Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A noun is qualified by an adjective; an adverb (-ly word) cannot sit before a noun.

1. 'treat' here is a noun (a pleasant thing).
2. 'nicely' is an adverb, so 'a nicely treat' is wrong.
3. Correct form: a nice treat. Parts A, B, C are fine.

Trick: Ask 'what kind of treat?' – the answer must be an adjective (nice), not 'nicely'.

Answer: (D) a nicely treat.

Concept: Paired conjunctions always come in fixed pairs.

1. 'neither' is already used before 'accepted'.
2. Its fixed partner is nor: neither accepted … nor signed.
3. 'or' pairs with either; 'but also' with not only.

Trick: Pairs: either–or, neither–nor, not only–but also, both–and, whether–or.

Answer: (C) nor

Concept: Synonym = word with the same meaning.

1. Peculiarity = an odd or unusual feature special to someone.
2. Idiosyncrasy = a personal quirk or odd habit – same idea.
3. Regularity, Ordinariness, Uniformity all mean 'normal/same' – these are opposites.

Trick: Three options share the sense 'normal'; the odd one out is the synonym.

Answer: (A) Idiosyncrasy

Concept: Pick the idiom that matches 'vague promises that amounted to nothing'.

1. Smoke and mirrors = a show meant to impress or mislead, with no real substance.
2. Cutting corners = doing a job cheaply/carelessly; wild goose chase = a hopeless search; cold shoulder = ignoring someone.
3. Only (C) fits an empty, misleading speech.

Trick: Magicians use smoke and mirrors to create illusions – so it means illusion, not reality.

Answer: (C) smoke and mirrors

Concept: Same word, different senses – match the sense used in the given sentence.

1. Given: wave crashing on rocks = a ridge of moving sea water.
2. (B) a surfer catches a sea wave – same sense.
3. (A) hand gesture, (C) crowd movement, (D) physics wave (energy) – different senses.

Trick: Look for the 'water' clue: shoreline ↔ surfer.

Answer: (B) The surfer paddled hard to catch the perfect wave.

Concept: Answer must come directly from the passage's line on education.

1. Passage: more education pushes people to act, so they neither feel helpless nor brush aside the science.
2. (B) says exactly this.
3. (A), (C), (D) state the reverse of the passage.

Trick: In RC, reject options that contradict the tone; a positive passage rarely has a negative answer.

Answer: (B) It urges citizens to take action without feeling dismissive

Concept: Locate the sentence with the word 'mitigate'.

1. Line: 'Increasing education helps mitigate issues … by urging citizens to take action'.
2. (C) combines both parts – more education + urging action.
3. Indifference, more waste, discouraging renewables – all against the passage.

Trick: Scan for the question's key word ('mitigate') – the answer sits in that sentence.

Answer: (C) By increasing education and urging citizens to take action

Concept: Find why the passage calls sustainable practices important.

1. Passage: education promotes sustainable practices, which are critical for ecological stability.
2. (B) – critical for preserving resources and stability – matches.
3. (A), (C), (D) are negative claims never made in the text.

Trick: Only one option carries the passage's word 'critical' and 'stability'.

Answer: (B) They are critical for preserving resources and ensuring stability

Concept: Direct-detail question: match the line on 'public understanding'.

1. Text: greater public awareness enables people to look after nature responsibly (care + stewardship).
2. (B) repeats this benefit.
3. (A), (C), (D) describe harm, which the passage never mentions.

Trick: Stewardship = responsible care of something – a positive word, so the answer is positive.

Answer: (B) By empowering society to extend care and stewardship to nature

Concept: 'What does the text suggest' – usually answered by the concluding line.

1. Last sentence: such a nation 'invests in its citizens' future quality of life'.
2. (C) is the same statement.
3. (A), (B), (D) describe a nation that ignores the environment – opposite.

Trick: For 'suggest/conclude' questions, read the line starting with 'Ultimately/Thus/Hence' first.

Answer: (C) It invests in its citizens' future quality of life

Concept: Spot the misspelt word.

