2011-11-09

Logical and smooth flow of ideas

Commonly tested areas

2. Logical and smooth flow of ideas between sentences or between paragraphs

This area is also similar to the Improving Sentences sub-section. The first difference is that it goes beyond one sentence. You need to pay close attention to the flow of ideas from the preceding sentence, through the sentence in question itself, to the following sentence. These sentences may appear within the same paragraph or across two paragraphs. The second difference is that it mainly deals with improving effectiveness of sentence construction or content cohesion (links between sentences), rather than grammatical accuracy. The word “context” often appears in the question. Context refers to the information within and around the sentence(s) stated in the question.

Three types of questions are often asked in this area:

a) Identify what a pronoun refers to

Pronouns substitute nouns which have been mentioned. To identify what a pronoun refers to, you can substitute back the pronoun with the noun to see if it fits the context.

b) Insert or change conjunctions

When deciding conjunctions, be attentive to the relationship between two sentences.

c) Insert a sentence or combine two sentences

The insertion of a sentence should aim to improve the development or link between both sentences, filling any gap between them. Note the inserted sentence should link both the preceding and the following sentences, especially in terms of content.