Types of PJ questions

Para Jumbles broadly fall in three categories. In each category, the Jumbled sentences
are coded with an alphabet (usually A, B, C and D.
!. "#$ sentences are gi%en in a random order and you ha%e to un&umble all of them.
'oughest of the lot(
). 'he opening sentence * "#$ sentences are gi%en and you ha%e to rearrange the
group of "#$ sentences, ha%ing been gi%en prior +nowledge of the thought that starts off
the flow of the discussion.
,. "#$ sentences * the closing sentence is gi%en and you need to correctly se-uence "#$
sentences so that they flow into the last sentence.
". 'his is the easiest of the lot. .pening sentence * "#$ /entences * Closing /entence
are gi%en. 0ou +now where the story starts and where it ends. 0ou only ha%e to figure
out the screenplay in between(
'he smartest approach
!'he best approach to sol%ing PJ -uestions is the 1free fall1 one. 'hat is, de%elop a high
reading speed and scan all "2$ sentences. 'ry to get a feel of what the passage is
about.
)At this point, you need to decide whether this particular paragraph is one which you
are comfortable with or not.
, If you decide to go ahead, then scan the answer options. Are they of any help3
If, for e4ample, the options are5
a BDAC b BCAD c CABD d CBDA
'hen, you +now for sure that this paragraph has to start either with B or C. A -uic+ loo+
at B and C will tell you which one loo+s li+e a better opening sentence and already your
choices will be hal%ed.
/imilarly, with options li+e5
a BDCA b CDBA c DCAB d ACDB
'hen, we +now that it has to end with either B or A. /o browse sentences A and B and
see if any one of them loo+s li+e a concluding sentence.
'here might be other indicators to +eep an eye out for. 6or e4ample, if three of the fi%e
options start with A and the other two with C#B#D there is a good probability that A is the
starting sentence.
If, say, a lin+ CB occurs in more than ) options, then it is something worth paying
attention to.
!
/trategy !5 .nce upon a time long ago # and they li%ed happily after5 Identify the
opening#closing sentence using what we discussed abo%e. 7ither the tone of the
paragraph or the option elimination method.
/trategy )5 8here1s the interloc+ dude3 Identify lin+s between two sentences and try to
see if that lin+ e4ists in multiple answer options (a sure way to +now that you are on the
right trac+. A combination of ! and ) will ta+e you home most of the time.
Place your magnifying glass on the following5
/trategy )a5 9a+e it 1personal1. :oo+ out for personal pronouns (he, she, it, him, her,
you, and they. Personal pronouns always refer to a person, place or thing. 'herefore, if
a sentence has a personal pronoun without mentioning the person, place or ob&ect it is
referring to, mar+ it in your head and scan the paragraph for the original person, place or
ob&ect that it refers to.
6or e4ample if you go bac+ to the opening &umbled paragraph of this article, the third
sentence starts with 1it1. 8e now need to figure out what 1it1 refers to and the sentence
containing the original 1it1 will come before this sentence.
/trategy )b5 :oo+ for 1Poriborton1 (Change, in 9amata Baner&ee1s tongue. Certain words
called 1transition words1 help the author to shift from one thought flow to another. In other
words, they usher in change. /ome transition words that appear regularly are hence,
besides, simultaneously, in conclusion, etc. 8hile you practice PJs whene%er you come
across a transition word note it down. 9a+e a list(
/trategy )c5 Demonstrate( :oo+ for demonstrati%e pronouns this, that, these, those, etc.
Again, if you loo+ at our opening paragraph, the first line starts with 1for this1 now we
+now that we need to figure out what 1this1 refers to and the sentence containing the
original 1this1 will come before this sentence.
/trategy ,5 9ain samay hoon( /ometimes the e%ents mentioned in the paragraph can be
arranged in a chronological order ma+ing it easy for you to identify the se-uence.
74ample,
A5 Ale4ander Bain, /cottish cloc+ma+er, patented the electric cloc+.
