Question

The four sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4) given below, when properly sequenced, would yield a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper sequencing of the order of the sentences and key in the sequence of the four numbers as your answer. 

(1) When I ask the distinguished LGBTQ activist and writer Cherie Moraga whether she uses Latinx to refer to herself, she tells me, ‘I worked too hard for the “a” in Latina to give it up! I refer to myself as Xicana.’
(2) Of our accumulated ethnic population, only a third use Hispanic to identify themselves, a mere 14 percent use Latino, and less than 2 percent recognize Latinx.
(3) They have done this, although gender in languages is grammatical, not sociological or sexual, and found in linguistic families throughout the world, from French to Russian to Japanese.
(4) More recently, activists seeking to render our name gender neutral, out of respect for our LGBTQmembers, have devised yet another name for us: Latinx.

• A. 1432
• B. 3412
• C. 1243
• D. 4312

Hint:

Sequencing sentences logically is key to understanding the flow of ideas. In this case, starting with the personal anecdote, followed by the statistics, and the evolution of the term, works best.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Approach: Eliminate using one decisive link, then confirm. Find the single most forced connection and use it to kill options; this is faster than ranking all four sentences.

The decisive link: Sentence 3 begins 'They have done this' - a pure back-reference. It needs an immediately prior sentence naming an actor ('they') and an action ('this'). Sentence 4 supplies both: activists who devised 'Latinx'. So the pair $4 \to 3$ must be adjacent and in that order.

Screen the options against $4 \to 3$: Option 1243 separates them - fails. Option 1432 has 4 then 3 adjacent - survives. Option 3412 puts 3 before 4 - fails. Option 4312 has 4 then 3 adjacent - survives.

Break the tie (1432 vs 4312): Sentence 4 introduces 'Latinx' for the first time, so it cannot sit after Sentence 1, which already assumes the term is in play (Moraga is reacting to it). The paragraph must open with the introduction, so 4 leads.

That eliminates 1432 and leaves 4312, with the statistic in Sentence 2 sealing the paragraph.

Answer: 4312.