Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Strength is spelt s-t-r-e-n-g-t-h ('g' before 't-h').

1. 'strenght' → strength; error in 'as the strenght'.
2. The first 'strength' in 'My strength is' is correct.
3. The line is from Tennyson's poem Sir Galahad.

Trick: strong → strength, long → length: 'ng' + 'th'.

Answer: (C) as the strenght

Concept: Upright (of a person) = honest, morally correct. Opposite: immoral.

1. Upright = moral, honest ↔ Immoral.
2. Ethical is a synonym.
3. Stout = fat/strong; Brave = courageous – unrelated.

Trick: Upright citizen = honest citizen; opposite = immoral.

Answer: (B) Immoral

Concept: Strike – struck – struck; the older past participle stricken is used as an adjective (grief-stricken).

1. strike (V₁), struck (V₂/V₃), stricken (adjective/old V₃) – all valid.
2. strucken is not an English word.
3. So the incorrect form is 'strucken'.

Trick: strike → struck → struck/stricken; never 'strucken'.

Answer: (D) strucken

Concept: Ebullient = cheerful and full of energy. Opposite: weary = tired, lacking energy.

1. Energetic, enthusiastic ↔ weary.
2. Deciduous = (trees) shedding leaves.
3. Clamant = noisy/urgent; Rude = impolite – not opposites.

Trick: Ebullient = 'boiling over' with energy; weary = drained of energy.

Answer: (D) Weary

Concept: Atheist = a person who does not believe in the existence of God (a- = without, theos = God).

1. Does not believe in God → atheist.
2. Catholic = a member of the Roman Catholic Church; Priest = religious minister.
3. Reverent = showing deep respect.

Trick: theist = believes in God; a + theist = atheist; theology = study of God.

Answer: (D) Atheist

Concept: Tight = firmly stretched or fixed. Opposite: slack = loose, not tight.

1. A tight rope ↔ a slack rope.
2. Cordial = warm and friendly.
3. Comfortable, Resilient (able to recover) are not opposites.

Trick: Tight ↔ slack/loose.

Answer: (B) Slack

Concept: Bind = tie or fasten something tightly; to make secure.

1. Bind = fasten → secure.
2. Disengage = release – opposite.
3. Amuse = entertain; Flourish = grow well – unrelated.

Trick: Bind/secure/fasten/tie – same family.

Answer: (A) Secure

Concept: Arsenal = a place where weapons and ammunition are made or stored.

1. Storage of arms → arsenal.
2. Mint = where coins are made.
3. Monastery = residence of monks; Scullery = room for washing dishes.

Trick: Arsenal football club got its name from Royal Arsenal (a weapons factory).

Answer: (B) Arsenal

Concept: A promise to give something 'if…' must depend on gaining power; also 'came in power' is wrong – the phrase is 'come to power'.

1. Logical condition: if his party forms the government.
2. Losing the election (A, B) cannot let him fulfil a promise.
3. 'he comes to a party' changes the meaning.

Trick: Election promise → 'if we form the government / come to power'.

Answer: (C) party forms the government

Concept: Leave someone high and dry = leave someone in a difficult situation without help.

1. Abandoned by partners in difficulty → high and dry.
2. Hard and fast = (rules) fixed, strict.
3. Head and shoulders above = far better; Heart and soul = with full devotion.

Trick: A ship stranded on the shore (high and dry) is stuck with no help.

Answer: (A) High and dry

Concept: Mowgli is a famous, much-loved character of a classic – a positive adjective is needed.

1. 'beloved character' = dearly loved; fits 'classic' and later praise of the book.
2. overlooked, scorned, despised are negative and contradict the passage's admiring tone.

Trick: Classic + 'continues to captivate readers' → positive word.

Answer: (A) beloved

Concept: The collocation is experience adventures; the verb must also be singular present to match 'forms friendships'.

1. Mowgli experiences thrilling adventures and forms friendships…
2. exaggerates = overstates; enunciates = pronounces clearly; excavates = digs – none fit 'adventures'.