B5 'he ne4t de%elopment in accuracy occurred after !;$; with the in%ention of the
pendulum cloc+.
C5 Cloc+s ha%e played an important role in man1s history.
D5 /pring2dri%en cloc+s appeared during the !$th century, although they are often
erroneously credited to <uremberg watchma+er Peter =enlen around !$!!.
It is -uite ob%ious by studying the chronology what the se-uence should be.
/trategy "5 'he Chota >a&an Approach. /ometimes, you will find that for some terms in
the paragraph both the full form and the abbre%iation ha%e been used. 6or e4ample, I96
International 9onetary 6und, Charles Dic+ens Dic+ens, Dr 9anmohan /ingh Dr /ingh.
In these cases where both the full form as well as the abbre%iation is present in different
)
sentences, the sentence containing the full form will ob%iously come before the sentence
containing the abbre%iation.
/trategy $5 If there are two sentences one containing an idea and another gi%ing
e4amples of the same idea then the sentence containing the idea should come before
the sentence containing the e4amples. But they need not necessarily be e4actly side by
side. 6or e4ample,
A5 >ussia possesses the largest stoc+piles of weapons of mass destruction in the world.
B5 "?@ missiles carrying up to !,A?? warheads and !) submarines carrying up to ;B@
warheads form a looming threat.
A will come before B in this case, e%en though there might be sentences in between.
/trategy ;5 An article of faith. It is highly unli+ely that the definite article 1the1 will be part
of an opening sentence. If 1a#an1 and 1the1 both are used for the same noun then the
sentence containing 1the1 will come after the sentence containing a#an.
'ips for beginners
6ocus on impro%ing your reading s+ills. Also try to impro%e your cogniti%e ability. 6or
e4ample Co to a random website article. Co immediately to the second paragraph and
after reading it try to guess what the author could ha%e possibly said in the pre%ious
paragraph and the ne4t paragraph. 'his will help you with a couple of other types of
-uestions as well which we shall discuss in later articles.
'ips for the @@ percentilers
8hene%er you sol%e Para Jumbles, the accuracy and speed is a function of how -uic+ly
you can become comfortable with the topic. /o, from today for e%ery PJ you sol%e, plug
a sentence from the PJ into Coogle which will throw up the source of that PJ or similar
articles. >ead up that article fully. 'his will broaden the base of your reading.
'o2do practice acti%ity for all of you
'eam up with another friend. Both of you select passages from newspaper editorials,
magaDines, etc. Paste them to 9icrosoft 8ord. Brea+ them up into sentences. Jumble
up the sentences. 74change and sol%e.
,
PJs
Establish a link between two sentences then examine the options
/uppose you establish the lin+ 1BA1. 'he gi%en options are (a DABC (b ACDB
(c CBAD (d DBAC. <ow you are left with option (c and (d to e4amine. 0ou read
the sentences in the order gi%en by these two options and use your methods again to
determine which one is correct. 7stablish lin+s between two or more sentences with the
help of some hints found in the sentences.
TRANSITION OR!S" 'ransition words ma+e the shift from one idea to another %ery
smooth. 'hey organiDe and connect the sentences logically. .bser%ing the transition
words found in a sentence can often gi%e you a clue about the sentence that will come
before#after that particular sentence. Ci%en below are some commonly used transition
words5
also, again, as well as, besides, furthermore, in addition, li+ewise, moreo%er, similarly,
conse-uently, hence, otherwise, subse-uently, therefore, thus, as a rule, generally, for
instance, for e4ample, for one thing, abo%e all, aside from, barring, besides, in other
words, in short, instead, li+ewise, on one hand, on the other hand, rather, similarly, yet,
but, howe%er, still, ne%ertheless, first of all, to begin with, at the same time, for now, for
the time being, in time, later on, meanwhile, ne4t, then, soon, the meantime, later, while,
earlier, simultaneously, afterward, in conclusion, with this in mind, after all, all in all, to
sum up.
