Some questions ask what happened first, next or last. The passage does not always tell you in that order. Learn the small words that show the real order, how to spot a jump back in time, and the quick timeline that keeps it all straight.
15 min read · 15 practice questions · 11 flashcards · Free
Sequence means the order things happen
Passage
Dana’s first day at the new job started early. Before she left home, she packed her lunch. She caught the 7:10 bus, and after a short ride she signed in at the front desk, where she got a copy of the safety rules. By the time her manager arrived, Dana had already read the safety rules.
Signal wordEvent
An event is something that happens. The sequence is the order in which the events happen in time. This passage tells six events, but the last one you read (reading the rules) is not the last one that happened: the manager arrived after it.
What really happened, in order
Order
Event
1
Packed her lunch
2
Caught the 7:10 bus
3
Signed in at the front desk
4
Got a copy of the safety rules
5
Read the safety rules
6
Her manager arrived
Key idea
The order you read is not always the order it happened
Writers move events around. Small words like before, after and by the time tell you the real order. Find those words first, and most sequence questions answer themselves.
A sequence question asks about order in time: what happened first, next or last, or what happened before or after a certain event.
They come with three kinds of passage: procedures (the steps to do something), histories (what happened over the years) and short stories about a person’s day.
First
Which of these happened first?
The earliest event, not the first sentence
Next
What did the crew do right after they loaded the truck?
Writers often start with the most interesting moment and then jump back. A jump back to an earlier time is called a flashback.
Watch for words that move you back: earlier, before that, years ago, once upon a time. Watch also for verbs with had, like “had started” or “had lived”: they tell you that event came before the one around it.
Passage
Marcus opened his own garage in 2019. Ten years earlier, he had started fixing bikes in his parents’ driveway. Before that, he had spent two summers watching his uncle repair trucks.
Moves back in timeEvent
2019 − 10
2009
Ten years before 2019: the year he started fixing bikes.
When a passage has more than three events, or jumps around, draw a quick timeline: the events in the order they happened, from left to right. Two or three words per event are enough.
The Marcus passage is told backwards: the last event comes first. On the timeline it turns around.
Marcus’s timeline
Order
When
Event
1
Before 2009
Watched his uncle repair trucks
2
2009
Started fixing bikes
3
2019
Opened his own garage
Shortcut
Number the events
Do not copy the passage. On your scratch paper, write 1, 2, 3 with two or three words each, in the order the events happened. Then read the choices.
Many questions name one event and ask what came right before it or right after it. Call the named event the anchor. Find the anchor in the passage first. Then move one step back (before) or one step forward (after).
The answer is usually the event right next to the anchor, not the first or the last event of the whole passage.
Example
“The recruits woke before sunrise and made their beds. After breakfast, they ran three miles. Then they cleaned the barracks.” What did the recruits do right before the run?
The anchor is the run.
“After breakfast, they ran”: breakfast comes right before the run.
Making their beds came earlier, two steps back, so it is not “right before.”
Each one starts with the first try many people make, crossed out, and then the way that works. Read the wrong try too: it is the kind of answer the test puts in the choices.
The test-level one starts at the end and jumps back twice. Draw the timeline before you look at the choices.
Example · Easy
“To start the lawn mower, first check the oil. Next, open the fuel valve. Then pull the cord. Finally, let the engine run for a minute before you start mowing.” What do you do right after you open the fuel valve?
First tryCheck the oil
The anchor is opening the fuel valve. It is the “next” step: step 2.
Checking the oil is the “first” step. It comes before the anchor, and the question asks for after.
The step after the anchor starts with “then”: pull the cord.
Answer Pull the cord
Example · Medium
“By the time the guests walked in, Ray had hung the lights. Meanwhile, his sister had picked up the cake.” Put the events in order.
First tryGuests walked in, Ray hung the lights, sister picked up the cake
That first try is just the order of the words. Look at the signal words instead.
“By the time” and “had hung” mean the lights were already up when the guests walked in.
“Meanwhile” means the cake was picked up at the same time Ray hung the lights.
So the lights and the cake happened together, and the guests came last.
Answer Lights and cake at the same time, then the guests
Example · Test level
“Mercy County Hospital opened its new wing in 1962. Work on the wing had begun four years earlier, after a flood damaged the old building. Before the flood, the hospital had served the county for half a century.” Of the flood, the start of work and the opening, which happened first?
