Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Find the misspelt word in the sentence and choose its correct spelling.

1. The misspelt word is vestubular; the correct anatomical word is vestibular (from 'vestibule').
2. Options 'midle', 'respictevely', 'importent' are themselves wrong spellings of words that are spelt correctly in the sentence (middle, respectively, important).

Trick: Vestibular comes from vestibule — keep the 'i': vest-i-bule → vest-i-bular.

Answer: (A) vestibular

Concept: Miss the boat means to lose an opportunity by acting too late.

1. 'If you don't act fast, you are going to miss the boat' — others will grab the chance.
2. Be in the same boat = share the same problem; Push the boat out = spend a lot to celebrate; 'a full boat' is not an idiom that fits the verb 'going to'.

Trick: Miss the boat / miss the bus = lose a chance through delay.

Answer: (D) miss the boat

Concept: The present perfect tense is formed as has/have + past participle (V3).

1. 'have visit' uses the base form — wrong.
2. Correct: 'Mr. Khanna and family have visited Manali during the summer vacation.'
3. The other segments are grammatically fine.

Trick: Has/have/had is always followed by V3 (visited, gone, eaten).

Answer: (A) have visit

Concept: Midas touch = the ability to make money or succeed in everything one does (from King Midas, whose touch turned things into gold).

1. The man succeeded in an online company, the share market and transport — everything he touched made money.
2. Three-dollar bill = fake; Rule of thumb = a practical rough guide; Sticky fingers = a tendency to steal.

Trick: Midas → gold → every venture becomes profitable.

Answer: (B) Midas touch

Concept: The tense must be consistent within a sentence: the second part says 'which is as interesting as this one' (present).

1. The book still exists and the comparison is a present fact, so the main verb must also be present.
2. Correct: 'There is no other book in the English language which is as interesting as this one.'
3. So the error lies in 'There was no other book'.

Trick: Present facts and comparisons stay in the present tense throughout the sentence.

Answer: (A) There was no other book

Concept: Adorable = very attractive and easy to feel love for (e.g. an adorable baby).

1. Flamboyant = showy, attracting attention by style; Mysterious = hard to understand; Laudable = deserving praise.
2. Only 'adorable' carries the sense of inspiring love.

Trick: Adore = to love deeply → adorable = easy to love.

Answer: (B) Adorable

Concept: Ingredients are the individual items or parts that are combined to make a dish — i.e. its components.

1. 'He uses one of the finest components in his cooking' keeps the meaning.
2. Mixtures and preparations are the combined results, not the individual items; 'culinary' is an adjective meaning 'related to cooking'.

Trick: Ingredient = component / constituent / element.

Answer: (A) Components

Concept: Abhor means to hate something intensely.

1. Its opposite is Love.
2. Despise is a synonym (hate); Occupy and Danger are unrelated.

Trick: Abhor = Detest = Loathe = Despise — all mean 'hate strongly'.

Answer: (D) Love

Concept: A person who is not willing to do something is reluctant.

1. 'He was reluctant to attend the technical session' — same meaning.
2. Dejecting = making sad; Curious = eager to know; Comprehensive = complete, covering everything.

Trick: Reluctant = unwilling = hesitant; opposite: eager/keen.

Answer: (B) reluctant

Concept: A disease that spreads widely in a community or region at a particular time is an epidemic.

1. Pandemic = spread over many countries/the whole world; Endemic = regularly found in a particular area all the time.
2. Eradicate = to remove completely — a verb, not a disease type.
3. 'At a specific time' in a 'community or region' points to epidemic.

Trick: Endemic = always in one place; Epidemic = sudden outbreak in a region; Pandemic = worldwide.

Answer: (C) Epidemic

Concept: Apex means the top or highest point of something.

1. Its opposite is Bottom.
2. Pinnacle is a synonym (peak); Farthest and Watchful are unrelated.

Trick: Apex = Summit = Peak = Pinnacle; opposite = Base / Bottom / Nadir.

Answer: (B) Bottom

Concept: Abandoned means left alone or deserted, with no intention of returning.

1. 'Ram was left by his parents at a very early age.'
2. Loved is the opposite idea; Hated and Disgraced describe feelings or shame, not leaving someone.

Trick: Abandon = desert = forsake = leave behind.

Answer: (B) Left

Concept: Part and parcel means an essential or basic element of something.

1. Example: 'Hard work is part and parcel of success.'
2. It has nothing to do with blame, agreement or a parcel payment system — the literal meaning misleads.

Trick: Part and parcel = integral part — cannot be separated.

Answer: (D) Basic or essential element

Concept: Elbow grease is an idiom for hard physical effort put into doing something.

1. The sentence says good planning must be combined with hard work.
2. Options A, B and C take 'grease' and 'elbow' literally — idioms are not literal.

Trick: Elbow grease = hard work / sustained effort.

Answer: (D) Hard work that one puts into doing something

Concept: A robe is a long, loose outer garment.

1. Its synonym is Cloak (a loose outer garment without sleeves).
2. 'Robbery' only looks similar (rob ≠ robe); Mishap = accident; Success is unrelated.

Trick: Don't be trapped by look-alike words: robe (gown) vs rob (steal).

Answer: (D) Cloak

Concept: A snowball effect is a situation in which something grows larger or faster at an increasing rate.

1. Like a snowball rolling downhill that picks up more snow and grows ever faster.
2. It is not about tricking someone, cold weather or slow movement.

Trick: Snowball effect = small start → accelerating growth.

Answer: (A) An accelerating growth of magnitude

Concept: Check each underlined word for correct spelling.

1. company, offered and promotion are correct.
2. fabulouous has an extra 'ou'; the correct spelling is fabulous.

Trick: Fabul-ous — the suffix '-ous' appears only once.

Answer: (A) fabulouous

Concept: The phrasal verb for 'meet or find by chance' is come across, not 'come to'.

1. 'Come to' means to arrive at or regain consciousness — it cannot take 'a person' in this sense.
2. Correct: 'I have never come across such a kind person as my friend.'
3. 'Such … as' is the standard comparison pattern, so the faulty verb segment is 'come to'.

Trick: Come across = meet/find by chance; such + noun + as.

Answer: (C) come to

Concept: Vituperate means to criticise someone harshly using abusive language.

1. The Board also cancelled the nomination — a clear negative context.
2. So 'vituperated' = censured with harsh and abusive language.
3. Praise or polite handling contradicts the cancellation; 'lamented the death' is unrelated.

Trick: Vituperation = verbal abuse; similar: berate, revile, castigate.

Answer: (B) censured with harsh and abusive language

Concept: Hit the books means to study hard and seriously.

1. 'To win this event, I need to hit the books from today.'
2. Burn the books is not this idiom; Cut to the chase = come to the main point; Pour my heart out = express feelings openly.

Trick: Hit the books = study hard; hit the sack = go to sleep; hit the road = leave.

Answer: (B) hit the books