Question:
P: Passengers were told to be ready to quit the ship
Q: The rising gale fanned the smoldering fire.
R: Everyone now knew there was fire on board.
S: Flames broke out here and there.
P: Passengers were told to be ready to quit the ship
Q: The rising gale fanned the smoldering fire.
R: Everyone now knew there was fire on board.
S: Flames broke out here and there.
Q: The rising gale fanned the smoldering fire.
R: Everyone now knew there was fire on board.
S: Flames broke out here and there.
Show Hint
Focus on the word "smoldering," which tells you the fire has not yet produced open flames.
Updated On: Jul 20, 2026
- SRQP
- QPSR
- RSPQ
- QSRP
- PQRS
Show Solution
Verified By Collegedunia
The Correct Option is D
Solution and Explanation
Step 1: Read all four fragments and find a fixed ending point.
P: Passengers were told to be ready to quit the ship. Q: The rising gale fanned the smoldering fire. R: Everyone now knew there was fire on board. S: Flames broke out here and there.
P must be the last event in the story, since telling passengers to quit the ship is the most drastic step, taken only once the danger is fully understood.
Step 2: Work out what starts the chain of events.
The fire is described as "smoldering" in fragment Q, meaning it is still burning slowly without open flame. This detail tells us Q must come before any sentence that mentions flames appearing, because once flames have broken out the fire is no longer just "smoldering."
Step 3: Connect cause and effect.
Q, the gale fans the smoldering fire, directly causes S, flames break out here and there. Once flames are visible, R, everyone now knew there was fire on board, follows naturally, since the crew and passengers can now see the danger. Finally, P, passengers told to quit the ship, is the resulting action taken once the fire is confirmed.
Step 4: Assemble the sequence.
This gives the order Q-S-R-P: the wind fans the smoldering fire, flames break out, everyone realizes there is a fire on board, and passengers are told to prepare to abandon ship.
Step 5: Match to the options.
Q-S-R-P corresponds to option (d).
Note: the publisher's answer key marks option (a), SRQP, as correct. However, that sequence places "flames broke out" before "the rising gale fanned the smoldering fire," which is inconsistent, since a fire already showing open flames would no longer be described as merely "smoldering" right after. The causally consistent order QSRP, option (d), is retained as the verified answer after careful rechecking.
P: Passengers were told to be ready to quit the ship. Q: The rising gale fanned the smoldering fire. R: Everyone now knew there was fire on board. S: Flames broke out here and there.
P must be the last event in the story, since telling passengers to quit the ship is the most drastic step, taken only once the danger is fully understood.
Step 2: Work out what starts the chain of events.
The fire is described as "smoldering" in fragment Q, meaning it is still burning slowly without open flame. This detail tells us Q must come before any sentence that mentions flames appearing, because once flames have broken out the fire is no longer just "smoldering."
Step 3: Connect cause and effect.
Q, the gale fans the smoldering fire, directly causes S, flames break out here and there. Once flames are visible, R, everyone now knew there was fire on board, follows naturally, since the crew and passengers can now see the danger. Finally, P, passengers told to quit the ship, is the resulting action taken once the fire is confirmed.
Step 4: Assemble the sequence.
This gives the order Q-S-R-P: the wind fans the smoldering fire, flames break out, everyone realizes there is a fire on board, and passengers are told to prepare to abandon ship.
Step 5: Match to the options.
Q-S-R-P corresponds to option (d).
Note: the publisher's answer key marks option (a), SRQP, as correct. However, that sequence places "flames broke out" before "the rising gale fanned the smoldering fire," which is inconsistent, since a fire already showing open flames would no longer be described as merely "smoldering" right after. The causally consistent order QSRP, option (d), is retained as the verified answer after careful rechecking.
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