Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Check each word letter by letter.

1. implore, impeach, unique – correct.
2. 'userp' is wrong; the correct spelling is usurp (to seize power wrongfully).

Yaad rakhein: u-s-u-r-p: 'u' comes again after 's'.

Answer: (C) userp

Concept: A past habit or a past state that no longer exists is expressed by used to + V1.

1. 'When I was in school' shows the past, so present 'want to' is wrong.
2. 'Ought to' and 'need to' are also present in sense and do not show a past habit.
3. Correct: I used to learn yoga when I was in school.

Trick: Past time clause + regular activity → used to + V1.

Answer: (A) used to

Concept: Condone means to accept or forgive an offence or wrongdoing.

1. Forgive = to pardon – same sense.
2. Impose = force upon; prevent and forbid = stop/disallow (nearly opposite).

Yaad rakhein: Condone ≈ forgive ≈ overlook ≈ pardon.

Answer: (C) forgive

Concept: One who changes sides or deserts his party/principles is a turncoat.

1. Invader = one who attacks a country.
2. Novice and amateur = a beginner / non-professional.
3. Turncoat literally 'turns his coat' to the other side.

Yaad rakhein: Turncoat = traitor, defector, renegade.

Answer: (C) turncoat

Concept: Spiritual relates to the soul or religion rather than physical things.

1. Ethereal, divine and sacred are all close in meaning to spiritual.
2. Material = relating to physical things and worldly matters – the opposite.

Yaad rakhein: Spiritual ↔ material / worldly / physical.

Answer: (A) material

Concept: Before a size comparison like 'the size of Australia', we use an adverb of approximation.

1. The Amazon is not exactly as large as Australia, so an estimate is meant.
2. 'Roughly' = approximately – fits: roughly the size of the continent of Australia.
3. 'Specially', 'similarly', 'totally' do not express an approximate measure.

Trick: Comparisons of size/number → roughly, about, nearly, approximately.

Answer: (D) roughly

Concept: Article an is used before a word beginning with a vowel sound.

1. The next word is 'area' (vowel sound /e/).
2. 'covers an area of nearly 2.8 million square miles' is the standard expression.
3. 'A' is for consonant sounds; 'some' and 'one' do not fit this measurement phrase.

Trick: a/an depends on the sound of the next word: an area, an hour, a university.

Answer: (A) an

Concept: The blank needs an adjective that praises the great, impressive Amazon River.

1. 'Majestic' = grand, impressive in size and beauty – suits the world's mightiest river.
2. 'Magnetic' is irrelevant; 'minor' is wrong for a river that gives life to the largest rainforest.
3. 'Major' is possible in meaning but 'the major Amazon River' is unidiomatic; 'majestic' fits the descriptive tone.

Yaad rakhein: Grand natural features (rivers, mountains) → majestic.

Answer: (A) majestic

Concept: The fixed phrase is the heart of (the central part of) a place.

1. 'runs through the heart of the region' – 'of' shows the part–whole relation.
2. 'on', 'at', 'in' are not used after 'the heart' in this sense.

Yaad rakhein: in the heart of the city/region; the centre of …

Answer: (B) of

Concept: A drainage basin is drained by a river and its tributaries (smaller streams that join the main river).

1. 'the river and its ___' needs something that belongs to a river.
2. Tributaries = branch streams flowing into the main river – fits.
3. 'Tributes' (honours) is a confusing look-alike; continents and rainforests do not belong to a river.

Yaad rakhein: River system = main river + tributaries (join) + distributaries (leave, near the mouth).

Answer: (B) tributaries

Concept: Check each word letter by letter.

1. separate, proceed, dependent – correct.
2. 'existance' is wrong; the correct spelling is existence (from exist + -ence).

Yaad rakhein: exist → existence (-ence), like persist → persistence.

Answer: (C) existance

Concept: Dishearten means to make someone lose hope or confidence.

1. Dampen (spirits) and indispose are close to dishearten; humble = modest.
2. Encourage = give hope and confidence – the opposite.

Yaad rakhein: Prefix 'dis-' removes heart; 'en-' + courage puts heart back.

Answer: (B) encourage

Concept: Absurd means wildly unreasonable or illogical; silly.

1. Ridiculous = deserving to be laughed at, foolish – same meaning.
2. Important, meaningful, rational are opposite in sense.

Yaad rakhein: Absurd ≈ ridiculous ≈ preposterous ≈ silly.

Answer: (A) ridiculous

Concept: A person who is unduly anxious about his/her health is a valetudinarian (also hypochondriac).

1. Disciplinarian = one who enforces strict discipline.
2. Antiquarian = collector/student of antiques; egalitarian = believer in equality of all people.
3. Valetudinarian comes from Latin valetudo = health.

Yaad rakhein: Health worry → valetudinarian / hypochondriac.

Answer: (D) valetudinarian

Concept: A country name is singular (India has); with plural countable nouns use few (hardly any), not 'much' or 'little'.

1. 'have a many' is wrong: 'India' takes 'has', and 'a many' is not English.
2. 'Little' and 'much' go with uncountable nouns; 'all-rounders' is plural countable.
3. 'to match the talent of Kapil Dev' implies there are hardly any – so negative 'few'.
4. Correct: India has few all-rounders to match the talent and dedication of Kapil Dev.

Trick: Countable → few/many; uncountable → little/much. 'Few' = almost none, 'a few' = some.

Answer: (C) has few

Concept: Besides (preposition) = in addition to; the person named is also included.

1. Sunny qualified, and two others also qualified → 'in addition to Sunny'.
2. 'Apart' needs 'from' (apart from); 'between' needs two items; 'along' needs 'with'.
3. Correct: Besides Sunny, two others have qualified for the final round.

Trick: Besides = in addition to (includes); except = leaving out (excludes); beside = next to.

Answer: (A) Besides

Concept: 'One of my friends' is expressed as a friend of mine (double possessive), not 'a friend to me'.

1. 'A friend to me' would mean someone who acts friendly towards me – not idiomatic here.
2. Correct: I remember a friend of mine buying several pairs of shoes at a sale.
3. 'remember + object + -ing' is correct, so other parts are fine.

Yaad rakhein: a friend of mine / of his / of yours = one of my / his / your friends.

Answer: (A) a friend to me

Concept: A longer action in progress in the past that is interrupted by a short action uses past continuous (was/were + V-ing) with simple past.

1. 'when he pulled a muscle' is simple past – a sudden short action.
2. The lifting was going on at that moment → was lifting.
3. 'lifts', 'is lifting', 'has lifted' are present forms and clash with 'pulled'.
4. Correct: The young man was lifting weights at the gym when he pulled a muscle.

Trick: was/were + V-ing … when + V2 (interrupted past action).

Answer: (D) was lifting

Concept: Grin from ear to ear means to smile very broadly because one is very happy.

1. A grin stretching 'from ear to ear' is a very wide smile.
2. It is not about funny faces, sharp ears or ridicule.
3. Example: He was grinning from ear to ear after topping the exam.

Yaad rakhein: Ear to ear = widest possible smile = great happiness.

Answer: (C) to smile a lot because of happiness

Concept: Exasperation means a feeling of intense irritation or annoyance.

1. Wrath, pique and resentment are all forms of anger/annoyance – similar meanings.
2. Enjoyment = pleasure, delight – the opposite feeling.

Yaad rakhein: Exasperation ↔ enjoyment / delight / pleasure.

Answer: (B) enjoyment