Verbal Ability – Parajumble – Man has used poisons for assassination purposes ever since

Slot – 1 – VA

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

1. Man has used poisons for assassination purposes ever since the dawn of civilization, against individual enemies but also occasionally against armies.
2. These dangers were soon recognized, and resulted in two international declarations—in 1874 in Brussels and in 1899 in The Hague—that prohibited the use of poisoned weapons.
3. The foundation of microbiology by Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch offered new prospects for those interested in biological weapons because it allowed agents to be chosen and designed on a rational basis.
4. Though treaties were all made in good faith, they contained no means of control, and so failed to prevent interested parties from developing and using biological weapons.

Answer: 1324

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Solutions:
It is clear that the paragraph is about using poisons for assassinations and war. Sentence 1 which talks about the use of poisons “since the dawn of civilization” is the clear introductory sentence.
The phrase (poisons used) “against armies” links with sentence 3 since sentence 3 is about developing and using biological weapons or poisons for war. Therefore, sentence 3 will follow sentence 1 directly.
Sentences 2-4 are clearly a linking pair. Both talk about treaties. Sentence 2 is about two treaties in 1874 and 1899 against poisoned or biological weapons while sentence 4 closes the paragraph by stating the reason as to why these two treaties were not effective – “they contained no means of control.”
Hence, the correct sequence is 1324.

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