One Word Substitution Questions and Answers

Answer: A

The word is mirage.

A mirage is an optical illusion caused by the bending (refraction) of light through layers of air at different temperatures, typically over hot ground. Light from the sky is bent upward to the eye, so it looks like a sheet of water on a desert or a hot road.

An oasis is a real fertile spot with water in a desert, not an illusion. A delusion is a false belief held in the mind, not a visual effect of the atmosphere, so 'None of the above' is also wrong.

Answer: A

They are subsistence farmers.

Subsistence farming produces only enough food to meet the needs of the farmer's own family, with little or nothing left to sell. It contrasts with commercial farming, which grows crops for the market.

Tribes are social groups, not a type of farmer. Organic farmers are defined by their methods (no synthetic chemicals), and they may well grow for sale. Since the term exists, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Answer: A

The best word is folk wisdom.

Folk wisdom is the practical knowledge, beliefs and sayings of a community, handed down from generation to generation, often by word of mouth. That is exactly traditional knowledge accumulated over generations.

Experience belongs to an individual and is gained in one lifetime. Farsightedness is the ability to plan for the future, and intelligence is a mental capacity; neither describes knowledge shared and inherited by a community.

Answer: B

You would be called a mediator.

A mediator is a neutral third party who helps two sides in a dispute talk to each other and reach a settlement they both accept, without imposing a decision on them.

An observer only watches and takes no part in resolving the dispute. An advocate argues for one side, which is the opposite of the neutral role described. Since the word exists, 'None of the above' is wrong.

Answer: C

The one word is Pilgrim.

A pilgrim is a person who journeys to a sacred place, such as a shrine or holy city, for religious reasons; the journey itself is a pilgrimage.

A traveller is anyone who travels, for any purpose. Itinerant describes someone who moves from place to place, often for work, like an itinerant preacher or trader, with no sacred destination implied. A voyager makes a long journey, especially by sea or into space. Only pilgrim carries the religious purpose the sentence describes.

Answer: B

The one word is Pedestrian.

A pedestrian is a person walking, especially along a road, rather than travelling in a vehicle; hence pedestrian crossings and pedestrian zones.

Wanderlust is a strong desire to travel, a feeling rather than a person. A toddler is a young child just learning to walk; the word is about age, not about walking instead of riding. A somnambulist is a sleepwalker, from Latin somnus (sleep) and ambulare (to walk).

Answer: A

The compulsion to tell lies is mythomania.

Mythomania (Greek mythos, story, and mania) is an abnormal tendency to lie or exaggerate, also called pathological lying.

Megalomania is an obsession with power or delusions of greatness. Monomania is obsessive preoccupation with a single thing, and satyromania is excessive sexual desire in a man. None of them refers to lying.

Answer: B

A person who is not experienced in a job or situation is a novice.

A novice is a beginner, someone new to an activity. (The paper's wording, 'A person we is not experience', means 'a person who is not experienced'.)

A highbrow is a person of intellectual or refined tastes, and an arbitrator is someone appointed to settle a dispute. Inevitable is an adjective meaning certain to happen and is not a word for a person at all.

Answer: B

Such a person is called a Genealogist.

Genealogy (from the Greek genea, family or descent) is the study of family lines and lineage, and a genealogist traces ancestors and descendants and draws family trees.

A graphologist studies handwriting to infer character. A limerick is a humorous five-line poem, not a person at all. A histologist studies the microscopic structure of tissues. None of them traces the descent of families.

Answer: C

The science is called Etymology.

Etymology studies the origin of words and how their forms and meanings have developed over time; for example, salary goes back to the Latin salarium, connected with salt.

Tautology is needless repetition of the same idea in different words. Lithology is the study of the physical character of rocks. Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language. None of them deals with the history of words.