(CA' )BB!
A. But in the industrial era destroying the enemy1s producti%e capacity means bombing
the factories which are located in the cities.
B. /o in the agrarian era, if you need to destroy the enemy1s producti%e capacity, what
you want to do is bum his fields, or if you1re really %icious, salt them.
C. <ow in the information era, destroying the enemy1s producti%e capacity means
destroying the information infrastructure.
D. =ow do you do battle with your enemy3
7. 'he idea is to destroy the enemy1s producti%e capacity, and depending upon the
economic foundation, that producti%e capacity is different in each case.
6. 8ith regard to defense, the purpose of the military is to defend the nation and be
prepared to do battle with its enemy.
!. 6D7BAC ). 6CAB7D ,. D7BAC6 ". D67BAC
Answer5 :oo+ at the transition word EbutE in the first sentence. It signifies that the
sentence is e4pressing an idea contrary to an idea e4pressed in some pre%ious
sentence. <ow we need to find that pre%ious sentence. If we further loo+ at the
beginning of the first sentence, it says Ebut in the industrial era...E which suggests that
the contrariness is with respect to eras. :oo+ing further, we see that sentence B and C
are also starting with statement about eras. But the transition word at the start of C is
EnowE which e4presses present era and hence it cannot chronologically come before any
other past era. 'hat is, if information era is the present era, tal+ about any other era will
come before this. /o sentence B is the correct sentence to come before the first
sentence. :i+ewise, sentence C is the correct sentence to come after the first sentence
(sentence C is continuing the idea. 'herefore, we ha%e the lin+ BAC.
8e see that option !, , and " all ha%e the lin+ BAC. 6urthermore, all the three options
ha%e the lin+ 7BAC. 'herefore, we only need to arrange D and 6. 'he sentence 6 states
that E'he purpose is...to battle with the enemyE and D -uestions Ehow do you battle with
the enemy3E 'herefore, D will come after 6.
=ence 6D7BAC is correct.
"
PERSONA# PRONO$NS" Personal pronouns are he, she, it, him, her, they, you, your
etc. >emember that personal pronouns always refer to a person, place or thing etc.
'herefore, if a sentence contains a personal pronoun without mentioning the person,
place or ob&ect it is referring to, the personF place or ob&ect must ha%e come in the
pre%ious sentence. .ften, this is a good lead to identify a lin+.
(CA' )BB!
A. Although there are large regional %ariations, it is not infre-uent to find a large
number of people sitting here and there and doing nothing.
B. .nce in office, they recei%e friends and relati%es who feel free to call any time
without prior appointment.
C. 8hile wor+ing, one is struc+ by the slow and clumsy actions and reactions,
indifferent attitudes, procedure rather than outcome orientation, and the lac+ of
consideration for others.
D. 7%en those who are employed often come late to the office and lea%e early unless
they are forced to be punctual.
7. 8or+ is not intrinsically %alued in India.
6. Guite often people %isit ailing friends and relati%es or go out of their way to help
them in their personal matters e%en during office hours.
!. 7CADB6 ). 7ADC6B ,. 7ADB6C ". AB6CB7
Answer5 :oo+ at the personal pronoun EtheyE in sentence B5 .nce in office, they recei%e
friends and relati%es who feel free to call any time without prior appointment. 'his they
must be referring to some people. 'he reference to some people only comes in
sentences A, D, and 6. 'herefore, one of the sentences will come before sentence B.
:et1s see the lin+ AB, DB, and 6BF
:in+ AB2 Although there are large regional %ariations, it is not infre-uent to find a large
number of people sitting here and there and doing nothing. .nce in office, they recei%e
friends and relati%es who feel free to call any time without prior appointment.
:in+ DB2 7%en those who are employed often come late to the office and lea%e early
unless they are forced to be punctual. .nce in office, they recei%e friends and relati%es
who feel free to call any time without prior appointment.
