Question

The sentences given, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Choose the most logical order.
(a) In the New York City public schools, the overemphasis on standardized testing has led to test score inflation and numerous cheating scandals.
(b) Campbell’s Law predicts that any time huge stakes are attached to quantitative data, the data itself will become inherently unreliable and distorted through cheating and gaming the system.
(c) Precious resources are diverted to “for-profit” testing companies, and learning time is lost as students spend weeks preparing for the tests, and teachers are pulled out of the classroom for days at a time to score them.
(d) In New York City, class sizes in the early grades are the largest in 13 years.
(e) Meanwhile school budgets are scraped to the bone and class sizes are rising.

• A. badec
• B. abdec
• C. baced
• D. cbade

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

To solve, we look for the best logical flow:

1. (b): Introduces Campbell’s Law, a general principle about data distortion when high stakes are involved. This sets up the context for the problems in education.
2. (a): Provides a concrete example from New York City schools showing overemphasis on standardized testing, directly illustrating Campbell’s Law.
3. (d): Highlights the additional problem — class sizes in early grades are very large, giving another indicator of the poor state of the system.
4. (e): Expands on resource scarcity by mentioning budget cuts and rising class sizes.
5. (c): Ends with the consequence of the overemphasis — loss of learning time and financial diversion to for-profit companies.

This order forms a coherent paragraph:
(b) → (a) → (d) → (e) → (c)