Numerical answer
Arrange the following sentences (1-4) in the correct logical order to form a coherent paragraph. Enter your answer as the sequence of numbers, e.g. 2413.
1. Yet by the 1970s, cheaper synthetic dyes and the decline of the whaling and textile industries that had sustained demand for it had pushed the pigment into near obscurity.
2. Tyrian purple, extracted from the mucus of sea snails at a rate requiring thousands of molluscs to dye a single garment, was for centuries the most expensive colourant in the ancient Mediterranean world.
3. Its cost restricted its use almost entirely to royalty and high clergy, giving rise to the phrase 'born to the purple' to describe those of imperial birth.
4. Today, chemists and historians have collaborated to reconstruct the original extraction process, partly to authenticate ancient textiles and partly out of simple curiosity about a dye once worth more than its weight in gold.
1. Yet by the 1970s, cheaper synthetic dyes and the decline of the whaling and textile industries that had sustained demand for it had pushed the pigment into near obscurity.
2. Tyrian purple, extracted from the mucus of sea snails at a rate requiring thousands of molluscs to dye a single garment, was for centuries the most expensive colourant in the ancient Mediterranean world.
3. Its cost restricted its use almost entirely to royalty and high clergy, giving rise to the phrase 'born to the purple' to describe those of imperial birth.
4. Today, chemists and historians have collaborated to reconstruct the original extraction process, partly to authenticate ancient textiles and partly out of simple curiosity about a dye once worth more than its weight in gold.
Show answer and solution
Answer: 2314
Sentence 2 introduces Tyrian purple and its extreme cost. Sentence 3 explains the consequence of that cost (restricted to royalty/clergy). Sentence 1 marks the historical turn ('Yet by the 1970s...') describing its decline. Sentence 4 describes the present-day ('Today...') effort to reconstruct it. The order 2-3-1-4 follows a clear past-to-present narrative arc.
Saved on this device. Sign in or create a free account to keep it on every device.