Para jumbles Tricks with Example

Para jumbles are very important topic of English section of most of the competitive exams.Paragraph jumbles, or as they are fondly called, Para jumbles, are sets of connected statements in some random order, which when unjumbled, create a meaningful paragraph. In simple words, converting the passage from a confusing ‘Para-Mumble’ to a solved Para-Jumble! In para-jumble questions, you will be given a paragraph made of four to five sentences whose original sequence has been changed and you have a few minutes to figure out what that original sequence was. The goal in these types of sentences is to rearrange the sentences in the original sequence i.e. arranging and rearranging the pieces till all of them interlocked. Why are PJ questions important? Para-jumbles are significant because they have been regularly appearing in the CAT and other MBA entrance tests. There is a good chance of three para-jumble questions appearing in the 9-10 questions of the Verbal Ability (VA) section. Which means that if you cracked the para-jumbles correctly — 10% of your VA score stands secured (assuming that you will attempt 7-9 odd questions in this section). Secondly and more importantly — PJs are one of those questions of the CAT in which you can improve your skills dramatically within a short span of time. Engineers have a special fondness for PJs as they appeal to the need for symmetry in their souls and let’s face it — it is probably one of the few areas of CAT VA where the scope of ambiguity is limited! 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). 1. 4/5 sentences are given in a random order and you have to unjumble all of them. Toughest of the lot! 2. The opening sentence + 4/5 sentences are given and you have to rearrange the group of 4/5 sentences, having been given prior knowledge of the thought that starts off the flow of the discussion. 3. 4/5 sentences + the closing sentence is given and you need to correctly sequence 4/5 sentences so that they flow into the last sentence. 4. Opening sentence + 4/5 Sentences + Closing Sentence are given. Easiest of the lot. You know where the story starts and where it ends. You only have to figure out the screenplay in between! TIPS for solving Para Jumbles: 1) Try to find out clues that will help us to locate qualifier Clues includes pronouns, like he, she, it, this, that, these, those; adverbs like formally, really; article a, an and the; definers like actually, finally, another; connectors like but, yet, both, also and neither nor, or, however, nevertheless. These can help us to find out the qualifiers. Now the question arises is what the meaning of qualifier is? Qualifier is a sentence that will tell us something about the following sentence. The following sentence is the Qualified sentence. 2) Locate a Qualifier Now, with the help of clues, try to find out qualifier and qualified sentences, so that we can make pairs of qualified and qualifier sentences to eliminate the wrong choices given in the question. 3) Eliminate alternatives After making pairs, start eliminating the wrong choices or options given in the question. 4) Read and try to follow the sequence In case there is more than one choice, try to follow the sequence of sentences according to the occurrence of the events. NOTE- Clues can be located with the help of grammatical rules. To solve Para Jumbles, it also requires command over the structure of the sentences and logical sequence of ideas behind sentences. So, you must read books and newspapers carefully and do constant practice. EXAMPLE: Rearrange the following sentences: Duryodhana was a wicked prince. A – One day Bhima made Duryodhana fall from a tree from which Duryodhana was stealing fruits. B – He did not like that Pandavas should be loved and respected by the people of Hastinapur. C – Duryodhana specially hated Bhima. D – Among the Pandavas, Bhima was extraordinarily strong and powerful. E- This enraged Duryodhana so much that he began think of removing Bhima from his way. OPTIONS: (a) ADBEC (b) BEACD (c) BDCAE (d) ADCBE Explanation of Example: To arrange the above example, firstly we have to find the clues that will help us to locate the qualifier. Here the clue is ‘he’ as it the pronoun used for Duryodhana. So this means B is the qualifier of sentence 1 and our answer will begin with B. So with this, we can eliminate options (a) and (d). Now, we are left with two choices (b) and (c). We have to decide by sequence that which sentence should come first. The option (b) states that E will be the second sentence. Now read E sentence. It does not seem to be an independent sentence as it starts from ‘this’, representing something that has occurred before this sentence. So the only option left is OPTION (c), which is the correct answer. Tips for the 99 percentilers: Whenever you solve para-jumbles the accuracy and speed is a function of how quickly you can become comfortable with the topic. So from today for every PJ you solve, first read the whole passage and try to understand the main idea. This will help you to find the qualifier which will make you understand the idea easily. To-do practice activity for all of you: Team up with another friend. Both of you select passages from newspaper editorials, magazines, etc. Paste them to Microsoft Word. Break them up into sentences. Jumble up the sentences. Exchange and solve. Practice!! Practice!! Practice!!