Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Check each word against its standard spelling.

1. Measure, Rectify and Branding are correct.
2. The correct spelling is Subscribe (sub + scribe, 'to write under'), ending in '-ibe'.
3. So 'Subscrieb' is misspelt.

Trick: -scribe words: describe, prescribe, subscribe, inscribe — all end in '-ibe'.

Answer: (B) Subscrieb

Concept: Check each underlined word of the sentence against its standard spelling.

1. medallion, elaborate and complemented are spelt correctly.
2. The correct word is quadrant = a quarter of a circle or area (quad = four); there is no 'r' after 'qu'.
3. So 'quardant' is misspelt.

Trick: quad = four: quadrant, quadrilateral, quadruple.

Answer: (D) quardant

Concept: Check each word against its standard spelling.

1. Missing, Mistaken and Mission are correct.
2. The correct spelling is Mirage (an optical illusion, e.g. water seen in a desert).
3. So 'Miarage' is misspelt.

Yaad rakhein: Mirage = mir + age (no 'a' after 'i').

Answer: (A) Miarage

Concept: To have an axe to grind = to have a selfish or private motive, or a grievance, behind one's actions.

1. The fixed idiom uses the verb grind (sharpen an axe on a grindstone).
2. Having hidden selfish motives is not advisable — the sentence makes sense.
3. 'kill', 'rotate' and 'replace' do not form any idiom with 'axe'.

Yaad rakhein: An axe to grind = a personal agenda / hidden motive.

Answer: (D) grind

Concept: Chaos = complete disorder and confusion.

1. Disarray = a state of disorganisation — synonym.
2. 'Tidiness' and 'Certainty' are opposites.
3. 'Insanity' means madness, not disorder.

Yaad rakhein: Chaos = disarray = turmoil = mayhem; antonym: order.

Answer: (C) Disarray

Concept: At the eleventh hour = at the last possible moment, just before it is too late.

1. Example: He submitted the form at the eleventh hour.
2. Option (D) — just before the deadline — is correct.
3. 'Very late in the evening' is a literal reading of 'hour'.

Yaad rakhein: Eleventh hour = last minute (one hour before the twelfth, the end).

Answer: (D) Just before the deadline

Concept: Bureaucracy = government by appointed state officials (civil servants) rather than elected representatives.

1. The description — decisions by state officials, not elected people — is bureaucracy.
2. Gerontocracy = rule by old people; Democracy = rule by elected representatives of the people.
3. Autocracy = rule by one person with absolute power.

Trick: bureau (office) + cracy (rule) = rule by officials.

Answer: (D) Bureaucracy

Concept: Check each word of the sentence against its standard spelling.

1. investigated, accident and victims are correct.
2. The correct word is mangled = severely damaged by crushing or tearing (m-a-n-g-l-e-d).
3. So 'manlged' (letters 'g' and 'l' swapped) is misspelt.

Yaad rakhein: mangle → mangled (like angle → angled).

Answer: (C) manlged

Concept: The devil is beating his wife is a folk expression for a sunshower — it rains while the sun is shining.

1. The second sentence (Do you think we'll see a rainbow?) confirms rain with sunshine.
2. So the meaning is option (C).
3. (B) is 'an idle mind is the devil's workshop'; (D) is 'speak of the devil'.

Yaad rakhein: Sun + rain together = 'the devil is beating his wife' → a rainbow may appear.

Answer: (C) The sun is shining while it rains

Concept: Better = of higher quality or standard (comparative of good).

1. Its opposite is worse or inferior = lower in quality.
2. 'Fitter' is close to better (in health), not opposite.
3. 'Brave' and 'Homely' are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Better ↔ inferior / worse; superior ↔ inferior.

Answer: (B) Inferior

Concept: The main idea covers the whole passage, not just one detail.

1. The passage explains causes of both dust storms and thunderstorms, their timing (pre-monsoon), the lack of study on them and lightning deaths.
2. Options (A), (C) and (D) cover only a part (one event or only damage).
3. So it is mainly about dust storms and thunderstorms.

