Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Magnificent means extremely beautiful, elaborate or impressive.

1. Proficient – skilled, competent.
2. Transient – lasting only for a short time.
3. Deficient – lacking something, insufficient.
4. A magnificent palace = extremely beautiful and impressive → Magnificent.

Trick: Magni = great (magnify, magnitude) → magnificent = grand.

Answer: (B) Magnificent

Concept: To burn the midnight oil means to stay up late at night working or studying.

1. In old times people studied by oil lamps, burning oil till midnight.
2. Example: Students burn the midnight oil before exams.
3. 'Waste time', 'overthink' and 'be relaxed' do not carry the idea of late-night hard work.
4. Meaning: To stay up late working or studying.

Trick: Midnight + oil lamp = late-night study.

Answer: (B) To stay up late working or studying

Concept: Inevitable means certain to happen; that cannot be avoided. Its synonym is unavoidable.

1. After his rude behaviour, his sacking was certain – it could not be avoided.
2. Impassionate – full of passion.
3. Amiable – friendly, pleasant.
4. Measurable – that can be measured.

Trick: In-evit-able ≈ not + avoid + able → unavoidable.

Answer: (D) unavoidable

Concept: The correct spelling is affidavit (a written statement confirmed by oath). The underlined 'affidevit' is wrong.

1. affidevit → affidavit (a-v-i-t, from Latin 'affidavit' = he has stated on oath).
2. affirmation – correct.
3. authority – correct.
4. administer – correct.

Trick: Affid-a-vit – remember 'David' inside: affi-DAVIT.

Answer: (A) affidevit

Concept: After 'have' (present perfect), the main verb is in V3 form: have arranged. 'Have being arranged' is wrong; 'being' is used only after be-forms (is/am/are/was/were).

1. Active present perfect: We have arranged the stay…
2. 'Being' can't follow 'have'; 'have been' + V-ing would be continuous, 'have been' + V3 passive.
3. Correct: We have arranged the stay for the guests at a hillside resort.
4. Error part: 'We have being'.

Trick: have/has/had + been (never 'being'); is/was + being.

Answer: (B) We have being

Concept: Extravagance means spending too much money or using resources wastefully; lack of restraint. Its synonym is self-indulgence (excessive satisfying of one's own desires).

1. Simplicity – the opposite of extravagance.
2. Love and Fortune are unrelated.
3. Self-indulgence also means doing whatever one likes without control, especially spending.
4. Hence Self-indulgence.

Trick: Extra + vagance → going beyond limits = indulging oneself.

Answer: (D) Self- indulgence

Concept: Antique means belonging to ancient times; very old and valuable. Its synonym is ancient.

1. New and Modern are antonyms – trap options.
2. Gothic – a medieval European style of architecture; it is a specific style, not 'old' in general.
3. An antique coin = an ancient coin.
4. Hence Ancient.

Trick: Antique/Antiquity ≈ Ancient – both start with 'an'.

Answer: (A) Ancient

Concept: The correct spelling is Pharaohs (the kings of ancient Egypt). 'Pharohs' misses the 'a' after 'h'.

1. Pharaoh is spelt P-h-a-r-a-o-h; plural Pharaohs.
2. literal – correct.
3. ancient – correct.
4. embodiment – correct.

Trick: Phar-a-oh: 'a' before 'oh' – 'Pharaoh, oh!'

Answer: (C) pharohs

Concept: The correct spelling is Bread (food made from flour) or Braid (plaited hair). 'Braed' is not an English word.

1. Isle – a small island: correct.
2. Achieve – 'i before e except after c': correct.
3. Amicable – friendly: correct.
4. Braed is the incorrectly spelt word.

Trick: English words rarely have the vowel pair 'ae' in the middle of short words – 'ea' (bread) or 'ai' (braid) is usual.

Answer: (B) Braed

Concept: 'Am think' is wrong – the present continuous needs thinking. The verb 'think' in the sense of considering takes the preposition about, and a preposition is followed by a gerund (V-ing): thinking about applying.

1. am + V-ing → 'am thinking'.
2. Think about (consider) – correct preposition; 'think in/on' is not idiomatic here.
3. After a preposition → gerund 'applying', not base form 'apply'.
4. Correct: I am thinking about applying for her job.

Trick: Preposition + V-ing: thinking about applying, interested in learning.

Answer: (B) thinking about applying

Concept: Blank 1 is joined to 'inequitable' by 'or', so it needs a word of similar meaning describing unfair treatment: biased (prejudiced, unfair).

1. Discrimination = unfair treatment based on ethnicity, sex, age etc. → biased treatment.
2. 'Systematic' means methodical; it does not mean unfair.
3. 'Pathetic' and 'tragic' express pity or sorrow, not unfairness.
4. So 'inequitable or biased treatment'.

