- The flood of brilliant ideas has not only ___ us, but has also encouraged us to ___ the last date for submission of entries.
(a) overwhelmed, extend (b) enjoyed, stretch
(c) dismayed, decide (d) scared, scrap
Answer: (a) overwhelmed – extend
- ___ about prolonged power cuts in urban areas, the authorities have decided to ___ over to more reliable and eco-friendly systems to run its pumps.
(a) Worried, shift (b) Frantic, move
(c) Troubled, jump (d) Concerned, switch
Answer: (d) Concerned – switch
- The high cutoff marks this year have ___ college admission seekers to either ___ for lesser known colleges or change their subject preferences.
(a) cajoled, ask (b) pressured, sit
(c) forced, settle (d) strained, compromise
Answer: (c) forced, settle
- _________ of illiteracy from a nation that is set to become the most populated in the world is by no ________easy.
(a) Countering, task (b) Driving, measure
(c) Curbing, way (d) Eradication, means
Answer: (d) Eradication, means
- I am an entertainer, ___________ , I have to keep smiling because in my heart laughter and sorrow have an affinity.
(a) even if I have tears in me
(b) even though I am depressed inside
(c) while entertaining people
(d) in the entertainment business
Answer: (b) The speaker in the given statement, is trying to emphasize his work and what he is supposed to do, irrespective of his emotional state. Options (c) and (d) hence, can be ruled out. The second clause refers to smiling and being happy, so the contrasting thought would be of sadness and (b) sounds more appropriate. Hence, option (b) is the right one.
- Political power is just as permanent as today’s newspaper. Ten years down the line, ___________, who the most powerful man in any state was today.
(a) who cares
(b) nobody will remember what was written in today’s newspaper or
(c) few will know, or care about
(d) when a lot of water will have passed under the bridge, who will care
Answer: (a) who cares
- When we call others dogmatic, what we really object to is ___________ .
(a) their giving the dog a bad name
(b) their holding dogmas that are different from our own
(c) the extremism that goes along with it
(d) the subversion of whatever they actually believe in concomitantly
Answer: (b) Dogmatic is used to describe someone who has an arrogant attitude based on unproved theories. For example, if you dogmatically try to prove that the world will end in 2064, you will just be considered funny. The statement is about what really makes us say that someone else is dogmatic.
Option (b) is correct, because dogmas are a set of beliefs that one has and is pretty firm about them, so when we meet people who go against our ideas, and hold fast to their own, we term them as dogmatic. For example, a non-religious person could say that a religious person is dogmatic.
Option (a) is clearly wrong. Option (c) is wrong, because extremism refers to any political theory which favours immoderate uncompromising policies, so it is clearly out of the context. Option (d) is wrong, because it doesn’t refer to the point in question. It simply repeats the meaning of being dogmatic.
- Although it has been more than 50 years since Satyajit Ray made Pather Panchali, ___________ refuse to go away from the mind.
(a) the haunting images (b) its haunting images
(c) its haunted images (d) the haunt of its images
Answer: (b) The given statement is probably mentioning a 50-year old movie that was very moving, and the speaker is saying that (s) he hasn’t forgotten those horrifying images yet.
Option (b) is correct, because ‘its’ makes the sentence more clear, as the pronoun ‘its’ refers to the movie and those images are described as ‘haunting’ which means that the images in the movie were disturbing and disquieting.
Option (a) is wrong, because ‘the’ instead of ‘its’ makes the sentence ambiguous by not relating to the preceding clause. Option (c) is wrong, because the images were not ‘haunted’. ‘Haunted’ is used to describe something that is troubled, not what is troubling. Option (d) is wrong, because ‘haunt’ as a noun only means a frequently visited place.
- ___________, the more they remain the same.
(a) People all over the world change
(b) The more people change
(c) The more they are different
(d) The less people change
Answer: (b) The second clause identifies that it is a part of a comparative correlative, so option (a) can be ruled out as it does not make logical sense anyway. Option (b) is correct, because it hints towards an idiom that the more you change, the more you remain the same.
- The stock markets ___________. The state they are in right now speaks volumes about this fact.
(a) is the barometer of public confidence
(b) are the best indicators of public sentiment
(c) are used to trade in expensive shares
(d) are not used to taking stock of all markets
Answer: (b) First of all, the stock markets’ is a plural noun and hence will not take a singular reference. This rules out option (a). From options (b), (c) and (d), we need to choose something that will change the state of the stock markets and make them striking. Only option (b) does it correctly.
- This is about ___________ a sociological analysis can penetrate.
(a) as far as
(b) the outer limit that
(c) just how far into the subject
(d) just the relative distance that
Answer: (c) The given statement is showing the extent or degree to which a sociological analysis can discover or penetrate. Option (c) is correct. Option (a) is incorrect, because it does not say anything about what is the analysis penetrating into.
Option (b) is incorrect, because ‘outer limit’ is basically a slang, which is used to show the maximum extent. Option (d) is wrong, because it is awkward.
- I am always the first to admit that I have not accomplished everything that I ___________ achieve five years ago.
