Numerical answer
The four sentences below, numbered 1 to 4, can be arranged into a coherent paragraph. Decide on the proper order and key in the sequence of numbers as your answer.
1. This meant that for the first time, a coastal trading post could receive news from an inland capital in hours rather than weeks.
2. The telegraph's arrival in the mid-nineteenth century did more than speed up the delivery of letters.
3. Empires that had long struggled to coordinate distant administrations suddenly found that a decision made at the centre could be enforced at the periphery almost as soon as it was made.
4. It restructured the very relationship between a political centre and its outlying territories.
1. This meant that for the first time, a coastal trading post could receive news from an inland capital in hours rather than weeks.
2. The telegraph's arrival in the mid-nineteenth century did more than speed up the delivery of letters.
3. Empires that had long struggled to coordinate distant administrations suddenly found that a decision made at the centre could be enforced at the periphery almost as soon as it was made.
4. It restructured the very relationship between a political centre and its outlying territories.
Show answer and solution
Answer: 2413
Sentence 2 introduces the topic (the telegraph did more than speed up letters). Sentence 4 explains what that 'more' was — restructuring centre-periphery relations — using 'It' to refer back to the telegraph. Sentence 1 gives the concrete consequence (news reaching an inland capital in hours). Sentence 3 draws out the larger implication for empires. The chain of pronoun reference (2→4: 'It' = the telegraph; 4→1: 'This meant' = the restructuring) and the move from general claim to specific example to broader implication gives the unique order 2-4-1-3.
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