Question

(A) The trade in iron ore makes it the second-largest commodity market by value after crude oil.

(b) The metal provides the backbone of skyscrapers, bridges and motorways, and the carapace and internal organs of cars, fridges and washing machines.

(c) Given steel’s ubiquity — it makes up 95% of global metal production — iron ore, the raw material from which it is made, attracts strangely little attention.

(d) The development of a process to turn raw earth into steel merits a high spot on a list of mankind’s most ingenious achievements.

Hint:

To find the out-of-context sentence, look for thematic consistency — odd shifts in subject or tone usually signal the mismatch.

Answer 1

Options (A),
(b), and
(c) are tightly connected in the context of explaining the importance and paradoxical neglect of iron ore.
- (A) introduces iron ore's commercial significance.
-
(b) explains its practical value in construction and appliances.
-
(c) ties the logic together by pointing out the irony: despite its importance, iron ore gets little attention.
These three build a cohesive paragraph about iron ore’s value and underappreciation.
However,
(d) diverts the topic from iron ore to the **process** of making steel, which is a separate theme. It doesn’t logically connect with the discussion of neglect or usage, making it the odd one out.