Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A sentence starting with 'Each of + plural noun' takes a singular verb.

1. The real subject is 'Each' (one person at a time), not 'candidates'.
2. So the plural verb 'were' in part B is wrong.
3. Fix: replace were with was.

Trick: Ignore the 'of + plural noun' bridge; look only at Each/Every/Either/Neither/One — all singular.

Answer: (B) were given a chance

Concept: Correlatives 'not only…but also' must join equal (parallel) parts.

1. After 'not only' we have two adjectives (late and careless), after 'but also' only one (rude).
2. The extra 'and careless' in part C breaks the balance.
3. Fix: keep one adjective on each side, e.g. …not only late but also rude, and place 'careless' elsewhere.

Trick: Count the items after each half of the pair — the shapes must match.

Answer: (C) and careless

Concept: The verb 'accuse' always takes 'of' before the offence.

1. Pattern: accuse someone of doing something.
2. 'Charged with' is the pattern for 'charge', not 'accuse'.
3. Sentence: The minister was accused of misappropriating public funds…

Trick: Accused OF, charged WITH, blamed FOR — learn these three as a set.

Answer: (C) of

Concept: Two clauses with opposite ideas are joined by a contrast word like 'although'.

1. Clause 1: the plan is solid (positive). Clause 2: funds may delay it (negative).
2. 'Although' admits the drawback while keeping the main statement true.
3. 'Because' = reason, 'unless' = condition, 'whereas' = comparison of two subjects — none fit.

Trick: Positive + negative idea in one sentence → think although / though / but.

Answer: (D) although

Concept: Break long words into sound-chunks to spell them correctly.

1. Chunks: an-ae-sth-esia → Anaesthesia.
2. Meaning: loss of feeling given by drugs before surgery.
3. Other options swap ae/ea, esia/seia or use 'isia' — all wrong.

Trick: Remember the pair 'anaemia – anaesthesia': both keep 'ae' after 'an'.

Answer: (A) Anaesthesia

Concept: The rule: 'i before e, except after c'.

1. Here the letter before the vowel pair is 'c', so we write ei: re-c-ei-ve.
2. Recieve (ie after c), Receeve (ee), Recive (missing e) are wrong.

Trick: Same family: receipt, deceive, conceive, perceive — all 'cei'.

Answer: (C) Receive

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

1. 'Throw caution to the wind' = stop being careful and take a big risk.
2. Use: She threw caution to the wind and quit her job to start a business.
3. 'Dropping things in the wind' and 'a storm' are literal traps; 'a bold move' misses the risk idea.

Trick: Caution = care. Throwing away care = taking a huge risk.

Answer: (A) Taking a very big risk

Concept: An antonym has the opposite meaning of the given word.

1. Obscure = not clear, hard to see or understand.
2. Opposite = clear, easily noticed → Distinct.
3. Unclear, Vague, Hidden all mean nearly the same as obscure (synonyms).

Trick: When three options share one meaning, the odd one out is usually the antonym.

Answer: (C) Distinct

Concept: Pick the word whose meaning matches the definition exactly.

1. Study of plants = Botany; its expert = Botanist.
2. Florist sells flowers; Zoologist studies animals; Biologist studies all living things (too broad).

Trick: Botany → Botanist, Zoology → Zoologist: drop -y, add -ist.

Answer: (C) Botanist

Concept: Match both ideas in the definition: 'small' and 'broken off'.

1. Chip = a small piece broken off a hard object (a chip of wood, glass).
2. Chunk and Hunk are large pieces — size fails.
3. Bit is small but does not imply 'broken off'.

Trick: Tick each keyword of the definition against the options; only one passes all.

Answer: (A) Chip

Concept: Check the target word letter by letter in each sentence.

1. Correct spelling: p-o-ss-e-ss (two double-s).
2. Option (D) writes 'posess' — one 's' missing.
3. Sentences A, B, C spell it correctly.

Trick: possess = 4 s's in total; count them.

Answer: (D) They did not posess the right tools to fix the engine.

Concept: In 'It + passive + that' sentences, add a general doer like 'People' in the active form.

1. Outer part: 'It was suspected' → People suspected.
2. Inner part (past perfect passive): 'had been breached by the thieves' → the thieves had breached.
3. Both clauses are now active — only option B shows this.

Trick: Both clauses must become active; options keeping 'was/had been breached' are out.

Answer: (B) People suspected that the thieves had breached the bank vault.

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

1. indicate → indicated; is → was.
2. last week → the previous week.
3. Only option A makes all three changes.

Trick: Make a checklist of every verb and time word; pick the option where all are changed.

Answer: (A) The doctor said that the symptoms observed the previous week indicated that the infection was viral.

Concept: 'A pair of + plural noun' is one unit, so it takes a singular pronoun and verb.

1. Head word = 'pair' (singular), not 'shoes'.
2. So 'they are' → it is.
3. The scratched state is present now, so 'is' (not 'was'/'has').

Trick: A pair of / a set of / a bunch of → the verb follows 'pair/set/bunch'.

Answer: (A) I bought a new pair of shoes and it is badly scratched

Concept: The time phrase must suit the tense of the verb.

1. 'In the past six hours' usually pairs with present perfect (has run).
2. With simple past 'ran', the natural phrase is in the last six hours.
3. 'Next' is future; 'during'/plain 'in six hours' change the meaning.

Yaad rakhein: has/have + V3 → 'in the past…'; V2 here → 'in the last…' as per this key.

Answer: (A) in the last six hours

Concept: Future continuous passive = will be being + V3.

1. Active: will be reviewing (future continuous).
2. Passive: object first + will be being reviewed + by the committee.
3. Option A is simple future, C is present continuous, D is future perfect — tense changed.

Trick: Tense must stay the same in voice change; only 'being' is added for continuous.

Answer: (B) The important financial documents will be being reviewed by the committee next week.

Concept: To go back to direct speech, move each verb one tense forward and restore 'I/my'.

1. had been planning → have been planning.
2. had not found → have not found; his car → my car.
3. Reporting: 'told him' → said to him, "…".

Trick: Reverse back-shift: past perfect → present perfect (when the indirect verb is past perfect).

Answer: (B) His brother said to him, "I have been planning on selling my car, but I have not found a potential buyer yet."

Concept: A phrase built on a past participle (V3) that describes a noun is a participial phrase.

1. 'designed' is a past participle; 'designed for ensuring patient safety' is its phrase.
2. It comes right after 'regulatory frameworks' and tells what kind of frameworks.
3. It is not an infinitive (no 'to + V1') and not absolute (has no own subject).

Trick: Phrase begins with V3/V-ing and sits after a noun → participial phrase modifying that noun.

Answer: (B) a participial phrase modifying "frameworks"

Concept: be-verb + V3 = passive; the tense comes from the be-verb.

1. 'is + marked' = be + V3 → passive voice.
2. 'by a data-driven method…' shows the agent — another passive sign.
3. Auxiliary 'is' is present → present tense.

Trick: Spot be + V3 + 'by' → passive; read tense from am/is/are (present) or was/were (past).

Answer: (B) passive voice, present tense

Concept: Use the surrounding idea to confirm a word's meaning.

1. Proliferation = rapid increase or spread.
2. Passage speaks of 'a growing array of AI applications' — growth context.
3. Decline/stagnation are opposite; separation is unrelated.

Trick: 'Prolific' = producing a lot → proliferation = multiplying fast.

Answer: (B) rapid increase or spread