:in+ 6B2 Guite often people %isit ailing friends and relati%es or go out of their way to help
them in their personal matters e%en during office hours. .nce in office, they recei%e
friends and relati%es who feel free to call any time without prior appointment.
8hich of these lin+s ma+es sense3 .nly lin+ DB seems coherent. <ow, we e4amine the
options with lin+ DB. 8e see that options ! and , ha%e lin+ DB in them. Also, both the
options ha%e lin+ ADB6. 'herefore, ADB6 is a lin+. <ow we only need to place
sentences 7 and C. 8e can do that by reading the sentences in the order gi%en in
options ! and ,.
.ption !5 :in+ 7CADB62 8or+ is not intrinsically %alued in India. 8hile wor+ing, one is
struc+ by the slow and clumsy actions and reactions, indifferent attitudes, procedure
rather than outcome orientation, and the lac+ of consideration for others. Although there
are large regional %ariations, it is not infre-uent to find a large number of people sitting
here and there and doing nothing. 7%en those who are employed often come late to the
office and lea%e early unless they are forced to be punctual. .nce in office, they recei%e
friends and relati%es who feel free to call any time without prior appointment. Guite often
people %isit ailing friends and relati%es or go out of their way to help them in their
personal matters e%en during office hours.
.ption ,5 :in+ 7ADB6C2 8or+ is not intrinsically %alued in India. Although there are
large regional %ariations, it is not infre-uent to find a large number of people sitting here
and there and doing nothing. 7%en those who are employed often come late to the office
and lea%e early unless they are forced to be punctual. .nce in office, they recei%e
$
friends and relati%es who feel free to call any time without prior appointment. Guite often
people %isit ailing friends and relati%es or go out of their way to help them in their
personal matters e%en during office hours. 8hile wor+ing, one is struc+ by the slow and
clumsy actions and reactions, indifferent attitudes, procedure rather than outcome
orientation, and the lac+ of consideration for others.
Both the options seem plausible. 8e ha%e to determine which one of the lin+s 7C and
7A is better. =ere is the thumb rule when trying to determine plausibility of a lin+
In lin+ 7C, sentence 7 is tal+ing about wor+ not being %alued whereas sentence C is
tal+ing about people being clumsy, indifferent, inconsiderate etc. /entence C is <.'
tal+ing about %alue of wor+. It is tal+ing about people1s beha%iour. 'herefore, 7C cannot
be a logical flow.
In lin+ 7A, sentence 7 is tal+ing about wor+ not being %alued and sentence A is tal+ing
about people sitting idle. 'his certainly says that people do not %alue wor+. 'herefore,
7A is the correct lin+. =ence, option , is correct.
=ere is another CA' -uestion that seems tough but can be sol%ed in a matter of
seconds. /ee if you can do it5
(CA' )BB!
A. Passi%ity is not, of course, uni%ersal.
B. In areas where there are no lords or laws, or in frontier Dones where all men go
armed, the attitude of the peasantry may well be different.
C. /o indeed it may be on the fringe of the un2submissi%e.
D. =owe%er, for most of the soil2bound peasants the problem is not whether to be
normally passi%e or acti%e, but when to pass from one state to another.
7. 'his depends on an assessment of the political situation.
!. B7DAC ). CDAB7 ,. 7DBAC ". ABCD7
Answer5 It cannot get easier than this. :oo+ at the personal pronoun EitE in sentence C5
/o indeed it may be on the fringe of the un2submissi%e. 8hat is EitE here referring to3
And it says that Eit may be... un2submissi%e.E 8hat can be un2submissi%e3 It cannot be
Epolitical situationE (sentence 7, Epassi%ityE (sentence A, or EproblemE (sentence D.
.nly EattitudeE (sentence B can be un2submissi%e. 'herefore, BC is a lin+. 'he lin+ BC
is only present in option " and we need not loo+ any further.
