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GATE 2025 EC GA Q.6: solution and answer

GATE 2025 · ECGA Q.6 · 2 marks · MCQ

Identify the option that has the most appropriate sequence such that a coherent paragraph is formed:

P. Over time, such adaptations lead to significant evolutionary changes with the potential to shape the development of new species.

Q. In natural world, organisms constantly adapt to their environments in response to challenges and opportunities.

R. This process of adaptation is driven by the principle of natural selection, where favorable traits increase an organism’s chances of survival and reproduction.

S. As environments change, organisms that can adapt their behavior, structure and physiology to such changes are more likely to survive.

  1. (A)

    P → Q → R → S

  2. (B)

    Q → S → R → P

  3. (C)

    R → S → Q → P

  4. (D)

    S → P → R → Q

See the question in the paper
GATE 2025 EC GA question 6Tap to open full size

Answer and solution

ANSWER

The coherent order is Q → S → R → P, so the answer is (B).

Official answer: BSource: Official answer key, GATE 2025 EC (IIT Roorkee)

  1. Look for words that point back to an earlier sentence. P begins "Over time, such adaptations", so the adaptations must already have been described. R begins "This process of adaptation", so the process must already have been described. S ("As environments change, organisms that can adapt ... to such changes") refers back only to the start of its own sentence, so it is grammatically complete. But it takes up one particular case (environments that change) of a broader idea. Q ("In natural world, organisms constantly adapt to their environments in response to challenges and opportunities.") points back to nothing and states the paragraph's general theme, so Q is the natural opening sentence.

  2. Rule out the other options. (A) opens with P, and "such adaptations" has nothing to refer to. (C) opens with R, and "This process of adaptation" has nothing to refer to. (D) S → P → R → Q ends with Q, a broad introductory statement that cannot close a paragraph that has already covered the mechanism and the long-term outcome. It also places R ("This process of adaptation") after P has already moved on to evolutionary change and new species, which is a step backward. Only (B) is left.

  3. Check Q → S. Q says organisms adapt in response to challenges. S makes this concrete: when environments change, the organisms that can adapt their behavior, structure and physiology are the ones more likely to survive.

  4. Check S → R. "This process of adaptation" in R refers to the adapting described in S. R then names the principle that drives it, natural selection, and its "chances of survival" picks up S's "more likely to survive".

  5. Check R → P. "Such adaptations" in P refers to the adaptations through favorable traits described in R. "Over time" moves on to the long-term result, significant evolutionary change and new species. A statement of consequence like this is a fitting close.

  6. The paragraph therefore runs general statement → a concrete case of survival → the underlying principle → the long-term outcome, which is Q → S → R → P, option (B).

KEY IDEA

Look for connecting words. \"Such adaptations\" (P) and \"This process of adaptation\" (R) both need an earlier sentence to refer to, so neither can open. Q is the only sentence that states the general theme with no back-reference, so it opens. P's \"Over time\" gives the long-term consequence, so it closes.

WATCH OUT FOR

Opening with S because it reads smoothly on its own (\"such changes\" refers back to \"As environments change\" in the same sentence). S describes one particular case of a general claim, so it belongs after Q. Starting with S, as option (D) does, leaves the general opening statement Q stranded at the end.

From the GATE 2025 EC paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 18 Reading questions, with notes

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