Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Synonym = word with the same meaning in this context.

1. Excruciating = extremely painful, almost unbearable.
2. Context: she 'groaned' and was 'suffering' again → the embarrassment hurt badly.
3. Justified, Excited, Rational do not mean 'hurting'.

Trick: Link 'excruciate' with 'crux/cross' – agony like being on a cross → pain.

Answer: (D) Painful

Concept: 'but' shows contrast, so the blank needs the opposite of stingy.

1. Stingy = mean, not willing to give or spend.
2. Opposite = generous (giving freely, here giving praise freely).
3. Lazy, aggressive, strict are not opposites of stingy.

Trick: Contrast words (but, while, whereas) in a blank question → look for the direct antonym of the underlined word.

Answer: (D) generous

Concept: Adverb = correct adjective + -ly; the adjective spelling must not change.

1. appropriate + ly = appropriately.
2. 'Appropreately' wrongly uses 'e' in place of 'i' (-priate).
3. Astonishingly, Analytically, Apparently are correct.

Trick: Say it slowly: ap-PRO-pri-ate – the 'pri' sound has an 'i'.

Answer: (B) Appropreately

Concept: A future time point + duration ('for five hours') → will have been + V-ing.

1. 'At 6 p.m. tomorrow' = future point; 'for five hours straight' = duration.
2. Needed: I will have been studying.
3. 'will have been studied' is passive – the speaker does the studying, so it is wrong.

Trick: 'for + period' with a future point almost always signals 'will have been + ing'.

Answer: (B) I will have been studied

Concept: Replacement must fit the meaning: what a teacher handles with children.

1. A teacher interacts with children and handles their questions/doubts.
2. 'queries well' fits both meaning and grammar (noun + adverb).
3. 'solutions', 'chapters', 'parents' don't suit 'handle their …'.

Trick: Read each option back in the sentence – 'handle their queries well' sounds natural; others don't.

Answer: (C) queries well

Concept: 'A piece of cake' = something very easy.

1. They finished the project on time without trouble.
2. So the idiom means an easy task.
3. 'Enjoyable' is a trap – easy is not the same as pleasant.

Yaad rakhein: Similar idioms: 'child's play', 'a walk in the park' – all mean very easy.

Answer: (A) An easy task

Concept: Check the tricky words: excited, receive, surprise, friend.

1. receive – 'e before i' after c (not recieve).
2. surprise (not surprize); friend (not freind); excited (not exicited).
3. Only option (A) has all four correct.

Trick: Rule: 'i before e, except after c' → receive, ceiling; but friend, believe.

Answer: (A) She was excited to receive a surprise gift from her friend on her birthday.

Concept: Compliant = willing to obey or agree with others.

1. Yielding = giving way to others' wishes → same meaning.
2. 'Complaining' only looks similar – it means grumbling.
3. Difficult and adamant (stubborn) are opposites.

Trick: Don't fall for look-alike words: compliant (obeying) ≠ complaining (grumbling).

Answer: (B) yielding

Concept: Collocation = word pair that natives use together.

1. Standard pair: 'far-reaching effect/impact' = effect that spreads widely and lasts long.
2. 'including global expansion' supports a wide effect.
3. 'grand', 'gorgeous' describe appearance; 'broad effect' is not the set phrase.

Yaad rakhein: Other common collocations: 'profound effect', 'adverse effect', 'lasting impact'.

Answer: (C) far-reaching

Concept: Trenchant = sharp, keen, cutting (of words or criticism).

1. Sharp, Acute = synonyms of trenchant.
2. Insightful is also close in meaning.
3. Dull = blunt, lacking sharpness → antonym.

Trick: When two options are synonyms of each other (Sharp, Acute), they can't both be right – eliminate them.

Answer: (B) Dull

Concept: Pick an adverb whose meaning matches the action of its verb.

1. 'Rapidly' describes speed of movement or change (grew rapidly, ran rapidly).
2. 'Played' in a park is better described by manner – happily, energetically.
3. So 'played rapidly' is the faulty segment.

Yaad rakhein: Adverbs of manner (how?) usually end in -ly, but each must match its verb's sense.

Answer: (B) played rapidly

Concept: Approbate = to approve or sanction formally.

1. Accept and Permit are on the same side (agree/allow).
2. Supply is unrelated.
3. Reject = refuse → opposite of approve.

Trick: Approbate ≈ approve (same root 'probare' = to test/prove) → antonym of approve = reject.

Answer: (C) Reject

Concept: Truce = a temporary agreement to stop fighting or arguing.

1. 'ended on a temporary agreement' → 'ended on a truce'.
2. Hot war and fight are the opposite idea.
3. Agenda = list of points for a meeting.

Yaad rakhein: Ceasefire ≈ truce; armistice = formal agreement to end fighting in a war.

Answer: (A) truce

Concept: 'Bite the bullet' = face a difficult or painful situation bravely.

1. He was nervous but still faced the presentation → bite the bullet.
2. Bite the dust = fail/die; bite one's tongue = stop oneself from speaking.
3. 'Bite the pain' is not an idiom.

Yaad rakhein: Origin: soldiers bit a bullet to bear pain during surgery without anaesthesia.

Answer: (D) bite the bullet

Concept: Precarious = dangerously unstable or uncertain.

1. Clue: his bank balance is neither secure nor stable.
2. 'hazardous and perilous situation' → precarious situation.
3. Guarded, definite, reliable all suggest safety or certainty.

Trick: Three options are 'safe' words; the only 'risky' word is the answer.

Answer: (A) precarious

Concept: Use 'in' with seas and oceans when something sinks there.

1. The ferry sank in the Baltic (Sea).
2. 'on' suggests the surface; 'over', 'up' show movement – no sense with sinking.

Yaad rakhein: We say 'in the sea' for things within water and 'on the sea' for travelling across its surface.

Answer: (C) in

Concept: should + never + have + V3 = something that happened but ought not to have.

1. The writer lists reasons the ship ought to have been safe.
2. So: it 'should never have happened'.
3. would/could/might express possibility, not what ought to be.

Yaad rakhein: 'should have + V3' = past obligation not fulfilled / past regret.

Answer: (C) should

Concept: 'and' joins words of the same tone: 'well designed and ___ maintained'.

1. The passage praises the ship (good design, enough lifeboats, inspection).
2. So a positive adverb is needed → carefully.
3. awkwardly, carelessly, haphazardly are negative.

Trick: Three options share one tone (negative) – the odd positive one fits a praising passage.

Answer: (B) carefully

Concept: Passive past: was/were + V3. Singular subject 'It' → was.

1. The ship was inspected (by someone) → passive.
2. Story is in past tense → 'was inspected'.
3. 'have been' doesn't suit 'It'; 'has been' is present perfect; 'was been' is never correct.

Trick: 'was been' is always wrong – strike it out first.

Answer: (B) was

Concept: Parallel verbs after 'and' share tense and meaning: 'rolled over and ___'.

1. The passage is about the Estonia going down.
2. Past tense of sink = sank → 'rolled over and sank'.
3. improved, upgraded, marched make no sense here.

Yaad rakhein: Sink – sank – sunk (V1 – V2 – V3).

Answer: (A) sank