Question

A. This fact was established in the 1730s by French survey expeditions to Equador near the Equator and Lapland in the Arctic, which found that around the middle of the earth the arc was about a kilometer shorter.
B. One of the unsettled scientific questions in the late 18th century was that of exact nature of the shape of the earth.
C. The length of one-degree arc would be less near the equatorial latitudes than at the poles.
D. One way of doing that is to determine the length of the arc along a chosen longitude or meridian at one degree latitude separation.
E. While it was generally known that the earth was not a sphere but an ‘oblate spheroid’, more curved at the equator and flatter at the poles, the question of ‘how much more’ was yet to be established.
The sentences given in the question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Choose the most logical order of sentences from among the given choices to construct a coherent paragraph.

• A. BECAD
• B. BEDCA
• C. EDACB
• D. EBDCA

Hint:

In scientific history passages, start with the problem, mention known facts, compare data, present key experiments, and then describe the method used.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

- B: Introduces the 18th-century question of Earth’s exact shape.
- E: States what was already known and the remaining question.
- C: Compares arc lengths at equator and poles.
- A: Refers to French expeditions measuring the arc.
- D: Describes the method of determining arc length.
Thus, the coherent order is BECAD.