+ full rep to anyone who can help me with one question.

[John]

A. In my home town in New Brunswick, finally, traffic lights (along with painted lines and posted speed limits) do not apply to tractors, all terrain vehicles, or pickup trucks, which together account for most vehicles on the road.
B. In fact, were any observant Canadian dropped from an alien space vessel at an unspecified intersection anywhere in this vast land, he or she could almost certainly orient him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns.
C. In startling contrast, an amber light in Calgary warns drivers to scream to a halt on the off chance that there might be a pedestrian within 500 meters who might consider crossing at some unspecified time within the current day.
D. Although the interpretation of traffic signals may seem highly standardized, close observation reveals regional variations across this country, distinguishing the East Coast from Central Canada and the West as surely as dominant dialects or political inclinations.
E. In Montreal, a flashing red traffic light instructs drivers to careen even more wildly through intersections heavily populated with pedestrians and oncoming vehicles.

Put these sentences in their proper order to form a paragraph! I will full rep if you're right!

[Mod]

D > B > E > C > A

[Glaze]

D, E, C, A, B.

[John]

well we have some unsureness!

[Shawn]

D,B,E,C,A

Edit: clarified them all in next post

[John]

sigh, they all have a specific order. There's only one right answer

[Mod]

Well you already have the right answer on you, right?

I've got reasoning behind mine, though I don't want to make a further fool of myself if I'm wrong.

Go 'head and call out the winner, or call all of us losers already, yo!

[John]

Well you already have the right answer on you, right?

I've got reasoning behind mine, though I don't want to make a further fool of myself if I'm wrong.

Go 'head and call out the winner, or call all of us losers already, yo!

I guess i made that confusing, my bad. No, i don't have the answer. I was looking for the reasoning that makes sense. so go for it!

[Shawn]

B comes after D since B talks about orientation through traffic signals while D talks about the specific nature of these traffic signals.

D,B
I'd think D is the first for the entire passage since it looks most like an introduction.

C comes after E since they contrast.

D,B ... E,C ...

A goes last since there's the word "finally" in it?

So.. DBECA

[Toasted]

A. In my home town in New Brunswick, finally, traffic lights (along with painted lines and posted speed limits) do not apply to tractors, all terrain vehicles, or pickup trucks, which together account for most vehicles on the road.
C. In startling contrast, an amber light in Calgary warns drivers to scream to a halt on the off chance that there might be a pedestrian within 500 meters who might consider crossing at some unspecified time within the current day.
E. In Montreal, a flashing red traffic light instructs drivers to careen even more wildly through intersections heavily populated with pedestrians and oncoming vehicles.
B. In fact, were any observant Canadian dropped from an alien space vessel at an unspecified intersection anywhere in this vast land, he or she could almost certainly orient him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns.
D. Although the interpretation of traffic signals may seem highly standardized, close observation reveals regional variations across this country, distinguishing the East Coast from Central Canada and the West as surely as dominant dialects or political inclinations.



There ya go. :)
A comes first because it begins with the speaker, and introduces the subject of traffic lights.
C comes next because it states a contrast.
E Montreal is in Canada, furthering the conversation.
B follows because Calgary (in C) is also in Canada, and the sentence begins with 'In fact," meaning it is referring to the previous statement.
D is last because it wraps it all together in a bundle and speaks of variations from coast to coast.

[Mod]

D > B > E > C > A

1. D - Has to be first because it's the only sentence that describes the topic of the paragraph.
A/C/E describe Canadian cities and their traffic orientations, but don't tell the reader the topic if they go first.
And B starts with "In fact...", which means it must support or follow something, and doesn't indicate the country of "vast land" itself - thus a bad first sentence.

(Though D is a little poor itself in that it refers to "country" before "Canada", the reader only knows it's Canada after reading East and West)

2. B - Elaborates and follows D (the topic sentence), completing the thesis. "In fact" is also a bad way to end a paragraph, because it needs explanation or examples in sentences that follow, ruling it out as the final sentence.

Do you argue with someone, finish with "In fact", then stop dead in your tracks? They'll call you out, if you imagine it.

3. E - The first example, most neutral in time.

4. C - "In startling contrast", you can't contrast if there's no example before it.

5. A - Key word, "Finally". You don't say that, only to bring up more points to the same topic.

[Toasted]

A goes last since there's the word "finally" in it?

So.. DBECA

Actually the sentence has 'finally' in it because the speaker is saying that finally traffic lights don't apply to those vehicles.
I was born in Edison, NJ, right next to New Brunswick-- traffic lights used to apply to those vehicles.

[Shawn]

Oh well, that was my interpretation :(

[Toasted]

Oh well, that was my interpretation :(

No no it's fine, I was just informing you. Don't take it the wrong way hun.

[Mod]

A comes first because it begins with the speaker, and introduces the subject of traffic lights.
C comes next because it states a contrast.
E Montreal is in Canada, furthering the conversation.
B follows because Calgary (in C) is also in Canada, and the sentence begins with 'In fact," meaning it is referring to the previous statement.
D is last because it wraps it all together in a bundle and speaks of variations from coast to coast.


