Explanation:

Let’s break this down—each blank should get filled in with one letter so that the whole series makes sense.

Here’s the starting series, with blanks:

_swws _ wwws _ swwww _ sss

Look at how the string develops in each segment, watch for a pattern and increasing or repeating letters.

- First segment: _swws

Looks similar to second: _wwws

Notice how the ‘w’ count increases by 1 in the next segment before the ‘s’ at the end.

- Second segment: _wwws

Third segment: _swwww

Fourth: _sss

Let’s look at each option:

- Option 1: w, s, w, s

- Plug them in: wswws swwws wswwww ssss

- But the last has 4 s’s, not 3—it doesn’t fit.

- Option 2: w, s, s, s

- Plug them in: wswws swwws sswwww ssss

- The beginnings—‘wswws’, ‘swwws’, ‘sswwww’, ‘ssss’—but the w count gets weird and the last doesn’t fit the progression seen earlier.

- Option 3: w, w, s, s

- Plug: wswws wwwws swwww ssss

- First: wswws; Second: wwwws (here, too many w’s, also doesn’t match progression).

- Option 4: w, s, s, w

- Plug: wswws swwws sswwww wsss

- This actually fits:

- wswws (starts with 1 w), swwws (now starts with s and 3 w’s), sswwww (2 s’s and 4 w’s), wsss (1 w and 3 s’s).

- This follows a pattern: number of s’s at beginning increases by one, number of w’s decreases as s rises, so the shift makes sense.

So, Option 4: w, s, s, w is the answer.

Here’s what this really means: If you want the pattern to hold, this is the sequence you need.

Correct Answer: Option 4—w, s, s, w