Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: An adjective used for a whole group of people (rich, poor, homeless) needs the and takes a plural verb.

1. Sentence A: "Homeless are seeking…" – "Homeless" alone cannot act as the subject.
2. Correct: The homeless are seeking shelter from the cold.
3. B (itself = the cat), C (only "?" missing) and D (superlative + "that") are grammatically fine.

Trick: See an adjective standing as subject with a plural verb? Check for "the" first.

Answer: (A) Homeless are seeking shelter from the cold.

Concept: Fixed pairing: eligible for + noun (post, job, prize).

1. The blank is followed by a noun: "the position".
2. So use for → "not eligible for the position".
3. "eligible to" comes only before a verb (eligible to vote); "with/at" never pair with eligible.

Trick: eligible for + noun, eligible to + verb.

Answer: (C) for

Concept: Pick the phrasal verb whose meaning fits "meeting + sudden emergency" → cancel.

1. call off = cancel a planned event ✔
2. look into = investigate; stand for = represent/tolerate; break up = end a relationship or scatter.
3. Sentence: The committee decided to call off the meeting.

Trick: Emergency + planned event → the answer is almost always "call off" (cancel).

Answer: (A) call off

Concept: Correct spelling of the word meaning "the perfect, purest example".

1. Split it: quint + essential.
2. The ending is the normal word "essential" (e-s-s-e-n-t-i-a-l).
3. So Quintessential is right; the others spoil "essential".

Trick: Find the familiar word "essential" inside – any option that misspells it is out.

Answer: (B) Quintessential

Concept: Homonyms: same spelling and sound, different meaning.

1. Given sentence: ring = a circular ornament on the finger (noun).
2. Option C: the telephone ring = to make a bell sound (verb) – a new meaning.
3. A, B, D all use ring as jewellery – same meaning, so not homonyms.

Trick: Look for the option where the word changes its part of speech or meaning – the odd one out wins.

Answer: (C) I heard the telephone ring in the hallway.

Concept: Compress = press into a smaller space; antonym = make larger.

1. Expand = to grow or spread out → opposite ✔
2. Squeeze, shrink, contract all mean making smaller – they are synonyms.

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

Answer: (C) Expand

Concept: When the object of the main verb is also the object of the infinitive, do not repeat it as "it".

1. "water" is already the object of "boiled".
2. "to drink it" repeats the same object → redundant.
3. Correct: She boiled some fresh water to drink.

Yaad rakhein: Same pattern: "He gave me a book to read" (not "to read it").

Answer: (A) to drink

Concept: Past reporting verb → back-shift tenses and change time/place words.

1. can → could; does not want → did not want.
2. here → there (so come → go); tomorrow morning → the following/next morning; my → his.
3. Only option B makes every change correctly.

Trick: Check modals first: options with "can" (A) or present "does" (C, D) drop out instantly.

Answer: (B) He said that he could go there the following morning if his father did not want him to go for practice.

Concept: In a reported wh-question: said to → asked, keep the wh-word, use statement order and back-shift tense.

1. said to → asked; "What is" → "what was".
2. "there is no strategy" → "there was no strategy".
3. Result = option B. "had been", "had to be", "was being" are not the back-shift of "is".

Trick: Simple present "is" moves to simple past "was" – nothing more.

Answer: (B) The players asked the coach what was the best way to start a game when there was no strategy discussed in the meeting.

Concept: Impersonal passive hides the doer; the active form must add a subject and keep the tense.

1. Tense: has been concluded = present perfect passive.
2. Active: Subject + have concluded + that-clause.
3. Option B: "Researchers have concluded that his theory is correct." ✔ (C, D still passive; A drops the clause.)

Trick: In voice change, eliminate any option that still has "be + V3".

Answer: (B) Researchers have concluded that his theory is correct.

Concept: "exclaimed with disgust" → direct speech needs a disgust interjection and an exclamatory sentence.

1. Interjection for disgust = Ugh! (Alas = sorrow, Oh no = shock).
2. Exclamatory form: How + adjective + subject + verb → "How terrible this food tastes!"
3. Option D is a question, so it is out.

Yaad rakhein: Alas – sorrow, Hurrah – joy, Bravo – praise, Ugh/Pooh – disgust.

Answer: (B) He said, "Ugh! How terrible this food tastes!"

Concept: Noun from "maintain" changes its spelling.

1. maintain → maintenance (the "ai" becomes "e").
2. Pattern: main-te-nance.
3. Fill: regular maintenance of the machinery.

Trick: Remember "main TEN ance" – ten in the middle, no "ai".

Answer: (D) maintenance

Concept: "Let + object + be + V3" is a passive command; active = V1 + object.

1. Remove "Let … be": left → leave.
2. Object "no path" stays as it is.
3. Active: "Leave no path unexplored …"

Trick: Keep the negative word ("no") exactly; option D flips the meaning, B stays passive.

Answer: (C) Leave no path unexplored in the hunt for the hidden artifacts.

Concept: Identify the misspelt word.

1. Correct form: bureau + cracy = bureaucracy.
2. Option A has "Buraeu…" – letters "ea/ae" swapped.
3. Garrulous (talkative), Refrigerator, Acquiesce (agree quietly) are correct.

Trick: Bureau = office (French) – write "bureau" first, then add "cracy".

Answer: (A) Buraeucracy

Concept: All options use "commitment" and "occurrence"; check both spellings.

1. Correct: occurrence = double c, double r, ending -ence.
2. Option B writes "ocurence" – one c, one r → wrong.
3. Other sentences spell both words correctly.

Trick: "occur" doubles its r before -ence/-ed: occurred, occurrence.

Answer: (B) She hoped to show commitment needed to stop a rare ocurence during the project.

Concept: Undo the back-shift: past → present, "that night" → tonight, "if" → question form.

1. was going → are going; reporting "if" → a direct question.
2. that night → tonight.
3. Option A ✔; B, C keep past "Were"; D drops "me" and keeps "that night".

Trick: In reverse narration, any option keeping "that night/was" is wrong straight away.

Answer: (A) My father asked me, "Are you going to the party tonight?'

Concept: Move tenses one step forward and change "they" back to "you".

1. told the athletes → said to the athletes.
2. had been training → have been training; deserved → deserve.
3. they → you → option C.

Trick: Inside the quotes the speaker talks to the listener – so look for "You", not "They".

Answer: (C) The head coach said to the athletes, "You have been training hard all season and deserve a break."

Concept: "is to + V1" (planned action) becomes "is to be + V3" in passive.

1. Object: a thorough evaluation (of the proposed … modifications).
2. Passive: Subject = the evaluation; verb = is to be conducted; doer → "by the committee".
3. B changes the object, C uses "will be", D is not a passive conversion.

Trick: Keep the modal pattern: is to → is to be + V3; "will be" (C) changes the sense.

Answer: (A) A thorough evaluation is to be conducted of the proposed environmental modifications by the committee.

Concept: Future likelihood (not certainty) is shown by may / might / could.

1. Option D: "the NEP might transform…" – a possible future result ✔
2. C has "will" = certainty; A, B have only main verbs (exchanges, strives).

Trick: Possibility = may/might/could; certainty = will/shall.

Answer: (D) If executed well, the NEP might transform India's learning future.

Concept: A gerund is a verb + ing that works as a noun.

1. "the mode of teaching" – teaching is the object of the preposition "of" → gerund ✔
2. Overhaul, dialogue, strategy are plain nouns, not -ing verb forms.

Trick: An -ing word right after a preposition is almost always a gerund.

Answer: (B) Teaching