(a) set out to (b) went to
(c) thought to (d) thought of
Answer: (a) The given sentence states that the speaker did not succeed in all the aspects or fields that he had planned to, five years ago. Option (a) is correct, because ‘set out to’ refers to what was planned or specifically decided, so it fits perfectly into the sentence.
Option (b) is incorrect. Options (c) and (d) are incorrect, because ‘thought’ means something that was merely considered or contemplated, it does not mean that it was planned or it was the final decision. Also, ‘thought to’ is a wrong usage of the preposition: ‘to’.
- This is not the first time that the management has done some ___________ .
(a) tough talk (b) tough talking
(c) firm talk (d) firm talking
Answer: (a) Option (a) is correct, because ‘tough talk’ is considered a style of management in which the employers or management talk to the employees in a tough, hard and arguably, insensitive manner.
- The present Constitution will see ___________ amendments but its basic structure will survive.
(a) much more (b) many more
(c) too many more (d) quite a few more
Answer: (a) The given statement refers that there will be more amendments, but that its basic structure will still remain the same. Option (b) is correct, because ‘many more’ means ‘an increase in the number’. Option (a) is incorrect, because ‘much’ is used in cases of uncountable nouns. Option (c) is incorrect, because ‘too many more’ refers to a huge number of amendments, and we have already explained that it’s not what the statement refers to. Option (d) is incorrect, because ‘quite’ refers to the ‘degree’ or ‘intensity’, so it is saying that there will be very few more amendments, which is not what the author intends.
- Education is central because electronic networks and software-driven technologies are beginning to ___________ the economic barriers between nations.
(a) break down (b) break
(c) crumble (d) dismantle
Answer: (a) ‘Education is central’ is highlighting the importance and role, electronic networks and software-driven technologies have. The sentence has a positive connotation. Option (a) is correct, because ‘break down’ refers to ‘falling apart or collapsing, or failure to function’ and the barriers are physical or metaphorical walls which hinder free movement, hence, this is the appropriate word.
Option (b) is wrong, because ‘break’ refers to ‘destroying the integrity of ’ or ‘get ruined’, but as we are talking about ‘barrier’, ‘break down’ is more appropriate.
Option (c) is wrong, because crumble means ‘break into pieces’. Option (d) is wrong, because dismantle can be considered synonymous with crumble.
- Science is a sort of news agency comparable ___________ to other news agencies.
(a) principally (b) in principle
(c) in principal (d) in spirit and form
Answer: (b) The statement refers that Science and news agencies share similarities. Both of them share a common principle in terms of making the people more aware, so they are comparable ‘in principle’. Option (b) is correct.
Option (a) is incorrect, because principally means ‘mainly’ or chiefly’. Option (c) is incorrect, because principal means the most important element or someone who is the head of a school. Option (d) is incorrect, because ‘in spirit and form’ means a very close relationship which seems too farfetched.
- Most political leaders acquire their position by causing a large number of people to believe that these leaders are ___________ by altruistic desires.
(a) actuated (b) convinced
(c) categorized (d) led
Answer: (a) Some politicians nowadays make fake promises in trying to make people to vote for them, so they try tactics of deceiving voters to vote for them. They make others believe that they have ‘altruistic’ (showing that you are unselfish and your actions are totally concentrated on helping others) motives. Option (a) is correct, because it means ‘motivated. The politicians make the voters believe that they are motivated by altruistic desires.
Option (b) is wrong because ‘convinced’ means that you are just in agreement with something. Option (c) is wrong, because ‘categorized’ means ‘to place in categories’. Option (d) means that they are ‘guided’ by altruistic desires, but the word ‘motivate’ is more appropriate, as it shows a higher degree of effect.
- Everyone will admit that swindling one’s fellow beings is a necessary practice; upon it, is based really sound commercial success ___________.
(a) sell what you cannot buy back
(b) buy what you will sell to another at a higher price
(c) buy cheap and sell dear
(d) sell what you can, do not buy from a competitor
Answer: (c) Swindling means depriving someone of possession or money through deception or some act of deceiving. As the statement points out, it is considered a required or necessary thing to make money, or have commercial success. We have to pick the right option by saying what this tactic is based on. We have to pick what refers to ‘taking someone’s money by deception’. Option (c) is right, because ‘dear’ is also used to describe something that is expensive. Buying cheap and selling at a high cost is an act of swindling.
Option (a) is incorrect, because if there is an item which you cannot buy back from the one you sold it to, then you might get in trouble. It is also a tactic which companies apply, but this is not what the companies base their commercial success on, or it doesn’t describe a policy which companies adopt.
Option (b) is wrong, because of a similar reason to option (a), but option (c) is more appropriate, as it says buy ‘cheap’ and sell at a very high rate, but option (b) does not quite point to making that huge margin of profit. Option (d) is wrong, because it means selling whatever you can, irrespective of the cost at which you bought it.
- The petitioner had ______ an immediate stay form the court on allotment of the Hats ________ of investigation into the alleged irregularities.
(a) asked file process (b) sought, completion
(c) propagated, finish (d) demanded, course
Answer: (b) sought, completion
- Modern music doesn’t king ______ to longevity, sometimes it is hard even to remember what the biggest hit from a _____ of years ago was.
(a) itself, couple (b) much few
(c) money some (d) mother, spatter
Answer: (a) itself, couple