Question

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the four sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer.
1. It can in fact be integrated into any function (education, medical treatment, production, punishment); it can increase the effect of this function, by being linked closely with it; it can constitute a mixed mechanism in which relations of power (and of knowledge) may be precisely adjusted, in the smallest detail, to the processes that are to be supervised; it can establish a direct proportion between ‘surplus power’ and ‘surplus production’.
2. It’s a case of ‘it’s easy once you’ve thought of it’ in the political sphere.
3. The panoptic mechanism is not simply a hinge, a point of exchange between a mechanism of power and a function; it is a way of making power relations function in a function, and of making a function function through these power relations.
4. In short, it arranges things in such a way that the exercise of power is not added on from the outside, like a rigid, heavy constraint, to the functions it invests, but is so subtly present in them as to increase their efficiency by itself increasing its own points of contact.

• A. 3142
• B. 1432
• C. 4123
• D. 3241

Hint:

For para-jumbles, look for:

the definition or introduction of the central idea (usually first),
examples or elaborations (middle),
summary markers like “in short” (near the end),
reflective comments or opinions (often last).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Step 1: Identify the introductory sentence.
Sentence 3 clearly introduces and defines the central concept: the panoptic mechanism. It explains what it is and how it operates. This must be the opening.
Step 2: Find the elaboration.
Sentence 1 expands directly on sentence 3 by giving concrete details about how the panoptic mechanism integrates into various functions (education, production, punishment, etc.).
Thus, 1 logically follows 3.
Step 3: Identify the concluding summary.
Sentence 4 begins with “In short,” signalling a summary of what has just been described. It synthesizes the ideas in 1 and 3, explaining the subtlety with which power operates.
Step 4: Place the standalone evaluative remark.
Sentence 2 (“It’s a case of ‘it’s easy once you’ve thought of it’...”) is a reflective commentary. It fits naturally as a concluding observation after the explanation and summary.
Thus, the correct logical sequence is: \[ \boxed{3 \ \ 1 \ \ 4 \ \ 2} \]