Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Find the word with the same meaning as 'Reticent'.

1. Reticent = not inclined to reveal one's thoughts; quiet and holding back.
2. Reserved = slow to show feelings or open up – same sense.
3. Talkative, Garrulous, Loquacious = chatty – all opposite in meaning.

Trick: Three options mean the same thing (talkative) – when three options are near-identical, the odd one out is usually the answer.

Answer: (B) Reserved

Concept: 'Time' meaning duration is uncountable, so it stays singular after 'much'.

1. 'Much' goes with uncountable nouns; 'times' (plural) means occasions, e.g. 'twice/five times'.
2. Here the sense is duration spent resting → 'too much time resting'.
3. Error is in part (C).

Trick: much + singular uncountable noun; many + plural noun. 'much times' is never correct.

Answer: (C) too much times resting.

Concept: In simple present, a third-person singular subject takes verb + s/es.

1. Sentence A: 'He' (singular) + habitual action ('every day') → simple present.
2. So 'damage' must be 'damages': He damages his health…
3. B, C and D are grammatically fine.

Trick: Spot He/She/It + bare verb with a habit word (every day, always) – it's almost always the error.

Answer: (A) He damage his health by eating too much junk food every day.

Concept: Pick the adjective that matches the clue 'uniting members across the committee'.

1. The clue says everyone came together → support from all.
2. Unanimous = with the agreement of all members.
3. Partisan = favouring one side; perfunctory = careless/routine; nominal = only in name.

Trick: Clue word 'uniting … across' = all agree → 'unanimous' (uni = one; one mind).

Answer: (B) unanimous

Concept: Words that sound alike but differ in meaning and spelling (homophones).

1. The sentence is about property → we need a person who inherits.
2. Heir = one who legally receives property after someone's death.
3. Hair = strands on the head; hare = rabbit-like animal; hire = employ; 'hier' is not a word.

Trick: Heir → 'h' is silent, like 'honest'; heir-ess, inherit – all about inheritance.

Answer: (B) Heir

Concept: Identify the wrongly spelt word.

1. Correct form: Environment = environ + ment.
2. Given 'Enviorment' drops the 'n' and jumbles 'ron'.
3. Hurricane, Atmosphere, Storm are correct.

Trick: Break it: en-VIRON-ment. 'Environ' (surround) + 'ment' – keep both n's.

Answer: (B) Enviorment

Concept: 'Load (a vehicle) with goods' – the container is loaded WITH its contents.

1. Subject = the van (container); boxes = contents.
2. Correct: 'The van was loaded with boxes of medical supplies.'
3. 'Loaded into' fits only when goods are the subject (boxes were loaded into the van); 'from' shows source.

Trick: Container + WITH; goods + INTO/ONTO.

Answer: (A) loaded with

Concept: Fixed collocations: accuse of, blame for, convict of.

1. 'Blamed with' is wrong (blame takes 'for').
2. Accused of leaking sensitive information – correct pairing.
3. 'Convicted to' is wrong (convicted of); 'blamed by' changes meaning to the person blaming.

Trick: Charge WITH, accuse OF, blame FOR – learn these three as a set.

Answer: (B) accused of

Concept: Future perfect active (will have + V3) → passive: will have been + V3.

1. Object 'the task' becomes subject.
2. Verb: will have completed → will have been completed.
3. Add 'by the workers' and keep 'by evening'.

Trick: Perfect tenses in passive always add 'been' (has been / had been / will have been) – never 'being'.

Answer: (D) The task will have been completed by the workers by evening.

Concept: Past reporting verb → tense shifts back; pronouns and time words change.

1. said to me → told me that; I → he; my colleague → his colleague.
2. am going → was going; finishes → finished.
3. next week → the following week.

Trick: Check one change at a time – 'is going' kills A, 'they' kills C, 'my colleague' kills D.

Answer: (B) He told me that he was going to start working on the project from the following week until his colleague finished his part.

Concept: The 'by'-agent becomes the subject; tense stays the same.

1. Agent: a famous author → subject.
2. 'was published' (simple past passive) → 'published'.
3. Result: A famous author published the new novel.

Trick: Tense must match: was + V3 ↔ V2. 'has published' (C) changes tense; D is still passive.

Answer: (A) A famous author published the new novel.

Concept: 'Advised … not to + verb' becomes a negative imperative inside quotes.

1. not to ignore → "Do not ignore …"
2. their homework → your homework (addressing students directly).
3. Reporting verb stays past: The teacher said to the students, "Do not ignore your homework."

Trick: Imperative in quotes = Do / Do not + V1; reporting part = said to + listener.

Answer: (C) The teacher said to the students, "Do not ignore your homework."

Concept: 'Reputation for + noun/gerund' = what someone is known for.

1. She is known for speaking clearly → 'a reputation for speaking…'.
2. 'Reputation of' is used with the owner (the reputation of the firm).
3. 'By' and 'at' don't pair with reputation.

Trick: Known FOR → reputation FOR, famous FOR.

Answer: (D) for

Concept: Present perfect active (has + V3) → passive: has been + V3.

1. Object 'the new policy' moves to the front.
2. has finally approved → has finally been approved.
3. Agent 'by the committee' + phrase 'after thorough discussion' follow.

Trick: Tense must not change: was (B) = past, had been (C) = past perfect, is (D) = present.

Answer: (A) The new policy has finally been approved by the committee after thorough discussion.

Concept: A 'when …' clause that tells when/under what condition the main verb happens is an adverbial clause.

1. Full form: when (they are) carefully selected – subject + 'are' are dropped.
2. It modifies 'can function' – telling when platforms help.
3. It doesn't name a thing (noun clause) or describe a noun (adjective clause).

Trick: when/while/before/after/until opening a modifier of the verb → adverbial clause of time.

Answer: (B) Adverbial clause of time

Concept: 'Can + base verb' is the present form of the modal and expresses a general truth/ability.

1. 'can function' – no -ing, no 'will', no 'has/have + V3'.
2. It states a general, present possibility.
3. Hence simple present.

Trick: Modal present forms: can, may, shall, will (future) – 'can + V1' = simple present sense.

Answer: (A) Simple present

Concept: Contextual meaning of 'fluency'.

1. Fluency = speaking/writing smoothly and correctly.
2. Paired with 'vocabulary' → command over language.
3. Clumsiness is opposite; laziness and curiosity are unrelated.

Trick: Fluent = flowing (Latin 'fluere' – to flow), like 'fluid'.

Answer: (B) ease and accuracy

Concept: Match the definition 'making something less harmful or bad'.

1. Mitigate = reduce the severity of something (e.g. mitigate risk).
2. Worsening = opposite; preventing = stopping beforehand; ignoring = not attending.
3. So 'mitigating' fits.

Trick: Mitigate ≈ minimise – both start with 'mi' and mean 'make smaller'.

Answer: (C) mitigating

Concept: Locate the condition the passage gives for getting the most out of learning games.

1. The passage stresses balance: digital play works best alongside real-world, in-person interaction.
2. Long hours (A) and offline-only use (C) are never suggested.
3. D contradicts the passage, which praises puzzles and strategy games.

Trick: In RC, extreme words like 'only', 'all', 'long hours' usually mark wrong options.

Answer: (B) Combining them with face-to-face activities

Concept: A process paragraph follows the real order of actions.

1. Collect water first → P.
2. Then treat it: heat to boil (Q) and strain (S).
3. Drink last → R. Only option A starts with P and ends with R.

Trick: Fix first and last sentence, then scan options – usually one fits both ends.

Answer: (A) P, Q, S, R