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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. Translators are like bumblebees.
  2. Though long since scientifically disproved, this factoid is still routinely trotted out.
  3. Similar pronouncements about the impossibility of translation have dogged practitioners since Leonardo Bruni’s De interpretatione recta, published in 1424.
  4. Bees, unaware of these deliberations, have continued to flit from flower to flower, and translators continue to translate.
  5. In 1934, the French entomologist August Magnan pronounced the flight of the bumblebee to be aerodynamically impossible

Entered answer:

Solution

✅ Correct Answer: 2

Let us trace the logical flow step by step:

From passage: "Translators are like bumblebees" (sentence 1) -> sets up the comparison

From passage: "the French entomologist August Magnan pronounced the flight of the bumblebee to be aerodynamically impossible" (sentence 5) -> gives historical context

The thought process flows like this: Topic introduction -> Historical example -> Current status -> Conclusion about both continuing their work


The key is finding which sentence breaks this logical chain. Let's check each:

🟢 Sentence 1 -> correct -> introduces the main comparison between translators and bumblebees

🔴 Sentence 2 -> context-shift -> refers to "this factoid" but we need the specific factoid mentioned first before calling it disproved. It jumps ahead in the logical sequence without proper setup.

🟢 Sentence 3 -> correct -> connects the bumblebee example to translation (makes the parallel complete)

🟢 Sentence 4 -> correct -> perfect conclusion showing both bees and translators continue working despite the debates

🟢 Sentence 5 -> correct -> provides the specific historical claim about bumblebees being "impossible"

The logical order should be: 1 (comparison) -> 5 (historical claim) -> 3 (translation parallel) -> 4 (conclusion).

Sentence 2 tries to reference "this factoid" before the factoid is properly established, making it the odd one out.

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