Question 88

The sentences given below, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a number. Decide on the most logical order and enter the sequence of numbers in the space provided.

  1. In this microgravity environment, your blood also tends to move towards the heart and head.
  2. Both effects are only short-lived and, after a brief period of readjustment on arriving back home, the heart and spine return to normal.
  3. The heart interprets this as an increase in the amount of blood in the body and that it needs to pump less, so it shrinks.
  4. In space with less gravitational force than on Earth, thereʼs less pressure on your spine, and so itʼll get a bit longer, effectively making you as much as two inches taller.


Correct Answer: 4132

Sentences 1 and 3 use the pronoun 'this,' we'll therefore first assume that they are referring to objects discussed previously in other sentences among the four given, and will not take sentences 1 and 3 as opening sentences. Similarly, sentence 2 discusses 'effects' by writing 'both effects,' and we'll assume that there are two effects discussed before sentence 2. Sentence 4 remains the only choice as our opening sentence.

After sentence 4, we make the following deductions:

  • Sentence 3 cannot follow sentence 4, as the pronoun 'this' would imply that the heart interprets the increase in height as an increase in the blood, which makes little sense (especially since sentence 3 makes more sense after sentence 1, which both discuss blood movement).
  • Sentence 2 cannot follow sentence 4, as the 'two effects' mentioned in sentence 2 are not yet discussed.

Therefore, sentence 1 will follow sentence 4. Also, as discussed in the first point, sentence 3 should follow sentence 1. Lastly, sentence 2 can conclude by talking about how the two effects are only short-lived and after a brief period of readjustment, the heart and spine return to normal. 4132 is the most sensible sequence.

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