Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Look for the word meaning 'temporarily set aside, not ended'.

1. Abeyance = a state of temporary suspension (e.g. 'the rule is held in abeyance').
2. Termination = permanent end; Intermission = interval in a show; Dormancy = inactive, mainly for seeds/volcanoes.

Yaad rakhein: Common phrase: 'kept in abeyance' = put on hold for now.

Answer: (C) Abeyance

Concept: Fewer is used with countable plural nouns; less with uncountable nouns.

1. 'Challenges' can be counted (one, two, three challenges).
2. 'Than anticipated' needs a comparative → fewer challenges.
3. Much/many are not comparatives.

Trick: If you can put a number before the noun, use 'fewer'.

Answer: (A) fewer

Concept: Choose the linker by the relation between the two clauses.

1. Clause 1: software promised to make things simpler.
2. Clause 2: it turned out complex — the opposite of what was expected.
3. Contrast → however. (therefore/consequently = result; moreover = addition)

Trick: Spot the 'expectation vs reality' clue — 'promised' … 'unexpectedly' signals contrast.

Answer: (C) however

Concept: 'Evolve into' = gradually develop or grow into something else.

1. Without intervention, the talks could have slowly grown into a long conflict → 'evolved into'.
2. 'Devolve' strictly means to pass power or duty down to a lower level; 'emerge' takes 'from'; 'preserve' does not fit.

Yaad rakhein: Devolution = transfer of power to local bodies (e.g. Panchayati Raj).

Answer: (A) evolved

Concept: The parts after 'not only' and 'but also' must be of the same type (parallelism).

1. After 'not only' comes an adjective: innovative.
2. After 'but also' we need an adjective phrase too: thoroughly tested.
3. 'but also it was thoroughly tested' adds an extra clause → error in part (3).

Trick: Cover 'not only' and 'but also' — the two remaining bits should look like twins.

Answer: (C) (3)

Concept: A 'what'-clause used as the subject is singular.

1. Subject: 'What the ancient philosophers believed about … existence' = one idea.
2. Plural nouns inside it (philosophers) do not change the verb.
3. Correct: 'remains a subject of intense debate' → error in part (3).

Trick: Replace the whole clause with 'This' — 'This remain…' sounds wrong, so use 'remains'.

Answer: (C) (3)

Concept: Future perfect passive = will have been + V3.

1. Active: 'will have completed' (future perfect).
2. Object 'the final perimeter check' becomes the subject.
3. So the check 'will have been completed' by the team — not 'will be' (c) or 'would' (d).

Trick: In passive, the tense keeps its helping verbs and simply adds 'been' before V3.

Answer: (B) The final perimeter check will have been completed by the security team by midnight.

Concept: Oriel (common noun) = a bay window jutting out from an upper wall.

1. Sentences (b), (c), (d): a window overlooking the garden, a carved window, sunlight coming through it — all the window sense.
2. Sentence (a): 'the Oriel' is a capitalised name of a light-measuring instrument (Oriel is a brand of optical equipment) — a different meaning.

Trick: A capital letter in the middle of a sentence often signals a proper noun with a different sense.

Answer: (A) Scientists used the Oriel to measure light intensity.

Concept: 'is being + V3' (present continuous passive) → 'is/are + V-ing' in active.

1. Doer 'the government' becomes the subject.
2. 'is being constructed' → 'is constructing'.
3. Subject + is constructing + object (the new rail line).

Trick: Tense must stay the same — reject any option with 'constructs', 'constructed' or 'has constructed'.

Answer: (A) The government is constructing a new high-speed rail line across the region.

Concept: Find the sentence that begins 'Critics argue…'.

1. Critics say such degrees are 'impractical' and do not prepare graduates for jobs that need specialised skills and immediate job readiness.
2. Cost is never mentioned; (d) is the reverse of the passage.

Trick: In 'main argument' questions, choose the option built from the passage's own key words.

