Fill in the blanks MCQs

Correct Answer: That he could not buy us food

The correct answer is That he could not buy us food, as asked in this question on Fill in the blanks.

Correct Answer: Capacity

'Capacity' fits best here, implying the maximum amount of work or mental boundary one can handle.

Correct Answer: Emerged

'Emerged' correctly implies coming into view or appearing from behind an obstruction like clouds.

Correct Answer: With

The book's fill-in is 'with': a signature with blue ink.

Correct Answer: For

The standard preposition is 'for': one is compensated for a loss, though the book also prints 'against'.

Correct Answer: Look down upon

We should not look down upon the poor.

Correct Answer: Whom

The relative pronoun is 'whom': a person whom I knew helped the orphan.

Correct Answer: Across

The book's fill-in is 'across': ran across.

Correct Answer: After

To hanker after worldly pleasures is to long for them.

Correct Answer: A

The article is 'a': I have a one rupee note.

Correct Answer: Was

The past form is 'was': it was too cold last night.

Correct Answer: catharsis, outrage at

The completed sentence reads: 'An essential purpose of the criminal justice system is to enable purgation to take place; that is, to provide a catharsis by which a community expresses its collective outrage at the transgression of the criminal.'.

Correct Answer: shot, demand

The completed sentence reads: 'The Government shot down the opposition demand for a joint parliamentary committee probe.'.

Correct Answer: ideas, novel

The completed sentence reads: 'The new ideas in the defence field are quite novel and hence appreciable.'.

Correct Answer: genial, dispelled

The completed sentence reads: 'The genial manner of the officer dispelled all his fears.'.

Correct Answer: advantage, nepotism

The completed sentence reads: 'Giving unfair advantage to one's relatives in the matter of appointment and such other benefits is nepotism.'.

Correct Answer: problem, agreed

The completed sentence reads: 'The dimensions of the problem are known and the solution is agreed on.'.

Correct Answer: dividends, individuality

The completed sentence reads: 'Such are the small dividends of allowing people their individuality.'.

Correct Answer: involving, influencing

The completed sentence reads: 'The second type of standards are those involving usage and practice influencing the behaviour of all market players.'.

Correct Answer: motivates, noticed

The completed sentence reads: 'A competitive market motivates the desire to get noticed.'.

Correct Answer: grapple, methodology

The completed sentence reads: 'The entire segment failed to grapple with the main question of the methodology of historical inquiry.'.

Correct Answer: requiring, woefully

The completed sentence reads: 'The truth is that in a highly capital intensive business requiring deep pockets, domestic civil aviation is woefully undercapitalized.'.

Correct Answer: strategy, eradicate

The completed sentence reads: 'Time has now come for all agencies working in the development sector to launch a multi pronged strategy to eradicate malnutrition.'.

Correct Answer: nourished, populace

The completed sentence reads: 'A well nourished, physically and mentally active populace alone can contribute to the speedier economic progress of a nation.'.

Correct Answer: monitoring, review

The completed sentence reads: 'We must develop monitoring systems from the village upwards and up to the national level to constantly review the nutritional status of the people.'.

Correct Answer: beating, mediocrity

The completed sentence reads: 'Democracy has taken a beating in a system which promotes sycophancy and mediocrity.'.

Correct Answer: suppress, undermine

The completed sentence reads: 'People in power love to suppress the freedom of expression by the players because it might undermine their position.'.

Correct Answer: spiritual, potential

The completed sentence reads: 'Rituals play an important role in spiritual growth and growth of our minds to its full potential.'.

Correct Answer: Contrary, action

The completed sentence reads: 'Contrary to the popular belief that every astrologer nurtures blind faith in fate, our astrologer believes action.'. Note: 'believes action' is elliptical (for 'believes in action'), but (a) is the only pair fitting 'Contrary to the popular belief'.

Correct Answer: perseverance, desired

The completed sentence reads: 'His perseverance has yielded him the desired fruit.'.

Correct Answer: barriers, opened

The completed sentence reads: 'Liberalization has removed all the legal barriers and opened flood gates to multinational companies.'.

Correct Answer: generous, appreciated

The completed sentence reads: 'His generous contribution to the Tsunami relief fund was appreciated by his staff members.'.

Correct Answer: bombardment, panic

The completed sentence reads: 'The bombardment on some of the towns has created panic among the residents of the other part of the country.'.

Correct Answer: pitfalls, systematic

The completed sentence reads: 'To avoid pitfalls, there is a need for systematic planning of the project.'.

Correct Answer: usefulness, utility

The completed sentence reads: 'A good management will decide not only the usefulness for equipment but also its utility for deciding priorities.'.

