Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A person who hates or distrusts all human beings is a misanthrope.

1. Key clue: 'hatred and distrust for all of humanity' + living in seclusion.
2. Misanthrope = mis (hate) + anthropos (man).
3. Philanthropist and Altruist are the opposite (lovers/helpers of people); Polyglot = one who knows many languages.

Trick: 'Mis-' = hate, 'Phil-' = love. Misanthrope ↔ Philanthropist are opposites.

Answer: (C) Misanthrope

Concept: A participle phrase at the start must refer to the subject of the main clause.

1. In (A), 'Working too hard' should describe a person, but the subject is 'his energy'.
2. Energy cannot 'work', so the modifier dangles.
3. Correct: Working too hard, he exhausted his energy / As he worked too hard, his energy was exhausted.
4. B, C, D are grammatically fine.

Trick: Ask 'Who is doing the -ing action?' — the answer must be the very next subject.

Answer: (A) Working too hard his energy was exhausted.

Concept: A modal (will, must, can) takes the base verb, never a past participle like 'done'.

1. 'will done' is impossible; 'must submit' already supplies the main verb.
2. The intended meaning: the assignment should be well done — so 'will' is a misspelling/misuse of 'well'.
3. Correct: The student must submit the assignment well done with writing.
4. Hence the error lies in 'the assignment will'.

Trick: Modal + V1 rule: if you see 'will/can/must + V3' without 'be/have', mark that part.

Answer: (D) the assignment will

Concept: The noun 'awareness' takes 'about' or 'of' to introduce the topic.

1. Raise awareness about preventive measures = make people know of them.
2. 'into' shows movement/investigation; 'out' is an adverb particle; 'in' shows place, not topic.
3. So 'about' fits.

Trick: Topic-nouns (awareness, knowledge, information, talk) → 'about'.

Answer: (A) about

Concept: 'Pass the buck' = shift blame or responsibility to someone else.

1. The manager's project failed, yet he holds his team accountable — he is shifting blame.
2. look into = investigate; set aside = keep apart; bring about = cause.
3. Only 'pass the buck' matches blame-shifting.

Trick: Buck = a marker once passed to the next player in poker — passing it = passing duty onward.

Answer: (B) pass the buck

Concept: Pragmatic = dealing with things sensibly, based on real results rather than theory.

1. Practical has the same meaning.
2. Factual = based on facts (not about approach); Fabulous = wonderful; Mythopoeic = myth-making.

Trick: Pragmatic person = practical person; opposite = idealistic.

Answer: (D) Practical

Concept: Ability/skill after 'good' takes the preposition 'at'.

1. good at + noun/-ing: good at solving puzzles.
2. good with = skilful in handling people/tools; good for = beneficial.
3. So replace with 'good at solving puzzles'.

Trick: Skill → at (good/bad/expert at); people/tools → with; benefit → for.

Answer: (C) good at solving puzzles

Concept: A homonym is the same word with a different meaning.

1. In the given sentence, 'arms' = weapons.
2. Options A, C, D also use 'arms' as weapons.
3. Only (B) uses 'arms' as the upper limbs of the body — a different meaning.

Trick: Find the meaning in the question first, then pick the ONE option where it changes.

Answer: (B) She carried the heavy books in her arms as she walked to the library.

Concept: Passive of present perfect: has/have + been + V3; object becomes subject.

1. Doer = Raghav, object = Shyam.
2. Pattern: Why + has + new subject + been + V3 + rest + by + old subject.
3. Options A, B, C swap the persons or misplace 'of Vikram's room'.

Trick: Check roles first: the one who was forced (Shyam) must open the passive; the doer goes after 'by'.

Answer: (D) Why has Shyam been forced out of Vikram's room by Raghav?

Concept: For a Wh-question: said to → asked, no 'that', tenses go one step back.

