English Questions: Fill in the Blanks 112

Direction (1-10): In each question below a sentence is given with two blanks in each. Each question is followed by four options with two words in each. You have to select that option as your answer which can fill both the blanks of the sentence.

1. No sooner had the monocled mutineer called for May to resign after she had seen off his motion of no confidence than the head of the EU commission was accusing the prime minister of being “___________ ”, as Europe’s heads of government refused to give her even a few ___________ of political comfort to take back home for Christmas. Rebuffed in both Westminster and Brussels, May is coming to resemble a figure from a medieval morality play, scorned and rejected wherever she turns.
   apparent, scraps
   nebulous, crumbs
   limpid, particles
   pellucid, shreds
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

2. Britons stare into the ___________ of Brexit and decide to step back, voting in a second referendum to stay in the EU, that would be a huge boost to the EU and, given Britain’s size as well as its security and intelligence muscle, a major geopolitical prize. It makes sense to urge the EU to do its bit to ensure that remain has the best shot at winning a fresh contest. I understand why Juncker and friends don’t want to help Theresa May leave. But they have an alternative. They can help us ___________.
   fissure, libro
   crevasse, vacillate
   abyss, stay
   ravine, abscond
   All are Correct
   Option C
   

    

3. She was, predictably enough, shocked after hearing about them: these ___________ date back several decades, and she hadn’t realised such blatant sexism was once the norm. None of them would feature on a billboard today, partly because – as the Advertising Standards Authority’s Ella Smillie said of the new rules announced on Thursday to cut down stereotyping – standards have changed over the years. “We don’t see ourselves as social engineers,” she said – which is a ___________ , because that’s what the advertising industry is.
   defaults, reverence
   blunders, repute
   lasses, esteem
   adverts, shame
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

4. Thinking outside the box is the key to so much of what makes life interesting, exciting and stimulating – but advertising is designed to ___________ us to think inside the box, to feel we should be like everyone else. Those images in ___________ magazines or online might soar us up to the stars, but all too often the message behind them clips our wings – and the last wings we should clip are those of the young.
   deflate, slick
   baffle, lustrous
   encourage, glossy
   deter, satiny
   All are Correct
   Option C
   

    

5. The story of Grace Millane – the backpacker murdered in New Zealand – is unspeakably sad, and its terrible ___________ came quickly. What began as concern for a missing person swiftly became a murder investigation, and then the process of identifying a body. Details were ___________ and our focus turned to the sorrowful words of New Zealand’s prime minister. No one demanded an apology from Jacinda Ardern, but she gave one anyway.
   culmination, bounteous
   catastrophe, copious
   completion, scrutinise
   denouement, scant
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

6. Count the number of times you see or hear the phrase “peace on Earth” in the next week or so. It’s one of the great Christmas themes – or great Christmas cliches, if you want to be ___________ . But in the year when we remember the centenary of the end of the first world war, when the image of mass graves for millions is fresh in our minds, it needs to be more than a seasonal ___________.
   sentimental, bromide
   cynical, bromide
   prosocial, bromide
   mushy, bromide
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

7. Sustainable development needs political security and the rule of law. It means people having a safe place to call home, a secure food supply and guaranteed access to medical and educational services. The best use of our aid budget will always be in projects that create this kind of stable environment – which means that peace-building is an ___________ aspect of development. If we want to avoid wasting our foreign aid funds, we must invest in secure institutions, just process, and above all the ___________ of armed conflict.
   ancillary, escape
   extraneous, abstention
   intrinsic, avoidance
   acquired, prevention
   All are Correct
   Option C
   

    

8. Britain is currently struggling with political near-paralysis as it tries to find a way of handling a ___________ majority vote. But there is, in relation to our global context, what seems to be a clear national consensus about how we can become transformative leaders in this conflict-ridden world – a clear majority supporting better and more coherent approaches to sustaining peace. Will the government and the political class listen? Nearly 70 million people worldwide are ___________ because of violent conflict, and the number is steadily rising. We need to go to the root of the problem and act promptly and effectively.
   problematic, displaced
   certain, remained
   intricate, wedged
   debatable, levied
   All are Correct
   Option A
   

    

9. Forty years later, it is impossible to overestimate the ___________ superpowers of Richard Donner’s masterwork. The end result of many attempts to bring DC Comics’ icon onto the big screen, the 1978 classic is the template all superheroes overlook at their peril. A heady mix of Americana married to a crime-ridden east coast via screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz’s barbed wit, John Williams’ grand orchestral movements, Boy Scout heroism devoid of politics and a through line of humanity over ___________ , Superman is a Kryptonian crystal all superhero movie-makers must keep safe in their barn at all costs.
   capital, diffidence
   astral, sarcasm
   filmic, disguise
   cinematic, spectacle
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

10. Reeve was picturesque – an on-screen soul with dignity, diplomacy, and compassion. His ___________ cast a longer shadow than his cape. He was the poster boy for movie escapism at the end of a decade that saw the likes of Nixon and Vietnam leave America’s psyche in a ___________ way. For years I thought New York was called Metropolis. Studebakers, high school cardigans, skyscrapers, press rooms, subways, hot dog stands, Marlboro billboards and yellow school buses – that is what the US first meant to me. Superman did that.
    compassion, assured
    beneficence, sustainable
    benevolence, precarious
    magnanimity, secure
    All are Correct
    Option C