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ACT English: Organization and Cohesion (Drill 2)

Drill 2 · English · Organization and Cohesion

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About This Drill

ACT English: Organization and Cohesion (Drill 2) 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 reorder sentences, place new sentences logically, and choose transitions that improve paragraph flow. This drill focuses on sentence reordering within a paragraph, questions where you must identify the most logical sequence by tracking pronoun references, cause-effect relationships, and chronological markers.

Questions & Explanations

Passage Context
The paragraph below has sentences out of order:
[1] Attendance at the city's annual arts festival dropped by forty percent. [2] The city council announced severe budget cuts to arts programming. [3] Several popular acts canceled their appearances after learning their fees would be reduced. [4] Local artists also withdrew from the festival in protest of the funding reductions.

Question 1. Which sequence creates the most logical cause-and-effect order?

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

Explanation: Choice C is correct. The root cause is the budget cuts (sentence 2). That triggers two intermediate effects: popular acts canceled (sentence 3) and local artists withdrew (sentence 4). The ultimate result of those withdrawals is the attendance drop (sentence 1). The sequence 2, 3, 4, 1 correctly places the cause first, then the two immediate reactions, then the final cumulative outcome. Choice A begins with the attendance drop before any cause is established. Choice B begins with the cancellations before the budget cuts that caused them. Choice D places the attendance drop second, before the artist withdrawals that contributed to it.

Passage Context
[1] Training for a marathon requires months of disciplined preparation. [2] Runners typically begin with shorter distances and gradually increase their weekly mileage. [3] Rest days are equally important, giving muscles time to recover and rebuild. [4] On race day, all that preparation comes together in a single, grueling twenty-six-mile test of endurance.

The question asks whether sentence 3 should stay where it is or 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 describes the training process leading to race day. Sentence 2 describes the active training component (increasing mileage). Sentence 3 adds the complementary rest component; it follows naturally as the other half of a training program, and the word "equally" in sentence 3 only makes sense relative to the training just described in sentence 2. Sentence 4 then shifts to race day as a natural conclusion. Choice F places recovery before any training is introduced. Choice G places recovery after only the opening general statement, before training runs are described. Choice J places training advice after the race.

Passage Context
[1] The discovery of penicillin by Alexander Fleming in 1928 revolutionized medicine. [2] Before antibiotics, infections from minor wounds frequently proved fatal. [3] Fleming noticed that a mold contaminating one of his petri dishes had killed surrounding bacteria. [4] He identified the mold as Penicillium notatum and began investigating its antibacterial properties.

The writer wants to insert: At the time, Fleming was studying bacterial cultures in his London laboratory.

Question 3. 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 C is correct. The new sentence sets the scene for the discovery; Fleming was in his London lab studying bacterial cultures. This context needs to come just before sentence 3, which describes the moment of discovery (the contaminated petri dish). Inserted after sentence 2, it bridges the historical context (sentences 1-2) to the narrative of the discovery itself (sentences 3-4), providing a smooth scene-setting transition. Choice A places it before sentence 1, but scene-setting is more effective just before the specific discovery moment. Choice B places it after only the opening sentence about penicillin's impact, before any historical context is given. Choice D places it at the very end after the investigation has begun, far too late.

Passage Context
An essay about water conservation has this structure: [Para 1] Introduction, global water scarcity is a growing crisis. [Para 2] Agricultural water use accounts for 70% of global freshwater consumption. [Para 3] Industrial and municipal water use contribute the remaining demand. [Para 4] Conclusion, urgent policy changes are needed.

The writer has a paragraph about drip irrigation and recycled water systems that can dramatically reduce agricultural water use. Where does it best fit?

Question 4. Where should the new paragraph about agricultural water-saving technologies 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 H is correct. The new paragraph is specifically about agricultural water-saving technologies. Paragraph 2 discusses agricultural water use, the new paragraph elaborates directly on solutions to that problem. Placing it immediately after paragraph 2 keeps the agricultural topic together, creating a logical problem then solution structure before the essay moves to industrial and municipal use in paragraph 3. Choice F places solutions before the problem is established. Choice G places agricultural technology solutions between the introduction and the agriculture problem paragraph, inverting the order. Choice J places it after the industrial and municipal use paragraph, at that point the essay has moved past agriculture.

Passage Context
[1] Few inventions have changed daily life as profoundly as the printing press. [2] Before Gutenberg's press in the 1440s, books were copied by hand, making them rare and expensive. [3] The press made it possible to produce hundreds of identical copies quickly and cheaply. [4] Within decades, literacy rates rose across Europe as books became accessible to ordinary people.

The question asks whether sentence 1 should remain as the opening or be moved.

Question 5. Where should sentence 1 be placed for the best logical flow?

  • A) Where it is now (as the opening sentence) ✓
  • B) After sentence 2
  • C) After sentence 3
  • D) After sentence 4

Explanation: Choice A is correct. Sentence 1 is a broad evaluative claim that frames the entire paragraph; it tells the reader what the paragraph is going to demonstrate. Sentences 2, 3, and 4 provide the evidence (before/after contrast, production speed, rising literacy) that substantiates the claim. Moving sentence 1 anywhere else removes the framing that makes the paragraph's argument coherent. After sentence 2 (Choice B) puts the claim mid-paragraph after the historical contrast. After sentence 3 (Choice C) is too late to orient the reader. After sentence 4 (Choice D) turns a topic sentence into a concluding sentence, which fundamentally changes the paragraph's logic.