Directions (1-15): In each of the question given below, a statement has been given with a blank. Some words or phrases have been given in the options following the statement. Choose the most appropriate word or phrase that could fit in the statement to make it contextually meaningful and grammatically correct.
Q1. Marigold flowers in our fields are bigger and brighter than those _________ from neighboring states.
(a) forfeit
(b) dissuade
(c) discourage
(d) hurt
(e) procured
Q2. Economic reservation was introduced in the Constitution by amending Articles 15 and 16 and ___________ clauses empowering the State governments to provide reservation on the basis of economic backwardness.
(a) subtracting
(b) Multiplication
(c) remove
(d) adding
(e) inject
Q3. The much – awaited ________ of African cheetahs to India may be timed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s birthday in September.
(a) arrival
(b) instinct
(c) existence
(d) disappear
(e) cease
Q4. The bedrock ___________ of environmental regulation worldwide is that pollution penalties should be high enough and borne by the creators of damages.
(a) fundamental
(b) basics
(c) ethic
(d) principle
(e) assumption
Q5. A Turkish proverb says, “no __________ how far you have gone on a wrong road, turn back”.
(a) affair
(b) proceeding
(c) difficulty
(d) bother
(e) matter
Q6. The 20th century was a ____________ period in human history: with two gory world wars, many wars for independence from colonialism, and a long Cold War which brought the world to the edge of a nuclear holocaust.
(a) gentle
(b) violent
(c) mild
(d) digital
(e) incapable
Q7. It is worth noting that India provided essential vaccine supplies to Pakistan during the COVID-19 pandemic and there is _____________ for cooperation between the two nations when faced with such emergencies.
(a) consider
(b) priority
(c) precedence
(d) subservience
(e) inferiority
Q8. Some aspects such as the proper use of headrests also help in ____________ injuries due to whiplash during accidents.
(a) reducing
(b) aggravate
(c) increasing
(d) botheration
(e) alleviate
Q9. When all citizens are well- nourished, when public health systems function well, and when ___________ in society is low, an average person lives longer.
(a) fierce
(b) forceful
(c) emphasis
(d) violence
(e) brutal
Q10. New models of cooperative governance are required to realize the ______________ of humanity’s shared commons.
(a) violent
(b) pretext
(c) swear
(d) denote
(e) promise
Q11. A useful and _________ implementable idea would be to give income tax benefits to women.
(a) laborious
(b) doubtful
(c) easily
(d) questionable
(e) indefinite
Q12. If urbanization is good and well__________, then job growth will be positive.
(a) organize
(b) design
(c) arrange
(d) planned
(e) resolute
Q13. It is important to inculcate scientific temper among masses in order to fight superstitions, distorted truth and religious fanaticism that has been ___________ India.
(a) crippling
(b) boost
(c) damage
(d) detrimental
(e) blemish
Q14. Innovation and technological improvement have become _________ to combat and adapt to climate change and promote sustainable development.
(a) mandate
(b) essential
(c) optional
(d) unimportant
(e) inoperable
Q15. The private sector should be ____________ to undertake and support R&D through Corporate Social Responsibility Funds.
(a) incentivized
(b) deterrent
(c) ingredient
(d) boost
(e) incitement
Solutions
S1. Ans (e)
Sol. Options (a), (b) and (c) are eliminated because the word required in the blank should be an -ed form. The word ’hurt’ doesn’t fit contextually in the above blank. Hence, option (e) appears to be the most appropriate choice.
Forfeit: to lose something or have something taken away from you, usually because you have done something wrong
Dissuade: to persuade somebody not to do something
Discourage: cause(someone) to lose confidence or enthusiasm
Procured: to obtain something, especially with difficulty
S2. Ans (d)
Sol. The sentence says that economic reservation was a tool to empower states by providing reservation on the basis of economic backwardness. Hence, the word ‘adding’ would be most appropriate for the above blank. The word ‘inject’ is correct if used with -ing form. ‘Remove’ and ‘subtracting’ is also eliminated as they do not provide a correct meaning to the sentence. ‘multiplication’ is wrong contextually.
Subtract: to take one number or quantity away from another
Remove: to take somebody/something off or away
Add: to put something together with something else, so that you increase size, number or value.
Inject: to add something
S3. Ans (a)
Sol. Options (b), (d) and (e) get eliminated because ‘instinct’ and ‘cease’ do not fit meaningfully and the abstract noun form ‘disappearance’ should be apt for the blank. ‘Existence’ can’t be much- awaited hence it gets eliminated. Hence, option (a) seems to be the most appropriate choice.
