Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Follow: topic → benefits → contrast (Yet) → conclusion (Hence).

1. 1 introduces the topic – growth of online learning.
2. 2 gives its benefits; 3 starts with 'Yet' – a limitation.
3. 4 starts with 'Hence' – the solution/conclusion.

Trick: Connectors fix the order: 'Yet' needs a positive point before it; 'Hence' is always last.

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

Concept: With a past reporting verb, present perfect changes to past perfect; pronouns follow the speaker.

1. have finished → had finished.
2. I → he, my → his.
3. Result: He explained that he had finished all his tasks for the day.

Trick: Check two things only – 'had' and 'he/his'; only (A) has both.

Answer: (A) He explained that he had finished all his tasks for the day.

Concept: 'Hardly/Scarcely … when' and 'No sooner … than' are fixed pairs.

1. Sentence begins with 'Hardly had…', so the partner is 'when'.
2. 'than' is used only with 'no sooner' or comparatives.

Trick: Pair by sound: 'No soon-ER … th-AN' (comparative + than); hardly/scarcely → when.

Answer: (A) when

Concept: Homonym here = same word used with a different meaning/part of speech.

1. Given sentence: lever = a bar/handle (noun).
2. (A), (C), (D) use the same noun sense.
3. (B): 'to lever the unions into a deal' = to force/pressure (verb) – different meaning.

Trick: Look for the option where the word follows 'to' or acts as a verb – that's the different sense.

Answer: (B) A lot of money is needed to lever the unions into accepting a deal.

Concept: To sail close to the wind = to do something that is nearly illegal or improper.

1. Clue in the sentence: 'bending the rules at work'.
2. So he acts at the edge of what is allowed – option (A).

Trick: Context clue 'bending the rules' directly removes 'avoid any risk' and 'travel rapidly'.

Answer: (A) Operate at the very edge of legality or propriety

Concept: When the object of verbs like say/believe/acknowledge is a that-clause, the passive starts with 'It + be + V3 + that…'.

1. Active: People generally acknowledged that…
2. Passive: It was generally acknowledged that the decision was a mistake.
3. Tense stays simple past ('was'); 'by people' is dropped.

Trick: Vague subjects (people, they, someone) are omitted in passive – pick the 'It was … that' option.

Answer: (A) It was generally acknowledged that the decision was a mistake.

Concept: Epitaph = words written on a tomb in memory of the dead person.

1. Autograph – a person's own signature.
2. Manuscript – a handwritten/original text; Memoir – personal life account.

Trick: 'Epi' = upon, 'taph' = tomb → words upon a tomb. Don't confuse with 'epigraph' (quotation at the start of a book).

Answer: (B) Epitaph

Concept: On tenterhooks = anxious and in suspense about what will happen.

1. Context: waiting for exam results → nervous waiting.
2. Not physical restraint, numbness or confusion.

Trick: A 'tenter' was a frame on which cloth was stretched with hooks – think 'stretched with tension'.

Answer: (A) In a state of painful suspense

Concept: Use 'too + adjective + to + V1' (negative sense) or 'so + adjective + that … not'; never 'too … that'.

1. 'too exhausted that he could not' mixes two structures.
2. Correct: The athlete was too exhausted to finish the race.

Trick: 'too' already means 'not able', so never add 'not' after a too…to structure.

Answer: (B) too exhausted to finish

Concept: Replete = filled or well supplied (usually with 'with').

1. Correct form: r-e-p-l-e-t-e (single l, ends in -ete).
2. Pattern like 'complete', 'deplete'.

Trick: Remember the family: com-plete, de-plete, re-plete – all single l, ending -plete.

Answer: (B) replete

Concept: Iconoclast = one who attacks established beliefs or traditions.

1. Origin: 'icon' (image) + 'klastes' (breaker).
2. Martyr – dies for a cause; Monarchist – supports kingship; Idealist – pursues high ideals.

Yaad rakhein: Related: 'heretic' opposes religious doctrine; 'iconoclast' challenges any cherished belief.

Answer: (A) Iconoclast

Concept: Going back to direct speech, undo the backshift: would → will, past → present.

1. would rebound → will rebound.
2. improved → improves.
3. (B) keeps the reported tenses; (C), (D) change the modal.

Trick: In direct speech the words are the speaker's original ones – so the tense moves one step forward.

Answer: (A) The reviewer projected, "The market will rebound sharply in the next quarter, provided global economic stability improves."

Concept: Start with the definition, then explain, and end with 'Ultimately'.

1. 2 defines an ecosystem – opening line.
2. 1 'These interactions' refers back to the interactions in 2.
3. 3 adds niches of species; 4 'Ultimately' concludes → 2-1-3-4.

Trick: A sentence starting with 'These…' can never be first; 'Ultimately' marks the last line.

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

Concept: 'Complain' takes 'about' (or 'of') for the cause; 'to' for the person.

1. 'complains for the noise' is incorrect.
2. Correct: My neighbour constantly complains about the noise…

Trick: Complain to someone about/of something – never 'for'.

Answer: (D) complains for

Concept: Short-lived = lasting only a short time.

1. Ephemeral = fleeting, lasting a very short time ✓.
2. Eternal, constant, everlasting = lasting forever – opposites.

Trick: Three options share one meaning (permanent) – the odd one out, ephemeral, is the answer.

Answer: (A) Ephemeral

Concept: Locate the line in the passage that lists macronutrients.

1. Passage: macronutrients = carbohydrates, proteins and fats, needed in larger amounts.
2. Vitamins and minerals are grouped as micronutrients, not macronutrients.

Trick: 'Macro' = large → the nutrients needed in bulk (energy-giving and body-building).

Answer: (B) Carbohydrates, proteins, and fats

Concept: Find why the passage calls micronutrients 'equally indispensable'.

1. Vitamins and minerals support many enzyme reactions, immunity and overall cell health.
2. (A) is carbohydrates, (B) proteins, (D) fats – roles of macronutrients.

Trick: Wrong options here are borrowed from other lines of the same passage – match the subject before choosing.

Answer: (C) They play pivotal roles in enzymatic reactions, immune function, and cellular health.

Concept: Look for the sentence beginning with 'However, modern dietary patterns…'.

1. They rely on processed food, extra sugar and unhealthy fats.
2. Such diets often move away from the balanced-diet ideal → option (C).

Trick: 'However' signals a contrast with the balanced diet – so (A) and (B), which praise modern diets, are wrong.

Answer: (C) Frequent deviation from a balanced diet with processed foods and excessive sugar.

Concept: Match each nutrient with the role the passage gives it.

1. Carbohydrates → main source of the body's energy ✓.
2. Proteins → tissue repair; fats → hormones; iron → oxygen transport.

Trick: Make a quick nutrient–role table while reading; such passages ask 2–3 questions from it.

Answer: (D) Body's primary energy source.

Concept: Find what the passage says happens when any micronutrient is lacking.

1. A shortage causes particular health problems – from slight impairment up to serious disease.
2. Options (A), (B) are benefits, not effects of deficiency; (D) is not stated.

Trick: Deficiency = something negative; reject options that sound positive.

Answer: (C) Specific health issues, from mild impairments to severe diseases.