Fill in the Blanks

'Mail' fits in A, B, and D.

A. He behaves as if he is an exceptionally dumb person, incapable of understanding even basic maths. B. The room had a very dumb appearance due to the strange colours used. C. Your dumb replies were music to the professor’s ears. D. In a cosmopolitan society, you cannot afford to be dumb and witless. 

'Give' fits in all the four statements.

The house revealed no clues. The word ‘investigators’ makes it pretty clear that there was some inspection. So, the word has to be ‘examination’. Investigators did not find any clue, so it is natural that they are left confused or perplexed.

Correct Answer: had been working There are two activities in the past. The earlier activity needs to be written in past perfect continuous. Option 4 is incorrect as after 'had' we need to use third form or 'had + been + present participle form of verb'.

Correct Answer: had been climbing As 'ran' is in past tense we know we need to use the same tense. Out of the options past tense can be found in options 2 and 4. But 'had' is used with either 'past participle form' or 'been + present participle'. This correct usage is found only in 'had been climbing' which is  'past perfect continuous'. So, option 4 is the correct answer.

‘Bountiful’ means ‘plentiful, producing in abundance and disastrous means ‘tragic or fatal’.

When the noun that precedes ‘as well as’ is in the singular form, the verb should also be singular.

‘For’ represents period of time.

People ‘drown’, and not ‘sink’, in the water.

‘Intimate’ here is used as ‘comprehensive and profound’ and 'compositions' here refers to ‘musical creation’.

‘Could hardly’ means ‘only just’ or ‘was barely able to’.

To talk about ability we use ‘can’, not may and as the sentence starts in present tense, so we cannot use ’could’.

When the noun that precedes ‘as well as’ is in the singular form, the verb should also be singular.

‘For’ represents period of time.