Understanding Dictionary Word Order

The question asks us to arrange a list of words in the order they would appear in an English dictionary. This process is also known as alphabetical order or lexicographical order. We need to compare the words letter by letter from left to right.

Analyzing the Words

Here are the words we need to order:

• 1. Masterstroke
• 2. Malnutrition
• 3. Marigold
• 4. Magical
• 5. Magnify

Step-by-Step Ordering Process

Let's compare the words based on their letters:

1. First Letter Comparison: All words begin with the letter 'M'.
2. Second Letter Comparison: All words have 'a' as the second letter.
   • 1. Masterstroke
   • 2. Malnutrition
   • 3. Marigold
   • 4. Magical
   • 5. Magnify
3. Third Letter Comparison: Now we look at the third letter. The letters are 's', 'l', 'r', 'g', 'g'.
   • 1. Masterstroke
   • 2. Malnutrition
   • 3. Marigold
   • 4. Magical
   • 5. Magnify
   In alphabetical order, 'g' comes first, then 'l', then 'r', then 's'. This means the words starting with "Mag" will come first, followed by "Mal", then "Mar", and finally "Mas".
4. Ordering the "Mag" Words: We have two words starting with "Mag": Magical (4) and Magnify (5). Let's compare them further.
   • 4. Magical
   • 5. Magnify
   Comparing the fourth letters, 'g' vs 'g'. They are the same. Comparing the fifth letters, 'i' vs 'n'. Since 'i' comes before 'n' in the alphabet, 'Magical' (4) comes before 'Magnify' (5). The order so far is: 4, 5.
5. Ordering the Remaining Words:
   • The next word alphabetically based on the third letter ('l') is Malnutrition (2).
   • The next word based on the third letter ('r') is Marigold (3).
   • The last word based on the third letter ('s') is Masterstroke (1).

Final Dictionary Order

Combining these steps, the correct dictionary order is:

1. Magical (4)
2. Magnify (5)
3. Malnutrition (2)
4. Marigold (3)
5. Masterstroke (1)

Therefore, the correct sequence of the numbers corresponding to the words is 4, 5, 2, 3, 1.