Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Think outside the box = to think creatively, in new and unconventional ways.

1. Coming up with unique advertisements needs creative thinking.
2. The subject 'The team' is singular → 'thinks' fits grammatically.
3. Others: throw caution to the winds = act recklessly; take a back seat = stay less active; turn the tables = reverse a situation.

Trick: Unique/creative → outside the box.

Answer: (A) thinks outside the box

Concept: Bite off more than one can chew = to take on more work or responsibility than one can handle.

1. The underlined part says exactly this – taking more responsibilities than one can manage.
2. Taste of my own medicine = same bad treatment one gave others; burn my boats = remove the chance of going back; from the horse’s mouth = from the original source.

Trick: Too big a bite → can’t chew → too much work.

Answer: (A) bite off more than I can chew

Concept: Crocodile tears = false, insincere display of sorrow.

1. The fixed idiom is 'crocodile tears' (no possessive).
2. Rathna is known for showing fake grief.
3. student’s / babies’ / animal’s tears are not idioms.

Yaad rakhein: Crocodile tears = fake tears (घड़ियाली आँसू).

Answer: (D) crocodile

Concept: 'Fast' is both adjective and adverb; the word 'fastly' does not exist.

1. Subject 'Ice' is singular → verb 'melts'.
2. Adverb = 'fast': Ice melts fast in the sun.
3. 'fastest' is a superlative with no comparison here; 'melt' does not agree with 'Ice'.

Yaad rakhein: fast, hard, late – no '-ly' needed ('fastly' is wrong).

Answer: (D) melts fast

Concept: Correct spelling: assassination – 'ss' twice (a-ss-a-ss-ination).

1. Root word: assassin (double 's' in two places).
2. obscurity, schedule, buoyant are correctly spelt.

Yaad rakhein: Assassination = 'ass' + 'ass' + 'ination'.

Answer: (C) assasination

Concept: Back to back = one after another without a break; consecutively.

1. Example: The team won back-to-back matches.
2. Not about discussing details, doing things fast, or trying to get something.

Trick: Back to back = consecutive.

Answer: (C) Something follows immediately after something else.

Concept: After 'to' (infinitive marker) we use the base form (V1) of the verb.

1. 'made up her mind to' must be followed by 'carry', not 'carried'.
2. Correct: Raveena has made up her mind to carry minimum luggage with her.

Trick: to + V1 (to carry, to go, to eat).

Answer: (C) carried minimum

Concept: Prudent = wise and careful in decisions. Synonym = Judicious (showing good judgement).

1. Precious = valuable; Diffident = shy; Doubtful = uncertain.
2. Only 'judicious' matches wise, sensible judgement.

Trick: Prudent = judicious = sensible.

Answer: (C) Judicious

Concept: Diffidence = modesty or shyness resulting from lack of self-confidence.

1. Assurance, Determination and Conviction all show confidence – the opposite.
2. Hence Diffidence.

Yaad rakhein: Dif-fidence ↔ con-fidence.

Answer: (D) Diffidence

Concept: Cynic = a person who believes people are motivated only by self-interest and doubts their sincerity.

1. Interviewer = one who interviews; Chauffeur = car driver; Curator = keeper of a museum collection.

Yaad rakhein: Cynic doubts everyone’s motives.

Answer: (A) Cynic

Concept: Collocation: literature offers insight into something.

1. The sentence is positive – literature gives understanding of human experience.
2. 'denies' is negative; 'suggests insight' is not a natural collocation; the merged option D does not fit grammatically.
3. Singular subject 'Literature' → 'offers'.

Trick: offer/provide/give + insight into.

Answer: (C) offers

Concept: Through literature we explore (investigate, experience) different emotions and perspectives.

1. 'allows us to ___ different emotions' – we discover/experience them.
2. explain (make clear), exploit (misuse), exclaim (shout) do not fit.

Trick: Explore = discover new ideas/places.

Answer: (C) explore

Concept: 'serve as a platform for social issues' = a means or stage to raise and discuss issues.

1. After 'a' we need a singular noun meaning 'medium for expression'.
2. plank/planking/planks = pieces of wood – literal, wrong meaning ('planks' is also plural).

Trick: Platform = stage for voicing ideas.

Answer: (C) platform

Concept: Literature cultivates (develops, nurtures) empathy by helping us understand characters’ feelings.

1. 'not only enhances … but also ___ empathy' – both verbs must be positive.
2. withers (dries up), avoids, provokes (incites) do not suit 'empathy'.

Trick: Cultivate = grow/develop a quality.

Answer: (C) cultivates

Concept: Subject-verb agreement and tense: the passage is in the simple present; singular 'literature' takes becomes.

1. 'In a rapidly changing world' – a present, general truth.
2. became (past), become (plural/base), becoming (needs helping verb) are wrong.

Trick: Singular subject + present → verb + s.

Answer: (B) becomes

Concept: Empirical means based on observation, experience or experiment rather than on theory or pure logic (e.g. empirical evidence, empirical data).

1. Ambitious = having a strong desire to succeed – not related to observation.
2. Sustained = continued over a long period without break – describes duration, not a basis in experience.
3. Latest = most recent – describes time.
4. Enormous = very large – describes size.
5. None of these words carries the sense of “based on observation/experiment”, so no option can replace empirical.

Yaad rakhein: empirical ≈ observed, experimental, practical, factual; opposite – theoretical, hypothetical.

Answer: None of the four options means ‘empirical’, so this question has no correct answer and is treated as a bonus question.

Concept: The title should capture the main idea: airlines taking a positive step (sustainable fuels, net-zero pledge) to help fight climate change.

1. The passage describes airlines’ pledges, experiments with sustainable fuels and a fund for start-ups – a good deed by the aviation industry.
2. (A) is not about business success; (B) threats are not discussed; (C) the passage does not compare biofuels with synthetic fuels.

Trick: Title = central idea, not a side detail.

Answer: (D) One Good Turn from the Aviation Industry

Concept: Tone is judged from the writer’s attitude to the subject.

1. Phrases like 'it’s not that far away', 'airlines are already experimenting', plans for 50,000 flights and a new fund show optimism.
2. It is not depressing or worried, and the serious subject is not treated casually.

Trick: Positive future plans → hopeful/optimistic tone.

Answer: (D) Hopeful

Concept: The passage lists the sources of biofuels: agriculture residues, trees, corn and used cooking oil.

1. Agricultural residue, cooking oil and trees are all mentioned.
2. Coal is a fossil fuel, not a biofuel source, and is not listed.

Yaad rakhein: Bio = living matter; coal is fossil.

Answer: (C) coal

Concept: Direct fact from the first sentence of the passage.

1. 'Several major airlines have pledged to reach net-zero carbon emissions by mid-century to fight climate change.'
2. Expenditure, revenue and traffic jams are not mentioned as reasons.

Trick: Purpose questions → look for 'to + verb' in the passage.

Answer: (D) To fight climate change