Read the following sentences carefully.
- Any viewer of crime dramas might think, though, that there is a better way.
- What would really speed things up would be a means of sampling an entire habitat at one go.
- But, these, too must first be detected and collected—and they will identify only the animal that dropped them.
- Ecologists have thought of this, and it certainly works for things like animal droppings.
- Just as DNA traces on an unwashed glass or a carelessly discarded cigarette butt can place a suspect as having been in a particular place, so can DNA shed by a creature as it goes about its business.
Which of the following options BEST arranges the above sentences in a logical sequence?
B
Step-by-Step Solution
Key idea: This is a meaningful sequence question that relies on pronoun resolution and thematic progression (analogy to application).
Step 1: Identify the opening sentence. Sentence 1 introduces a hook: a "better way" inspired by crime dramas.
Step 2: Sentence 5 explains the crime drama analogy ("Just as DNA traces on an unwashed glass... can place a suspect... so can DNA shed by a creature"). This directly explains the "better way" hinted at in Sentence 1. Thus, 1-5 is a strong pair.
Step 3: Sentence 4 states, "Ecologists have thought of this, and it certainly works for things like animal droppings." The word "this" refers to the DNA shedding concept from Sentence 5. So, 5-4 is the next link.
Step 4: Sentence 3 begins with "But, these, too must first be detected..." The word "these" refers to the "animal droppings" mentioned in Sentence 4, and it introduces a limitation (they only identify the animal that dropped them). Thus, 4-3 is a mandatory link.
Step 5: Sentence 2 proposes the ultimate solution to the limitation in Sentence 3: "What would really speed things up would be a means of sampling an entire habitat at one go." This provides the logical conclusion to the paragraph.
Answer: B (1, 5, 4, 3, 2)