Trick: Pick the option broad enough to cover every paragraph, yet still specific.

Answer: (B) dust storms and thunderstorms

Concept: Check each statement against the passage; find the one it contradicts.

1. The passage says areas with moisture get thunderstorms and areas without moisture get dust storms.
2. So 'Thunderstorms occur where the air is dry' is false.
3. (B) and (D) are stated directly; (A) is supported — the western disturbance helped trigger the storms of May 2.

Yaad rakhein: Moist air → thunderstorm; dry air → dust storm.

Answer: (C) Thunderstorms occur where the air is dry.

Concept: Find the line comparing natural disasters.

1. The passage: compared to cyclones, floods or heat waves, lightning kills more people in India.
2. At least 25 percent of 10,510 accidental deaths from forces of nature in 2015 were due to lightning.
3. So lightning is the highest killer.

Yaad rakhein: Lightning deaths in India have stayed above 2,000 every year since 2005 (as per the passage).

Answer: (B) Lightning

Concept: Look for the line on the timing of these storms.

1. The passage says dust storm and thunderstorm activity usually peaks in the pre-monsoon period.
2. These events happen between March and May, when temperatures reach about 44–45 °C.
3. So the answer is the pre-monsoon period.

Yaad rakhein: March–May = pre-monsoon = peak season for dust storms and thunderstorms.

Answer: (A) In the pre-monsoon period

Concept: Find the cause given for dust storms.

1. Dust storms and thunderstorms result from similar conditions like intense heat; high pre-monsoon temperatures 'lead to such activities'.
2. Moisture in the air leads to thunderstorms, not dust storms — (A) is wrong.
3. Easterly winds were only one factor on May 2; extreme cold is never mentioned.

Yaad rakhein: Intense heat + dry air → dust storm; intense heat + moist air → thunderstorm.

Answer: (C) intense heat

Concept: The sentence describes a future possibility: jobs 'may be taken over' while skilled workforce demand rises.

1. The paragraph speaks of the coming future ('may be taken over', 'there will be a sizeable shift').
2. So the parallel clause needs future tense → will be increasingly in greater demand.
3. 'is'/'are' are present; 'should be' expresses obligation, not prediction.

Yaad rakhein: Keep the tense parallel with nearby clauses (may / will → will be).

Answer: (C) will be

Concept: The verb that collocates with 'needs' is meet: to meet needs = to satisfy needs.

1. 'how we meet the world's energy, water, food and sanitation needs' — correct collocation.
2. 'had' breaks the tense; 'have needs' and 'see needs' do not give the sense of fulfilling them.
3. So the answer is 'meet'.

Yaad rakhein: meet needs / demands / requirements / expectations.

Answer: (B) meet

Concept: The blank needs a noun showing something increasing that creates a need for research: 'the growing ___ of epidemics'.

1. Emergence = the act of coming into existence or appearing — 'growing emergence of epidemics' fits.
2. 'wane' (decline) and 'dissolution' (ending) contradict 'growing' and 'will call for research'.
3. 'need of epidemics' is illogical — no one needs epidemics.

Yaad rakhein: growing + emergence / incidence / threat — all suit epidemics.

Answer: (C) emergence

Concept: Call for = to require or demand.

1. Epidemics will require collaborative research → 'will call for collaborative research'.
2. 'call off' = cancel; 'call in' = summon someone; 'call out' = criticise publicly or shout.
3. Only 'call for' fits the sense.

Yaad rakhein: call for = need; call off = cancel; call on = visit; call in = summon.

Answer: (D) call for

Concept: The blank is a noun after 'a growing … for': the standard collocation is a growing demand for.

1. As India develops, people will want more humanities and art → 'a growing demand for humanities and art'.
2. 'command' = authority/order; 'extort' is a verb (to obtain by force).
3. 'claim for' means a right asserted, not wider need — 'demand' is the natural word.

Yaad rakhein: growing demand for / rising demand for — common collocation.

Answer: (C) demand