1. have I done (present perfect) → he had done.
2. you are working (present continuous) → he was working.
3. I/you → he/him as per persons.
4. (A) wrongly adds 'that'; (B) changes 'was working' to 'worked'; (C) wrongly uses 'had been doing'.

Trick: Wh-word itself acts as connector — reject any option with 'that + what'.

Answer: (D) The employer asked his assistant what wrong he had done to him that he was working with him so carelessly.

Concept: Dominance = power or control over others.

1. Parity = equality of status/power — no one is above, so it is the opposite.
2. Command and Control are synonyms.
3. Subjection = being under someone's control (the condition of the dominated, not the opposite quality of balance).

Trick: Dominance means 'above others'; Parity means 'level with others'.

Answer: (C) Parity

Concept: In active voice, the hidden doer becomes the subject; 'was made known' → 'made … known'.

1. Doer = the committee (its own resolution).
2. Doer + made + object + known… gives the active form.
3. (A) makes 'notice' the doer; (B) changes meaning; (D) is still passive.

Trick: Reject any option still having 'was/were + V3' — it is not active.

Answer: (C) The committee made its resolution known to the members through a formal notice.

Concept: 'These' (plural) needs a plural noun; passive future = will be + V3.

1. These factor ✗ → These factors ✓.
2. Factors are examined by someone → 'will be examined'.
3. A, B use 'This' with plural + wrong verb form; C keeps 'factor'.

Trick: This/That → singular; These/Those → plural.

Answer: (D) These factors will be examined while addressing

Concept: Reverse the backshift and pronouns when converting to direct speech.

1. had delayed → have delayed.
2. she/her (speaker herself) → I/my.
3. So the speaker's words were: I have delayed my wedding.
4. Options A, B, D retain a third-person pronoun.

Trick: Speaker's own pronoun becomes 1st person (I/my) in direct speech.

Answer: (C) She said, 'I have delayed my wedding.'

Concept: A compound adjective = two words acting together as one describer of a noun.

1. 'modern retail outlets': 'modern' + 'retail' jointly describe 'outlets'.
2. Other options have a single modifier (statement, fusion, gold) before the noun.

Trick: Count describers: two working together before one noun → compound adjective.

Answer: (C) Modern retail outlets

Concept: A relative clause starts with who/which/that/whose and describes a preceding noun.

1. In (B): '…jewelry that reflected regional craftsmanship…' — 'that' refers to 'jewelry'.
2. A and C have -ing participle phrases; D has no relative pronoun.

Trick: Spot the relative pronoun (who, which, that, whose, whom) right after a noun.

Answer: (B) Historically, women wore gold, silver, and gemstone jewelry that reflected regional craftsmanship, social status, and cultural traditions.

Concept: Versatile = able to be used in many different ways.

1. In the passage, the mixed style works both on ordinary days and at festivals — one style, many uses.
2. blending/combine = mixing; reshaped = changed form.

Trick: Versatile = 'all-rounder' quality.

Answer: (B) versatile

Concept: Find the meaning from the examples given in the passage.

1. Line: 'improved infrastructure…, including modern retail outlets and online marketplaces'.
2. So infrastructure = facilities, retail outlets and online platforms.
3. Other options talk about culture or design, not facilities.

Trick: 'including' introduces examples of the word just before it — use them.

Answer: (B) Facilities, retail outlets, and online platforms

Concept: The conclusion of the passage gives its main suggestion.

1. Last para: designers blend 'heritage motifs with modern materials'; fashion is 'self-expression'.
2. A (unchanged), C (only status), D (no creativity) contradict the passage.

Trick: Extreme words like 'purely', 'only', 'discourages' usually mark wrong RC options.

Answer: (B) It combines heritage with modernity, allowing personal expression.

Concept: Headstrong = stubborn, determined to do as one likes.

1. Compliant = willing to obey or agree — the opposite.
2. Obstinate, Intractable, Defiant all mean stubborn/rebellious (synonyms).

Trick: Three options share one meaning → the odd one out is the antonym.

Answer: (A) Compliant