Q1: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
**Sentence:**
“This reality is putting stress on employees who have to pay for transport, desk lunches, more childcare, clothing and that after-work socialisation – costs they haven’t incurred for nearly two years.”
**Paragraph:**
___(1)___. Prices are rising at their fastest rate in 40 years, consequently, return-to-office-related costs have shot up – think petrol and food, for instance. ___(2)___. Yet wages haven’t kept up with inflation – even despite the salary growth many workers have enjoyed during a favourable pandemic labour market. ___(3)___. This is especially jarring for workers who were able to save during remote work, when these expenditures weren’t a factor. ___(4)___. In April 2022, Umus, a London university lecturer, told BBC Worklife that they were spending nearly a quarter of what they made every day on return-to-work costs.
**Options:**
1) Option 4
2) Option 2
3) Option 3
4) Option 1
Correct Answer: Option 2
Analysis:
The sentence discusses the financial stress caused by the return-to-office-related costs and adds examples (transport, desk lunches, childcare, etc.) to illustrate the burden. It fits as a follow-up to the mention of rising costs like petrol and food.
Placement Evaluation:
Option 1: Starting the paragraph with this sentence lacks the context provided by the mention of rising prices and return-to-office costs.
Option 2: This placement is ideal as it expands on the point about rising costs introduced in the previous sentence. It provides specific examples and maintains the logical flow.
Option 3: This comes after discussing wages not keeping up with inflation. Adding the sentence here disrupts the flow, as the topic has shifted to wages.
Option 4: This is near the conclusion with a specific example. Adding the sentence here would feel redundant and disconnected.
Conclusion: Option 2 is the best placement for the sentence.
Q2: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
**Sentence:**
“Many have had to leave their homes behind, with more than 1.3 million people being displaced due to the drought.”
**Paragraph:**
Somalia has been dealing with an enormous humanitarian catastrophe, driven by the longest and most severe drought the country has experienced in at least 40 years. ___(1)___. Five consecutive rainy seasons have failed, causing more than 8 million people – almost half of the country’s population – to experience acute food insecurity. ___(2)___. More than 43,000 people are believed to have lost their lives, with half of the lives lost likely being children under five. The damage the drought has caused is far-reaching. ___(3)___. Farmers have lost all their agricultural income, while pastoralists have lost more than 3 million livestock, impoverishing entire communities, and leaving them on the brink of famine. ___(4)___. Some, like the pastoralists, may never be able to go back as their livelihoods have been irreversibly wiped out.
**Options:**
1) Option 1
2) Option 4
3) Option 2
4) Option 3
Correct Answer: Option 1
Analysis:
The given sentence highlights the displacement of people due to the drought. It fits early in the paragraph where the broader humanitarian catastrophe is introduced, leading to the detailed impacts discussed later.
Placement Evaluation:
Option 1: Placing the sentence here works well because it elaborates on the humanitarian catastrophe mentioned in the opening sentence.
Option 2: Placing the sentence here disrupts the sequence as displacement is a broader issue and should precede specific impacts like food insecurity.
Option 3: Introducing displacement here interrupts the paragraph’s focus on loss of lives.
Option 4: Adding the sentence here feels disconnected, as it doesn’t align with the final point about irreparable damage to livelihoods.
Conclusion: Option 1 is the best placement.
Q3: There is a sentence that is missing in the paragraph below. Look at the paragraph and decide where (option 1, 2, 3, or 4) the following sentence would best fit.
**Sentence:**
“Taken outside the village of Trang Bang on June 8, 1972, the picture captured the trauma and indiscriminate violence of a conflict that claimed, by some estimates, a million or more civilian lives.”
**Paragraph:**
The horrifying photograph of children fleeing a deadly napalm attack has become a defining image not only of the Vietnam War but the 20th century. ___(1)___. Dark smoke billowing behind them, the young subjects’ faces are painted with a mixture of terror, pain and confusion. ___(2)___. Soldiers from the South Vietnamese army’s 25th Division follow helplessly behind. ___(3)___. The picture was officially titled “The Terror of War,” but the photo is better known by the nickname given to naked 9-year-old at its centre “Napalm Girl”. ___(4)___.
**Options:**
1) Option 3
2) Option 4
3) Option 1
4) Option 2
Correct Answer: Option 1
Analysis:
This sentence provides crucial contextual information about the photograph’s origins and historical significance. It logically follows the introduction of the photograph and expands on
