Directions (1-5): In each of the questions given below a sentence is given in which an idiom (or some part) is given in bold. This sentence is then followed by five idioms. Choose the idiom which can fit here and make the sentence grammatically and contextually correct. If the given idiom is correct as it is and requires no correction then choose option (e) as your correct choice.
Q1. You don’t want to go into the NFL with some dime dozen that you’re somehow a victim of a system that can’t stand you.
(a) chip on your shoulder
(b) piece of cake
(c) an arm and a leg
(d) bread and butter
(e) No improvement required
Q2. A pilot performing this manoeuvre would be on cloud nine for a second enemy aircraft.
(a) off-base
(b) a sitting duck
(c) spilling the beans
(d) scot-free
(e) No improvement required
Q3. Dark clouds are in the sky and it is usually at eleventh hour for rain to follow, so I need to hurry up and get my car inside the garage since it has a broken windshield.
(a) Draconian law
(b) par for the course
(c) Sword of Damocles
(d) once in a blue moon
(e) No improvement required
Q4. One of my roommates had an essay due in a couple days, and you could tell because his fingers were moving across the keyboard as fast as head over heels!
(a) hands down
(b) goody-two-shoes
(c) a man’s straw
(d) greased lightning
(e) No improvement required.
Q5. They acknowledged that their campaign was on the ropes, and they could not possibly win the election.
(a) on the same page
(b) out of left field
(c) in the red
(d) in a pickle
(e) no improvement required
Q6. We got home safely, sat chatting for a while over steaming mugs of tea and then hit the hay for a couple of hours.
(a) Stabbed in the back
(b) It takes two to tango
(c) Kill two birds with one stone
(d) Break a leg
(e) no improvement required
Q7. The story of the uncompromising short-tempered legendary director is one of to pony up.
(a) Costs an arm and a leg
(b) Rags to riches
(c) Up in the air
(d) Lose His Touch
(e) no improvement required
Directions (8-10): Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow the passage. Some words are highlighted to help you answer some of the questions.
In the din over the Bharatiya Janata Party’s losses to the Congress in three States in the Hindi heartland, the dismal defeat of the ruling Congress party to the Mizo National Front in Mizoram has gone insufficiently noticed. With this, the Congress has lost its last remaining State in the Northeast, a region in which it was traditionally dominant. The BJP managed to mark its first and only victory in the State by winning the Chakma refugee-dominated Tuichawng seat in south Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district. But the BJP will consider the MNF’s victory as a significant accretion to its set of fellow-travellers and alliance partners in the Northeast.
The MNF is part of the North-East Democratic Alliance, an anti-Congress front formed by the BJP that includes all the other ruling parties in the region. While the MNF has come to power on its own, without an alliance with the BJP, its membership in the NEDA means it is an ally of the BJP for all practical purposes. Despite an improvement in social indices in the State over its decade-long tenure, the Congress was always expected to face an uphill task to retain power because of growing anti-incumbency sentiment following allegations of corruption in recent years. The MNF’s victory was also aided by its strong positions on total prohibition, a promise that carried a lot of weight with conservative and influential Christian civil society groups in the State, which had implicitly lent support to the party.
The presence of the Zoram People’s Movement, a collective of seven parties formed just a few weeks before the Assembly elections, hit the Congress’s chances even more. The candidates of the ZPM contested as independents but garnered close to 23% of the vote, damaging the Congress in particular. The Congress’s vote share dipped to 30.2%, a 14-percentage point swing from its 44.6% share in 2013. The Congress’s total tally of five seats is its lowest-ever in the 40-member Mizoram Assembly.
The MNF faces the task of diversifying the economy, given the disproportionately large section of the population dependent on agriculture and horticulture. The New Land Use Policy launched by the Congress did bring a significant pause to jhum cultivation (the practice of slash and burn) but fell short of encouraging sustainable agricultural practices as the scheme effectively provided patronage for commercial crop-growing by select beneficiaries. Mizoram has the potential to be a gateway in the Act East and BIMSTEC connectivity schemes to extend trade routes from the Northeast to Myanmar and onwards. But it requires better road connectivity and infrastructure. This should be an important priority for the new MNF government.
Q8. What, as per the passage, should be the emotion of the BJP after considering the performance of itself and MNF’s in the Assembly election in the Mizoram?
(a) Animosity
(b) Grief
(c) Satisfaction
(d) Angst
(e) Dejection
Q9. Which of the following parties had a performance which reflect irony?