Actually the sentence has 'finally' in it because the speaker is saying that finally traffic lights don't apply to those vehicles.
I was born in Edison, NJ, right next to New Brunswick-- traffic lights used to apply to those vehicles.

But considering the form of this paragraph is formal, using "finally" in your sense would be informal, and impossible to distinguish with emphasis in tonal, as written in the original sentence.

I also believe the paragraph topic is not traffic lights, but the disparity in traffic orientation among regions of Canada - which would make sense to be first as the topic.

Lastly, in sentence D, the words "close observation" suggests of examples to follow. If the examples were already given beforehand, then it would be written in a more directed form, like "these close observations..."

[Toasted]

But considering the form of this paragraph is formal, using "finally" in your sense would be informal, and impossible to distinguish with emphasis in tonal, as written in the original sentence.

I also believe the paragraph topic is not traffic lights, but the disparity in traffic orientation among regions of Canada - which would make sense to be first as the topic.

Lastly, in sentence D, the words "close observation" suggests of examples to follow. If the examples were already given beforehand, then it would be written in a more directed form, like "these close observations..."
I definitely see what you're saying.

But I still feel confident in my argument because if you follow a few key words from each sentence, you'll get:

In my home town...
^Opens the paragraph with a more personal fact



In startling contrast... warns drivers to scream to a halt..
^Contrasts the personal fact with one from another country


a flashing red traffic light instructs drivers to careen even more wildly...
^Speaks more about reactions to lights, and the 'even more' relates back to the 'screaming to a halt' of the last statement


he or she could almost certainly orient him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns...
^This sentence would ideally be 2nd to last because of it's discussion on the traffic patterns previously mentioned


And to me D just wraps it all up by summarizing what was just written.

[Mod]

I definitely see what you're saying.

But I still feel confident in my argument because if you follow a few key words from each sentence, you'll get:

In my home town...

In startling contrast... warns drivers to scream to a halt..

a flashing red traffic light instructs drivers to careen even more wildly...

he or she could almost certainly orient him-or-herself according to the surrounding traffic patterns...

And to me D just wraps it all up by summarizing what was just written.

The "even more" is a comparison to what was said earlier in the sentence, due to common knowledge the reader should know about traffic, wherein red lights mean stop; not try to swerve like a nut.
If the reader doesn't know that, then he/she also doesn't know what traffic is and this whole paragraph is pointless to the reader.

The "traffic patterns" is the completion of the topic (hence why I picked it as #2), it is the lead-in to the 3 traffic examples to follow. Again based on common knowledge that the reader already knows what traffic is.
---

I gotta run out for a bit. I'm eager for your counter-argument, so don't think I ran away from this just yet, :P

[Toasted]

The "even more" is a comparison to what was said earlier in the sentence, due to common knowledge the reader should know about traffic, wherein red lights mean stop; not try to swerve like a nut.
If the reader doesn't know that, then he/she also doesn't know what traffic is and this whole paragraph is pointless to the reader.

The "traffic patterns" is the completion of the topic (hence why I picked it as #2), it is the lead-in to the 3 traffic examples to follow. Again based on common knowledge that the reader already knows what traffic is.
---

I gotta run out for a bit. I'm eager for your counter-argument, so don't think I ran away from this just yet, :P

Actually the way I see it, the "even more" refers to the previous sentence about screaming to a halt, and then following it with careening even more wildly.
I dunno. Maybe it's just me. :S

B can't be #2, as it wouldn't make sense to talk about dropping a Canadian off in Canada after they just got through talking about New Brunswick...right? o.0

I want to hear John's opinion so far. xD

[Mod]

B can't be #2, as it wouldn't make sense to talk about dropping a Canadian off in Canada after they just got through talking about New Brunswick...right? o.0

I want to hear John's opinion so far. xD

I meant B as #2 for my own ordering, not yours, ;)

It looks like we're both adamant in our opinions already;
this isn't going anywhere until the real answer gets back to us, :P

[wrath]

D, B, E, C, A.


Because I said so. Mod has it explained well enough already and I concur.

[Toasted]

I meant B as #2 for my own ordering, not yours, ;)

It looks like we're both adamant in our opinions already;
this isn't going anywhere until the real answer gets back to us, :P
Uh, yeah, that's why I said that. o.0

Meh. I just woke up-- might argue more later.

D, B, E, C, A.


Because I said so. Mod has it explained well enough already and I concur.

Of course you do. =)

[John]

Update: After getting the correct answers, Mod was correct! Thanks buddy

---------- Post added at 12:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:18 PM ----------

and thank you so much to everyone else who came to help!

[Toasted]

-smacks Mod in the face-

Y U ALWAYS RIGHT



xD ily

[Mod]

Y U ALWAYS RIGHT

A person only gets things right after getting it wrong many times before, :P