English Language

Fill in the Blanks

13,781 Questions
All Contextual Vocabulary 2563 Prepositional Usage 2021 Tense and Aspect 1751 Determiners 1005 Phrasal Verbs 949 Confusable Vocabulary 908 Pronoun Antecedent 867 Subject-Verb Agreement 735 Collocations 654 Idiomatic Expressions 627 Conjunctions and Connectors 557 Modals 390

Fill in the Blanks Questions

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the most appropriate word/verb phrase from the given options and fill blank (vi).

To see Gokhale in interaction was as (i) ____________ a joy as interactive education. He never wasted a minute. His private relations and friendships (ii) ____________ for public good. His interests were (iii) ____________ only on the good of the country. They (iv) ____________ absolutely free from any trace of untruth (v) ____________ insincerity. India’s (vi) ____________ and subjection were matters of constant and intense concern to him. Various people (vii) ____________ to draw his interest in different things but he could not be. He only (viii) ____________ freedom for his country.

  1. poor

  2. poverty

  3. poorness

  4. power
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

The blank describes India's condition under colonial rule. 'Poverty' is the correct noun meaning 'the state of being poor'. 'Poor' is an adjective, 'poorness' is not a standard word, 'power' has opposite meaning to the colonial context of subjection.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

Much of the 'jaago grahak jaago' campaign is predicated on the impression that routine exposure to apparently ___________ products can have long term pernicious effects.

  1. cheap

  2. expensive

  3. banal

  4. benign

  5. deleterious
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. Benign means seemingly harmless and the sentence makes perfect sense. The effects of seemingly harmless products have pernicious effects. Pernicious means something subtly harmful. Incorrect. Deleterious means something harmful or injurious. The campaign is run because of exposure to apparently injurious products with pernicious effects, does not make sense. The drive is to make the consumer aware of side effects of seemingly harmless products. So, benign is the correct answer.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

Many members of the contemporary movie audience, only marginally socialised, would have made a _____________ of Gandhi; they undermine every argument for intelligent design in the universe.

  1. misanthrope

  2. recluse

  3. pessimist

  4. sceptic

  5. anchorite
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The clue here is the mention of Gandhi. Gandhi was a great believer in the equality of people and by mentioning that the contemporary audience undermines every argument for intelligent design; the text leads us to the conclusion that even Gandhi would have turned into a misanthrope or a hater of mankind.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given sentence carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:

The payload was placed in the intended orbit in the ________ manner in which it was set.

  1. emendate

  2. ceremonious

  3. definitive

  4. precise

  5. approximate
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option. The sentence talks about payload and orbit. This means that it is talking about satellites. The only correct word here would be precise because it means very accurate and exact. 

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text.

That the speaker was so oblivious as to be unable to discern the effect he had on others was not lost on the audience, who quickly stood up to leave, hoping their action would at least ______.

  1. serve an uncommon retort

  2. send an unambiguous message

  3. deliver a clarion call

  4. provide an arcane counterpoint

  5. present a cryptic contradiction
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The clues in the text are the feelings of both the speaker and the audience. The speaker is oblivious to the reaction of the audience and the audience wants to make it clear. By walking out, they have sent an unambiguous message or a clear message.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text.

The mayor, for four years running, was unable to cut spending, _____________________ that led to his removal from office.

  1. a stalemate

  2. an abject mess

  3. a patent breakdown

  4. a signal failure

  5. an impasse
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The extraordinary failure of the mayor on his inability to cut down spending, led to his removal. The two main clues leading us to this option are: the mention of the reason for his removal and the seriousness of his failure. Incorrect. Impasse is a predicament or a stalemate between two factions. Inability to cut spending will not come under this.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

With numerous exciting public works projects in the offing, residents are understandably agog; yet because such prodigious undertakings are inevitably plagued with numerous setbacks, much of the fervour is likely to be _________________ a heavy dose of reality.

  1. precluded with

  2. aggravated by

  3. tempered with

  4. intensified by

  5. allayed by
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The clue to this text completion lies in the phrase residents are understandably agog, and a heavy dose of reality. The clue also lies in the phrase: yet because such prodigious undertakings are inevitably plagued with numerous setbacks. This points us to the fact that regardless of the excitement when it begins, the fervour over the projects will be moderated with a heavy dose of reality.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text.

