Bankruptcy

Put the paragraphs in order.

1. AIf the company is so large that it cannot claim that it would be bankrupted by cleanup costs, the company instead denies its responsibility or else seeks to minimize the costs.
2. BIn either case, either the mine site and areas downstream of it remain toxic, thereby endangering people, or else the U.S. federal government and the Montana state government pay for the cleanup through the federal Superfund and a corresponding Montana state fund.
3. CIn Montana as elsewhere, companies that have acquired older mines respond to demands to pay for cleanup in either of two ways.
4. DEspecially if the company is small, its owners may declare the company bankrupt, in some cases conceal its assets, and transfer their business efforts to other companies or to new companies that do not bear responsibility for cleanup at the old mine.

Reorder Paragraphs format (Pearson)

Pearson's name: Reorder Paragraph

How it is scored

• Partial credit applies: a partly correct response still scores.

Source: Pearson, PTE Academic & UKVI test format, Part 2: Reading, checked 9 October 2026.