Campus Recruitment – Verbal Ability – Closet – Fill in the blanks
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Closet – Fill in the blanks
A cloze test, consisting of a portion of text with certain words removed, where the student is asked to replace the missing words from among the given choices.
The sentence completion section tests your vocabulary skills as well as your reading ability. The question contains a paragraph or a sentence expressing a complete idea that can be understood without any additional information. Each blank need to be filled up appropriately retaining the meaning of the sentence and the syntax.
Strategies to solve questions on Sentence Completion. First, slowly read all the text without filling any of the gaps. Read it until you got a clear understanding of what the text is about.
- First, complete the gaps you are absolutely sure of.
- Next try and find out what the missing words in the remaining gaps are. See which part of speech may fit in each gap (article?, pronoun?, noun?, adverb?, adjective?, preposition?, conjunction?, verb?) and pay special attention to the grammar around the words in each gap.
- Read the sentence once again after choosing the words to fill up the blanks.
- To solve the sentence completion section, you must have a through understanding of the sentence given. This understanding is possible only if you develop your knowledge of the root words, synonyms, antonyms, analogies, idioms, phrases etc.
- In many cases, several options may fit in but you must select the one that gives the meaning of the sentence most precisely.
- Understand the message of the sentence by analyzing the principal dause(s) and the sub-ordinate clause(s). Briefly speaking, analyze whether the sentence is a simple sentence or compound sentence or complex sentence.
- Observe the subject of the sentence, the keywords or the signal words. For example the key words like, ‘therefore’, ‘so’, ‘because’, ‘although’, ‘in addition to’, ‘further more’ etc can help you to make the right option from the options given.
- Understand the author’s tone. It means whether the author is positive or negative in his/her approach to the idea he has presented. Look for negative words like ‘no‘ or ‘not’. Negative words can change the direction of the sentence.
- If you don’t spot any signal words or keywords and if you don’t know the meaning of the option words, read once again and choose the one that sounds the best, eliminating one or two choices.
A Solved example is given below
(A)——— of his reputation as a comedian, the director of the film———- Mr.Bean from acting a very serious role of a priest in his new movie.
Options:
1. a) Since
b) Due to
c) Because
d) As
2. a) Encouraged
b) Discouraged
c) Supported
d) Boosted
Explanation: Among the given choices, ‘because’ is the only word that can go with ‘of. Similarly, we can understand that it is difficult for a comedian to act as a priest. So it is natural that the director of the movie ‘discouraged’ him. Therefore, ‘discouraged’ is the most suitable word.
Exercise-I
(A) A blog is a web page made up of brief, frequently updated entries that are arranged —(1)—- like a journal. The purpose of blogs —-(2)—- greatly from links to news, photos, even fiction. Blog posts are —-(3)—- to instant messages to the web. Many blogs are —–(4)—– “what’s on my mind” type musings others are collaborative efforts based on a —–(5)—– topic or area of mutual interest.
1. a) symmetrically
b) chronologically
c) interestingly
d) passionately
2. a) depend
b) shift
c) vary
d)change
3. a) familiar
b) similar
c) unique
d) superior
4. a) personal
b) ephemeral
c) temporal
d) local
5. a) vague
b) specific
c) controversial
d) contemporary
(B) My final year at MIT was a year of ——-(6)—– . A new wave of thought ——(7)——- through the country in those years. The popular view in those days was that a belief in scientific methods was the only——(8)—– approach to knowledge. If so, I wondered, what about spiritual ———(9)?——I had been taught from my early childhood that knowledge could be ——-(10)——– only through the inner experience.
6. a) achievement
b) transition
c) tribulations
d) accomplishment
7. a) brimmed
b) erupted
c) swept
d) encapsulated
8. a) valid
b) pragmatic
c) tangible
d) lucrative
9. a) justification
b) association
c) amalgamation
d) hibernation
10. a) evolved
b) preserved
c) obtain
d) assessed
(C) Information is not—– (11)—– with education. Real education must—– (12)——– the learner. When a child feels genuinely sad at the —–(13)——– of bullocks over burdened with a heavy load on his way to school, or when he ——-(14) —– a helping hand to guide a blind person in a crowded street, he shows compassion the —–(15) ——in class makes him compassionate.