Trick: Words joined by 'or/and' in a list usually carry similar meaning.

Answer: (B) biased

Concept: Blank 2 needs a verb meaning 'set off / cause to start': perception of discrimination can trigger a series of stress-induced changes.

1. 'Trigger' collocates naturally with negative reactions – trigger stress, trigger an attack.
2. 'Support', 'inspire' and 'motivate' have positive meanings, unsuitable for harmful stress changes.
3. So: '…can trigger a series of stress-induced alterations'.

Trick: Negative effects are 'triggered', positive actions are 'inspired/motivated'.

Answer: (C) trigger

Concept: Blank 3 is in a list of 'unfavourable emotional reactions' with despair and resentment, so it needs an emotion: anxiety.

1. Despair and resentment are emotions; the blank must be one too.
2. The next sentence begins 'Furthermore, anxiety has been linked…' – confirming the word.
3. Death, deafness and impairment are physical conditions, not emotional reactions.

Trick: In cloze tests, look at the next sentence – it often repeats the missing word.

Answer: (B) anxiety

Concept: Blank 4 describes drug use listed among 'health-compromising behaviours' with smoking and drinking: illicit (illegal) drug use.

1. 'Illicit drug use' is a standard collocation meaning use of illegal drugs.
2. 'Prescribed' and 'legitimate' drug use are legal and not harmful behaviours.
3. 'Mandatory drug use' makes no sense.

Trick: Illicit = illegal (do not confuse with 'elicit' = draw out, used earlier in the passage).

Answer: (C) illicit

Concept: Anxiety causes a rise in harmful behaviours 'while simultaneously' causing the opposite in healthy activities – i.e. a decline.

1. 'While simultaneously' signals contrast with 'a rise in health-compromising behaviours'.
2. Opposite of 'rise' = decline (decrease) in sleep and exercise.
3. 'Rise' repeats the earlier idea; 'unfruitful' is an adjective (cannot follow 'a … in'); 'upheaval' means disturbance, not decrease.

Trick: Contrast words (while, whereas, but) → choose the opposite idea.

Answer: (C) decline

Concept: In the passage, 'the pressure to present the perfect life online' means a flawless, ideal, fully satisfying life. Its antonym is unsatisfactory (not good enough, flawed).

1. Perfect = having no faults; completely satisfactory.
2. Unsatisfactory = not acceptable or good enough → opposite.
3. 'Troublesome' (causing trouble), 'limited' (restricted) and 'laughable' (ridiculous) are not direct opposites of 'flawless'.

Trick: Perfect = fully satisfactory ↔ unsatisfactory.

Answer: (C) Unsatisfactory

Concept: Check each option against the passage; the one never mentioned is the answer.

1. Quick, abbreviated messages with emojis and acronyms – mentioned in paragraph 2.
2. Hashtags – 'the whole hashtag phenomenon' – mentioned.
3. Connecting with people all over the globe – mentioned in paragraph 1.
4. Video conferencing is not mentioned anywhere in the passage.

Trick: NOT-mentioned questions: tick off options found in the text; the leftover is the answer.

Answer: (B) Video conferencing for more meaningful conversations.

Concept: A good title covers the whole passage. The passage describes both good sides (connecting, new friends, laughs) and bad sides (oversharing, drama, pressure, distraction) of social media.

1. 'Benefits of Social Media' covers only the positive part.
2. 'The Dark Side of Social Media' covers only the negative part.
3. 'Mastering the Art' – the passage gives no guidance on mastering social media.
4. 'The Joys and Sorrows of Social Media' covers both sides.

Trick: Passage with 'but… despite all of this' = balanced view → choose a two-sided title.

Answer: (A) The Joys and Sorrows of Social Media

Concept: Paragraph 3 lists the downsides: getting sucked into social media, forgetting the little moments, and 'the pressure to present the perfect life online'.

1. Options A and B (connecting globally, staying in touch with family) are benefits, not downsides.
2. Option C is the reverse of the text – the passage says we forget to enjoy little moments.
3. Option D is stated directly as a downside.

Trick: For 'downside' questions, read the paragraph starting with 'But there are also some downsides…'.

Answer: (D) It can lead to pressure to present a perfect life online.

Concept: The theme is the central idea of the whole passage. The author discusses both the fun and benefits of social media and its downsides, ending as 'still a fan'.

1. Paragraphs 1 and 4 – positives (global connection, new friends, memes).
2. Paragraph 3 – negatives (distraction, pressure to look perfect).
3. 'Dangers of spending too much time online' is only part of it; businesses and history are not discussed.
4. Theme: the positive and negative effects of social media.

Trick: Theme and title questions on the same passage usually have matching answers (here: two-sided).

Answer: (C) The positive and negative effects of social media.