(a) MNF
(b) Congress
(c) BJP
(d) Both (a) and (c)
(e) No such party is mentioned in the passage
Q10. Which of the following statements delineates the relationship between the BJP and MNF?
(a) The MNF and the BJP fought election in Mizoram together.
(b) The MNF is an anti-BJP political party.
(c) Though the MNF and the BJP didn’t fight election in Mizoram together, the former is an ally of the latter for all practical purposes
(d) The MNF is part of the NEDA, an anti-Congress front formed by the BJP
(e) Both (c) and (d)
Solutions
S1. Ans. (a)
Sol. Option (a) is the correct choice. “dime dozen” means something is extremely common, inexpensive or available anywhere. Therefore, the correct idiom required here is ‘chip on your shoulder’ which means an ingrained feeling of resentment deriving from a sense of inferiority and sometimes marked by aggressive behaviour.
piece of cake is often used to describe a situation that was easy, or required little effort.
An arm and a leg phrase is used to refer something that is very expensive.
Bread and butter means used in reference to something every day or ordinary.
S2. Ans. (b)
Sol. Option (b) is the correct choice. ‘On cloud nine’ means being extremely happy making the sentence contextually incorrect. ‘A sitting duck’ means a person or thing with no protection against an attack or other source of danger. Thus, it makes the sentence logical.
Off base means mistaken; or relying on a mistaken premise.
Spilling the beans means to reveal secret information unintentionally or indiscreetly.
Scot-free means without suffering any punishment or injury.
S3. Ans. (b)
Sol. Option (b) is the correct choice. ‘at eleventh hour’ means the last moment or almost too late. Thus, the idiom given fails to make the sentence meaningful and logical. It should be replaced with the idiom ‘par for the course’ which means what is normal or expected in any given circumstances.
Draconian law means measures which are extremely harsh or severe.
Sword of Damocles means situation threatening imminent harm or disaster.
Once in a blue moon means very rarely.
S4. Ans. (d)
Sol. Option (d) is the correct choice. The idiom “head over heels” means falling deeply in love with another person. Thus, it doesn’t make the sentence comprehensible. However, “greased lightening” is an expression that’s used to describe someone or something that is very fast. Therefore, the idiom “greased lightening” provides the correct context to the sentence.
Hands down means anything that’s easy or has no difficulty; something that is a certainty.
Goody-two-shoes means a virtuous person.
A man’s straw means an intentionally misrepresented proposition that is set up because it is easier to defeat than an opponent’s real argument.
S5. Ans. (e)
Sol. Option (e) is the correct choice, as the given idiom is contextually and grammatically correct. “on the ropes” means being in a rough situation that looks difficult to recover from.
On the same page means thinking alike or understanding something in a similar way with others.
Out of left field means something that’s surprising or unexpected
In the red means losing money or Being in debt.
In a pickle means being in a difficult predicament; a mess; an undesirable situation.
S6. Ans. (e)
Sol. Option (e) is the correct choice, as the given idiom is contextually and grammatically correct. “hit the hay” means go to bed.
S7. Ans. (b)
Sol. option (b) is the correct choice. “Rags to riches” means “used to describe a person’s rise from a state of extreme poverty to one of great wealth.”
S8. Ans. (c)
Sol. Animosity [noun] means ‘strong hostility’;
Angst [noun] means ‘a feeling of deep anxiety or dread, typically an unfocused one about the human condition or the state of the world in general’;
Dejection [noun] means ‘a sad and depressed state; low spirits’;
The answer to the question can be derived from the last sentence of the first paragraph ‘But the BJP will consider the MNF’s victory as a significant accretion to its set of fellow-travellers and alliance partners in the Northeast’;
Among the given options, option (c) is the correct answer.
S9. Ans. (b)
Sol. Irony [noun] means ‘a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result’;
The answer to the question can be derived from the first paragraph ‘With this, the Congress has lost its last remaining State in the Northeast, a region in which it was traditionally dominant’.
Political party, Congress, which was once dominant in the region of Northeast has now lost its last remaining State in the Northeast.
The political party which has a performance reflecting irony is ‘Congress’.
Hence, option (b) is the correct answer.
S10. Ans. (e)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the second paragraph ‘The MNF is part of the North-East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), an anti-Congress front formed by the BJP that includes all the other ruling parties in the region. While the MNF has come to power on its own, without an alliance with the BJP, its membership in the NEDA means it is an ally of the BJP for all practical purposes.’
Both alternatives (c) and (d) are correct.
Hence, option (e) is the correct answer.
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