11. a) analogous
b) synonymous
c) congruous
d) sedulous
12. a) activate
b) promote
c) transform
d) augment
13. a) demise
b) plight
c) sight
d) fracas
14. a) extend
b) lend
c) offer
d) provide
15. a) experience
b) transformation
c) synthesis
d) nemesis
All movements do not —–(16)—– the goal of social transformation. The social spaces are fully occupied by— (17)— . A reformer basically does the work of creating .an—— (18)—– about the fellow human being. If he ——(19) —–in that he has in a way more than succeeded. Even Ram Mohan Roy succeeded partially in as much as he could not win the legal ——(20) ——-.
16. a) manifest
b) epitomize
c) achieve
d) obfuscate
17. a) orthodoxy
b) perfidy
c) sybarite
d) sycophancy
18. a) aura
b) awareness
c) idiosyncrasy
d) opprobrium
19. a) indulges
b) rejoices
c) succeeds
d) thrives
20. a) battle
b) exegesis
e) fiasco
d) precinct
(E) Two different approaches based on different magnetic phenomena are being ——(21) —–. The first being
—–(22) ——by Gary Prinz exploits the fact that the electrical resistance of some material changes in the presence of magnetic field. For some multi layered materials, this —-(23)—— is powerful. A major —-(24)—– on the wav to build a full scale memory chip is the thickness of aluminum oxide barriers. Dr. Prinz, however, contends that his plan will —–(25)—— offer storage densities and lower production costs.
21. a) discussed
b) pursued
c) assessed
d) encapsulated
22. a) discovered
b) proposed
c) postulated
d) investigated
23. a) effect
b) change
c) development
d) gain
24. a) subsequently
b) peculiarly
c) barrier
d) plight
25. a) subsequently
b) peculiarly
c) qualitatively
d) eventually
(F) An urgent problem is now —-(26)——–libraries throughout the world. Their collections are in danger of ——(27) —– The—– (28)——- is mainly due to one cause the type of paper. Until the 1850s paper was produced from cotton rags and —-(29)—– to be relatively long-laying. Paper manufactured from wood pulp is highly acidic and therefore ——-(30) —–unstable.
26. a) cropping
threatening
c) looming
d) cascading
27. a) vanishing
b) disintegrating
c) tampering
d) protection
28. a) onus
b) problem
c) exodus
d) case
29. a) happened
b) used
c) proved
d) made
30. a) inherently
b) genuinely
c) ingeniously
d) indubitably
Explanations
1) The entries in a blog are arranged in chronological order i.e. the order in which they occurred, just like a journal.
2) c; Vary/varies follows from to .
The purpose of blogs vary greatly from links to news.
3) b; Blog posts are similar to instant messages to the web. Blog posts cannot be superior to the instant messages because they have the same quality. The word familiar doesn’t fit in the present context. We cannot use the word unique in this place because it excels superlative degree which is grammatically incorrect.
4) a; As the phrase what’s on my mind expresses personal attitude of the author. Therefore, option-a, is correct.
5) b; As the author is expressing his views positively in this part of the sentence therefore we cannot use the options a and c because they have negative meaning. Option-d, contemporary cannot be used as it has plural sense. So the option-b, specific is the correct choice as it has compactness with the author’s motive.
6) b; The author is speaking about the changes in thoughts and views of people when he was in final year at MIT. A change from one state to another state is called transition. Hence, option-a is correct choice.
7) c; Brim means to over flow. Erupt means to start suddenly. Sweep through means to move steadily. Encapsulate means to enclose. Hence, option-c is correct.
8) a; Valid means right or genuine, which is an appropriate fit in the given blank. The word pragmatic means logical. The sentence speaks about a certain belief in those days. Hence, it doesn’t go with the word pragmatic. Option-c, tangible means real or perceptible by touch and option-d- lucrative means profitable, are inappropriate in the present context.
9) b; Association means a group of people organized for a joint purpose.
10) a; Preserved means maintain or continue. Assess | means evaluate or estimate. So, option-1? and d can not
be the correct choices. Here the author explains the person’s mentality right from childhood. Evolve means to develop gradually. And obtain means to get or acquire. Hence, evolve is the correct choice.
11) b; The sentence has a negative approach as not is used. Therefore we cannot use any more negative words like analogous, congruous or sedulous. Moreover subjective consideration is brought out between two subjects information and education. Hence synonymous is a right word to fit here saying information and education have no same meaning.
12) b; As you know education has no logical relation to activate or to augment something. But education can promote something as it is the main work of education. According to semantic organization of words transform is not a logical fit in the blank.
