Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Superlative degree always takes the: the best, never a best.

1. best is the superlative of good – it points to one unique top quality.
2. Correct: Rice of the best quality is available ...
3. Hence the error is in a best quality.

Yaad rakhein: Superlative (-est / most / best) → 'the'.

Answer: (B) a best quality

Concept: Spelling check of each option.

1. elementary, boundary, olfactory – correct.
2. The correct spelling is laboratory (l-a-b-o-r-a-t-o-r-y).
3. So laboratary is wrongly spelt.

Trick: Laboratory = a place of labor + 'atory' (like observatory).

Answer: (B) laboratary

Concept: Question tag: a positive statement takes a negative tag with the same auxiliary and subject.

1. Statement: There will probably be a lot of fish ... – positive, auxiliary will, subject there.
2. Tag must be negative: won't there?
3. Correct: ... in their nets, won't there? So the error is in will there.

Trick: Positive → negative tag; 'There is/will be' → tag uses 'there'.

Answer: (D) will there

Concept: Desolate = empty, bare and lifeless; gloomy and dismal.

1. bleak = bare, cold, cheerless – same sense (a desolate/bleak landscape).
2. inhabited, cultivated, protected suggest life and care – opposite ideas.
3. So the synonym is bleak.

Yaad rakhein: Desolate ≈ deserted ≈ bleak.

Answer: (B) bleak

Concept: Ignite = to set on fire, to start burning.

1. burn, light, kindle all mean to set fire – synonyms.
2. The opposite is to put out a fire = extinguish.
3. So the antonym is extinguish.

Trick: Fire extinguisher puts the fire out – opposite of ignition.

Answer: (C) extinguish

Concept: Simple present tense for a regular, repeated fact; singular subject takes verb + s.

1. Subject it (the community) is singular; 'a year' shows a habitual fact.
2. it attracts tens of thousands of visitors a year – active, present simple.
3. is attracted is passive (wrong sense); attract is plural; will attract is future.

Trick: Habitual fact + he/she/it → V1 + s.

Answer: (B) attracts

Concept: The definite article the is used for a specific thing already referred to.

1. The 'reason' is the specific one behind the visitors already mentioned.
2. Upon arrival, the reason for this is clear.
3. a/one/any would make it non-specific, which does not fit 'this'.

Trick: 'reason for this' – a particular reason → 'the'.

Answer: (C) the

Concept: In an inverted sentence beginning with a prepositional phrase, the verb agrees with the real subject that follows it.

1. Normal order: A 100m-long strip of concrete white wall is among the 18 houses and farms.
2. Real subject = a ... strip (singular); 'houses and farms' is inside the phrase.
3. Passage is in present tense, so is; was/were/are do not fit.

Trick: 'Among X is Y' → find Y, match the verb with Y.

Answer: (B) is

Concept: A non-defining relative clause about a thing after a comma takes which.

1. The antecedent is wall – a thing, not a person.
2. ... a strip of concrete white wall, which was once part of the former border ...
3. who/whom are for persons; this cannot join two clauses.

Yaad rakhein: Thing + comma → which (never 'that' after a comma).

Answer: (D) which

Concept: Collocation: a place divided by a border has one part on each side.

1. The wall divided the village, so one part of it was in East Germany and the other in West Germany.
2. branch (of a tree/organisation), piece (a broken bit), component (of a machine) do not suit a village.
3. So the word is part.

Trick: Village/country/city divided → one part ... the other part.

Answer: (D) part

Concept: Emphatic reflexive pronoun agrees with the subject: I → myself.

1. Subject is I, so the reflexive form is myself (I did it without help).
2. itself (it), oneself (one), herself (she) do not match I.
3. When I solved the sum myself I was very happy.

Yaad rakhein: I–myself, we–ourselves, you–yourself, he–himself.

Answer: (A) myself

Concept: A bird's eye view = a general view from above; a broad, quick overall look without details.

1. A bird flying high sees everything broadly, not in detail.
2. So it means a general / cursory look (overview).
3. a detailed study is the opposite; prejudiced or personal view are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Bird's eye view = overview; opposite = close / detailed study.

Answer: (A) a cursory look

Concept: whether ... or not is the correct correlative to express two alternatives (uncertainty).

1. I cannot tell you now whether I will be able to come or not. – correct as it is.
2. unless (= if not), because (reason), in case (precaution) cannot pair with 'or not'.
3. So no substitution is required.

Trick: 'or not' at the end → 'whether' is the partner.

Answer: (D) No substitution required

Concept: A present participle (-ing) phrase shows an action happening at the same time as the main verb.

1. Main verb: fell down; the tree, while falling, almost hit the car.
2. That tree fell down yesterday, narrowly missing my car. (adverb narrowly + participle missing)
3. narrowly miss/missed add a second finite verb without a conjunction; narrowed is a verb, not an adverb.

Trick: Two simultaneous actions, one subject → second verb in -ing.

Answer: (A) narrowly missing

Concept: A young person who tends to commit (minor) crimes is a delinquent (juvenile delinquent).

1. convict = a person found guilty and in prison.
2. derelict = abandoned / a homeless vagrant; criminal = any law-breaker, not specifically young.
3. So the word is delinquent.

Yaad rakhein: Juvenile delinquent = young offender.

Answer: (D) delinquent

Concept: Question tag uses the same auxiliary as the main clause, with opposite polarity.

1. Main clause: She will have to go ... – positive, auxiliary will.
2. So the tag is negative with will: won't she?
3. has she / hasn't she use the wrong auxiliary; will she is not negative.

Trick: will → won't; has → hasn't; is → isn't (after a positive statement).

Answer: (D) won’t she

Concept: A factual written record of (historical) events in the order they happened is a chronicle.

1. chronology = the arrangement/order of events in time, not the written account itself.
2. journal = personal daily record or periodical; register = official list of names/entries.
3. So the word is chronicle.

Yaad rakhein: Chronicle = written account; chronology = the time-order.

Answer: (B) chronicle

Concept: Government by a small group of people = oligarchy (Greek oligos = few).

1. aristocracy = rule by the nobility (privileged class by birth).
2. monarchy = rule by one king/queen; plutocracy = rule by the wealthy.
3. Small group (few) → oligarchy.

Yaad rakhein: Oligo = few, mono = one, pluto = wealth, aristo = best/noble.

Answer: (C) oligarchy

Concept: Benign = kindly, gentle, favourable; (of a tumour) not harmful.

1. favourable = positive, beneficial – closest meaning (a benign climate = favourable climate).
2. malignant is the direct antonym; severe and harsh are also opposite in sense.
3. So the synonym is favourable.

Yaad rakhein: Benign tumour (harmless) vs malignant tumour (harmful).

Answer: (C) favourable

Concept: Spelling check of each option.

1. fashion, fascination, fascism – correct.
2. The correct spelling is fastidious (f-a-s-t-i-d-i-o-u-s) = very particular about details.
3. So fastedious is wrongly spelt.

Trick: fast-i-d-i-ous: two i's, no e.

Answer: (C) fastedious