Fill in the Blanks Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The right word is profound: 'His actions had a profound effect on the outcome.'

The blank sits between the article a and the noun effect, a position that needs an adjective. Profound is an adjective meaning very great or far-reaching, and 'a profound effect' is a common collocation.

Profoundly is an adverb and would modify a verb or adjective, not a noun. Profuse is an adjective but means abundant or plentiful ('profuse apologies'), which does not fit an effect. Profounding is not an English word.

Answer: B

The answer is Fragrance: a flower without fragrance.

Each comparison names the thing that gives something its life or worth: a body without a soul, an eye without light. For a flower, that essential quality is its fragrance, a pleasant scent.

Smell is neutral and can be unpleasant, so it does not express the loss of something precious. A flower without a petal or colour is a physical defect, not the loss of its essence that the parallel calls for.

Answer: A

The answer is so: His argument was so persuasive that it changed everyone's perspective.

The pattern so + adjective + that expresses a cause and its result: the argument was persuasive to such a degree that it changed views.

Too pairs with to and implies excess (too weak to convince), very cannot introduce a that clause of result, and much does not modify an adjective like persuasive this way.

Answer: A

The answer is Comprises: The United Kingdom comprises England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Comprise means 'consist of' or 'be made up of' and takes its parts directly as object, with no preposition. The whole comprises the parts.

Consists would need of (consists of England ...), so it does not fit the blank as printed. Combines means joins together and does not describe a whole made up of its parts, so 'None of these' is also wrong.

Answer: C

The answer is highly: The speaker delivered a highly impressive presentation.

Highly is an intensifier meaning very or to a great degree, and it collocates naturally with adjectives of praise and evaluation: highly impressive, highly successful, highly regarded.

Rarely and hardly are negative in sense (hardly impressive means scarcely impressive), which clashes with the positive tone. Merely means only, and 'a merely impressive presentation' is not natural English.

Answer: A

The answer is very: The child was very excited to visit the science museum.

Very is the general-purpose intensifier for gradable adjectives such as excited, happy and tired, and it sits before the adjective.

Totally goes with absolute adjectives (totally wrong, totally different) and is informal before excited. Deeply collocates with feelings such as moved, hurt or disappointed, not with excitement. Enough must follow the adjective (excited enough), so it cannot fill a blank before it.

Answer: B

The answer is heavily: The road was heavily crowded during the festival season.

Heavily is the adverb that collocates with words of density and load: heavily crowded, heavily populated, heavily congested traffic.

Badly goes with words of damage or need (badly damaged, badly needed). Strongly goes with opinions and feelings (strongly believe, strongly oppose), and firmly with fixing or holding (firmly fixed, firmly believe). None of them describes how crowded a road is.

Answer: A

The answer is extremely: The issue discussed in the meeting was extremely important for the organization.

Extremely is an intensifier meaning to a very great degree, and it fits any gradable adjective, including important.

Seriously collocates with ill, injured or damaged rather than important. Eventually means in the end and refers to time, so it cannot describe degree. Barely means only just, which contradicts the idea of an issue worth discussing.

Answer: A

The answer is being praised: Jatin enjoys being praised.

Enjoy is followed by a gerund. Here the sense is passive: Jatin is the one who receives the praise, so the passive gerund being praised is needed.

'Enjoys praising' is the active gerund and would need an object (enjoys praising others); on its own it leaves the sentence incomplete. 'To praising' is wrong because 'enjoy' never takes 'to'. Since one option is correct, 'none of these' is wrong.

Answer: B

The answer is not to smoke: The doctor told him not to smoke.

A reported command uses 'tell + object + infinitive', and the negative is made by placing not before 'to': told him not to smoke. This reports the direct command "Do not smoke."

'To not smoke' splits the infinitive, which formal grammar treats as wrong. 'Told him do not smoke' mixes direct and reported speech without quotation marks. Since 'not to smoke' is correct, 'none of these' is wrong.