Question: Sentences given in each question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. The first and last sentences are 1 and 6, and the four in between are labelled A,B,C and D. Choose the most logical order of these four sentences from among the four given choices to construct a coherent paragraph from sentences 1 to 6.
1. The concept of a ‘nation-state’ assumes a complete correspondence between the boundaries of the nation and the boundaries of those who live in a specific state.
Then there are members of national collectivities who live in other countries, making a mockery of the concept.
There are always people living in particular states who are not considered to be (and often do not consider themselves to be) members of the hegemonic nation.
Even worse, there are nations which never had a state or which are divided across several states.
This, of course, has been subject to severe criticism and is virtually everywhere a fiction.
6. However, the fiction has been, and continues to be, at the basis of nationalist ideologies.
There is a clear 1-D link since statement 1 mentions the ‘nation state’ having an assumption which statement D debunks as ‘fiction’. This eliminates options 2 and 3.
The D-B link is also clear since B goes on to explain what the fiction in statement D is, i.e. many people living in nation states are not considered to be or do not consider themselves to be members of this ‘hegemonic nation’.
Hence, the correct answer is option 1.