Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Present perfect continuous: have/has + been + V-ing. In a question, 'have' comes before the subject: have + subject + been + V-ing.

1. 'have' is already placed before 'the teachers'.
2. So the underlined part needs 'been', not 'being': 'teachers been doing'.
3. Correct: What exactly have the teachers been doing wrong?

Trick: have/has/had is followed by 'been', never 'being'.

Answer: (A) teachers been doing

Concept: A chip on the shoulder = a long-held feeling of resentment or grievance; being easily offended.

1. A person with a chip on his shoulder feels he has been treated unfairly and is quick to take offence.
2. Happy, elated and emotional do not express this resentment.

Yaad rakhein: Chip on the shoulder = grudge / resentment.

Answer: (B) Offended

Concept: Accessible means available or easy to reach/obtain.

1. The reports can now be obtained on the phone.
2. Opposite of available to all = restricted (limited, not freely accessible).
3. Free is near a synonym; useless and invisible are not exact opposites.

Yaad rakhein: Accessible ↔ inaccessible / restricted / unavailable.

Answer: (C) Restricted

Concept: Break a leg is an idiom used to wish someone good luck, especially before a performance.

1. Second banana = a person in a subordinate role.
2. All wet = completely wrong.
3. Hang in there = don't give up. Only 'break a leg' means good luck.

Yaad rakhein: Theatre tradition: actors say 'break a leg' instead of 'good luck'.

Answer: (D) Break a leg

Concept: Woe means great sorrow or distress – i.e. unhappiness.

1. Wilful = deliberate/stubborn; Willing = ready to do; Wicked = evil.
2. Only woe means unhappiness.

Yaad rakhein: Woe = grief, misery, sorrow; 'woeful' = very sad.

Answer: (A) Woe

Concept: The highlighted phrase intriguing mastery means fascinating, attention-holding skill.

1. Intriguing = arousing curiosity/fascinating → captivating.
2. Mastery = complete skill → expertise.
3. 'wellness known skill' is ungrammatical, 'least known talent' changes the meaning, 'master' is a person.

Trick: Replace word by word: intriguing → captivating, mastery → expertise.

Answer: (C) captivating expertise

Concept: Third conditional: Had + subject + V3 (If … had V3), subject + would have + V3. Also, we make arrangements, not 'do' them.

1. 'Had I known' is an inverted third conditional → main clause takes 'would have + V3'.
2. Collocation: make arrangements → 'I would have made'.
3. 'should have made' expresses duty, 'must have made' expresses certainty; 'would have do' is wrong.

Trick: Had I known…, I would have + V3.

Answer: (A) I would have made

Concept: The correct spelling is Ambiguous (am-big-u-ous), meaning having more than one meaning.

1. 'Ambigous' misses the 'u' after 'g'.
2. Luminous, Gregarious and Nostalgia are spelt correctly.

Trick: ambiguity → ambiguous: keep the 'u'.

Answer: (A) Ambigous

Concept: The ball is in someone's court = it is now that person's turn to act or decide.

1. The speaker has done his part by sending the agreement.
2. Now the other party must sign – the next move is theirs.
3. Option B describes 'a bird in the hand…'; options A and C are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: From tennis: when the ball is on your side, you must play the next shot.

Answer: (D) It is time for someone to deal with a problem or make a decision, because other people have already done as much as they can

Concept: Cowardice means lack of courage; fearfulness.

1. Opposite of lack of courage = courage = boldness.
2. Abundance = plenty; Hazard = danger; Vigour = energy – not opposites.

Yaad rakhein: Cowardice ↔ bravery, courage, boldness, valour.

Answer: (A) Boldness

Concept: The fixed phrase is in the middle of something – while it is still going on.

1. 'In the middle of an enjoyable dream' = while he was still dreaming.
2. 'in the side of', 'in the between of' are not English; 'end' does not suit an interrupted dream.

Yaad rakhein: in the middle of (a meal / a dream / a meeting).

Answer: (A) middle

Concept: The sound a dog makes is barking; 'loudly' and 'heard' point to a sound.

1. Jim 'heard his dog ___ loudly' – he heard a sound.
2. Jumping and dancing cannot be heard; 'shouting' is for humans.

Yaad rakhein: dog – bark, cat – mew, lion – roar.

Answer: (C) barking

Concept: The verb glance takes the preposition at when we look quickly at something.

1. 'He glanced at his clock' = looked at it briefly.
2. 'glance in/on/upon the clock' is not idiomatic here.

Yaad rakhein: look at, glance at, stare at, gaze at.

Answer: (C) at

Concept: The pointers of a clock that show the time are called its hands; fluorescent (glowing) hands let one read the time in the dark.

1. 'Twelve o'clock the green fluorescent ___ of his clock read' – what 'reads' the time are the hands.
2. 'points' and 'light' do not name parts of a clock; the dial is the face on which hands move, and 'hands' (plural) fits the glowing pointers.

Yaad rakhein: hour hand, minute hand – the hands of a clock.

Answer: (A) hands

Concept: Voices are perceived by hearing; we hear voices. 'Listen' needs the preposition 'to'.

1. 'Jim heard hushed voices outside his house' – correct verb + object.
2. 'listened hushed voices' lacks 'to'; 'saw' and 'thought' do not go with voices.

Trick: hear + object; listen + to + object.

Answer: (B) heard

Concept: Look for what Rowling did when facing difficulty in the passage.

1. She wrote from the age of six and had two unpublished novels.
2. At first nobody wanted to publish Harry Potter, but 'refusing to compromise, she found a publisher'.
3. Continuing despite rejection = perseverance.

Yaad rakhein: Perseverance = steady effort despite difficulty or delay.

Answer: (B) Perseverance

Concept: A good title covers the whole passage, not just one part.

1. The passage covers her childhood stories, parents, the idea of Harry, teaching in Portugal, rejection, fame and her quality control.
2. This is the story of Rowling's life; 'publishing journey' and 'craft of writing' cover only parts, 'mystery' is not discussed.

Trick: Choose the title that includes the beginning, middle and end of the passage.

Answer: (C) Rowling’s Life

Concept: This is a direct fact question – locate the line in the passage.

1. 'Rowling says she started writing the first book … in Portugal, where she was teaching English.'
2. Designing, writing full-time and accounting are not mentioned.

Trick: For fact questions, scan for keywords ('started writing the first book').

Answer: (C) Teaching

Concept: Conformity means following accepted rules or behaving like everyone else. Its opposite is being unusual or odd.

1. The passage calls her imagination 'an amusing personal quirk' – a quirk is a strange, unusual habit.
2. Quirky (unusual, unconventional) is the opposite of conformity.
3. Constantly, secure and amusing do not mean unconventional.

Yaad rakhein: Conformity ↔ nonconformity, eccentricity, quirkiness.

Answer: (D) Quirky

Concept: Tone = the author's attitude shown through the style of writing.

1. The passage gives facts: her first story, where she started the book, the year of her first royalty cheque, her rise to fame.
2. It neither worries (anxious), nor saddens (gloomy), nor deals with magic or mystery (mystical) – it simply informs.

Trick: Biographical passages full of facts and dates usually have an informative tone.

Answer: (C) Informative