Directions (1-5): Each question has two blanks with one blank to be filled by an idiom and other to be filled by a word. Choose the option which correctly mentions the idiom and the word to fill the blanks.
Q1. Turning to style, the new Altima looks…all right. If that sounds like a ____________________, in my book it’s two-handed applause: Nissan’s sedan styling language has ____________________ lost in translation at times, including on the hot mess known as the Maxima.
(a) dressing down; maintained
(b) bone of contention; intimated
(c) left-handed compliment; seemed
(d) house of cards; belied
(e) cuckoo in the nest; galvanized
Q2. Even as top market voices debate whether current prime minister Narendra Modi would get a second term in Lok Sabha elections 2019 and its ____________________ on the stock markets, Porinju Veliyath says that the question is ____________________ for long-term investors.
(a) impact; beside the mark
(b) betrayal; an axe to the grind
(c) qualification; putting two and two together
(d) drawing; drawing a blank
(e) venality; calling in question
Q3. A contempt conviction against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante Apeatu, was Monday set ____________________ by the Commercial Division of the Accra High Court after the court declared it as ____________________.
(a) abnormally; weal and woe
(b) aside; null and void
(c) cheerfully; curry favour
(d) blissfully; under a cloud
(e) carelessly; feather in one’s cap
Q4. His oil paintings are ____________________, with a dreamlike quality that sets them apart, his characters pictured against gentle scenery and striking skies. Many of his landscapes are unmistakably Yorkshire-sweeping valleys dotted with barns, towering mill chimneys, ____________________ terraces and wild moorland.
(a) innocuous; turned down
(b) parsimonious; butt in
(c) restive; drawing a blank
(d) commensurate; picked to pieces
(e) distinctive; cheek-by-jowl
Q5. A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court in a verdict on Wednesday expressed different opinions on this with one saying that the provision of ____________________ has failed to become a ____________________ and the other two holding that a larger bench had already decided its continuance in the rarest of rare cases.
(a) maiden speech; aberration
(b) a left-handed compliment; calumny
(c) a cuckoo in the nest; acrimony
(d) capital punishment; deterrent
(e) a wild-goose chase; venality
Solutions
S1. Ans. (c)
Sol. Idioms:
Dressing down means give a scolding;
Bone of contention means cause for quarrel;
Left-handed compliment means an ambiguous compliment;
House of cards means an insecure scheme;
Cuckoo in the nest means an unwelcome intruder;
Words:
Maintained [maintain, verb] means ‘cause or enable (a condition or situation) to continue’;
Intimated [intimate, verb] means ‘state or make known’;
Belied [belie, verb] means ‘(of an appearance) fail to give a true impression of (something)’;
Galvanized [galvanize, verb] means ‘shock or excite (someone) into taking action’;
Among the given options, the idiom ‘left-handed compliment’ and the word ‘seemed’ provide the correct context to the blanks.
A hint for using the idiom ‘left-handed compliment’ in the first blank can be derived from the phrase ‘two-handed applause’.
Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.
S2. Ans. (a)
Sol. Idioms
Beside the mark means not to the point;
An axe to the grind means to have a selfish interest;
Putting two and two together means reason logically;
Drawing a blank means find no favour;
Calling in question means challenge;
Words:
Venality [noun] means ‘the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption’;
The sentence says that top market voices are debating on whether current prime minister would get a second term in 2019, but Porinju Veliyath seems to believe that its effect on the stock market is not important for long-term investors.
Among the given options, the word ‘impact’ and the idiom ‘beside the mark’ provide the correct context to the blanks. Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
S3. Ans.
(b)Sol. Idioms:
Weal and woe means good times and bad times;
Null and void means invalid;
Curry favour means seek favourable attention;
Under a cloud means under suspicion;
Feather in one’s cap means a new and an additional distinction;
‘set aside’ is a phrase which means to get dismissed.
Among the given options, the word ‘aside’ and the idiom ‘null and void’ provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
S4. Ans. (e)
Sol. Idioms:
Turned down means reject;
Butt in means interrupt;
Drawing a blank means find no favour;
Picked to pieces means analyse critically;
Cheek-by-jowl means very close together;
Words:
Innocuous [adjective] means ‘not harmful or offensive’;
Parsimonious [adjective] means ‘very unwilling to spend money or use resources’;
Restive [adjective] means ‘restless’;
Commensurate [adjective] means ‘corresponding in size or degree; in proportion’;
Distinctive [adjective] means ‘characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish it from others’;
The given group of sentences seems to praise the oil paintings.
Among the given options, the word ‘distinctive’ and the idiom ‘cheek-by-jowl’ provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (e) is the correct answer.
S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. Idioms:
Maiden Speech means first speech;
A left-handed compliment means an ambiguous compliment;
A cuckoo in the nest means an unwelcome intruder;
Capital punishment means death punishment;
A wild-goose chase means a pointless search;
Words:
Aberration [noun] means ‘a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome one’;
Calumny [noun] means ‘the making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to damage their reputation; slander’;
Acrimony [noun] means ‘bitterness or ill feeling’;
Deterrent [noun] means ‘a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing something’;
Venality [noun] means ‘the condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption’;
The phrase ‘rarest of rare cases’ suggests that the given sentence is talking about capital punishment and about its effect as a deterrent.
Among the given options, the idiom ‘capital punishment’ and the word ‘deterrent’ provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
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