a sentence of this kind. RPSQ ('The determined trekkers, despite the heavy rain, continued ... Summit') is also grammatical, with the concession phrase set inside the sentence, but the key prefers the order that puts the introductory phrase first, and PRSQ is the answer keyed.

Answer: D

The meaningful sentence is The importance of education cannot be underestimated.

The subject is the noun phrase the importance of education, and the verb is the passive cannot be underestimated, meaning education is very important.

The other arrangements break English word order: the education of importance reverses the phrase, and the second and third options place the underestimated as a noun after be in a way that makes no sense.

Answer: C

The meaningful sentence is The performance by the team was remarkable.

The subject is the performance by the team, the verb is was, and remarkable is the complement describing the performance. All six given words are used once.

The remarkable performance was by team drops one the and is ungrammatical, and the other two options scramble the words without forming a sentence.

A quick check is to find the verb first (was) and build the subject around it: only one option has a complete subject before was.

Answer: D

Correct answer: SPRQ

The sentence reads:

After coming out of the Conference Hall he told the journalists that the meeting unanimously decided that the government must take firm action.

S is a participial phrase and must attach to the subject it modifies, so it comes first with P immediately after. R and Q are then two nested that clauses: the meeting decided something, and Q is what it decided.

Answer: C

Correct answer: QRSP

The sentence reads:

At least five persons were killed and 32 injured when a passenger train rammed into a stationary goods train early today.

Q is the only main clause and must open the sentence. R begins the when clause and S completes it. P is a time adverb and goes at the end, where it cannot be mistaken for part of the collision.

Answer: B

Correct answer: QPSR

The sentence reads:

The boy watched him, with big blue eyes that had an uncanny cold fire in them, and he never said a word.

Q supplies the main verb for the boy. P and S then describe the eyes, and S must follow P because that had… in them is a relative clause needing eyes before it. R joins the second main clause with and.