Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: By leaps and bounds = very quickly, in large amounts.

1. Leaps and bounds are big jumps – progress made in big jumps is rapid.
2. Example: Her English improved by leaps and bounds.
3. Slowly is the opposite; unknowingly and normally do not fit.

Trick: Big jumps → fast growth → rapidly.

Answer: (D) Rapidly

Concept: Skating / being on thin ice is figurative: being in a risky position where one may get into trouble.

1. (C) After a controversial statement he could face criticism/punishment – figurative risk, correct use.
2. (A), (B), (D) use 'thin ice' in a literal or physical sense (frozen lake, tightrope, icy road), so the idiom is misused.

Trick: Idioms are used figuratively, not literally.

Answer: (C) He was on thin ice after making a controversial statement.

Concept: The verb agrees with the head noun of the subject, not with the noun after 'of'.

1. Subject 'the seeds (of character)' is plural → plural verb are.
2. A general truth needs simple present (passive): the seeds of character are sown.
3. 'had been sown', 'were sown' are past; 'will have been sowing' is wrong voice and tense.

Trick: Ignore the 'of-phrase': seeds … are.

Answer: (D) the seeds of character are sown

Concept: Confusing = making things unclear, misleading someone.

1. In the sentence, the stars are guiding travellers = showing them the right way.
2. Guiding (making the way clear) is the opposite of confusing.
3. Twinkled, travellers and journey have no opposite relation.

Trick: Confuse = mislead ↔ guide = lead correctly.

Answer: (A) Guiding

Concept: With 'prefer', the thing not liked is introduced by to, not 'than'.

1. Structure: prefer + noun/gerund + to + noun/gerund.
2. Correct: I prefer walking to riding.
3. 'above', 'from', 'with' are not used with prefer.

Yaad rakhein: Prefer … to; rather … than (I would rather walk than ride).

Answer: (A) walking to riding

Concept: A noun made specific by a following clause takes the.

1. 'the book they gave us' – a particular book, identified by 'they gave us'.
2. So 'a book' is wrong; correct: We were grateful for the book they gave us.
3. 'We were', 'grateful for', 'they gave us' are correct.

Trick: Noun + defining clause (that/which/they …) → 'the'.

Answer: (D) a book

Concept: Be in seventh heaven = to be extremely happy, delighted.

1. In some traditions the seventh heaven is the highest, happiest heaven.
2. Example: She was in seventh heaven after topping the exam.
3. Being ignored, improving performance or avoiding a topic are unrelated.

Trick: Seventh heaven = highest joy (also: on cloud nine).

Answer: (C) To be in a state of extreme happiness

Concept: 'than' requires the comparative degree; also, statements about a person of the past use past tense.

1. great → comparative greater (with 'than any other').
2. Shakespeare lived in the past → was greater than any other English poet.
3. 'great than' is wrong degree; 'greatest than' mixes superlative with 'than'; 'is' does not suit a historical person here.

Trick: than → comparative (-er); than any other + singular noun.

Answer: (B) was greater than

Concept: Reckon originally means to count or calculate (also 'to consider').

1. The basic dictionary sense: reckon = count/calculate (e.g. reckon the cost).
2. Merit = worth; Imagine = picture in the mind.
3. Assess is close to 'judge' but the primary synonym is count.

Trick: Reckoner (ready reckoner) = a counting/calculating table.

Answer: (C) Count

Concept: Bread and butter = a person's main source of income, the job that pays for basic needs.

1. Example: Teaching is his bread and butter.
2. So it means means of livelihood.
3. 'Comfortable living' and 'money making' go beyond the meaning; 'breakfast' is literal.

Trick: Bread and butter = roti-rozi = livelihood.

Answer: (B) Means of livelihood

Concept: Superheroes have powers far beyond those of normal people.

1. Extraordinary = very unusual, beyond the ordinary – fits 'superheroes ... powers'.
2. Pragmatic = practical; Hereditary = inherited; Familiar = well known/common – none describes super powers.

Trick: Super-hero → extra-ordinary powers.

Answer: (A) extraordinary

Concept: A relative clause 'that ___' needs a finite verb agreeing with its antecedent.

1. Antecedent 'backstories' is plural and the passage is in simple present (have, use, wear).
2. So: backstories that explain how they gained their powers.
3. 'explaining' is non-finite; 'was explain' and 'had explain' are ungrammatical.

Trick: Plural noun + that + base verb (no –s) in present tense.

Answer: (C) explain

Concept: The blank introduces examples of how powers were gained.

1. Born with powers, bitten by a radioactive spider, exposed to cosmic radiation – a list of examples.
2. Examples are introduced by such as.
3. Therefore = result; subsequently = later; instead = alternative – none introduces examples.

Trick: List of examples follows → 'such as' / 'like'.

Answer: (D) such as

Concept: A reflexive pronoun must agree with its subject in number and person.

1. Subject: 'They' (superheroes) – third person plural.
2. They wear outfits to protect themselves.
3. Ourselves = we; herself/himself = singular – mismatch.

Trick: They → themselves; we → ourselves; he → himself.

Answer: (A) themselves

Concept: With present perfect and a period of time, we use for.

1. 'have been a staple ... ___ decades' – decades is a length of time.
2. So: for decades.
3. 'on' is for days/dates; 'under' and 'above' are not used for duration.

Yaad rakhein: for + period (for decades); since + point of time (since 1938).

Answer: (A) for

Concept: Realize (in the passage: 'To realize this truth') = to understand clearly.

1. Its opposite is misunderstand = understand wrongly.
2. Understand, comprehend and grasp are synonyms of realize.

Trick: Prefix mis- gives the opposite: understand → misunderstand.

Answer: (A) Misunderstand

Concept: The passage says ancient Greece, Egypt and India had great civilizations, 'But they are not nations'.

1. So ancient India was an ancient civilization but not an ancient nation – statement (C).
2. (A) is wrong: modern people imagine their nation as ancient, not that ancient nations existed in fact.
3. (B) contradicts the author, who asks us to forget school history; (D) – these media make the nation seem ancient, not modern.

Trick: Match the option to a direct line of the passage.

Answer: (C) Ancient India is an ancient civilization but not an ancient nation.

Concept: Obvious = easily seen or understood; plain.

1. Synonym: clear.
2. Dubious, ambiguous and doubtful all mean uncertain/unclear – they are antonyms.

Trick: Obvious = clear; the other three all carry 'doubt'.

Answer: (B) clear

Concept: The author says it is 'that history, drilled into your heads ... that make[s] it seem obvious to you that your nation is ancient'.

1. The author holds that no nation is ancient.
2. School history taught that our nation is ancient, so we must forget it to see the truth – option (A).
3. (B) is a separate remark; (C) reverses the claim; (D) – festivals make the nation seem ancient, not modern.

Trick: Look for the 'because' line in the passage.

Answer: (A) because the history book taught us that our nation is ancient

Concept: Drill something into someone's head = to teach something by repeating it again and again.

1. In the passage, history was 'drilled into your heads from the time you were children' – taught repeatedly.
2. So it means: make someone learn or understand something by repeating it.
3. Threatening, forcing the head to move or questioning are literal/incorrect readings.

Trick: Drill = repeated practice (like a military drill).

Answer: (A) make someone learn or understand something by repeating it