Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
- To create a synapse, the neuron has specialized structures, often seen as tiny swellings, at its terminal end of the axon where it stores the chemicals that are emitted to transmit a signal to the next neuron.
- This fetal warm-up act-the soldering of neural connections before the eyes actually function-is crucial to the performance of the visual system.
- The reasons for this paring back of synapses is a mystery, but synaptic pruning is thought to sharpen and reinforce the "correct" synapses, while removing the weak and unnecessary ones.
- Neural connections between the eyes and the brain are formed long before birth, establishing the wiring and the circuitry that allow a child to begin visualizing the world the minute she emerges from the womb.
- During this rehearsal period, synapses-points of chemical connection-between nerve cells are generated in great excess, only to be pruned back during later development.
Five jumbled up sentences (labelled 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5), related to a topic, are given below. Four of them can be put together to form a coherent paragraph. Identify the odd sentence and key in the number of that sentence as your answer.
- To create a synapse, the neuron has specialized structures, often seen as tiny swellings, at its terminal end of the axon where it stores the chemicals that are emitted to transmit a signal to the next neuron.
- This fetal warm-up act-the soldering of neural connections before the eyes actually function-is crucial to the performance of the visual system.
- The reasons for this paring back of synapses is a mystery, but synaptic pruning is thought to sharpen and reinforce the "correct" synapses, while removing the weak and unnecessary ones.
- Neural connections between the eyes and the brain are formed long before birth, establishing the wiring and the circuitry that allow a child to begin visualizing the world the minute she emerges from the womb.
- During this rehearsal period, synapses-points of chemical connection-between nerve cells are generated in great excess, only to be pruned back during later development.
Entered answer:
Solution
Common thread -> Most sentences talk about fetal development and how neural connections form before birth for vision.
From passage: "Neural connections between the eyes and the brain are formed long before birth" and "This fetal warm-up act...is crucial to the performance of the visual system"
Thought process: Sentences 2, 4, 5 clearly talk about development before birth -> Sentence 3 talks about pruning process (still part of development) -> But sentence 1 talks about basic synapse structure (general biology, not development)
The theme is: Fetal neural development for vision -> Formation -> Excess creation -> Pruning
Why sentence 1 is the odd one:
š“ Sentence 1 -> scope-error -> Talks about general how synapses work (axon terminals, chemicals) but other sentences focus on when and why synapses develop before birth. It's like explaining "how a car engine works" when everyone else is discussing "how babies learn to walk."
š¢ Sentences 2, 3, 4, 5 -> All focus on the developmental timeline: before birth -> excess formation -> pruning process -> visual system readiness.
The confusion students have: "But sentence 1 mentions synapses too!" -> Yes, but it explains the mechanism, not the development process that's the real theme.
Answer: 1