Trick: Adventures are experienced/undergone.

Answer: (D) experiences

Concept: Navigate challenges = find one's way through difficulties – the standard collocation.

1. He navigates the challenges of living among humans and jungle creatures.
2. customises = modifies to suit; procures = obtains; coordinates = organises – none collocate with 'challenges'.

Trick: navigate challenges / difficulties / obstacles.

Answer: (A) navigates

Concept: A classic book 'continues to captivate readers' = keeps attracting and holding their attention.

1. captivate readers of all ages – a natural positive collocation.
2. register, magnify make no sense with readers; manipulate is negative.

Trick: Books captivate/enthral/charm readers.

Answer: (B) captivate

Concept: The portrayal of a 'remarkable journey' and 'the beauty of the natural world' must be described positively – enchanting = delightfully charming.

1. Its enchanting portrayal… – matches 'captivate' and 'beauty'.
2. surprising is neutral; abnormal and ordinary contradict 'remarkable'.

Trick: Captivate + beauty + remarkable → enchanting.

Answer: (A) enchanting

Concept: In a 'find the word from the passage' question, the chosen word must (i) appear in the passage and (ii) carry the same meaning as the given word in that context.

1. The word in the passage that means 'create / bring about' is inducing ("…can destabilise faults, inducing earthquakes") – i.e. causing or producing them. It is not among the options.
2. Deplete = use up / reduce – it does not even occur in the passage.
3. Destabilise = make unsteady; Seismic = related to earthquakes (an adjective); Increase = make or become larger in amount – it means growing something that already exists, not creating it.
4. So none of the four options means 'create'.

Yaad rakhein: create ≈ produce, generate, cause, induce; increase ≈ raise, enlarge (not the same as create).

Answer: No option is correct – the passage word for 'create' is 'inducing', which is not given; so the question has no valid answer.

Concept: Tone is the writer's attitude, judged from the word choice and the way facts are presented.

1. The passage reports facts – the 2016 Pawnee earthquake, wastewater injection, mining, dams, the Wenchuan and Nepal quakes – and explains when human activity can trigger earthquakes. The tone is informative / objective, with some concern about the rising number of such quakes.
2. Dogmatic (stubbornly insisting one's view is right) – no; the writer is balanced: "In most of the cases industrial activities do not induce earthquakes."
3. Apologetic (expressing regret) – no apology is made.
4. Contemptuous (scornful) – no mocking or scornful words about the industries or agencies; Cynical (distrusting motives) – the writer does not doubt anyone's intentions.

Trick: A passage full of dates, data and cause–effect facts has an objective/informative tone; emotional labels like contemptuous or cynical need emotional words as proof.

Answer: None of the options fits – the tone is factual and concerned, not dogmatic, apologetic, contemptuous or cynical; so the question has no valid answer.

Concept: Locate the line: 'Such earthquakes are related to industrial activities such as mining, construction of water dams, injection of liquids…'.

1. The passage directly states human-caused earthquakes are related to industrial activities.
2. AI, population explosion and space expeditions are never mentioned.

Trick: Factual RC questions – match the exact wording in the passage.

Answer: (C) industrial activities

Concept: A good title covers the central idea: earthquakes induced by industrial activities (wastewater injection, mining, dams, oil and gas).

1. Central theme = danger from industrial activity → Industrial Threats.
2. 'Seismic Depression' is meaningless here; 'How Safe Are We on this Earth?' is too broad.
3. 'Man Vs Man' does not reflect the topic.

Trick: Title = main idea, neither too broad nor too narrow.

Answer: (C) Industrial Threats

Concept: The fourth paragraph says: 'With the ever-increasing demand for energy and mineral supplies worldwide, the number of human-caused earthquakes is expected to rise'.

1. Reason for the expected rise = demand for energy and minerals.
2. Greenhouse effect, fragility of the earth and soil erosion are not mentioned.

Trick: Look for 'expected to rise' in the passage – the cause is in the same sentence.

Answer: (C) It is due to the demand for energy and minerals.