Fill in the Blanks Questions and Answers

Answer: C

'Matters', 'today', 'attention' and 'limit' are the best fit. The 'subject matters' that received attention covers natural objects to the arts, 'what is regarded today as the fine arts' sets the earlier broad range against the present, the narrowing of 'attention' to the fine arts is what happened, and the theory says there is no 'limit' to what can become a source of aesthetic experience.

'Experts', 'tomorrow', 'intention', 'down' and 'wall' do not fit these slots in meaning or in grammar.

Answer: D

History, sunken fits both blanks. "The most famous shipwreck in history is probably the Titanic" is natural, and "sunken ships have been found at the seafloor all over the world" fits the sentence. Geography, science and literature do not fit the first blank, and banned, lost and drowned do not fit the second: ships are sunken, not drowned or banned. The sentence structure helps: "The most famous shipwreck in history is probably the Titanic" is followed by "But shipwrecks are as old as sea voyages", where But signals a contrast with the single famous example.

Answer: A

For, world fits both blanks. A name is used for many types of grasses and the species of bamboo are found in the world. "Used to many types", "used in many types" and "used by many types" are not idiomatic, and "of bamboo in the globe, earth or country" is not the natural phrase for hundreds of species around the world. In bamboo's definition the first blank needs a preposition that links "a name used" to the plants it names, and the second needs a noun that says where the species grow, which is the world.

Answer: A

Project, such, richness completes the passage. Air India set out to project to the world the wonder that was India, did so with such imagination that the world marvelled (the such...that pattern), and showed the richness of its art. In the other options this, that and these do not give the such...that construction, and these cannot go with the singular noun imagination; wealth and affluence are about money, and advantage does not describe art.

Answer: D

Between, upon, support, since fits all four gaps. A comparison is made between two objects, reasoning relies upon an analogy, a cited similarity is used to support a conclusion, and the argument is ampliative since its conclusions do not follow with certainty. The other options use words that do not combine with these phrases, such as comparison of, relies in or back the conclusion with because. In the first gap, between belongs with comparison of two things; of and in do not make good phrases with comparison here. Similarly, relies on or upon is the standard phrase, so the second gap is on or upon.

Answer: B

The sentence 'I ______ my TV repaired yesterday' is a causative construction, in which someone else did the work, so the speaker arranged for it. It takes have or had followed by the object and the past participle, and the time word yesterday needs the past tense, so the correct word is had. The words have and has are present tense and do not fit yesterday, and will have is future. The answer is had, option (B). In the same way, 'I had my hair cut' or 'I had the car serviced' use had with an object and a past participle, to say that someone else did the work.

Answer: A

To blame a person for something is to say he or she is responsible for the harm, so 'blamed her for ruining the party' is the usual phrase. Charged is followed by with, as in 'charged her with', confront is followed by about or with and is in the wrong tense in the list, and suspect would be followed by of. The word blamed fits the sentence correctly. The answer is blamed, option (A). The word is a transitive verb that takes an object followed by for and the reason, as in blame someone for something, which the sentence follows.

Answer: B

The correct word is 'the'. The sentence 'Shanti selected the largest piece of her favourite cake' needs the definite article, because a superlative such as largest names one particular piece that stands above all the others, and the definite article is used before a superlative.

The indefinite article 'a' does not go with a superlative of this kind, since there is only one largest piece. 'One' would make the phrase mean a single piece and leaves the sentence unnatural ('one largest piece'). 'No word required' is wrong because 'largest' is a superlative with no possessive or other determiner before it, so the article is needed.

Answer: C

The correct pair is 'a; a'. The sentence is 'It was not a cold evening, so Kusum did not wear a warm jacket.' Both nouns, evening and jacket, are singular countable nouns that are mentioned for the first time and are not particular ones, so each takes the indefinite article. The article 'a' is used because cold and warm both begin with a consonant sound.

The first option uses 'the', which would refer to a known evening, and leaves the second blank empty, which cannot be right for a singular countable noun. The second option uses 'an', which is only used before a vowel sound, and cold begins with a consonant sound. The fourth option leaves out the first article. Only 'a; a' is correct.

Answer: A

The correct word is 'smart'. In an exclamation of the form 'How ____ of you to solve the puzzle so fast!' the adjective stands in its simple form after how, and it says how clever the person was: 'How smart of you'.

'Smarter' is a comparative and needs something to be compared with, such as 'than', which is not there. 'Smartest' is a superlative that would need 'the' and a group to be the best of. 'Smarting' is the participle of the verb to smart, which means to feel a stinging pain, and does not fit the sense of cleverness. So the first option is correct.