Question

The best way of understanding our own civilization is to examine (P) an ordinary man (Q) in the life of (R) an ordinary day (S).
The correct sequence should be:
a. P-Q-R-S
b. R-Q-P-S
c. P-S-R-Q
d. R-S-P-Q

Answer 1

Hint: To answer the question, one must understand the coherence of the sentence. One must be able to make sense of what the sentence might mean.

Complete answer:

‘in the life of’ must be followed by ‘an ordinary man’. Hence, one can say a mandatory pair in the sequence would be ‘R-Q’. By reading it properly, one can tell that the sequence must start with ‘P’- ‘is to examine’, meaning that ‘P’ is placed correctly and makes sense in the context.
The question one must ask is “what must be examined?”, the answer would be, “an ordinary day”, which is the phrase ‘S’. So, one can conclusively say that the sequence must be ‘P-S-R-Q’, making the sentence, “The best way of understanding our own civilization is to examine an ordinary day in the life of an ordinary man”.
Option ‘a’, ‘P-Q-R-S’ is completely inconsistent, since the mandatory pair is not there, it is an incorrect choice.
Option ‘b’, ‘R-Q-P-S’, doesn’t make sense because the beginning of the sentence is inconsistent and does not line up with the rest of it, hence option ‘b’ is an incorrect option.
Option ‘c’, ‘P-S-R-Q’, is the correct sequence, as discussed above, hence it is the correct option.
Option ‘d’, ‘R-S-P-Q’, again is inconsistent with the given sentence, hence it is an incorrect option.
So, the correct answer is “Option c”. The correct sequence is P-S-R-Q.

Note: Here, one must be very cautious of the coherence of the sentence, especially, since one of the options may be confusing.