Question

A number of sentences are given below which, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. However, one of the statements is illogically placed. Choose the illogically placed sentence from among the five given choices so that the remaining four can construct a coherent paragraph.
A. It is turning off the tap.
B. And with no consensus of the exit policy, the government is damned if it supports loss-making units and damned if it doesn’t.
C. The private sector did the same in the past because securing legal sanction for closure was virtually impossible.
D. After sûrement years of funding the losses of public sector companies, the government is doing the unthinkable.
E. Private sector and public sector companies act in a similar fashion when in crisis.

Hint:

In odd-sentence-out questions, look for the sentence that is too broad or unrelated to the specific narrative formed by the other sentences.

Answer 1

Step 1: The paragraph should discuss the government’s actions regarding public sector companies and form a coherent narrative. We need to identify the sentence that disrupts this coherence.
Step 2: Sentence D introduces the topic: the government is doing something drastic (the unthinkable) after funding losses of public sector companies. This sets the stage.
Step 3: Sentence A specifies the unthinkable action: “turning off the tap” (stopping funding), logically following D.
Step 4: Sentence C explains that the private sector faced similar issues in the past due to closure difficulties, providing historical context to the government’s action.
Step 5: Sentence B concludes by discussing the government’s dilemma due to lack of consensus on exit policy, wrapping up the paragraph.
Step 6: Sentence E, which states that private and public sector companies act similarly in crises, is too general and does not fit the specific narrative about the government’s actions and its consequences. It disrupts the flow of D-A-C-B, which focuses on the government’s funding decision and its implications.
Verification: The sequence D-A-C-B forms a coherent paragraph: government’s drastic action (D), what the action is (A), historical context (C), and current dilemma (B). E introduces an unrelated comparison.