13) c; Children are often frightened by the sight of bullocks. Demise means fate. Plight means dilemma or difficulty. Fracas means disturbance. All these three options are not suitable choices.
14) b; Here we need observe how the author presents his motive. The author is not showing redundancy to compact his theme. Therefore we have to select a word from the options which surely fits to the theme. The word lends can be chosen to fulfill this purpose.
15) b; Here options-c and d cannot be used because they
are not considerable for the theme. So our choice splits between option-a and b. The word experience cannot make a bridge of possible meaning between the subject and the object concern in this last part of the sentence.
16) c; The objective of any movement or evolution is to achieve something.
17) a; Social reformation is being told therefore orthodoxy is rightly fit for this blank. As we know social reformation is needed for the orthodox mentality.
18) b; It is obvious that if there is no public awareness then society cannot be reformed.
19) c; The reformer has to succeed in his initial work then only he can have more success in the future.
20) a; Battle is related to win therefore our choice should be the option-a.
21) b; An approach can be pursued i.e. to follow.
22) d; By investigation you can exploit the facts.
23) b; The effect of the result which is exploited by investigation is powerful.
24) c; Barrier is the correct choice.
25) d; Option-b and c can not be the correct choices. You may confuse to choose between option-a and d. Subsequently means ‘next’ – following in time, order or place. And it doesn’t imply causation. Consequently is a conjunctive adverb that means ‘as a result’.
The plan will eventually i.e. as a result, offer storage densities and lower production costs.
26) b; Here the author discusses about the problems that are causing libraries to feel at risk. Threatening means causing someone to feel vulnerable or at risk. Hence, option-b is the correct choice.
27) b; Option-c and d doesn’t fit in the present context. Vanishing means to disappear completely. Disintegrate means to lose strength or to decay. ‘The collections are in danger of disintegrating’. Hence, option-b is correct.
28) b; The passage discuses about the problems of libraries. Hence, option-b is correct.
29) b; We use ‘used to’ for something that happened regularly in the past but no longer happens. Here the author says how the cotton bags used to be in 1850’s.
30) a; The event explained in this sentence is natural. Inherently means existing as a natural or basic part of something. Hence, option-a is correct choice.
Exercise II
1) Far from condemning Rahul Dravid and comrades for an admittedly—— but also unfortunate exit, the time has come to remember their—— contributions.
a) ominous, ordinary
b) precarious, extraordinary
c) ignominious, outstanding
d) dubious, stupendous
2) Even though Bangalore is the IT—– of the country and the back office of some of the world’s largest corporations, it——– on civic development fronts.
a) center, falters
b) hub, falters
c) face, betrays
d) force, emancipates
3) Overall, organized retail is creating a—– effect on the ——— of how consumers buy and how retailers procure and sell.
a) tremendous, situation
b) intermittent, visibility
c) ripple, dynamics
d) for reaching, process
4) On the power front, the best way to ——– to energy security is to make sure that the country’s goal
resources are fully——– and then extracted and used efficiently.
a) contribute, assessed
b) move, exploited
c) access, preserved
d) approach, utilized
5) Any organization has several key ——– sales, marketing, etc., but HR remains ———the that supports all these pillars in creating powerful organization.
a) pillars,foundation
b) segments,fulcrum
c) bottom lines,drive
d) bases, force
6) The company believes in—— its employees through education and opportunities——-.
a) training, business
b) nurturing, training
c) motivating, learning
d) attracting, placement
7) As the——- blended learning expands and matures, it becomes———- to pin down any one definition.
a) principle, easy
b) notion, complicated
c) concept, impossible
d) merit, obvious
8) In any society, the—— of education have a higher moral responsibility to positively ——– the student generation.
a) clientele, streamline
b) transfer, lead
c) orientation, enforce
d) imparter, influence
9) The term technology, for many people,—– images of smoky steel mills and—— machines.
a) conjures up, clanking
b) imbibes, magnanimous
c) throws up, staggering
d) sends, steel
10) A strategy to—— urgent political commitment from all notions, is the call for a global ——-for
children in 1980 where the heads of governments will be meeting directly on the ‘Rights of the Child’.
a) Gamer, society
b) establish, awareness
c) ensure, summit
d) promote, institution
11) When a——— minority is involved, the cracking up of their families may reflect failures——-.
