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Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.

  1. The water that made up ancient lakes and perhaps an ocean was lost.
  2. Particles from the Sun collided with molecules in the atmosphere, knocking them into space or giving them an electric charge that caused them to be swept away by the solar wind.
  3. Most of the planet's remaining water is now frozen or buried, but clues over the past decade suggested that some liquid water, a presumed necessity for life, might survive in underground aquifers.
  4. Data from NASA's MAVEN orbiter show that solar storms stripped away most of Mars's once-thick atmosphere.
  5. A recent study reveals how Mars lost much of its early water, while another indicates that some liquid water remains.

Entered answer:

Solution

✅ Correct Answer: 1

To solve paragraph arrangement questions, look for logical flow and connecting ideas. Find which sentence breaks the chain.

From passage: "Data from NASA's MAVEN orbiter show that solar storms stripped away most of Mars's once-thick atmosphere" and "Particles from the Sun collided with molecules in the atmosphere, knocking them into space"

Step-by-step thought process:

Look for cause-effect relationships -> Find the opening statement -> Check which sentences naturally connect -> Spot the sentence that feels disconnected

Sentence 4 mentions solar storms stripping atmosphere -> Sentence 2 explains how this happened (particles from Sun) -> Sentence 5 introduces recent studies about water loss -> Sentence 3 describes current water status

This creates a smooth flow: atmospheric loss mechanism -> recent research -> current situation


Why sentence 1 doesn't fit:

The other four sentences form a scientific explanation chain:

  • How Mars lost its atmosphere (4,2)
  • What recent studies found about water (5)
  • Current water status (3)

Sentence 1 talks about specific ancient water bodies (lakes, ocean) being lost. While related to the topic, it's more of a specific example rather than part of the main cause-effect-current status narrative.

The coherent paragraph flows: atmospheric stripping mechanism -> recent findings -> present water situation. Sentence 1 interrupts this flow by jumping to specific ancient features.

Answer: 1

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