Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A person with no settled home who keeps moving, usually for work, is itinerant.

1. Key clues: 'place to place' + 'no fixed home' + 'no permanent job'.
2. Itinerant = travelling around, often to find work – all three clues fit.
3. Pilgrim travels for religion, globetrotter for leisure, voyager makes a long sea/space journey – none implies no job.

Trick: Match the reason for travel: work → itinerant, faith → pilgrim, fun → globetrotter.

Answer: (A) Itinerant

Concept: After 'saw it as' we need an adjective describing the programme; 'vital' = essential.

1. 'Vitals' is a plural noun (essential body organs / vital signs) – it cannot describe a programme.
2. Correct: 70% of them saw it as vital.
3. Parts A and B are grammatically fine.

Trick: 'see/regard X as + adjective' – if the word after 'as' describes X, it must be an adjective, not a plural noun.

Answer: (C) $70\%$ of them saw it as vitals.

Concept: 'Despite' sets up a contrast: a public figure who still stays mysterious.

1. Clues: rarely gives interviews, never reveals her inspiration → she is hard to know.
2. Enigmatic = mysterious, difficult to understand – fits.
3. Gregarious (sociable) and transparent (open) say the opposite; negligent (careless) is unrelated.

Trick: After 'Despite …', pick the word that goes against the expectation – a public figure is expected to be open, so choose 'mysterious'.

Answer: (B) enigmatic

Concept: Abjure = to formally give up or renounce (a belief, claim or habit).

1. Relinquish = to give up / let go willingly → same sense.
2. Deny = say something is untrue – it does not mean giving up one's own belief.
3. Emphasize (stress) and greet (welcome) are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Abjure ≈ renounce ≈ relinquish ≈ forswear – all mean 'give up'.

Answer: (A) Relinquish

Concept: After 'had' we need V3; 'lie' (rest, no object) → lay → lain.

1. Nothing is being placed by the hiker; he simply stayed there, so we need 'lie' (to rest), which takes no object.
2. lie – lay – lain; so 'had lain in the ravine'.
3. 'Laid' is V3 of 'lay' (to put something down) and needs an object; 'layer' and 'liar' are nouns.

Trick: No object after the verb → lie/lay/lain; object present → lay/laid/laid.

Answer: (D) Lain

Concept: Sagacity = wisdom, sound judgement.

1. Prudence = careful, wise judgement and foresight → closest match.
2. Folly (foolishness), naivety (innocence/lack of wisdom), inexperience – all are the opposite idea.

Trick: Three options share one 'lack of wisdom' theme; the odd one with the positive sense is the synonym.

Answer: (B) Prudence

Concept: Two dimensions (length × width) are joined with 'by'.

1. Correct: The desk measures 4 feet by 3 feet.
2. 'At', 'of', 'in' do not link two measurements.

Trick: Read '×' aloud as 'by': 4 × 3 feet = '4 feet by 3 feet'.

Answer: (B) by 3 feet

Concept: Means of travel: 'by' + vehicle, with no article (by bus, by train, by boat).

1. 'with boat' – wrong preposition and missing article.
2. 'in a boat' tells position, not the mode of arrival.
3. Correct: We arrived at the island by boat.

Trick: How did you travel? → 'by' + bare noun. Exception: 'on foot'.

Answer: (B) by boat

Concept: A homonym has the same spelling but different meanings; find the sentence with the odd sense.

1. Options A, B, D: 'ring' = a sound (phone, bell, TV whine).
2. Option C: 'ring' = the enclosed area where boxers fight – a place.
3. So C differs.

Trick: Label each use in one word (sound/sound/place/sound) – the odd label is the answer.

Answer: (C) The boxer stepped into the ring, ready for the championship match.

Concept: Astonish = to surprise or impress someone greatly.

1. Stupefy = shock so much that one cannot think – stronger than surprise.
2. Jolt = a sudden shock or jerk.
3. Bewildered is an adjective (confused); the definition needs a verb.