Correct Answer: What, blunder

The completed sentence reads: 'What appears to be a small error in the beginning may turn out to be a blunder in the long run.'.

Correct Answer: pushy, persuasive

The completed sentence reads: 'Being very pushy in nature, he always uses his persuasive skills.'.

Correct Answer: have, exists

The completed sentence reads: 'Demand and supply do not have the same relationship as the one that exists between height and weight.'.

Correct Answer: philanthropist, benevolence

The completed sentence reads: 'A philanthropist is known for his benevolence.'.

Correct Answer: criterion, integrity

The completed sentence reads: 'One criterion by which we may estimate the character of a man in public office is his integrity.'.

Correct Answer: unwavering, irascible

The completed sentence reads: 'Because of his unwavering honesty, employers tolerated his irascible outbursts and did not fire him.'.

Correct Answer: accounted, domestically

The completed sentence reads: 'Since its launch, the computer programme has accounted for two thirds of all software sales domestically.'.

Correct Answer: expedient, alleviate

The completed sentence reads: 'The expedient law of increase old age pensions was passed to alleviate the hardship of the elderly voters in the state.'.

Correct Answer: cogent, dispelled

The completed sentence reads: 'When I listened to his cogent arguments, all my doubts were dispelled and I was forced to agree with his point of view.'.

Correct Answer: surge, due

The completed sentence reads: 'The Chairman in his speech stated the surge in company profits was due to team building.'.

Correct Answer: focus, extending

The completed sentence reads: 'The main focus of healthcare reforms is extending medical care to every citizen.'.

Correct Answer: unsure, options

The completed sentence reads: 'Being unsure of how he wanted his career to progress, he began discussing his options with senior colleagues.'.

Correct Answer: influence, involvement

The completed sentence reads: 'Experts feel that the amendment to Act will adversely influence private sector involvement in infrastructure development.'.

Correct Answer: helped, represents

The completed sentence reads: 'His absence at the crucial meeting cannot be helped as he represents the country at important international fora.'.

Correct Answer: virtue, soul

The completed sentence reads: 'A nation that loses the virtue of honesty loses its soul.'. Note: this item repeats Q39 verbatim in the book, with the same key.

Correct Answer: sphere, reduced

The completed sentence reads: 'If one gets rid of the government officials and politicians from the sphere of economic activities, corruption will be reduced.'. Note: this item repeats Q40 verbatim in the book, with the same key.

Correct Answer: eliminate, inequality

The completed sentence reads: 'The principal aim of a socialist state is to eliminate inequality in income and status and standards of life.'. Note: this item repeats Q41 verbatim in the book, with the same key.

Correct Answer: anticipate, prepare

The completed sentence reads: 'To fight natural calamities wisdom requires that we anticipate crises and prepare for them.'. Note: this item repeats Q42 verbatim in the book, with the same key.

Correct Answer: ventured, domain

The completed sentence reads: 'This collection of essays has ventured beyond the traditional domain of a versatile economist.'. Note: this item repeats Q43 verbatim in the book, with the same key.

Correct Answer: distress, implications

The completed sentence reads: 'It is quite true that when the whole economy is in distress, raising the rate of interest has other implications.'. Note: this item repeats Q44 verbatim in the book, with the same key.

Correct Answer: spend, on

The completed sentence reads: 'To spend time, please go on foot and not by bus.'. Note: (a) is the only pair giving the correct 'on foot'; 'kill time' (b) fails on 'towards foot'.

Correct Answer: seems, blowing

The completed sentence reads: 'There seems to be an air of peace now blowing in our country.'.

Correct Answer: of, what

The completed sentence reads: 'Shahid reminded him of his promise but he was quite indifferent to what Shahid said.'.

Correct Answer: goose, gander

The completed sentence reads: 'What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.'.

Correct Answer: taken, announced

The completed sentence reads: 'Everyone was taken by surprise when she announced her plan to marry that boy.'.

Correct Answer: To, against

The completed sentence reads: 'To my knowledge, Mr Gupta has a prejudice against foreigners.'.

Correct Answer: envious, fortune

The completed sentence reads: 'He was always envious of the good fortune of others.'.

Correct Answer: missing, strewn

The completed sentence reads: 'Besides the items missing from the almirah, documents were strewn all over the floor.'.

Correct Answer: inadequate, impose

The completed sentence reads: 'On account of inadequate rainfall, they had to impose cut in water supply.'.

Correct Answer: guilty, appeal

The completed sentence reads: 'Even if a man is found guilty by a court, he can appeal to a higher court.'.

