Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: ‘Building castles in the air’ = having unrealistic daydreams that are unlikely to come true.

1. Becoming a millionaire without any hard work is an unrealistic dream.
2. So John was always building castles in the air.
3. ‘Storm in a teacup’ = fuss over a small matter; ‘eat like a horse’ = eat a lot; ‘ace up the sleeve’ = a hidden advantage.

Yaad rakhein: Castles in the air = ‘hawai kile’ – dreams without foundation.

Answer: (C) building castles in the air

Concept: The fixed pair is No sooner … than, and the tense after ‘than’ is simple past when ‘had … V3’ comes first.

1. No sooner had she finished … than she received a call.
2. ‘that’ is wrong with ‘no sooner’; ‘receives’ (present) does not match the past narrative.
3. ‘had received’ would wrongly show the second action as earlier.

Yaad rakhein: No sooner – than; hardly/scarcely – when.

Answer: (D) than she received

Concept: In an imaginary/unreal condition (second conditional) ‘were’ is used with all subjects: If I were …, I would …

1. ‘I would spend’ shows an unreal present condition.
2. So: If I were very rich, I would spend …
3. ‘If I am / have much riches’ do not match ‘would’; ‘was’ is not standard in this subjunctive.

Yaad rakhein: If I were you / If I were rich – subjunctive ‘were’.

Answer: (B) If I were very rich

Concept: A participle/adjective like ‘injured’ is modified by an adverb, not an adjective.

1. ‘Serious’ is an adjective; it cannot modify ‘injured’.
2. Correct: My neighbours were seriously injured in the car accident.
3. Hence the error is in ‘serious injured’.

Yaad rakhein: Adjective qualifies noun (a serious injury); adverb qualifies verb/adjective (seriously injured).

Answer: (A) serious injured

Concept: ‘Down to earth’ = realistic, practical and sensible; unpretentious.

1. The coach is honest, realistic and practical – ‘down to earth’.
2. ‘By and large’ = on the whole; ‘far and wide’ = over a large area; ‘sick and tired’ = fed up.
3. Only ‘down to earth’ describes a person’s practical nature.

Yaad rakhein: Feet on the ground = down to earth.

Answer: (A) down to earth

Concept: ‘Rapid’ = very fast, quick. The opposite is slow.

1. Rapid growth vs slow growth.
2. Active (energetic) and smart (clever) are not opposites of speed.
3. Lately = recently (an adverb of time).

Yaad rakhein: Rapid ↔ slow; quick ↔ sluggish.

Answer: (D) slow

Concept: An action that began in the past and is still continuing, with ‘since/for’, takes the present perfect continuous (have/has been + V-ing).

1. ‘Since 2002’ marks a starting point in the past; the work continues ‘even today’.
2. So ‘I am working’ should be ‘I have been working with him since 2002’.
3. The other segments are correct.

Yaad rakhein: since/for + continuing action → have/has been + V-ing.

Answer: (B) I am working with him since 2002,

Concept: A place where dead bodies are buried is a cemetery (graveyard).

1. Cemetery = burial ground.
2. Demise = death; mansion = a large house.
3. ‘Clementi’ is not an English word for such a place.

Yaad rakhein: Cemetery = graveyard; crematorium = place for cremation.

Answer: (B) Cemetery

Concept: The adjective from ‘recluse’ (a person who lives alone) is reclusive – living in isolation.

1. Recluse is spelt r-e-c-l-u-s-e, so reclusive = r-e-c-l-u-s-i-v-e.
2. ‘Reklusive’ wrongly uses k.
3. ‘Recslusive’, ‘Reclucive’, ‘Reslusive’ all have wrong letters.

Yaad rakhein: recluse + -ive = reclusive (c-l-u-s).

Answer: (D) Reclusive

Concept: ‘Convalesce’ = to recover health and strength gradually after an illness. Its opposite is to break down – collapse.

1. Convalesce = get better; collapse = suddenly fall ill/break down.
2. Conceal (hide), corrupt (make dishonest) and confront (face) are unrelated.
3. Hence ‘collapse’ is the antonym.

Yaad rakhein: Convalescence = recovery period after illness.

