Reading 13–15 Sentence Ordering

Reading · Medium

A must-secure target. Narrow down the first-sentence candidates first.

Four sentences, (가) through (라), are given out of order, and you arrange them into a logically connected sequence. You can spot the order just by looking at the 'connecting devices' between sentences — conjunctions, demonstratives, particles — even without knowing what every single sentence means, so an eye for structure matters more than vocabulary. The single strongest rule: a sentence starting with a demonstrative ('이', '그') or a conjunction ('그래서', '하지만', '그런데', '그러나') can never be the first sentence. Such a sentence necessarily needs something before it to point back to or argue against. Applying this rule alone eliminates nearly half of the four sentences from first-sentence candidates and automatically filters out two of the four options. Among the remaining candidates, the most general sentence that first introduces the topic comes first. After that, you just follow a cause-and-effect or a raise-a-problem / turn / conclusion flow to fit the rest into place. In practice, rather than reading every sentence closely, it saves time to just skim the first word of each sentence and mark whether it has a conjunction or a demonstrative.

Sentence Ordering

• 그래서 — A conjunction marking a result that follows a cause or reason. Without a preceding sentence stating the cause, the meaning doesn't work, so it can't be the first sentence.
• 하지만 — An adversative conjunction linking to a fact that contrasts with what came before. There must be a preceding sentence for it to push back against.
• 그러나 — A written-style adversative conjunction meaning the same as '하지만'. It's used to reverse what came before, so it needs a preceding sentence to reverse.
• 그런데 — Used to shift the topic slightly or add a new situation or question to what came before. It reads naturally only when a story is already underway before it.
• 또한 — Used to add information of the same kind to what was already said. It can't stand alone without preceding content to add to.
• 따라서 — Used to draw a conclusion based on preceding grounds or explanation. It sounds awkward if the conclusion comes first without a grounding sentence.
• 왜냐하면 — Used to explain the reason behind a preceding claim or result. The claim sentence that the reason applies to must come first.
• 반면(에) — Used to introduce something that contrasts with what was mentioned before. It only works when there's a preceding sentence to serve as the point of comparison.
• 이 때문에 — A demonstrative expression starting with '이'. It points back to an event or situation already mentioned as the cause, so that event must come first.
• 이처럼 — Used to summarize several preceding examples or explanations into one. It can't be used without preceding content to summarize.
• 이런/그런 + 명사 — A demonstrative determiner that points back to a subject or situation already mentioned. Without something to point to beforehand, there's no way to know what it refers to.
• 특히 — Used to emphasize one part of a general statement made earlier. A general statement to emphasize part of must come first.
• 결국 — Marks the final outcome reached after a series of processes or attempts. It reads naturally only when preceding content shows that process.

• A conjunction at the very start of a sentence (그래서, 하지만, 그런데, 그러나, etc.)
• A demonstrative at the very start of a sentence ('이/그' + noun, '이 때문에', etc.)
• Which content from the preceding sentence a particle or ending inside the sentence picks up

• First skim just the first word of each of the four sentences and mark whether it has a conjunction or demonstrative
• Exclude sentences that start with a conjunction or demonstrative from the first-sentence candidates
• Among the remaining candidates, set the sentence that introduces the background or topic as the first sentence
• From there, connect the rest by following a cause-and-effect or problem-and-turn flow

• When two or more sentences lack a conjunction, picking any one of them as the first sentence at random
• Focusing on the details of later sentences and missing the connections between them

A must-secure stretch. Applying just the conjunction/demonstrative rule alone eliminates half the options, so accuracy per unit time is high.