Arrival: the action or process of arriving
Instinct: the natural force that causes a person or animal to behave in a particular way without thinking
Disappear: to become impossible to see or to find
Cease: to stop or end
S4. Ans (d)
Sol. Options (a), (b), (c) and (e) do not fit meaningfully in the above blank and are hence eliminated. Only option (d) seems to fir meaningfully and is the appropriate answer choice.
Fundamental: basic and important; from where everything else develops
Basics: the simplest or most important facts or aspects of something; things that you need the most
Ethic: belief about what is morally correct or acceptable
Assumption: something that you accept is true even though you have no proof
S5. Ans (e)
Sol. Among (a), (b), (c), (d) and (e), option (e) best suits the blank because with no, matter is the best used word.
Affair: an event or a situation
Proceeding: to continue doing something; to continue being done
Matter: to be important
S6. Ans (b)
Sol. Option (a) and (c) are eliminated because both convey opposite meaning to what the sentence is trying to convey. Option (c) i.e., gentle is contextually wrong i.e., word ‘incapable’ doesn’t provide a correct meaning to the sentence. Hence, option (b) seems to be the correct answer choice.
Gentle: kind and calm; touching/ treating people in a careful way so that they aren’t hurt
Violent: using physical force intended to hurt, damage or kill someone or something
Digital: showing information by using numbers
Incapable: not able to do, manage or organize anything well
S7. Ans (c)
Sol. Option (a) is eliminated because the verb ‘consider’ is not apt to be used in the blank as it requires a noun. Among all the other options, ‘precedence’ is most suited meaningfully.
Priority: the state of being more important than somebody
Precedence: the condition of being dealt with before other things or of being considered more important than other things
Subservience: a willingness to do what other people want
Inferiority: the state of not being good
S8. Ans (a)
Sol. Options (b), (d) and (e) get eliminated because (b) and (e) use wrong forms of verb to be used here and option (d) doesn’t fit meaningfully. Among (a) and (c), (a) fits meaningfully and so, it is the appropriate choice.
Reducing: to make something less or smaller in quantity, price etc.
Aggravate: to make something worse or more serious
Botheration: effort, worry or difficulty
Alleviate: to make something less strong or bad
S9. Ans (d)
Sol. Option (e), (a) and (b) get eliminated because it’s an adjective and what is required in the blank is a noun. Option (c) gets eliminated because it doesn’t fit meaningfully. Hence, option (d) is the appropriate answer choice.
Fierce: angry, aggressive and frightening
Forceful: having the power to persuade people
Violence: behavior which harms or damages somebody/something physically
Brutal: very cruel and / or violent
S10. Ans (e)
Sol. Option (e) appears to be the most appropriate answer choice.
Pretext: a reason that you give for doing something that is not the real reason
Swear: to make a serious promise
Denote: to mean or be a sign of something
Promise: to say definitely that you will do or not do something or that something will happen
S11. Ans (c)
Sol. An adverb should come in the blank and o, option (c) ‘easily’ seems to be the most appropriate answer choice.
Laborious: needing a lot of time and effort
Doubtful: feeling uncertain about something
Easily: without difficulty
Indefinite: not fixed or clear
S12. Ans (d)
Sol. Options (a), (b) and (c) are eliminated because the blank requires an -ed form of verb. ’Resolute’ word is meaningfully not suitable to be in the blank.
Organize: to plan or arrange an event or activity
Design: the way in which something is planned and made or arranged
Planned: to decide, organize or prepare for something you want to do in future
Resolute: having or showing great resolution
S13. Ans (a)
Sol. Option (D) is eliminated because it will not be just ‘detrimental’ but ‘detrimental towards’ India. Option (c) is eliminated because -ing form of damage should be used. ‘Blemish’ and ‘boost’ is wrong meaningfully. Hence, option (a) is the most appropriate answer choice.
Crippling: causing serious injuries or harm
Detrimental: causing harm or damage
Blemish: a small mark or flaw that spoils the way something looks
Boost: to increase something in number, value or strength
S14. Ans (b)
Sol. Options (c) and (d) get eliminated because they provide opposite meaning to what the sentence is trying to say. Options (a) and (e) have different meanings to what is required in the sentence. Hence, option (b) is the correct answer choice.
Mandate: an official order to do something
Essential: completely necessary, that you must have or do
Optional: that you can choose or not choose
Inoperable: that which cannot be cured by a medical operation
S15. Ans (a)
Sol. Options (b), (c) and (e) are nouns while a verb should come in place of the blank. Option (d) is eliminated because it doesn’t provide correct meaning to the sentence. Hence, (a) is the appropriate answer choice.
Incentivized: something that encouraged you to do something
Deterrent: something that deters people from doing something
Boost: to increase something in number, value or strength