Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: An adverb of manner must suit the verb's meaning, not just be grammatically an adverb.

1. 'Brightly' relates to light, colour or a cheerful look (shine brightly, smile brightly).
2. Handling a tough situation needs a manner word like wisely, skilfully or bravely.
3. Correct: '…wisely handled the difficult situation.'

Trick: Ask 'handled how?' – if the -ly word does not answer it sensibly, that segment has the error.

Answer: (C) brightly handled

Concept: Antonym = word with the opposite meaning.

1. Construct = to build, put together (बनाना).
2. Demolish = to pull down, destroy a building (ढहाना).
3. Detect = find out; Compensate = make up for a loss; Proceed = go ahead – not opposites.

Yaad rakhein: Construct ↔ Demolish/Destroy; Create ↔ Annihilate.

Answer: (C) Demolish

Concept: Use the sentence clue – 'modern and antiquated' are paired as opposites.

1. Antiquated = very old, out of date.
2. Contemporary = of the present time, modern.
3. Obsolete, Ancient, Outdated are synonyms of antiquated – traps.

Trick: When three options mean the same thing, they cancel out – the odd one is usually the antonym.

Answer: (B) Contemporary

Concept: A word describing how an action is done must be an adverb, not an adjective.

1. Part B says she draws the diagrams 'very careful'.
2. 'Careful' is an adjective; it modifies 'draws', so use the adverb 'carefully'.
3. Parts A ('While teaching,') and C ('on the board.') are fine.

Trick: Verb + very + ___ → almost always an -ly word (speaks very softly, runs very fast).

Answer: (A) B

Concept: Choose the idiom whose meaning = 'remained optimistic'.

1. Keep one's chin up = stay cheerful and hopeful in hard times.
2. Keep a stiff upper lip = hide emotions, not show distress (not 'hopeful').
3. Keep a close eye = watch carefully; 'keep at bay' = keep away.

Trick: Picture it – a raised chin = confident, positive face.

Answer: (A) kept their chin up

Concept: 'Whereas' shows contrast, so the blank needs the opposite of 'arrogant'.

1. Arrogant = proud, thinks too highly of oneself (घमंडी).
2. Humble = modest, not proud (विनम्र).
3. Rude = impolite; honest/better do not oppose pride.

Yaad rakhein: Arrogant ↔ Humble/Modest; Haughty ↔ Meek.

Answer: (A) humble

Concept: Idioms carry a non-literal meaning.

1. 'The cat's pajamas' is old American slang praising something as superb.
2. Example: That new café is the cat's pajamas – everyone loves it.

Yaad rakhein: Similar slang: 'the bee's knees' – also means excellent.

Answer: (D) Excellent and Outstanding

Concept: 'Once chaotic … now surprisingly ___' signals a change to the opposite state.

1. Opposite of chaotic = orderly, organized.
2. Tumultuous, hectic, disorganised all mean chaotic – no change, no surprise.

Trick: Words 'once … now' + 'astonishment' = reversal; pick the antonym of the earlier state.

Answer: (B) organized

Concept: Collocation = words that naturally go together in English.

1. A drowning man waves in panic and haste.
2. Frantically = wildly, desperately – 'wave frantically' is the natural pair.
3. Softly/poorly clash with the urgency; 'strongly' does not collocate with 'wave'.

Yaad rakhein: Common pairs: search frantically, wave frantically, work tirelessly, sleep soundly.

Answer: (D) frantically

Concept: Antonym = word of opposite meaning.

1. Despair = total hopelessness (निराशा).
2. Faith = trust, hope, belief (विश्वास/आस्था) – the opposite feeling.
3. Appear, Clumsy, Incline are unrelated.

Yaad rakhein: Despair ↔ Hope/Faith/Optimism.

Answer: (A) Faith

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

1. Bleak = gloomy, without hope (निराशाजनक).
2. Cheerful = bright, positive, hopeful.
3. Clean, blank are unrelated; stony is close to bleak, not opposite.

Yaad rakhein: Bleak outlook ↔ bright/cheerful/rosy outlook.

Answer: (D) cheerful

Concept: A relative clause should come right after the noun it describes.

1. The original adds an extra 'and that I require it' – awkward and repetitive.
2. (B) places 'that I require' after 'the engine part' and keeps one main verb 'is no longer made'.
3. (C) 'has absent' and (D) 'I needs' are grammatically wrong; (A) drops 'I require'.

Trick: Eliminate options with obvious errors (I needs, has absent) first – only (A) and (B) remain; (A) loses meaning.

Answer: (B) that I require is no longer made.

Concept: Correct spelling: C-E-M-E-T-E-R-Y.

1. All three vowels after C are 'e'; single 'm', single 'r'.
2. 'cemetary' and 'cematery' wrongly use 'a'; 'cemmetarry' doubles m and r.

Trick: 'Cemetery' has only E's – think 'E-E-E, screamed the ghosts in the cemetery'.

Answer: (D) cemetery

Concept: Double the last consonant before -ing only when the word ends in one vowel + one consonant (run → running).

1. 'Grant' ends in two consonants (n, t) → no doubling.
2. Grant + ing = Granting (like hunt → hunting).

Trick: Two consonants at the end already? Just add -ing.

Answer: (C) Granting

Concept: The substitute must keep the same meaning.

1. Bold move = brave, risky action.
2. Daring step = courageous action – same sense.
3. Cautious, timid, predictable all suggest the opposite of bold.

Trick: Match word-to-word: bold ≈ daring, move ≈ step.

Answer: (D) daring step

Concept: The blank after 'climate' needs a noun naming a serious problem.

1. 'Climate crisis' is the standard expression for the global emergency.
2. Later the passage calls it 'the problem' – a crisis fits; chapter, context, case do not.

Trick: Read ahead in the passage – a later word ('problem') often confirms the earlier blank.

Answer: (A) crisis

Concept: After a preposition, use 'which' for things and 'whom' for people.

1. The antecedent is 'issues' (things) and the blank follows 'in'.
2. 'In which' is correct; 'that' never follows a preposition; 'whose' needs a noun after it.

Trick: Preposition + ___ → only 'which' (things) or 'whom' (persons) can fill it.

Answer: (A) which

Concept: Pick the standard term that 'impacts of climate ___' refers to.

1. 'Climate change' is the process whose effects hit poor communities hardest.
2. Challenge and measure are responses, not causes; 'controlling' is ungrammatical here.

Yaad rakhein: Fixed pairs in this topic: climate change, climate crisis, climate justice, climate action.

Answer: (C) change

Concept: Fixed preposition: responsible for something, responsible to someone.

1. Here the object is 'the problem' (a thing).
2. So 'responsible for the problem'.

Yaad rakhein: Accountable/responsible FOR an act, TO a person.

Answer: (B) for

Concept: 'The ___ impacted' needs a superlative; participles take 'most'.

1. The communities suffer the greatest effect → 'the most impacted'.
2. Big, drastic, easy cannot modify the participle 'impacted' this way.

Trick: 'the + ___ + past participle' → fill with 'most' or 'least'.

Answer: (C) most