Numerical answer
The following paragraph has five sentences, numbered 1-5. Four of them form a coherent paragraph when arranged correctly; one sentence does not belong at all. Identify the sentence number that does not fit.
1. Permafrost, ground that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years, underlies roughly a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere.
2. As global temperatures rise, permafrost is thawing at accelerating rates across the Arctic, destabilising the ground above it.
3. This destabilisation has already damaged roads, pipelines, and buildings constructed on the assumption that the ground beneath them would remain solid indefinitely.
4. Arctic sea ice extent has also declined significantly over the same period, opening shipping routes that were previously impassable for most of the year.
5. Thawing permafrost additionally releases stored organic carbon as it decomposes, a feedback effect that can further accelerate warming.
Which sentence number is the odd one out?
1. Permafrost, ground that remains frozen for at least two consecutive years, underlies roughly a quarter of the land area in the Northern Hemisphere.
2. As global temperatures rise, permafrost is thawing at accelerating rates across the Arctic, destabilising the ground above it.
3. This destabilisation has already damaged roads, pipelines, and buildings constructed on the assumption that the ground beneath them would remain solid indefinitely.
4. Arctic sea ice extent has also declined significantly over the same period, opening shipping routes that were previously impassable for most of the year.
5. Thawing permafrost additionally releases stored organic carbon as it decomposes, a feedback effect that can further accelerate warming.
Which sentence number is the odd one out?
Show answer and solution
Answer: 4
Sentences 1, 2, 3 and 5 form a coherent discussion of permafrost specifically: its definition and extent (1), its thawing (2), the resulting infrastructure damage (3), and the carbon-release feedback effect (5). Sentence 4 shifts to a related but distinct Arctic phenomenon, sea ice decline, which does not concern permafrost and breaks the paragraph's single focus. It is the odd one out.
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