Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A synonym has nearly the same meaning as the given word.

1. Esoteric = known or understood only by a few experts; hard for common people to follow.
2. Abstruse = difficult to understand, obscure – same sense.
3. Obvious, Public and Simple all mean clear/open to all – opposites.

Trick: If three options point one way (easy/open) and one points the other, the odd one is usually the synonym of a 'difficult' word.

Answer: (B) Abstruse

Concept: 'Play it by ear' means to act according to the situation, without a fixed plan or preparation.

1. 'Play it by ear' = decide what to do as things unfold, without preparing in advance → (A).
2. (B) 'To plan' is the opposite idea; (C) takes 'ear' literally; (D) 'To improve' is unrelated.

Trick: Musicians who 'play by ear' play without written notes – i.e. without preparation.

Answer: (A) To do something without special preparation

Concept: Idioms carry a figurative meaning, not the literal one.

1. 'Go with the flow' = accept situations as they come, without resisting.
2. (A) is the literal river image; (C) strict rules and (D) opposing the crowd are opposite ideas.

Trick: Picture a leaf floating along a stream – it does not fight the current: that is 'going with the flow'.

Answer: (B) Accept things as they happen

Concept: The same word can change meaning when it changes its part of speech.

1. A, C, D: 'watch' is a verb = to look at / keep an eye on (birds, game, children).
2. B: 'his gold watch' – here 'watch' is a noun = a wrist timepiece.
3. So only B uses a different meaning.

Trick: Check for a determiner/adjective before the word ('his gold ___') – that signals a noun.

Answer: (B) He glanced at his gold watch to check the time.

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

1. Given sentence: 'park' (noun) = public garden/open area.
2. A, B, D also use the noun 'park' – same meaning.
3. C: 'park your car' – verb = to leave a vehicle somewhere. Different meaning.

Trick: Look for 'to / can + park' – a helping verb before it makes it a verb, hence the homonym.

Answer: (C) You can park your car in the driveway.

Concept: Agent not given → use 'Someone'; in active, verbs like see/hear drop the 'to'.

1. Tense: 'was seen' = simple past → active verb 'saw'.
2. Object 'the old beggar' follows the verb; 'to be sitting' → 'sitting'.
3. Active: Someone saw the old beggar sitting by the road.
4. D changes tense to present perfect; B, C give no doer.

Trick: Match the tense first: 'was + V3' must become V2 – that alone removes D.

Answer: (A) Someone saw the old beggar sitting by the road.

Concept: 'It + be + V3 + that…' is an impersonal passive; its active uses 'They/People'.

1. Main clause 'It was believed' → 'They believed'.
2. The that-clause 'a precious artifact had been stolen' stays unchanged.
3. A and D keep the main clause passive; C wrongly changes the inner clause.

Trick: Only the outer 'It was ___' changes; copy the that-clause as it is.

Answer: (B) They believed that a precious artifact had been stolen.

Concept: Correct spelling of a common French-origin word.

1. Break it: rest + au + rant → restaurant.
2. Other options misplace or drop the 'au'.

Trick: Remember 'REST AU RANT' – you rest, then 'au' (like in 'author'), then rant.

Answer: (C) restaurant

Concept: Noun from the verb 'persevere' + suffix '-ance'.

1. persevere → persever + ance = perseverance.
2. No extra 'r' after 'pe' (not 'perser…'), and the ending is '-ance', not '-ence'.

Trick: Spot the word 'SEVER' inside: per-SEVER-ance.

Answer: (C) perseverance

Concept: Unreal past conditions (had + V3 … would have + V3) do not change tense in indirect speech.

1. Remove quotes, add 'that' after 'said'.
2. 'had been collected' and 'would have remained' stay as they are.
3. A and C alter the if-clause; D changes 'would' to 'will'.

Trick: Third conditional = 'frozen' tense: copy the verbs exactly, change only the punctuation.

Answer: (B) The scientist said that even if the data had been collected sooner, the final outcome would have remained the same for the project.

Concept: Find the wrongly spelt word.

1. Correct form: privilege (pri-vi-lege).
2. 'Privelege' puts 'e' in place of the second 'i'.
3. Harassment, Consensus, Rhythm are correct.