a) tiny, individual
b) docile, group
c) mundane, unfathomable
d) garrulous, intermittent
12) Never had there been in the history ——–of mankind an of knowledge as vast and varied as one sees in —–times.
a) acme, prominent
b) iota, ancient
c) aggregation, modem
d) explosion, recent
13) Informal research——— have shown that children learn best from among their peers, if academic atmosphere is made to ———-.
a) data, enquiry
b) conclusions, last
c) findings, prevail
d) projections, procreate
14) The ——— question of quotas in educational institutions came back to——– us thanks to vote hungry politicians.
a) Trivial, propel
b) vital, make
c) vexed, haunt
d) indomitable, shake
15) The Marxists ——–the inevitability of history whereas the socialists extol the idea of liberty ——in
social change.
a) support, hidden
b) follow, latent
c) extol, inherent
d) highlights, existence
16) Any government which launches its Antarctica ——– should give serious ——to the fears expressed by the naturalists over what could happen to human survival if the positive continent of the snow is going to be opened for mineral exploitation.
a) voyage, thought
b) expedition, attention
c) itinerary, resolve
d) adventure, nearing
17) Science is a ———a never ending——— into promises and possibilities.
a) journey, project
b) discipline, enigma
c) passion, voyage
d) concept, panorama
18) The process of arriving at the success——– within a team is an ———–and skilled one because there is a lot happening under the surface.
a) theory, incessant
b) criteria, intricate
c) formula, obvious
d) march, exorbitant
19) He was visibly pleased with our new—— which had turned overnight into the——— of an integrated program with far reaching consequences.
a) proposals, blueprint
b) prototype, establishment
c) model, inception
d) design, consortium
20) Clarity of outcome is the——- force behind ———–teacher training.
a) binding, quality
b) driving, successful
c) only, powerful
d) enhanced, promoting
21) Cross-cultural effectiveness comes from —-of awareness of the importance of culture and awareness of one’s own——- .
a) synthesis, arena
b) source, origin
c) domain, desire
d) blend, expectations
22) Technical training is often difficult to make——- as the knowledge experts are so ——in their subject that they find it hard to translate that knowledge into material that learners can understand.
a) possible, interested
b) stimulating, stuck
c) accessible, immersed
d) parochial, pristine
23) A free press is one of the most essential—– of a ——–society.
a) ingredients, civilized
b) components, democratic
c) pillars, modem
d) features, developed
24) What ——-us about the president who had won So many honors was his———– .
a) struck, brilliance
b) moved, background
c) impressed, humility
d) intrigued, simplicity
25) I have tried to understand him but the reasons for his——– behavior are quite——— and I have given up.
a) quaint prosaic
b) acerbic, sagacious
c) docile, intricate
d) strange, unfathomable
26) False shapes that he——- for the pencil harassed him no end and ——— his anger.
a) mistook, stoked
b) took, pacified
c) longed, multiplied
d) overlooked
27) Research has shown that the ——— of people suffers if they are ——— of sleep.
a) achievement short
b) agility, denied
c) focus, devoid
d) performance, deprive
28) In this novel, the author ——-the complexity of modem life and the ——–modem relationship.
a) portrays, flexibility
b) narrates, synthesis
c) delineates, changing
d) depicts, predicament
29) Adult education by——- teaching is being ——— in many countries.
a) individualized, implicated
b) countries run
c) distance, attempted
d) remote enforced
30) We Indians have always been ——– with foretelling our future an entire industry of fortune tellers in various garbs in to that.
a) prone, proof
b) comical, evidence
c) obsessed, testimony
d) succumbed, party
Explanations
1) c; Here option-a is wrong because the second word of this option does not match the exact explanation of the given context. Because we cannot say Team India’s contributions were ordinary in the past’. In option-b, precarious is not an appropriate fit in the given meaning as it means dangerous. Both the words of the option-d have vagueness to have the correct meaning of the sentence, moreover it has a negative meaning also. But the option-c has appropriate meaning to fit in the given context. As the word Ignominious means inappropriate and Outstanding means exceptionally good.
2) b; Hub means the effective center of an activity. IT hub is the correct usage than IT Center.
Falters means lose strength or momentum.
3) c; Overall, organized retail is creating a ripple effect on the dynamics of how consumers by and how retailers procure and sell. Ripple means to flow with a slight rise and fall. Dynamics means changing.
