Directions (1-7): In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, four pair of are suggested, both words of one pair fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate pair of words in each case. If none of the given options fit in the respective blank, mark your answer as “None of the above”.
Distancing, isolation and the thinning out of public spaces in Indian cities have offered up new _____________ (1) landscapes of delight for urban dwellers, with clean air, summer blooms, and assorted wildlife crossing streets. The quiet that overtook our cities during the lockdown was ______________ (2) as a gift of the pandemic. Fuel-saving work-from-home arrangements, cost-saving virtual meetings, and spare social gatherings are seen as offering new, ________________ (3)possibilities of urban inhabitation that may save us from both COVID-19 and the ongoing climate crisis.
Before we celebrate this oncoming new normal, it is important to recognise what it puts at stake. Agglomeration, density and crowds have long been definitional ___________ (4) of the urban. Urbanisation is premised on the scale economies that urban agglomeration affords. But the transformative social effects of urban density have also been long acknowledged. Cities, as close-knit, dynamic constellations of human and non-human bodies, offer ideal grounds for the spread of a virus, but also ___________ (5) other diffusions. Urban mixings have helped dissolve or remake categories of caste and gender. They have enabled socio-economic mobility, widened horizons of possibility, and allowed historically __________ (6) groups to forge new identities, claim public resources, take risks and assert rights. The unpredictability and possibility contained in ______________ (7) urban communions make for the “cityness” of crowds.
Q1.
(a) Agreement, Accord
(b) Centralize, Fortify
(c) Pastoral, Idyllic
(d) Acute, Smart
(e) None of the above
Q2.
(a) Celebrated, Observed
(b)Diffident, Cowardly
(c) Naïve, Coarse
(d)Disdained, Rudeness
(e) None of the above
Q3.
(a) Deception, Veracity
(b) Bold, Undaunted
(c) Mellower, Enhanced
(d) Contaminated, Sanctity
(e) None of the above
Q4.
(a) Interprets, Reveal
(b) Disclaim, Repair
(c) Ruin, Devastate
(d)Attributes, Traits
(e) None of the above
Q5.
(a) Despoil, Divest
(b) Facilitate, Help
(c) Restore, Renew
(d) Detest, Despise
(e) None of the above
Q6.
(a) Blamed, Boycotted
(b) Discriminated, Distinguished
(c) Despaired, Misery
(d) Opaque, Piled
(e) None of the above
Q7.
(a) Pliable, Plaint
(b) Keen, Acquisitive
(c) Motley, Diverse
(d) Strange, Abnormal
(e) None of the above
Directions (8-10): In each of the question given below a/an idiom/phrase is given in boldwhich is then followed by five options which then try to decipher its meaning as used inthe sentence. Choose the option which gives the meaning of the phrase most appropriatelyin the context of the given sentence.
Q8.He thought he was irreplaceable, and in asking for an absurdly high raise with the threat of quitting, he may have overplayed his hand.
(a) Separated
(b) Overconfidence
(c) Prominent
(d) Concealed
(e) Regarded
Q9.John was a bit of a square peg in a round hole throughout high school, but when he went to college he found all sorts of people he could relate to.
(a) Differ
(b) Approve
(c) Rejected
(d) Yielded
(e) Misfit
Q10.The candidate boxed himself into a corner during the debate, having to take back several things he’d already said.
(a) Origination
(b) Conceded
(c)Predicament
(d) Conflicting
(e) Disguised
Solutions
S1. Ans. (c)
Sol. Both words of option (c), “Pastoral, Idyllic” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.
S2. Ans. (a)
Sol. Both words of option (a), “Celebrated, Observed” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (a) is the right answer choice.
S3. Ans. (c)
Sol. Both words of option (c), “Mellower, Enhanced” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.
S4. Ans. (d)
Sol. Both words of option (d), “Attributes, Traits” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.
S5. Ans. (b)
Sol. Both words of option (b), “Facilitate, Help” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.
S6. Ans. (b)
Sol. Both words of option (b), “Discriminated, Distinguished” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.
S7. Ans. (c)
Sol. Both words of option (c), “Motley, Diverse” fit the blank appropriately. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.
S8. Ans. (b)
Sol. Overplay one’s hand: To have too much confidence in one’s ability or position and fail to achieve something as a result.
Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.
S9. Ans. (e)
Sol. Square peg in a round hole:
A person who does not fit in or is not comfortable with others or in a particular situation; someone who is unsuited to a certain task, position, situation, or group of people. Hence, option (e) is the right answer choice.
S10. Ans. (c)
Sol. Box oneself into a corner:
To create a predicament or unpleasant situation for oneself whereby there are no or very few favorable solutions or outcomes.
Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.