First tryThe new wing opened
The opening is in the first sentence, but it is the latest event. “Had begun” and “four years earlier” jump back.
Work began four years before 1962, in 1958.
Work began “after a flood,” so the flood came before the work.
Timeline: flood, then work begins (1958), then the wing opens (1962).
Warm-up first, then core, then test level. Pick an answer, then read why.
On test day
On the computer test, Paragraph Comprehension has 10 questions that count toward your score, in 27 minutes: about 2 min 42 s each. On paper it is 15 questions in 13 minutes, about 52 s each. Sequence questions come with procedures, short histories and stories: “Which of these happened first?” or “What is the step after…?”
Before you read the choices, find the signal words and number the events on your scratch paper. A wrong choice is often the event in the first sentence, or the step one place away from the right one.
On the computer test you cannot go back to a question. Check your answer against the passage once, then move on.
Question 1 of 15 · Warm-up
Passage: “To make the pancake batter, first whisk two eggs. Then stir in the milk. After that, add the flour a little at a time.” What do you do right after you whisk the eggs?
Show the answer
B. The anchor is whisking the eggs, the “first” step. The step right after it starts with “then”: stir in the milk. Adding the flour skips a step: it comes “after that.” Pouring the batter is not in the passage, and whisking the eggs is the anchor itself. The answer is Stir in the milk.
Question 2 of 15 · Warm-up
Passage: “Before the movers arrived, Kim labeled every box with the name of a room.” What happened first?
Show the answer
D. “Before the movers arrived” puts the labeling earlier, even though the movers are named first. Carrying and unpacking the boxes are not in the passage, and they would come later anyway. The first event is Kim labeled the boxes.
Question 3 of 15 · Warm-up
Passage: “At the food drive, the volunteers first set up the tables. Next, they sorted the cans by type. Finally, they opened the doors to the public.” What did the volunteers do last?
Show the answer
A. “First” marks setting up the tables, “next” marks sorting the cans, and “finally” marks the last step: opening the doors. Sorting is the middle step, setting up is the first one, and counting the cans is never mentioned. The last step is Opened the doors to the public.
Question 4 of 15 · Warm-up
In the sentence “The pilot ran her checklist; meanwhile, the ground crew removed the wheel blocks,” which word tells you that two things happened at the same time?
Show the answer
C. “Ran” and “removed” are the two events: the actions that happened. “Checklist” is a thing, not a time word. The signal word is “meanwhile”: the crew removed the blocks while the pilot ran her checklist. The answer is meanwhile.
Question 5 of 15 · Warm-up
Passage: “Omar had already washed the dishes when his roommate came home.” Which happened first?
Show the answer
B. “Had already washed” means the dishes were done before the roommate came home. The roommate coming home is the second event, not the first. Washing together and going out are not in the passage. First: Omar washed the dishes.
Question 6 of 15 · Core
Passage: “Rosa graduated from nursing school in May. Four years earlier, she had taken a summer job at a clinic, and that job made her want to become a nurse.” What happened first?
Show the answer
A. The passage starts with the latest event, graduating in May, then jumps back: “four years earlier, she had taken a summer job.” The job made her want to be a nurse, so the decision came right after the job, and school after that. Graduating is in the first sentence but happened last. First: Rosa took a summer job at a clinic.
Question 7 of 15 · Core
Passage: “By the time the tow truck reached the highway, the driver had set out warning triangles and called his insurance company.” Which statement is true?
Show the answer
C. “By the time” plus “had set out” means the driver had already done both jobs when the tow truck arrived. So the triangles and the call came first. The first two choices turn the order around, and nothing says the two arrived together. The true statement is The triangles were set out before the tow truck arrived.
Question 8 of 15 · Core
Passage: “Jen cleaned the brushes while the first coat of paint dried. Then she rolled on the second coat.” What did Jen do after the first coat dried?
Show the answer
D. Order: Jen paints the first coat, cleans the brushes “while” it dries, and “then” rolls on the second coat. Cleaning the brushes happened during the drying, not after it. Painting the first coat came before, and buying paint is not in the passage. After the first coat dried: Jen rolled on the second coat.