Answer: (B) It fails to provide immediate job readiness and specialized skills for the modern workforce.

Concept: The passage contrasts two teaching aims.

1. Liberal arts avoids a narrow focus on 'what to think'.
2. Its stated aim is to teach 'how to think' — the core of critical thinking.

Trick: 'What to think' is the trap phrase — it is the thing the passage says liberal arts does NOT do.

Answer: (C) It teaches students 'how to think'.

Concept: Match each option with the list of skills in the passage.

1. Listed: intellectual curiosity, analytical reasoning, effective communication, problem-solving.
2. Specialised vocational training is what the critics want — it is not a skill liberal arts claims to give.

Trick: For NOT questions, tick off options found in the text; the one left over is the answer.

Answer: (D) Specialized vocational training

Concept: Locate the line on automation and AI.

1. With AI changing specialised jobs, creativity, ethical reasoning, empathy and holistic understanding become 'more, not less, valuable'.
2. So (a) and (c) say the opposite; (d) is not mentioned.

Trick: The phrase 'more, not less' is a direct lift — match it with 'more valuable'.

Answer: (B) They become more valuable.

Concept: Find the sentence about employers.

1. The text says firms now look for adaptable people who work well in teams and strengthen the workplace culture.
2. A narrow technical skill set is described as something that may soon become obsolete — so (a), (b), (d) are wrong.

Trick: Options with 'only', 'exclusively' or 'avoid' clash with a passage praising adaptability.

Answer: (C) Individuals who can adapt to new challenges and collaborate effectively.

Concept: In 'with a view to', 'to' is a preposition, so it takes a gerund (V-ing).

1. Wrong: with a view to achieve.
2. Right: with a view to achieving higher grades.

Trick: Same pattern: look forward to, be used to, object to, committed to + V-ing.

Answer: (A) achieving higher grades

Concept: 'Consider' takes its complement directly; 'as' is not needed.

1. Correct: Many people consider him their leader.
2. 'Consider him to be their leader' is also seen, but the standard concise form tested here is without 'as' or extra words.

Yaad rakhein: Verbs like 'regard' and 'treat' DO take 'as': regard him as a leader.

Answer: (B) their leader

Concept: With a past reporting verb, simple present shifts to simple past.

1. 'said' → past reporting verb; add 'that'.
2. 'I' → 'he' (refers to the speaker); 'prefer' → 'preferred'.
3. He said that he preferred coffee to tea.

Trick: Reject (b) (tense not changed) and (d) (pronoun not changed); (c) adds 'would' wrongly.

Answer: (A) He said that he preferred coffee to tea.

Concept: Reverse the backshift: past perfect in reported speech usually comes from present perfect.

1. 'she' → 'I' in the quoted words.
2. 'had completed' → 'have completed'.
3. "I have completed the challenging project," she announced.

Trick: Option (b) changes the voice and (d) is ungrammatical ('was completed' with 'I') — drop them first.

Answer: (C) "I have completed the challenging project," she announced.

Concept: Start with the general claim, then use pronouns and linkers to chain the rest.

1. 2 opens the topic: algorithms fragment public opinion.
2. 4 'These systems' refers back to the algorithms and explains how they work.
3. 1 'This can manifest as filter bubbles' gives the outcome; 3 'Consequently' ends it.

Trick: A sentence starting with 'These/This/Consequently' can never come first — that removes (b), (c) quickly.

Answer: (A) 2, 4, 1, 3

Concept: Look for the subject-introducing sentence, then follow references.

1. 2 names the works (papers, theses, articles) — the opening.
2. 3 'These works' points back to them.
3. 1 'therefore' draws the conclusion about integrity; 4 then shows what breaking it does → 2, 3, 1, 4.

Trick: 'These works' must directly follow the sentence that lists the works — so 2 → 3 is a fixed pair.

Answer: (D) 2, 3, 1, 4