The “cool girls” at school ____________________________, were mocking underclassman unfortunate enough to be clad in last year’s fashion.

  1. famous for their coolness

  2. attributed with beauty

  3. renowned for their superciliousness

  4. peculiarly boorish

  5. idiosyncratic in their disapproval
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The clues to this text completion lie in the fact that this is about cool girls in school, and their mockery towards underclassmen in last year's fashion. Superciliousness means haughtiness or disdainfulness.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

For a writer with a reputation for both prolixity and inscrutability, Sherman may finally be intent on making his ideas more ________________ to a readership looking for quick edification.

  1. palatable

  2. improvident

  3. forbidding

  4. portentous

  5. discerning
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. Palatable means acceptable. Sherman has a tendency for prolixity which means using lots of words, and inscrutability which means difficult to understand. Thus, now he may finally be intent on taking a different approach by making his ideas understandable.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

For an actor who prepares so feverishly for each role, the characters he chooses to portray are _______________; nonetheless even the most nebbish persona he depicts on screen always appears on the verge of a meltdown, as though the actor’s suppressed agitation is ready to burst forth.

  1. curiously anaemic

  2. somewhat irrepressible

  3. totally irresponsible

  4. so insignificant

  5. somewhat puissant
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The clue lies in the contrast between the characters played and the preparation for them. The main pointer however is the word nebbish, which means a non-entity. This also outlines the contrast between the actor's personality and the character.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blanks with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

That traditional forms of media, despite considerable difference in the quality of writing, tend to report on a range of issues ________________ by the demands of the readership should ________________ those who believe that the demise of each media outlet signals a lamentable reduction in the scope of news reported.

  1. sensationalised, rile up

  2. sensationalised, reassure

  3. circumscribed, discourage

  4. circumscribed, reassure

  5. unbounded, rile up
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The variety of items reported is circumscribed on account of the general demands of the readership. Also, the clues lead us to the conclusion that the readership needs reassurance.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

Keane argues that the political conditions during the early years of the United States were, if anything, inimical to the formation of a nation united by one document: the Constitution. Rather, had it not been for a few men - Keane invokes the triumvirate of Jefferson, Hamilton, and Madison - to champion the Constitution, despite the ________________ of anti-Federalists, the central government would have had to cede matters of rule to the individual states.

  1. obviously pacifist support

  2. seemingly conditional support

  3. seemingly implacable opposition

  4. seemingly implacable abutment

  5. obviously implacable substratum
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. The keyword 'despite' and then the clue that 'the central government would have had to reintroduce matters of rule to the individual states' lead us to this option. Despite opposition would be the only correct choice in this text.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text:

Kala, for all her high-flown rhetoric, churns out reviews that have come to seem _______________; from decades of critiquing other’s prose, she now relies on a familiar and tried formula.

  1. conscientious

  2. nonchalant

  3. perfunctory

  4. insouciant

  5. scathing
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Correct. Perfunctory is used to describe something that is done without energy or enthusiasm. The text clearly mentions that the formula is tried and familiar. Thus, this option fits the text best.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option that would complete the text.

The journalist was so vehement in his opposition to the controversial issue of black money in offshore accounts, that even when he moderated his comments, his piece was too ____________ for publication.

  1. astute

  2. volatile

  3. incendiary

  4. censored

  5. cryptic
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option. Incendiary means likely to stir up trouble and upset people. The article apparently is so strongly worded that on a controversial issue, it could create trouble. The word controversial leads us to this conclusion.

Multiple choice

Directions: Read the given text carefully and fill in the blank with the most appropriate option:

The book concludes on the idea of language as a form of resistance which can be equally powerful and influential. The author ________ multiple reforms in our personal and collective understanding of language in order to change the sociopolitical understanding of our realities.

  1. decides

  2. concludes

  3. determines

  4. proposes

  5. settles
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This is the correct option. The author is giving a suggestion or proposal for reforms in social understanding.