Answer: (A) Collapse

Concept: The passage asks why people yawn, so the blank needs a word meaning ‘cause’.

1. ‘Why do people yawn? No one seems to know the exact ___.’
2. The answer to ‘why’ is a reason.
3. ‘Explanation’ is close but ‘exact reason’ is the natural collocation answering ‘why’; ‘basis’ and ‘reality’ do not fit.

Yaad rakhein: Why? → reason; ‘the exact reason’ is a fixed collocation.

Answer: (C) reason

Concept: The blank joins two clauses showing the situation in which we yawn – a time/condition conjunction.

1. ‘We yawn ___ we do not have enough oxygen in our bodies.’
2. When = at the time/whenever this condition occurs – fits naturally.
3. ‘Why’ cannot join here; ‘while’ shows contrast/duration; ‘as’ is less natural with the general belief described.

Yaad rakhein: General condition → ‘when’ (we yawn when we are tired).

Answer: (A) when

Concept: The fixed phrase used to restate an idea is in other words.

1. The next sentence repeats the earlier idea more simply: we yawn to breathe in more oxygen.
2. Such restatement is introduced by ‘In other words’.
3. ‘In some/new/rather words’ are not English expressions.

Yaad rakhein: In other words = that is to say.

Answer: (D) other

Concept: We lack enough oxygen, so we yawn to take in more oxygen.

1. Earlier: ‘we do not have enough oxygen’.
2. The purpose of yawning, then, is to breathe in more oxygen.
3. ‘Less’ and ‘little’ contradict the logic; ‘much’ does not express the needed increase.

Yaad rakhein: Not enough → need more.

Answer: (D) more

Concept: The verb ‘associate’ takes the preposition with.

1. Associated with = connected with.
2. ‘Yawning is associated with boredom.’
3. ‘on’, ‘in’, ‘by’ are not used after ‘associated’ in this sense.

Yaad rakhein: Associate / connect / link → with.

Answer: (C) with

Concept: Look for the pirate expressions listed in the fourth paragraph.

1. The passage says pirates use terms like ‘shiver me timbers’, ‘avast’ and ‘yo-ho-ho’.
2. ‘Yo, dude!’, ‘Howdy, partner!’ and ‘Greetings, friend!’ are not mentioned.

Yaad rakhein: Fact questions: match the exact words in the passage.

Answer: (B) Shiver me timbers

Concept: Tone = the writer’s attitude shown through word choice.

1. Words like ‘just hilarious’, ‘Genius, right?’, ‘eternal game of hide-and-seek with themselves’ show light fun.
2. The conclusion: pirates are ‘pretty darn funny’.
3. It is not serious or angry; the playful teasing is good-natured, not biting sarcasm.

Yaad rakhein: Funny examples + light exclamations → humorous tone.

Answer: (D) Humorous

Concept: The third paragraph describes the writer’s ‘favourite pirate quirk’ – their love of treasure.

1. Pirates search for treasure for years, ‘only to bury it on some deserted island and forget where they put it’.
2. Basketball, cats and gardening are never mentioned (the passage mentions parrots, not cats).

Yaad rakhein: Quirk = odd habit; locate the paragraph using the keyword ‘quirk’.

Answer: (A) Their tendency to forget where they buried their treasure

Concept: A good title covers the whole passage – its main idea and tone.

1. The passage discusses several odd habits (parrots, eyepatches, treasure, language) in a funny way.
2. It ends: pirates are fierce but ‘pretty darn funny’ → The Humorous Quirks of Pirates.
3. ‘Mysterious Language’ covers only one paragraph; ‘Serious’ and ‘Fierce and Intimidating’ contradict the tone.

Yaad rakhein: Title = main idea + tone, not one detail.

Answer: (C) The Humorous Quirks of Pirates

Concept: The second paragraph gives ‘the real reason’ for eyepatches.

1. Some think it is because they lost an eye in battle, ‘but the real reason is … so they can switch the patch from eye to eye and maintain night vision in both eyes’.
2. So option (C) is the popular belief the writer rejects; birthmarks and intimidation are not mentioned.

Yaad rakhein: Watch for ‘but the real reason’ – it overrides the common belief.

Answer: (A) To maintain night vision in both eyes