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ACT English: Organization and Cohesion (Drill 1)

Drill 1 · English · Organization and Cohesion

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About This Drill

ACT English: Organization and Cohesion (Drill 1) is a English practice drill covering Organization and Cohesion. It contains 5 original questions created by Brian Stewart, a Barron's test prep author with over 20 years of tutoring experience.

Organization and Cohesion questions ask you to improve the logical flow of a passage by reordering sentences or paragraphs, determining the best placement for a given sentence, or identifying where a new sentence should be inserted. Read the full context carefully, sequence and logic are everything.

Questions & Explanations

Passage Context
[1] The construction of the transcontinental railroad was one of the greatest engineering feats of the nineteenth century. [2] Tens of thousands of workers, many of them Chinese immigrants, laid track across deserts, plains, and the Sierra Nevada mountains. [3] The two lines finally met at Promontory Summit, Utah, in May 1869. [4] The project required the coordination of two separate railroad companies working from opposite ends of the country.

The writer wants to insert: The Central Pacific built eastward from Sacramento while the Union Pacific pushed westward from Omaha.

Question 1. Where is the best place to insert this sentence?

  • A) Before sentence 1
  • B) After sentence 1
  • C) After sentence 2
  • D) After sentence 4 ✓

Explanation: Choice D is correct. The new sentence names the two specific railroad companies and identifies which direction each built. Sentence 4 introduces the idea of "two separate railroad companies working from opposite ends"; the new sentence follows naturally as a direct elaboration, naming the companies and their directions. This creates a tight logical sequence: general claim (two companies, opposite ends) then specific detail (which companies, which directions). Choice A places it before any context is established, making it an abrupt opener. Choice B places it after only the broad opening claim, before the two-company structure is mentioned. Choice C places it after the workforce sentence, disrupting the flow toward the meeting at Promontory.

Passage Context
[1] Marie Curie was the first woman to win a Nobel Prize. [2] She won her first Nobel in Physics in 1903, sharing it with her husband Pierre and Henri Becquerel for their research on radiation. [3] Eight years later, she won a second Nobel Prize, this time in Chemistry, for her discovery of the elements polonium and radium. [4] She remains the only person to have won Nobel Prizes in two different sciences.

The question asks whether sentence 3 is in the best position or should be moved.

Question 2. Where should sentence 3 be placed for the best logical flow?

  • A) Before sentence 1
  • B) After sentence 1
  • C) Where it is now (after sentence 2) ✓
  • D) After sentence 4

Explanation: Choice H is correct. The paragraph is organized in perfect chronological order: introduction then first Nobel (1903) then second Nobel ("Eight years later") then concluding summary. Sentence 3 belongs exactly where it is. The phrase "Eight years later" in sentence 3 directly links to sentence 2's year of 1903, move it anywhere else and that temporal connection is severed. Choice F places the second Nobel before anything else is established. Choice G places the second Nobel after only the introduction, before the first Nobel is mentioned, violating chronological order. Choice J places the second Nobel after the concluding sentence, destroying the logical build.

Passage Context
The paragraph below describes the silk moth life cycle but the sentences are out of order:
[1] The larvae then spin cocoons and enter a pupal stage. [2] A female moth lays hundreds of eggs on mulberry leaves. [3] After several weeks, an adult moth emerges, ready to mate and begin the cycle again. [4] The eggs hatch into silkworms, which feed on the leaves for weeks.

Question 3. Which sequence of sentences creates the most logical and coherent paragraph?

  • A) 2, 1, 4, 3
  • B) 4, 2, 1, 3
  • C) 2, 4, 1, 3 ✓
  • D) 3, 2, 4, 1

Explanation: Choice C is correct. The life cycle proceeds: eggs laid (sentence 2) then eggs hatch into silkworms that feed (sentence 4) then larvae spin cocoons and enter pupal stage (sentence 1) then adult moth emerges (sentence 3). The sequence 2, 4, 1, 3 follows biological chronology precisely and each sentence flows logically into the next. Choice A (2, 1, 4, 3) skips from eggs to cocoons before the silkworm feeding stage. Choice B (4, 2, 1, 3) begins with hatching before the eggs are laid. Choice D (3, 2, 4, 1) opens with the adult moth emerging, the final stage, which makes no sense as a starting point.

Passage Context
[1] The Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2,300 kilometers along the coast of Queensland, Australia. [2] It is home to thousands of species of fish, coral, mollusks, and sea turtles. [3] Rising ocean temperatures caused by climate change have triggered repeated bleaching events that have damaged vast sections of the reef. [4] Scientists warn that without significant reductions in carbon emissions, large portions of the reef may be lost permanently.

The writer wants to insert: The reef's biodiversity makes it one of the most ecologically significant marine environments on Earth.

Question 4. Where is the best place to insert this sentence?

  • A) Before sentence 1
  • B) After sentence 1
  • C) After sentence 2 ✓
  • D) After sentence 3

Explanation: Choice H is correct. The new sentence says the reef's biodiversity makes it one of the most ecologically significant marine environments on Earth. Sentence 2 establishes that biodiversity (thousands of species of fish, coral, mollusks, and sea turtles). The significance conclusion follows directly from the biodiversity fact, creating the sequence: size (s1) then biodiversity (s2) then ecological significance then threat (s3) then warning (s4). This "establish value, then reveal threat" structure is the most rhetorically effective arrangement. Choice F places the ecological significance claim before any facts about the reef are given. Choice G places it after only the size fact, before the biodiversity fact that justifies the claim. Choice J places it after the bleaching threat is introduced, interrupting the argument.

Passage Context
An essay about the development of the internet has four paragraphs: [Para 1] Introduction, the internet's impact on modern life. [Para 2] The invention of ARPANET in the 1960s as a military communication network. [Para 3] The World Wide Web, invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1989 and released publicly in 1991. [Para 4] Conclusion, the internet today and future developments.

The writer has a paragraph describing how early email systems in the 1970s and 1980s allowed researchers to share data and sparked interest in connecting universities. Where does this paragraph best fit?

Question 5. Where should the new paragraph about early email be placed?

  • A) Before paragraph 1
  • B) Between paragraphs 1 and 2
  • C) Between paragraphs 2 and 3 ✓
  • D) Between paragraphs 3 and 4

Explanation: Choice C is correct. The essay is organized chronologically: 1960s (ARPANET) then 1989/1991 (World Wide Web) then present. The new paragraph covers the 1970s and 1980s, which falls between ARPANET and the Web. Placing it between paragraphs 2 and 3 maintains chronological order and provides a logical bridge: military network (1960s) then email and university connections (1970s-80s) then public Web (1989-91). Choice A places a 1970s-80s topic before the introduction. Choice B places it between the introduction and ARPANET, still before the era it covers and before the chronology even begins. Choice D places it after the Web's invention, violating chronological order.