Question 9 of 15 · Core
Passage: “Before you replace a ceiling light bulb, turn off the switch. After you turn it off, wait a few minutes so the old bulb can cool.” Which step comes second?
Show the answer
B. The steps are not told in order: the passage opens with “before you replace,” so replacing the bulb is the last step, not the first. First: turn off the switch. Second, “after you turn it off”: wait for the bulb to cool. Turning the switch back on is not in the passage. The second step is Wait for the bulb to cool.
Question 10 of 15 · Core
Passage: “The town opened its new fire station in 2014. Before that, firefighters worked out of a garage behind city hall, and before the garage, they kept their only truck in a farmer’s barn.” Where did the firefighters keep their truck first?
Show the answer
A. The passage moves back in time twice. The station opened in 2014. “Before that”: a garage behind city hall. “Before the garage”: a farmer’s barn. The garage is the middle step, the station is in the first sentence but is the latest, and the basement is never mentioned. First: In a farmer’s barn.
Question 11 of 15 · Test level
Passage: “The Delgado family opened a small taco stand in 1998. The stand did so well that, six years later, they rented a storefront on Pine Street. Before moving in, they spent a winter repainting the walls and building a kitchen. Today the restaurant seats eighty people, and the old stand sits out front as a flower planter.” What did the family do right before they moved into the storefront?
Show the answer
D. Timeline: the stand opens in 1998; six years later they rent the storefront; “before moving in” they repaint and build a kitchen; today there are eighty seats and the planter. The anchor is moving in, and the step right before it is the work on the walls and the kitchen. Opening the stand is too early, and the planter and the eighty seats are today. Right before moving in: Repainted the walls and built a kitchen.
Question 12 of 15 · Test level
Passage: “Getting a weekend pass takes a few steps. You sign out at the duty desk only after your room passes inspection. The inspection, in turn, can be requested only once your squad leader has approved your leave form. Remember to sign back in by 1800 (6 p.m.) on Sunday.” What must happen first?
Show the answer
C. The steps are told backwards. Signing out happens “only after” the inspection, and the inspection happens “only once” the leave form is approved. “Only once” here means “only after”: the form is approved first, then the inspection can be requested. So the order is: form approved, inspection, sign out, and sign back in on Sunday. Signing out is named first but is the third step, and the inspection is the second. First: Your squad leader approves your leave form.
Question 13 of 15 · Test level
Passage: “The storm reached the island just after midnight. Hours before, the harbor crew had tied down every boat. While the wind was at its worst, the power went out across the north side. By the time the sun came up, the wind had dropped and repair crews were already on the roads.” Which event happened first?
Show the answer
A. Timeline: “hours before” midnight, the crew tied down the boats; just after midnight, the storm arrived; “while” the wind was worst, the power went out; “by the time” the sun came up, the wind had dropped. The storm is in the first sentence, but “hours before” and “had tied” move the boats earlier. First: The harbor crew tied down the boats.
Question 14 of 15 · Test level
Passage: “Mia handed in her science report on a Friday. She had written it the night after she measured every plant. Three weeks before that, she had planted twelve bean seeds in two trays, after reading about how plants use light. One tray sat by a window; meanwhile, the other stayed in a dark closet.” What did Mia do right before she wrote the report?
Show the answer
B. The passage starts at the end and jumps back. Timeline: read about light, planted the seeds, the trays sat three weeks, measured the plants, wrote the report, handed it in. “The night after she measured” puts measuring right before writing. Handing in came after, and reading and planting were weeks earlier. Right before writing: Measured every plant.
Question 15 of 15 · Test level
Passage: “Captain Ruiz retired last spring after 22 years in the Coast Guard. She still remembers her first rescue, which came only months after she finished basic training. Years later, she was put in charge of her own station.” Which list shows the events in the order they happened?
Show the answer
C. Basic training comes first: the rescue came “only months after she finished basic training.” “Years later” she took charge of a station, and she retired last spring. The first choice is just the order of the sentences, the second puts the rescue before training, and the fourth puts the rescue after she took charge. The right order is Finished basic training, first rescue, took charge of a station, retired.
In the course, every topic is drawn step by step on a whiteboard while a voice explains it, with timed practice tests and a plan for your test date. The first lessons of every module are free.