Trick: Check the part of speech: 'To surprise…' is a verb phrase, so an adjective like 'bewildered' is out at once.

Answer: (C) Astonish

Concept: Past reporting verb → shift tenses back; pronouns follow the speaker/listener.

1. said to → told; add 'that'.
2. have secured → had secured; are moving → were moving; now → then.
3. 'We' (general + soldiers) → 'they'.
4. Only B makes all changes.

Trick: Check one change at a time: option A keeps 'have', C keeps 'are now', D keeps 'we' – eliminate quickly.

Answer: (B) The general told the soldiers that they had secured the borders and were then moving toward the capital.

Concept: 'Engrossed' (fully absorbed) is always followed by 'in'.

1. Correct: She was so engrossed in her work …
2. 'with', 'by', 'on' do not collocate with engrossed.

Yaad rakhein: Words of deep attention take 'in': engrossed in, absorbed in, immersed in, lost in.

Answer: (C) in

Concept: Passive 'was made to + V1' → active 'made + object + V1' (no 'to').

1. Doer of the forcing = the officer → subject of the active sentence.
2. Witness becomes the object: The officer made the witness provide a statement.
3. A loses 'made', C reverses roles, D is still passive.

Trick: 'to' appears only in the passive of make/let; in the active, drop it: made him go, not made him to go.

Answer: (B) The officer made the witness provide a statement.

Concept: Past reporting verb: will → would; tomorrow → the next day.

1. 'will be repairing' → would be repairing.
2. 'tomorrow' → the next day; 'said' stays (no listener).
3. A keeps 'will', C wrongly adds 'have been', D keeps 'tomorrow'.

Trick: Fix two markers first – 'would' and 'next day'; only one option has both.

Answer: (B) The manager said that the technicians would be repairing the server the next day.

Concept: Correct spelling: countenance (face / facial expression).

1. A, C, D write 'countenance' correctly.
2. B writes 'countainance' – extra 'a' after 'count'.

Trick: Break it: count + en + ance → coun-te-nance.

Answer: (B) She had a sad countainance after hearing the disappointing news.

Concept: Present continuous passive: is/are + being + V3.

1. Object 'an interactive program' (singular) → 'is'.
2. are developing → is being developed; we → by us.
3. A = present perfect, C = simple present, D = past continuous.

Trick: Continuous tense in active → 'being' must appear in passive.

Answer: (B) An interactive program is being developed by us.

Concept: Did + subject + V1? → Was/Were + object + V3 + by + agent?

1. Object 'the report' is singular → 'Was'.
2. Was the report finished by you?
3. A is not in question order, C = past perfect, D = present.

Trick: 'Did' in active → 'Was/Were' at the start of the passive question.

Answer: (B) Was the report finished by you?

Concept: A universal truth keeps the simple present in both direct and indirect speech.

1. told the class that → said to the class, "…"
2. 'The sun rises in the east' is a permanent fact → verb stays 'rises'.
3. A (rose), B (will rise), C (is rising) wrongly change the tense.

Yaad rakhein: Facts of nature / science never change tense in narration.

Answer: (D) The teacher said to the class, "The sun rises in the east."

Concept: Verb in V1 + s/es with a singular subject = present simple.

1. Verbs: 'treats', 'requires' – both V1 + s.
2. No has/have + V3 (not present perfect), no past forms.
3. It states a general fact → present simple.

Trick: Spot the verb ending: -s/-es alone = present simple; had + V3 = past perfect; has/have + V3 = present perfect.

Answer: (C) Present simple

Concept: If the subject performs the action, the sentence is active.

1. Subject 'people' does the action 'consider'.
2. No 'be + V3' structure → not passive.
3. Imperative/subjunctive are moods, not voices.

Trick: Ask 'who does the verb?' – if it's the subject, it's active.

Answer: (B) Active voice