Sentences of a paragraph are given below. While the first and the last sentences (S1 and S4) are given, some sentences (S2 and S3) are missing. Identify the alternative that will meaningfully fill in the gap.
S1. After spending a night in the town of Bodhgaya, the ancient settlement where Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, I set out that morning for Nalanda, whose red-brick ruins are all that remain of one of the greatest centres of learning in the ancient world.
S2. ____________
S3. ____________
S4. As the Dalai Lama once stated: "The source of all the [Buddhist] knowledge we have, has come from Nalanda."
Alternatives:
A. Founded in 427 CE, Nalanda is considered the world's first residential university, a sort of medieval Ivy League institution home to nine million books that attracted 10,000 students from across Eastern and Central Asia.
B. Interestingly, the monarchs of the Gupta Empire that founded the monastic university were devout Hindus, but sympathetic towards Buddhism.
C. They gathered here to learn medicine, logic, mathematics and - above all - Buddhist principles from some of the era's most revered scholars.
S1. After spending a night in the town of Bodhgaya, the ancient settlement where Lord Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment, I set out that morning for Nalanda, whose red-brick ruins are all that remain of one of the greatest centres of learning in the ancient world.
S2. ____________
S3. ____________
S4. As the Dalai Lama once stated: "The source of all the [Buddhist] knowledge we have, has come from Nalanda."
Alternatives:
A. Founded in 427 CE, Nalanda is considered the world's first residential university, a sort of medieval Ivy League institution home to nine million books that attracted 10,000 students from across Eastern and Central Asia.
B. Interestingly, the monarchs of the Gupta Empire that founded the monastic university were devout Hindus, but sympathetic towards Buddhism.
C. They gathered here to learn medicine, logic, mathematics and - above all - Buddhist principles from some of the era's most revered scholars.
Show Hint
- AC
- CA
- BC
- CB
The Correct Option is A
Solution and Explanation
We need to arrange two of the three given alternatives (A, B, C) to form a coherent paragraph between the given first (S1) and last (S4) sentences.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Let's analyze the logical flow:
S1 introduces Nalanda as one of the "greatest centres of learning in the ancient world."
S4 concludes with a quote from the Dalai Lama emphasizing Nalanda's importance as the source of Buddhist knowledge.
Now let's examine the connections between the sentences:
- Sentence A provides a factual introduction to Nalanda, explaining what it was (the world's first residential university) and its scale (10,000 students). This is a perfect follow-up to S1, which introduces Nalanda as a "great centre of learning."
- Sentence C describes what the students learned. The pronoun "They" in "They gathered here..." logically refers to the "10,000 students" mentioned in Sentence A. This creates a strong link between A and C. Furthermore, the mention of learning "Buddhist principles" in C provides a smooth transition to S4, which is a quote about Buddhist knowledge.
- Sentence B talks about the founders of the university. While interesting, it's a secondary detail compared to what the university was and what was taught there. Placing it between A and C would disrupt the flow from describing the students to describing what they learned.
Let's test the sequence AC:
S1: Introduces Nalanda as a great center of learning.
S2 (A): Elaborates on what Nalanda was (a university with 10,000 students).
S3 (C): Explains what "They" (the students from A) learned, including Buddhist principles.
S4: Concludes with a quote about Buddhist knowledge, linking directly to C.
This sequence (S1-A-C-S4) is logical, coherent, and flows smoothly. The pronoun reference is clear, and the ideas progress from general to specific.
Step 3: Final Answer:
The correct order for S2 and S3 is A followed by C. Therefore, option (A) is the correct choice.
Top Questions on Paragraph Completion
- Choose the most appropriate sentence from the options given below to logically complete the following paragraph: The highest ideals of the age today are humanism and scientific spirit. There has been an apparent conflict between the two. But the great upheaval of thought today, with its questioning of all values, is removing the old boundaries between the external world of science and the internal world of introspection.
- CUET (PG) - 2025
- General
- Paragraph Completion
- An island in Japan boasts of numerous dairy farms that own nearly one million cows, and supplies 70% of the milk sold in the country. These dairy farms have now begun to use cow manure to produce hydrogen. The methane from cow manure mingles with steam in a high temperature environment to produce hydrogen, which is used to electrify the local zoo. _____________________.
- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Paragraph Completion
- A report published in Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology has called for an overhaul of our understanding of obesity. An over-reliance on using Body Mass Index [BMI] as a metric has the peculiar effect of leading to both underdiagnosis and overdiagnosis of the condition. _____________________. BMI does not give accurate information about how fat is distributed in an individual's body. It frequently fails to capture the true state of health of an individual. A person's BMI may indicate they are "obese", but their organs and bodily functions may be absolutely normal. Every individual is a unique constellation - not only of genes and other biological variables, but also socio-economic conditions and habits.
- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Paragraph Completion
- As globalization held sway over the world, communities, which used to live in relative isolation, sought access to the wider world, and in the process, they parted with their own language and adopted a new lingua franca. The loss of language, however, does not merely mean the loss of a mode of communication or the loss of a few thousand words. _____________________. So, when a language dies, a way of thinking dies with it.
- IPMAT - 2025
- Verbal and Logical Ability
- Paragraph Completion
Questions Asked in SRCC GBO exam
Read the given passage and answer the questions.
For those of us without access to outside green space, houseplants are a stylish and affordable way of getting a nature fix. Alongside looking nice, indoor plants actually have several other perks- the biggest benefit of which could be improving your mental health. And the good news is you don’t need to be a self-professed” plant parent” to experience these benefits either. One in eight UK households don’t have access to any kind of garden. Young people and those from minority ethnic backgrounds are among those least likely to have a garden. Not having access to nature can have a number of effects on our health. It’s been linked to symptoms of depression and anxiety, as well as other health conditions, such as asthma, cardiovascular disease, and poor immune function. For many of us, houseplants are an essential link to nature. While there’s not yet a robust body of research on the mental health benefits of houseplants specifically, plenty of studies have shown how beneficial green space and gardening are for mental health. For instance, one study found that people who garden daily have better wellbeing and lower stress levels compared to those who don’t. Gardening also reduces symptoms of depression and anxiety and increases positive emotions to the same extent as biking, walking and eating out. Many of these outcomes are likely to be true of houseplants too. A recent review of 42 studies demonstrates that even just being in the presence of indoor plants can improve mental and physical health. These experiments compared participants doing various activities in rooms with or without plants. The presence of plants saw better performances on cognitive tasks involving focus, sorting or memory recall, greater pain tolerance when holding hands in ice cold water, and lower levels of physiological stress. Interestingly, the aesthetic appearance of plants is important too, with separate research showing that people tend to react more positively to lush, green plants with rounded and denser foliage. But most of these studies are centred around the mere presence of plants. From research on the benefits of gardening, we can assume that caring for houseplants will bring out many more emotional benefits- such as pride, social connection, satisfaction, fascination, mental resilience in times of stress, and may even help you heal from past trauma.... Plants can remove pollutants such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide (from nearby traffic), fine particles (from dust) and volatile organic compounds (from air fresheners, cooking and cleaning). For people indoors for the majority of the day, indoor air quality is hugely important. High concentrations of carbon dioxide can reduce cognitive performance (such as concentration and memory recall) while prolonged exposure to other indoor pollutants can cause long-term health problems- ranging from minor eye or throat irritations to respiratory problems and cancer. But removing a meaningful quantity of indoor pollutants would require a lot of plants in a very bright room- something unrealistic for most people. If you do want to give it a try, plants with a high leaf area- such as an India rubber tree (Ficus elastic) or devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum) are your best bet- SRCC GBO - 2026
- Reading Comprehension
Study the following charts and answer the questions that follow. Chart 1 shows the percentage of revenue generated in four quarters of the year 2020 for a company
- SRCC GBO - 2026
- Pie Charts
The table provided displays the estimated cost (in lakh) for the construction of a canal between two points. Based on the information in the table, answer the questions that follow.
The provided bar graphs outline the population and national income of a country from the fiscal years 2014-15 to 2019-20. For each of the ensuing questions, select the most suitable option.
- SRCC GBO - 2026
- Bar Graph
The following graph shows the revenue generated by three companies A, B and C in different years. Study the graph and answer the questions that follow.
- SRCC GBO - 2026
- Bar Graph