4) a; Here ‘to move to energy’, ‘to access to energy’ and ‘to approach to energy’ are not fit to the meaning of the sentence as well as grammatical point of view. Only the word ‘contribute’ can take as the subject conveys ‘on the power front’.
5) a; In the last line of the sentence, it is given that, sales and marketing etc. are pillars in creating powerful organizations. Hence, option-a is correct choice.
6) c; Though training, nurturing, attracting are important for a company but not the mottoes. But motivating is the motto for any company. Similarly employees can get the opportunities only on learning.
Ask doubt with Question Id: 2034
7) b; We know ‘learning’ is blended with ‘notion’ not with ‘principle, concept, or merit’. ‘Learning’ is a notional fact. Therefore it becomes complicated to pin down any definitions. So we cannot say learning’ becomes ‘obvious, or easy’.
8) d; Impart means make known. Importer is the one who imparts. The imparter of education has a higher moral responsibility to positively influence the student generation
9) a; Conjure up means bring to mind. And clanking means to make a sharp sound, as metal in a collision. Imbibes, which means drink alcohol is irrelevant in the present context. Option-c, staggering which means to walk unsteadily, is not an appropriate choice in the second blank.
10) c; Summit means meeting between head of government. Hence option-c is correct.
11) a; The meanings of option-b, c, d are irrelevant in the context of the sentence. Docile means obedient. Mundane means worldly related matters. Garrulous means talkative. Option-a is the appropriate choice.
12) d; We can not say ‘modem times’. But we say ‘recent times’. Hence, option-d is correct choice.
13) c; Findings means information discovered as the result of an inquiry or investigation. Prevail means to be powerful. The informal research has found that children learn best from among their peers, if academic atmosphere is made to be powerful.
14) c; Vexed means much debated or problematic. All other options are not the best choice when conjpared to option-c. The question of quotas in educational institutions is troubling us. Haunt means to trouble or distress. So the word ‘haunt’ to be picked up.
15) c; The conjunction whereas says there is comparison. Here the comparison is between two doctrines. The Marxists extol the inevitability whereas the Socialists extol the idea of liberty inherent in social change.
16) b; Here if we choose the option-d then ‘Antarctica adventure’ is somehow meaningful but ‘serious nearing’ is meaningless. Option-a and c both does not fit with its preceding proper noun and adjective respectively. Expedition means a journey undertaken by a group of people for the purpose of research or exploring something. Voyage also means a journey involving travel by sea. But the purpose of voyage may not be a research or an exploration.
17) c; As the given sentence is a disciplinary exaggeration regarding ‘science’. Therefore you should have an idea before selecting the option that the author must adopt figurative words to express his exaggeration. So the related meaning sticks only in the option-c.
18) b; In the second blank the words ‘ and skilled’ is
used. Intricate which means very complicated, is the correct choice. No other word is relevant for this blank from among the given options. Incessant means never ending. Exorbitant means excessive.
19) a; Proposal means presentation for an action. So, it is the appropriate choice for the first blank. Blueprint means a plan or model or design. It is the correct choice for the second blank.
20) b; Driving force means motivation. All other options are not the best choices.
21) d; Blend means combination of; Synthesis also means .combining. But the word arena does not fit for the second blank. Expectations is the correct choice for second blank.
22) c; The word accessible only makes sense in the first blank. Immerse means involve oneself deeply in a particular activity.
23) b; The sentence speaks about the free press. Hence, democratic is the correct choice for second blank. The word democratic gives a sense of free or freedom.
24) c; You may confuse between option c and d. Intrigued means attracted. But as the sentence is speaking about the president, humility is the most appropriate word than simplicity. Humility means humbleness, not proud or arrogant.
25) d; Strange behavior is the correct usage. All other options are irrelevant in the present context.
26) a; The sentence has negativeness therefore we have to pick up the words with negative sense. Only one option-a has negative sense. Hence is the correct choice.
27) d; Deprive means lacking a specified benefit. Performance of people is effected by the lack of sleep.
28) d; Depicts means to describe. And predicament means unpleasant. These two words are the appropriate choices. Delineates also means to describe. But the word changing is not the best choice in the context.
29) d; Distance education is the correct usage than individualized education or remote education.
30) c; The first blank should take V3 form because the sentence is in passive voice. Only option-c and d have V3 form. The word ‘succumbed’ diverts the theme of the sentence. So, only option-c is correct.
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