Odd sentence is a comparatively recent pattern of question, initiated in 2012. It is only a renewed (and I’d say much easier) way of testing the old concept of solving para-jumbles. Here, we are going to list some tips ans strategies that will help you solve these questions in no time at all!
Step 1: Read the Directions
You need to be absolutely certain of exactly on what basis you are being asked to pick out the odd sentence. So do not ignore the directions before the question, even though it may seem repetitive. For example, you may have been asked to pick out the odd sentence based on the varieties of activities being spoken of in them, but you assume that you were asked to pick out the one that defies the logical sequence without reading the instructions for the question. This is potentially fatal.
Step 2: Understand the central theme
This is the key to solving such questions. Read each of the sentences and you will be able to identify the logical sequence or the scheme of events being followed in the question. There will however be that one sentence that does not fit into the scheme. Once you have grasped the common concept in all of the sentences, it gives you a head start into identifying your ‘odd’ sentence.
Step 3: Identify the opening sentence
This is going to be a relatively general sentence, one that introduces a place, person or a concept. Once you have grasped the general theme, it should be relatively easy to identify the introductory statement that initiates the scheme of events.
Step 4: Track the sequence
Try and place each of the sentences into a logical scheme of events. Establish a connecting link between the sentences and check for coherence between them. The sentence that does not logically fit into the established sequence is the odd sentence here.
Step 5: The logic matters; not the subject matter
The potentially add sentence might have very similar subject matter as the other sentences. However, what matters is whether the sentence fits into the logical pattern of the other sentences, in the established sequence more than the content of the sentence.
EXAMPLE:
A. Legislating laws to prohibit marriage between races hurt the couples involved
B. and Often couples who had lived together for years had to separate
C. These laws prohibited intermarriage between people of different races
D. Which caused loneliness and bitterness because of ignorance and a desire to see themselves as better than people of other races
E. Up to the 1960s, miscegenation laws were still enforced in some parts of the United States
- ABCD (E) 2. EDCA (B) 3. ADEB (C) 4.ECBA (D)
Ans. is 4. ECBA; (D) – discusses the impact of separation and not the legislative laws, and is hence not in coherence with the rest of the paragraph, although it speaks of the same subject matter. ‘D’ breaks the logical sequence of the paragraph and becomes an incoherent fragment of it.
TestBharat 