!E%ONSTRATI&E PRONO$NS" 'he demonstrati%e pronouns are Ethis,E Ethat,E Ethese,E
and Ethose.E E'hisE and EthatE are used to refer to singular nouns or noun phrases and
EtheseE and EthoseE are used to refer to plural nouns and noun phrases. 8hene%er a
sentence contains a demonstrati%e pronoun without mentioning the noun or the noun
phrase, it means that the pre%ious sentence must be mentioning that noun or noun
phrase. 6inding that noun or noun phrase helps us connect two sentences. =ereHs
another CA' -uestion for you to crac+5
(CA' )BB!
A. 9ichael =ofman, a poet and translator, accepts this sorry fact without appro%al or
complaint.
B. But than+lessness and impossibility do not daunt him.
C. =e ac+nowledges too Ein fact he returns to the point often E that best translators of
poetry always fail at some le%el.
D. =ofman feels passionately about his wor+, and this is clear from his writings.
7. In terms of the gap between worth and rewards, translators come somewhere near
nurses and street2cleaners.
!. 7ACDB ). AD7BC ,. 7ACBD ". DC7AB
Answer5 Again an easy one. <otice the demonstrati%e pronoun EthisE in sentence A5
9ichael =ofman, a poet and translator, accepts this sorry fact without appro%al or
;
complaint. Also note that sentence A is introducing 9ichael =ofman (9ichael =ofman, a
poet and translator,... and will thereby come before e%ery sentence containing the
personal pronoun he or him. /o which sorry fact is sentence A referring to3 It can only
be the fact found in sentence 7. Also, other sentences contain EheE or EhimE. 'herefore,
7A is a lin+. :in+ 7A is contained in option !, , and ". But in ", sentence D is coming
before sentence A, and this cannot happen because sentence A should be before any
other sentence referring to =ofman as sentence A is introducing =ofman. 'herefore, we
are left with options ! and ,. 'he difference between options ! and , is the order of
sentence D and B. :et1s e4amine the lin+ DB5
.ption !5 :in+ DB2 =ofman feels passionately about his wor+, and this is clear from his
writings. But than+lessness and impossibility do not daunt him. Does this sound li+e a
plausible flow3 Certainly <.'. 'herefore, lin+ DB is incorrect and the correct answer is
option ,.
'O%(ININ) IT A## IT* #O)I'" /ometimes using logic to decide the order of
sentences can yield high di%idends. In the pre%ious e4ample, we had used logic to
determine that sentence A would come before any other sentence referring =ofman.
Ieep your eyes open for clues such as these.
(CA' )BB!
A. 'he situations in which %iolence occurs and the nature of that %iolence tends to be
clearly defined at least in theory, as in the pro%erbial Irishman1s -uestion5 EIs this a
pri%ate fight or can anyone &oin in3E
B. /o the actual ris+ to outsiders, though no doubt higher than our societies, is
calculable.
C. Probably the only uncontrolled applications of force are those of social superiors to
social inferiors and e%en here there are probably some rules.
D. =owe%er binding the obligation to +ill, members of feuding families engaged in
mutual massacre will be genuinely appalled if by some mischance a bystander or
outsider is +illed.
!. DABC ). ACDB ,. CBAD ". DBAC
Answer5 'he clue to this -uestion came to me from the word JKLcalculableJKM in
sentence B5 /o the actual ris+ to outsiders, though no doubt higher than our societies, is
calculable. =ow does something become EcalculableE3 'hen I noticed sentence A and
the phrase Eclearly defined in theory...E /omething becomes calculable when it is clearly
defined in theory. <o other sentence could gi%e answers to EcalculableE. 'herefore, the
lin+ AB was clearly mar+ed. 'he lin+ AB was present in option ! only. 7asy, no3
<otice that I ha%e been going to the option again and again to eliminate one or two
options. 6orm this habit sedulously. It will pay you rich di%idends.
A