Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A clause that describes a noun and lacks its own subject begins with a relative pronoun.

1. “___ promises to … create anything” has a verb but no subject.
2. 'That' refers back to 'technology' and acts as the subject: “a technology that promises…”.
3. 'Than' is for comparison, 'then' for time, 'the' is an article.

Trick: Replace the blank with 'which' — if it fits, 'that' is right.

Answer: (B) that

Concept: Choose the single word carrying the meaning 'brief yet exact'.

1. Succinct = expressed clearly in few words.
2. Verbose = wordy; diffuse = scattered, rambling; redundant = unnecessary repetition — all the opposite idea.

Yaad rakhein: Similar words: concise, terse, pithy, laconic — all mean brief.

Answer: (C) succinct

Concept: 'Too' / 'much too' is followed by the positive degree, not the comparative.

1. “much too faster” is wrong — no comparison is being made.
2. Correct: “that he sings much too fast.”
3. The other two parts are fine.

Trick: 'too' = excess, '-er' = comparison. They never come together: too fast, too big — never too faster.

Answer: (A) that he sings much too faster.

Concept: Idioms have a figurative meaning, not a literal one.

1. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating” = the real value of something is known only after testing or using it.
2. Options about food or hunger take 'pudding' literally; 'alertness' is unrelated.

Trick: In food-based idioms, reject options that talk about food itself.

Answer: (B) A person can only know if something is good or bad by trying it

Concept: The suffix is '-able' when added to a complete word.

1. comfort + able = comfortable (correct).
2. Option (D) has 'comfortible' — wrong.
3. Dessert, project, historical are correct.

Trick: If the root is a full word (comfort, accept, read), use -able; -ible usually follows incomplete roots (vis-ible, poss-ible).

Answer: (D) The hotel room was very clean and comfortible.

Concept: Collocations are word pairs that naturally go together.

1. 'Actively involved' = taking a real, energetic part — fits 30 years of social service.
2. 'Exactly/gently/brightly involved' are not natural English.

Yaad rakhein: Other common pairs: deeply involved, closely involved, heavily involved.

Answer: (A) actively

Concept: Verbs like order, ask, tell, advise follow: verb + object + to + V1.

1. “ordered the group to leave the premises.”
2. 'To left' — past form after 'to' is wrong; 'left'/'leaving' do not fit after the object here.

Trick: 'to' + verb is always the base form (V1): to go, to leave, to eat.

Answer: (B) to leave

Concept: Somebody, everyone, nobody, anybody are singular → singular verb.

1. 'Somebody have left' → 'Somebody has left'.
2. The object 'dirty clothes' is present, so the sentence is active — passive forms (was/were/have been left) do not fit.

Trick: Words ending in -body, -one, -thing always take has/is/was.

Answer: (A) has left

Concept: A word that describes how an action is done must be an adverb.

1. 'worked strenuous' uses an adjective after the verb — should be 'strenuously'.
2. 'Meticulously', 'laboriously' are adverbs; 'hard' is both adjective and adverb, so 'worked hard' is correct.

Trick: Ask 'worked how?' — the answer word usually needs -ly (except hard, fast, late).

Answer: (B) The teacher noticed that all students worked strenuous to complete the project on time.

Concept: Commonly misspelt words.

1. Correct spelling: n-e-c-e-s-s-a-r-y — one 'c', double 's'.
2. 'neccessary' has an extra 'c'.
3. process, required, application are correct.

Trick: “Never Eat Cake, Eat Salad Sandwiches And Remain Young” — spells NECESSARY.

Answer: (B) neccessary

Concept: Pick the word with the same meaning.

1. Brutal = extremely cruel, without pity.
2. Ruthless = merciless, cruel → synonym.
3. Notable = remarkable, heroic = brave, active = energetic.

Trick: “Ruth” = pity in old English; ruth-less = without pity = brutal.

Answer: (C) Ruthless

Concept: Antonym = opposite meaning in the given context.

1. Sloppy dresser = careless, untidy about clothes.
2. Meticulous = extremely careful about details → opposite.
3. Messy, shabby, untidy are synonyms of sloppy.

Trick: Three options share one meaning — the odd one out is usually the antonym.

Answer: (B) meticulous

Concept: Find the word with the same meaning.

1. Convoluted = twisted, very complicated and hard to follow.
2. Complex = having many connected parts, difficult → synonym.
3. Straightforward and direct are antonyms; neutral = impartial.

Trick: Two options (straightforward, direct) mean the same — both can't be right, so eliminate them first.

Answer: (D) Complex

Concept: Fill the blank with the opposite of the bracketed word.

1. Traditional = following long-established, old ways.
2. Contemporary = modern, of the present time → opposite.
3. Ancient is even older; stale and unique describe quality, not time.

Yaad rakhein: Contemporary also means 'living at the same time' (e.g. Akbar and Shakespeare were contemporaries).

Answer: (C) contemporary

Concept: Find the word opposite in meaning.

1. Haughty = proud, arrogant, looking down on others.
2. Modest = humble, not boastful → opposite.
3. Distracted = unfocused, transient = short-lived, ample = plenty.

Yaad rakhein: Synonyms of haughty: arrogant, conceited, snobbish; antonyms: humble, modest.

Answer: (A) Modest

Concept: Choose the particle that forms the right phrasal verb.

1. 'Eat up' = eat completely — matches birds eating 'all' the grains.
2. 'Eat away' = wear down slowly (rust eats away metal).
3. 'Eat off/on' do not give this meaning.

Trick: 'Up' often signals completion: eat up, use up, burn up, drink up.

Answer: (C) up

Concept: Contrasting ideas are joined by 'but'.

1. They kept watch, yet the crops were not saved — contrast.
2. 'But still' is a natural pair.
3. 'Because', 'as', 'for' show reason — meaning would become illogical.

Trick: The word 'still' after the blank is a contrast signal → 'but'.

Answer: (D) but

Concept: Passive voice: be-form + V3; tense and number must match.

1. Subject 'bundles of straw' is plural and receives the action → passive.
2. The story is in simple past → 'were used'.
3. 'Are used' is present; 'has been used' is singular; 'had been used' needs a later past action.

Trick: The parallel clause “The face … was made” is simple past passive — mirror it: were used.

Answer: (B) were used

Concept: A possessive adjective comes before a noun.

1. '___ illusion' — the illusion belongs to the scarecrow (singular, non-human) → 'its'.
2. 'It's' = it is; 'their' is plural; 'theirs' cannot stand before a noun.

Trick: Expand it's to 'it is' — “perfect it is illusion” makes no sense, so use its.

Answer: (A) its

Concept: Royal order of adjectives: Opinion → Size → Age → Shape → Colour → Origin → Material → Purpose.

1. tattered = opinion/condition, old = age, brown = colour.
2. So: “a tattered, old, brown coat”.

Trick: Mnemonic OSASCOMP. Colour almost always comes just before origin/material/noun — reject options starting with 'brown'.

Answer: (B) tattered, old, brown