Multiple choice

Select the appropriate word and fill in blank (v)

Directions: In the following passage, for each numbered blank, five words/phrases are suggested, one of which best fits the blank appropriately.

Technology changes lives. But __(i)__ if people want it to. This qualification is important, and key to understanding progress. Akio Morita, the founder of Sony, used to make inventions by making minute, detailed studies of __(ii)__ people lived their lives. It is observable that when he relinquished direct involvement in product development at the company in the 1980s, Sony seemed to lose its __(iii)__ of developing a truly radical invention like the Walkman that the world takes to en masse.
However much it seems that machines are in control, they are not, yet the belief that the technology alone holds the key to __(iv)__ the way people work, buy and do business is strong. The rise of dotcoms in the late 1990s was __(v)__ by a belief that technology was changing the rules of marketing and employee relationships. This is not to say there have been no changes in the new economy; but the dynamic is still a human one.

  1. governed

  2. succeeded

  3. underlying

  4. disputed

  5. accompanied
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

The blank needs a verb indicating what happened with the dotcom rise in relation to a belief. 'Accompanied by' means occurring at the same time or happening together with. The dotcom rise happened together with/was accompanied by a belief about technology. 'Governed' implies control (incorrect), 'succeeded' would mean followed (wrong temporal relationship), 'underlying' would be an adjective not fitting verb slot, and 'disputed' is incorrect.

Keep practicing — related questions