In this section, each item consists of six sentences. The first and sixth sentences are marked as S1 and S6. The four sentences between S1 and S6 have been jumbled up and labelled as P, Q, R and S. This is followed by four options, each suggesting a sequence of sentences. Identify the most appropriate option and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
S1: One of the features of humanist culture in Italy was a slackening of the control of religion over human life.
S6: There was also a concern at this time with good manners.
P: Though they were not irreligious, Italians were strongly attracted to material wealth, power and glory.
Q: He wrote a pamphlet defending acquisition of wealth as a virtue.
R: In On Pleasure, Lorenzo Valla, another humanist, criticised the Christian injunction against pleasure.
S: Francesco Barbaro was a humanist from Venice.
The correct sequence should be
- AQRSP
- BQPSR
- CPSQR
- DRSPQ
Explanation
After S1 (slackening of religious control), P describes Italians’ attraction to wealth, power and glory, S introduces Francesco Barbaro, a Venetian humanist, Q states that he wrote a pamphlet defending acquisition of wealth as a virtue (the pronoun ‘he’ in Q refers to Barbaro in S), and R adds Lorenzo Valla’s criticism of the injunction against pleasure — leading into S6 on good manners. PSQR is the coherent sequence, i.e. option (c).