Odd sentence is a recent addition to Bank PO examination. It appeared first time in SBI PO Mains 2016. Since it was introduced only last year and the exam is online, we do not have much practice material. Many students are not even aware of what exactly the question demands.
- It is nothing out of the world but a modified way of asking Parajumbles or Sentence Rearrangement. In the question you will have five or more sentences, out of which one sentence won’t fit into the scheme of things, whereas rest of the sentences will make a coherent paragraph or will contribute to the main idea of the paragraph.
- In short, Odd Sentence is nothing but a new way of testing the old concept of Parajumbles (PJ). Students adept at PJ, will find it easier to crack these questions.
Understanding the Nuances
Try the following question and pick the odd one out
Ex 1) 1. India 2. China 3. UAE 4.Japan 5. Beglium
How would you proceed?? – alphabetical order, literacy, population or what? But nothing of the sort is informed here. You know they are all countries – the information like population etc. if not divulged should not be accounted for. All the countries but one is missing on something very important and that is the continent to which they belong. Belgium comes under Europe whereas all other are part of Asia. So, the answer is 5.
Ex.2) 1. Pakistan 2.Nepal 3.Bhutan 4. Bangladesh 5. Thailand
Explanation – 5. Thailand doesn’t share border with India.
In the same manner – when you try to find an out of context sentence you should be aware of number of things like – actions, objects, statements, whether the same idea is followed in the entire paragraph or the stand has changed. If the paragraph is all about the current state of affairs in the country; all the sentences describe it but one sentence proposes some relevant action to be taken on the issue- this sentence has got to be out of context.
One is required to link the sentences in accordance with the information provided in the paragraph. It is necessary to ensure that the idea and action expressed in the jumbled paragraph move in the same line, any sentence expressing different idea and differing the coherent formation of the paragraph will be an out of context sentence.
STRATEGY
1.Look for the sentence that is most likely to start a paragraph, that sentence which introduces an idea, or a concept, and that which is not abrupt often starts a paragraph.
2.Your next step should be to establish a connecting link; here the parajumbles (Link for Attempting Parjumbles) come into picture. The sentence that is taking the idea forward on similar lines will come next in the sequence.
3.Repeat Step 2 mentioned above; check if there is some coherence to the paragraph that is formed after the logical arrangement of the sentences.
4.The sentence that you find difficult to fit into the sequence is the odd sentence, and the right answer.
Lets try some questions now: –
Question 1:
A.Karnan is not the only judge in the recent past to have had a run-in with the law.
B.Two high court judges, JusticeP D Dinakaran and Justice Soumitra Sen, faced impeachment hearings in Parliament for corruption and abuse of power last year.
C.It was only after the retirement in 2010 that the subsequent Chief Justice of India, S H Kapadia, granted sanction for prosecution and Soumitra Sen is currently facing trial.
D.Against Justice C V Nagarjuna Reddy, impeachment proceedings began in 2011 for having allegedly discriminated against a Dalit judge in the state subordinate judiciary.
E.One retired high court judge, Justice Nirmal Yadav, is facing trial before a Central Bureau of Investigation case concerning bribery.
Solution:-
A says ‘Karnan was not the only judge’…….. . Sentence A is incomplete. It must contain some other information too (who else was/were involved). B provides information about who else was involved; D again gives information about people who were impeached (it should be caught in one glance, that B and D are very much alike). E gives another name – Nirmal Yadav, who faced proceedings (or ‘had run in with law’ – A). Even C talks of impeachment proceedings, but its essence is different. It emphasizes that the case against Soumitra Sen started only after S H Kapadia granted sanction.
Many of the webistes advise you to scan the sentences and find the one which does not have same subject.
Like : – A – Sachin B – Sachin C – Sachin D – Sachin E – Kohli.
There is nothing wrong with the question but it is highly improbable that such a question will be asked in SBI Mains exam, even a 7th standard kid would be able to crack this question. So, I advise you to stick only to affairscloud.com.
Question 2.
A.Having attained the position of the world’s second largest economy, China seems bent upon reaching the top spot in record time.
B.In front of representatives from 100 countries, it launched the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road project, also called the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) or One Belt, One Road.
C.Japan and India, Asia’s second and third largest economies, chose to boycott the forum. New Delhi was concerned about “sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
D.It is a massive international project which envisages, a number of roads, railway lines and ports that will connect major economic centres in China, via various routes, with Europe.
E.While romanticising the historical Silk Route, Xi emphasised the advantages of “mutual learning and benefit,” “openness and inclusiveness,” and called the new Silk Road—the BRI—the “project of the century.”
Solution:
We try to connect different sentence and then we will get the odd sentence. D says ‘it is a massive international project’. As we know that Pronouns are really important in connecting the sentences (Link for PJ), we need to find the pair of D. Obviously it is talking about BRI in B. D describes about the BRI and E builds on it by telling the advantages of BRI. (Keyword BRI in B, D and E would help you to connect them faster). Now, we have only A and C left. A talks of rapid rise in China and BRI project can be related with it, whereas C is totally out of context.
Try to combine as many sentences as possible and in the end you will be left with one or maximum of two options. Try the following example, it is a tough one.
Question 3.
A.The objective of Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) was to achieve universal sanitation and make India open defecation free by 2019.
B.The SBM has arguably been more visible to the public than its predecessor, the Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan.
C.The groundwater and sanitation nexus, in the emerging peri-urban regions, needs a detailed discussion in order to understand its implications for the SBM.
D.Under the SBM , there has been a rise of nearly 16% in households with toilets since 2014, and over 1.2 lakh villages have self-declared to be open defecation free.
E.The SBM, therefore, offers a promising solution to address the issues of sanitation and water in rapidly urbanising areas.
Solution:
A talks of the ‘objective of SBM’ and D describes how successful it has been in achieving them. Hence AD is a pair. E can also be linked to A. E builds on A and talks of the same thing, can be linked with the use of keyword – Sanitation. Two options remain – B and C. What would you choose? Check again, make up your mind for the answer and then proceed.
B talks of the SBM in a positive say. C talks of sanitation nexus and its implications (effects) on SBM. B can be congregated with the group A, D and E, as they all talk of SBM in a positive way, whereas C takes the discussion in some other direction.
P.S. : – If we have just used the concept of connecting sentences quickly with keywords (as many of the websites do), we would have confused ourselves. It is important to read the sentences and alongwith reading, comprehend the meaning.
Tips for improvement
- Regular Reading – This is a remedy of all diseases
- Go through the concepts of Parajumbles
- Practice good questions.
Note : In case you have any doubt, scribble it down in the comments section. We are always open to suggestion. Recommend the article if you find it useful)
Click Here to try Odd one out sentences Quiz
