Question

which group of sentences best uses a variety of sentence patterns to convey meaning and the relationship between ideas?
he heard a noise and jumped, but no one was behind him. so he kept walking, but he was afraid. so he glanced backed over his shoulder, but he was alone.
he jumped at the sudden noise, but no one was behind him. so he kept walking, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure he was alone.
there was a sudden noise. he jumped. no one was behind him. he kept walking. he glanced back over his shoulder. he was alone. he was afraid.
although no one was behind him, he jumped because of a sudden noise. he thought he was alone. because he was afraid, he kept walking.

Explanation:

The best option uses a mix of compound sentences, participial phrases, and varied clause structures to connect ideas smoothly, avoiding repetitive "but/so" or short choppy simple sentences, and fixing logical flow issues. The first option overuses "but/so" repetitively. The third option is all short, choppy simple sentences with no varied structure. The fourth option has a logical error (jumping after confirming no one is there) and limited structure variety.

Answer:

He jumped at the sudden noise, but no one was behind him. So he kept walking, glancing back over his shoulder to make sure he was alone.