To determine how reversing paragraphs three and four would affect the article's clarity and message, let's analyze the options given.
If paragraph three discusses specific ideas or statistics, and paragraph four expands on the broader implications of those ideas, reversing them would result in:
b The broader implications of an idea would be discussed before the reader understands what the ideas are.
This choice accurately reflects that if broader implications are addressed before providing the foundational ideas or data, readers may not fully grasp the significance of those implications. Therefore, option b is the correct answer.