Question

Arrange the following major ideas from the passage in the most logical order for writing a coherent précis:

• [(K)] Disarmament assumes overriding importance despite continued arms competition.

• [(L)] The nuclear age presents humanity with only two alternatives: annihilation or peaceful co-existence.

• [(M)] Achieving peace requires cultivating tolerance and reshaping policies.

• [(N)] Immediate and serious action is necessary as delay is dangerous.

• [(O)] The United Nations bears the primary responsibility for ensuring progress toward disarmament.

• A. L $\rightarrow$ K $\rightarrow$ M $\rightarrow$ N $\rightarrow$ O
• B. K $\rightarrow$ L $\rightarrow$ M $\rightarrow$ N $\rightarrow$ O
• C. K $\rightarrow$ M $\rightarrow$ L $\rightarrow$ N $\rightarrow$ O
• D. L $\rightarrow$ K $\rightarrow$ M $\rightarrow$ O $\rightarrow$ N

Hint:

When ordering ideas for summaries or précis, look for a "Macro to Micro" hierarchy: Existential Context (L) $\rightarrow$ Targeted Objective (K) $\rightarrow$ Institutional Ownership (O) Identifying that the United Nations (O) represents the final stabilizing conclusion helps confirm the correct option.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is A

Concept: A précis is a concise, structured summary of a longer text that preserves its core thematic flow and logical roadmap. To organize ideas logically, a text typically transitions from a broad existential problem or premise, moves toward specific structural responses, outlines the method of execution, stresses temporal urgency, and concludes with the institutional body responsible for enforcing the final outcome.

Step 1: Identify the foundational core premise.
Let us analyze statement (L): "The nuclear age presents humanity with only two alternatives: annihilation or peaceful co-existence." This statement sets up the universal, grand existential dilemma that frames the entire topic. A global argument on peace and weapons cannot begin with specific policies or organizations without first establishing this fundamental context. Therefore, statement (L) must be our absolute starting point. This narrows down the options to (A) and (D).

Step 2: Determine the logical bridge following the premise.
Once the choice between peaceful co-existence and annihilation is stated, the next logical question is: how do we prevent annihilation? We do this through disarmament. Statement (K) directly answers this: "Disarmament assumes overriding importance despite continued arms competition." This establishes disarmament as the primary target response to the dilemma raised in (L). Thus, the sequence must begin with L $\rightarrow$ K.

Step 3: Trace the internal implementation steps and urgency.
Now that disarmament is established as the key goal, the passage transitions to how to build a world capable of disarming, followed by the urgency of taking action:

• (M) Achieving peace requires cultivating tolerance and reshaping policies: This details the specific behavioral and political shifts needed to make disarmament work. Hence, M follows K naturally (L $\rightarrow$ K $\rightarrow$ M).

• (N) Immediate and serious action is necessary as delay is dangerous: This injects a sense of real-time urgency, warning the reader that these programmatic changes must occur without delay.

Step 4: Isolate the definitive closing institutional body.
Finally, statement (O) introduces the specialized global authority tasked with overseeing this long-term campaign: "The United Nations bears the primary responsibility for ensuring progress toward disarmament." Naming the specific global organization serves as a logical conclusion for the summary, defining accountability for everything discussed so far. This completes our analytical sequence: \[ \text{L (Existential Dilemma)} \rightarrow \text{K (Solution: Disarmament)} \rightarrow \text{M (Method)} \rightarrow \text{N (Urgency)} \rightarrow \text{O (Accountability Authority)} \] This layout perfectly matches option (A).