Directions : In this section each item consists of six sentences that comprise a passage. The first and sixth sentences are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The sequence of the four sentences in the middle, labelled as P, Q, R, and S, has been jumbled. You are required to find the proper sequence of the four jumbled sentences and mark your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.
S1: The word science originates from the Latin verb Scientia meaning "to know". S6: By the middle of the twentieth century, science had become a truly international enterprise, with many cultures and countries contributing to its rapid growth. P: Science, in a broad sense, is as old as the human species. Q: From the sixteenth century onwards, great strides were also made in science in Europe. R: The early civilisations of Egypt, India, China, Greece, Mesopotamia and many others made vital contributions to its progress. S: The Sanskrit word Vijnana and the Arabic word Ilm convey a similar meaning, namely knowledge.
- ASPRQ
- BQPRS
- CSQRP
- DQPSR
Explanation
S1 introduces the Latin root of "science" (scientia, "to know"), and S naturally continues the etymology: the Sanskrit "Vijnana" and Arabic "Ilm" convey the same meaning, namely knowledge. P then broadens from the word to the enterprise — science as old as the human species — and R and Q follow in chronological order: the early civilizations' vital contributions, then "great strides" in Europe "from the sixteenth century onwards" ("also" linking back to R's contributions). This leads into S6's mid-twentieth-century international science. The coherent sequence is S-P-R-Q, option A. Note: official key disputed — the keyed B (QPRS) strands Q's "also" with no antecedent and leaps from word-origin straight to sixteenth-century Europe, breaking both theme and chronology; the only coherent order is S-P-R-Q (A).