Correct Answer: love, shaken

The completed sentence reads: 'I have just the memory of my father to love now, but my faith in him has never been shaken.'.

Correct Answer: gross, obtained

The completed sentence reads: 'It is gross superstition to suppose that knowledge can be obtained only by going to schools and colleges.'.

Correct Answer: inefficient, suffered

The completed sentence reads: 'Workers in earlier days were inefficient because of which the industries suffered a lot.'.

Correct Answer: mastery, fluent

The completed sentence reads: 'The speaker's mastery over his subject was seen through his fluent discourse.'.

Correct Answer: pardoned, innocent

The completed sentence reads: 'The judge pardoned him because he was found innocent on the basis of the evidence.'.

Correct Answer: starve, consumed

The completed sentence reads: 'The other servants had to starve since Ramu alone consumed all the food.'.

Correct Answer: economise, exceed

The completed sentence reads: 'If you do not economise all your monthly expenses would exceed your income.'.

Correct Answer: dissenting, balances

The completed sentence reads: 'In a democracy, it is essential that dissenting voices on one extreme or the other should exist as part of the system of checks and balances.'.

Correct Answer: consistent, pragmatic

The completed sentence reads: 'We are neither consistent nor pragmatic in our stand on Kashmir.'. Note: 'neither consistent nor pragmatic' is grammatically valid though politically odd; kept per key.

Correct Answer: directions, manifestation

The completed sentence reads: 'Pakistan's decision not to play the Sahara Cup against India was a move in the right directions and the manifestation of our anguish and anger.'. Note: 'directions' (plural) is the book's word, kept verbatim.

Correct Answer: maintained, enforceable

The completed sentence reads: 'Order can be maintained only when law becomes enforceable.'.

Correct Answer: comfort, hooky

The completed sentence reads: 'Rain brought comfort to the city but power supply continued to play hooky.'. Book key (d) 'motto, reconciling' is incoherent ('Rain brought motto to the city but power supply continued to play reconciling'); the standard completion is (b) 'comfort, hooky' — rain brought comfort, and power supply 'played hooky', i.e. stayed away.

Correct Answer: providing, challenge

The completed sentence reads: 'Today the city providing free housing and hospitals and clean streets has become the challenge of the entire country.'. Note: (b) 'known, pride' reads more naturally ('the pride of the entire country') but needs 'for' after 'known'; the keyed (d) is grammatically complete, so it is kept per key.

Correct Answer: blame, problems

The completed sentence reads: 'The party has itself to blame for failing in its basic task of addressing people's problems.'.

Correct Answer: attracting, across

The completed sentence reads: 'The serial has been attracting aspirants from across the society.'.

Correct Answer: multitude, maturity

The completed sentence reads: 'Despite illiteracy, the multitude of Indian voters have already demonstrated their political maturity.'.

Correct Answer: appointed, oversee

The completed sentence reads: 'A committee has been appointed to oversee the transformation of the city into an international finance centre.'.

Correct Answer: need, actively

The completed sentence reads: 'Keeping in mind the need to develop the sector the government has actively solicited foreign investment.'.

Correct Answer: bring, realm

The completed sentence reads: 'In his speech he vowed to bring the four billion unbanked individuals across the world into the realm of financial inclusion.'. Book key (b) 'target, area' is ungrammatical ('vowed to target ... into the area'); the standard completion is (c) 'bring, realm' — 'bring ... into the realm of financial inclusion'. Only 3 options are printed for this item; (d)/(e) are absent from the page. Note: only 3 options are printed for this item; (d) and (e) are absent from the page (print defect).

Correct Answer: plenty, still

The completed sentence reads: 'Although he puts in plenty of overtime and takes few holidays, he still cannot support his family.'.

Correct Answer: relying, ensure

The completed sentence reads: 'They have been relying on incentives to ensure these practices are implemented at grass root level.'.

Correct Answer: promote, development

The completed sentence reads: 'With the merger, the newly formed company has come to promote the country's development into a modern economy.'.

Correct Answer: Weak, accentuates

The completed sentence reads: 'Weak governance does not encourage respect for authority and accentuates the condition of the exploited.'. Book key (e) 'Effectual, alleviate' contradicts itself (effectual = effective governance would encourage respect, not fail to); the standard completion is (d) 'Weak, accentuates' — weak governance does not encourage respect for authority and accentuates the condition of the exploited.

Correct Answer: fettered, subject

The completed sentence reads: 'Although businesses are less fettered than they were before liberalization some parts of the economy remain subject to restrictions.'.