Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: 'Contract' as a verb = to become smaller, to shrink.

1. Diminish, Lessen and Shrink all mean 'become smaller' – synonyms, not antonyms.
2. Enlarge = make or become bigger – the opposite of contract.

Trick: Contract ↔ Expand / Enlarge; Contract ≈ Shrink.

Answer: (C) Enlarge

Concept: Falter = to waver or pause from lack of confidence.

1. Hesitate = pause because unsure → same sense.
2. Equivocate = speak vaguely to hide truth; Clarify and Confirm are the opposite of wavering.

Yaad rakhein: Think of a speaker who 'falters' mid-speech – he hesitates.

Answer: (C) Hesitate

Concept: Pick the spelling accepted in the key; check the vowel cluster after 'S'.

1. Correct form: S-A-I-S-O-N ('ai' together, like in 'sail').
2. Siason (ia), Saeson (ae), Sayson (ay) change this vowel pair.

Yaad rakhein: 'Saison' (a farmhouse-style ale; French for 'season') keeps the 'ai' of French 'saison'.

Answer: (A) Saison

Concept: Adjective from 'literature' ends in '-ary'.

1. Root liter- + -ary → Literary (L-I-T-E-R-A-R-Y).
2. Litery misses 'ar'; Literery/Litarery put the wrong vowel.

Yaad rakhein: Literary (of literature) vs Literally (adverb) vs Literate (can read) – don't mix them.

Answer: (A) Literary

Concept: Dampen = make wet / weaken; 'spirits' here = mood.

1. To dampen someone's spirits = to make a person less cheerful or hopeful.
2. Example: The sudden rain dampened the picnickers' spirits.
3. (A), (D) give the reverse sense; (C) wrongly reads 'spirits' as liquor.

Trick: Water on fire = fire goes down; 'dampen' on mood = mood goes down.

Answer: (B) To make someone feel less enthusiastic or hopeful

Concept: Idioms are figurative; 'arms' recalls weapons raised in revolt.

1. Up in arms = very angry and openly protesting, usually as a group.
2. Example: Farmers were up in arms against the new tax.
3. (C) is the literal reading – no real fighting is meant.

Trick: Picture a crowd raising hands in protest → anger + protest.

Answer: (B) To be very angry and protesting strongly, often collectively.

Concept: 'Sheer' = (1) complete/pure, (2) very steep.

1. (A) sheer hard work, (B) sheer determination, (D) sheer force of will → 'nothing but / pure'.
2. (C) sheer cliff face → steep, nearly vertical – a physical meaning.

Trick: If 'sheer' stands before a quality (work, will) = pure; before a landform (cliff, drop) = steep.

Answer: (C) The climbers hesitated before attempting the sheer cliff face.

Concept: Homonym = same form, different meaning.

1. Given sentence: clasped (verb) = held tightly / hugged.
2. (A), (B), (C) use the same verb sense.
3. (D) 'the clasp at the back' is a noun = hook/fastener of a necklace.

Trick: Look for a change of part of speech: verb → noun usually signals the homonym.

Answer: (D) The necklace slipped open because the clasp at the back had broken.

Concept: Find the single word for 'overwhelming joy'.

1. Ecstasy = state of intense happiness.
2. Despair (hopelessness), Anguish (severe pain), Melancholy (gloomy sadness) are all negative feelings.

Trick: Only one option is a positive emotion – pick it.

Answer: (B) Ecstasy

Concept: Distinguish food-lover words.

1. Epicure = one who delights in refined food and drink.
2. Gourmand = one who eats greedily/too much; Connoisseur = expert judge in any art (art, music, wine).
3. Gourmet is close but stresses expert judgement of food; the key accepts Epicure for 'pleasure'.

Yaad rakhein: Epicure ← Epicurus, philosopher of pleasure → 'pleasure in fine food'.

Answer: (B) Epicure

Concept: Passive 'might have been + V3' → active 'might have + V3'; agent becomes subject.

1. Agent: a unique geological process → subject.
2. Verb: might have been preserved → might have preserved.
3. Object: the ancient ruins.

Trick: Keep the same modal – options changing 'might' to should/would drop out at once.

Answer: (A) A unique geological process might have preserved the ancient ruins.

Concept: 'would be + V3' → 'would + V1'.

1. Subject: only a few dedicated individuals (the agent).
2. would be undertaken → would undertake.
3. Object: such a monumental task.

Trick: Options still in passive (B, D) and with changed modal (C) are out – only A remains.

Answer: (A) Only a few dedicated individuals would undertake such a monumental task.

Concept: Find the misspelt word.

1. Correct: Horrendousness (double 'r', from horrendous).
2. Miscellaneous, Recommend, Grateful are correct.

Trick: Horror, horrible, horrendous – the whole family has 'rr'.

Answer: (B) Horendousness

Concept: Find the misspelt word; check the -ible/-eble ending.

1. Correct: Unintelligible (-ible).
2. Recommend, Irresistible, Indispensable are correct.
3. '-eble' is not an English suffix at all.

Trick: English has -able and -ible, never '-eble' – spot it instantly.

Answer: (D) Unintelligeble

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

1. missed → had missed; must (obligation) → would have to; will → would.
2. today → that day; tomorrow → the next day.
3. (A), (C), (D) leave 'tomorrow'/'will' unchanged or misplace time words.

Trick: Scan for 'tomorrow' in options – any option still having it is wrong.

Answer: (B) The coach said that the players who had missed practice that day would have to report early the next day, or they would face strict action.

Concept: said to → told; past continuous → past perfect continuous; past perfect stays.

1. I → she, you → me; was waiting → had been waiting.
2. 'had been standing' is already past perfect continuous → unchanged.
3. (A), (D) wrongly use 'has been'; (C) changes the meaning ('arrived late').

Trick: Past perfect (continuous) never shifts further – keep it as it is.

Answer: (B) She told me that she had been waiting for me, but the bus didn't arrive, so she had been standing at the stop since then.

Concept: Reverse the back-shift: past → present, 'that' → 'this'.

1. were preparing → are preparing.
2. that month → this month.
3. Reporting verb 'remarked' stays; 'that' is replaced by comma + inverted commas.

Trick: Undo each change one by one: tense back, time word back, verb same.

Answer: (A) The teacher remarked, "The students are preparing for an important examination this month."

Concept: had to + V1 → had to be + V3.

1. Object 'the instructions' becomes subject.
2. had to follow → had to be followed.
3. (B), (C) lose the sense of obligation; (A) adds a wrong perfect form.

Trick: had to / has to / have to + be + V3 – just insert 'be'.

Answer: (D) The instructions had to be followed very carefully by the audience.

Concept: Two passives possible: 'It is believed that…' or 'Subject + is believed + to-infinitive'.

1. Lift 'the young scientist' as subject: The young scientist is believed…
2. will achieve → to achieve ('in the future' keeps the future sense).
3. (C) mixes both forms; (D) changes tense.

Yaad rakhein: The key prefers the personal form (Subject + is believed to…). (B) is also grammatical, so watch which form the key wants.

Answer: (A) The young scientist is believed to achieve remarkable success in the future.

Concept: Indirect question → direct question form with '?'; pronoun returns to speaker.

1. she (the visitor) → I.
2. could → can (undo back-shift).
3. Keep 'asked the guide' as reporting verb.

Trick: Speaker talking about herself = 'I' – options with 'she' inside quotes are out.

Answer: (C) The visitor asked the guide, "Where can I see the ancient artefacts?"