Trick: Two i's, then 'lege': prIvIlege – 'I' come first, then 'lege'.

Answer: (C) Privelege

Concept: Find the wrongly spelt word.

1. Root verb 'omit' has one 'm' → noun omission.
2. 'Ommission' wrongly doubles the 'm'.
3. Surveillance, Prerogative, Guarantee are correct.

Trick: Omit → Omission (one m, two s); compare: admit → admission.

Answer: (B) Ommission

Concept: Past reporting verb: 'must' (obligation) → 'had to'; simple past → past perfect; I → he.

1. said to → told; 'I must explain' → he had to explain.
2. 'I was not the one' → he had not been the one; 'who started' → who had started.
3. 'I was not even at school' → he had not even been; 'it began' → it had begun.
4. Only B shifts every verb consistently.

Trick: Pick the option where no 'must', 'was' or simple past survives unchanged – quick elimination.

Answer: (B) The student told the teacher that he had to explain that he had not been the one who had started the rumor, as he had not even been at school when it had begun.

Concept: Going back to direct speech: back-shifted tenses return to present, 'he' → 'I'.

1. 'he was feeling exhausted' → "I am feeling exhausted".
2. 'could not walk' → "I cannot walk another mile".
3. Reporting part: The weary traveler said, + double quotes.
4. C keeps past tense; A and D mix/split quotation marks.

Trick: In direct speech the quoted words must sound like what the person actually spoke at that moment – present tense.

Answer: (B) The weary traveler said, "I am feeling exhausted and I cannot walk another mile."

Concept: Exclamatory report: keep 'exclaimed with joy', end the quote with '!'; past perfect → present perfect.

1. 'she had won' → "I have won"; 'finally' (from 'after a tough race') fits naturally.
2. Reporting verb stays 'exclaimed with joy'.
3. A drops the emotion; B uses 'won' without 'have'; D keeps 'She' inside the quote.

Trick: Had + V3 in indirect ↔ Have + V3 in direct: step one tense forward.

Answer: (C) The athlete exclaimed with joy, "I have finally won the gold medal!"

Concept: In passive, 'have to + V1' becomes 'have to be + V3'; question order stays.

1. Object 'the annual sports event' becomes the subject.
2. 'did … have to cancel' → 'did … have to be cancelled'.
3. Frame: Why did + subject + have to be cancelled …?
4. A, B, C break the question order or drop 'have to'.

Trick: In a question, the helping verb ('did') must come before the subject in both voices – eliminate options starting 'Why the…'.

Answer: (D) Why did the annual sports event have to be cancelled due to the rain?

Concept: Active 'observe/see/hear + object + V1' → passive 'was observed + to + V1'.

1. Subject: the stranger; verb: was observed (simple past).
2. Bare 'open' gets 'to': 'to open the main gate'.
3. Agent 'by the guards' at the end.
4. C misses 'to'; A cuts the clause; D wrongly uses past perfect.

Trick: 'To' disappears in active, reappears in passive (made to, seen to, heard to).

Answer: (B) The stranger was observed to open the main gate just as the shift was about to change by the guards.

Concept: A word that describes a noun is an adjective.

1. 'strict and constant supervision' – 'constant' qualifies the noun 'supervision'.
2. It is paired with another adjective 'strict'.
3. Adverb form would be 'constantly'.

Trick: Ask 'what kind of supervision?' – answer 'constant' → adjective.

Answer: (B) Adjective

Concept: Passive = form of 'be' + past participle; the 'be' form gives the tense.

1. Workspaces do not design; they are designed by someone → passive.
2. 'are' (present) + 'designed' (V3) → simple present passive.
3. Present perfect passive would need 'have been designed'.

Trick: is/am/are + V3 = present passive; has/have been + V3 = present perfect passive.

Answer: (C) Passive voice, simple present

Concept: Meaning of a word from its root and passage context.

1. auto (self) + nomos (rule) → self-governing, independent.
2. Passage contrasts 'autonomous work' with strictly supervised desk time.
3. A and B are opposites; D is about speed.

Trick: Words with 'auto-' (automobile, autobiography) relate to 'self'.

Answer: (C) Independent and self-governing