1. Root noun: emulsion → verb 'emulsify' → noun emulsification.
2. Option (B) 'Emulcifisation' wrongly uses 'c' and '-sation'.
3. Emergence, Amplification, Energetic are correct.

Trick: Verbs ending in '-ify' make nouns in '-ification' (amplify → amplification, emulsify → emulsification).

Answer: (B) Emulcifisation

Concept: Spot the misspelt word.

1. Correct: personnel (staff of an organisation) – double 'n', single 'l'.
2. (C) 'Personell' has single n and double l – wrong.
3. Personal, Person, Pearson (a surname) are valid.

Trick: persoNNel = 'N'umber of employees – two N's.

Answer: (C) Personell

Concept: Meaning of an informal idiom from context.

1. Speaker says 'buy them if you want … it's your money' – leaving the choice to the listener.
2. Whatever floats your boat = do whatever pleases you / suits your taste.
3. Options (B), (C), (D) don't fit the context; (C) is a literal trap.

Trick: Idiom options with a literal meaning (boat → travel by water) are almost always traps.

Answer: (A) Do whatever makes you happy or suits your preference

Concept: Name the official who collects money (revenue/taxes).

1. One who collects revenue/dues = Collector.
2. Numerologist – studies numbers' mystic effect; Philatelist – stamp collector; Bookworm – avid reader.

Yaad rakhein: Don't confuse 'collector of stamps' (philatelist) with an official collector of money.

Answer: (B) Collector

Concept: Antonym = opposite meaning.

1. Chaotic = in total disorder and confusion.
2. Serene = calm, peaceful, undisturbed – the opposite.
3. Frank, Honest, Open relate to truthfulness, not order.

Trick: Frank/Honest/Open are near-synonyms of each other – eliminate the group, keep the odd one.

Answer: (A) Serene

Concept: Antonym = opposite meaning.

1. Foolish = lacking good sense.
2. Sagacious = wise, with sharp judgement – opposite.
3. Imbecile, Obtuse, Stupid all mean 'dull/foolish' – synonyms, not antonyms.

Trick: When three options are synonyms of the given word, the fourth is the antonym.

Answer: (A) Sagacious

Concept: Use the Greek root to decode the word.

1. helio = Sun → Heliocentrism: Sun at the centre.
2. geo = Earth (Geocentrism), theo = God (Theocentrism), poly = many (Polycentrism).

Yaad rakhein: Heliocentric model was proposed by Copernicus; the geocentric model is linked with Ptolemy.

Answer: (C) Heliocentrism

Concept: Imperative passive 'Let + object + be + V3' → active 'V1 + object'.

1. Remove 'Let' and 'be'; change V3 'sent' → V1 'send'.
2. Active form begins with 'Send', followed by 'the report' and the rest unchanged.
3. (A) adds 'You should' (advice, not order); (C) is still passive; (D) changes the meaning.

Trick: Passive starts with 'Let' → active starts with the verb itself.

Answer: (B) Send the report to the director of the board by Monday morning.

Concept: Past reporting verb → back-shift tense, change pronouns and 'these' → 'those'.

1. 'should not be ignoring' – modal 'should' stays unchanged.
2. 'these symptoms' → those symptoms; 'your' → his.
3. 'has been deteriorating' → had been deteriorating.
4. (B), (D) keep 'has'; (C) wrongly changes 'should' to 'would'.

Yaad rakhein: should, ought to, might, could, would do not change in indirect speech.

Answer: (A) The doctor told the man that he should not be ignoring those symptoms, because his health had been deteriorating for some weeks.

Concept: Never use 'most' with an '-est' form (double superlative).

1. tall → taller → tallest (short adjective takes -est).
2. 'most tallest' and 'most tall' are both wrong.
3. Correct: That is the tallest building that I have ever seen. (D) drops 'the' and repeats 'is'.

Trick: One superlative marker only: either 'most + adjective' OR 'adjective + est'.

Answer: (B) the tallest building