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.
- In a _______________ bid to see off Hague, the arch-Europhile Clarke and the arch-Eurosceptic Redwood form a pact, founded on the principle that Europe will be an open issue in the party and that Tory MPs will not be bound by a strict party policy. There is much talk of a historic breakthrough, an end to the long Conservative civil war over Britain’s relationship with the EU, and a new era of internal party unity. But even those responsible for this brief _______________ know it is nonsense on stilts.
forlorn, isolationdesperate, alliancedesolate, enmityvehement, solitudeAll are CorrectOption B
- For the past nine years or so, I have been observing a regular journalistic ritual. In pursuit of _______________ over where the country may be going, how people are going to vote, and their opinions about such massive issues as Brexit and Scottish independence, I have pitched up in scores of places and begun my _______________ with some version of a simple question: how is this place doing?
elucidation, answersinstruction, quotientsenlightenment, inquiriesedification, replyAll are CorrectOption C
- Recently we’ve seen several clashes between local communities and education leaders over the application of the Equality Act in Britain’s schools. Shraga Stern, the Orthodox Jewish activist, _______________ earlier this year that Haredi Jews would “leave the UK” if faiths schools were forced to teach children about same-sex relationships and gender reassignment. And last month, the headteacher of a school in Birmingham was petitioned to do away with a pilot programme called No Outsiders, which is centred around inclusion and _______________ as part of sex and relationship education.
advised, affinitycaveats, resemblancecautioned, congruitywarned, diversityAll are CorrectOption D
- Luis was three weeks old when we found out he had cystic fibrosis. Neither my husband nor I had heard of the _______________ before, but we knew very quickly our lives were about to change for ever from that moment. Of all of the stats thrown at you when you hear the _______________ , one sticks out more than any other: Luis’s life expectancy was 38, my age at the time. We would most likely outlive our baby boy.
condition, diagnosisinfirmity, lingeringmuddle, delayhealer, tardyAll are CorrectOption A
- I haven’t actually eaten meat for 30 years, although I _______________ ate fish and felt bad about it. Two years ago, I visited a modern British dairy farm where the cows were kept in very clean conditions, indoors, all year round. I hated it. So I _______________ to oat milk, and last year gave up eating cheese. But there’s still plenty of animal products in cakes and biscuits. And so, until 1 January, I wasn’t vegan.
incessantly, interchangedoccasionally, switchedconstantly, commutateinvariably, barteredAll are CorrectOption B
- It’s quite something, really, to organise an event that’s all about diversity, inclusion, freedom and equal rights, and then to charge an entry price that will _______________ participation and scare away a number of demographics. But Manchester Pride appears to have pulled this feat off, having just _______________ ticket prices for this summer’s event – these have, shall we say, not proved popular.
wince, esotericcontract, concealedshrink, announcedshrivel, suppressedAll are CorrectOption C
- Look at the state of the big three regional publishers. JPI Media, owner of the i newspaper, the Scotsman, The Yorkshire Post and about 200 more titles, was _______________ last November from the ashes of Johnston Press after it went into administration. It began this year by announcing a series of cover price rises and followed up with a _______________ aimed at relocating offices and merging newsrooms (a euphemism for reducing journalistic staff).
acquire, glimpsebased, expositioncreated, approvefounded, reviewAll are CorrectOption D
- One thing alone could save the Maduro regime in Venezuela. That is western intervention. Nothing unites a country like a _______________ enemy on its borders. Venezuelans may hate their president, Nicolás Maduro, but they also hate the US. China may be exasperated, but it is Maduro’s ally, and would have to help him if the US attacked. So the US, and everyone else, should leave Venezuela alone. Unintended consequences of outside _______________ scream down the ages. Only Donald Trump seems deaf.
sovereign, interventionmonarch, challengeparamount, exasperationempress, exhortationAll are CorrectOption A
- As a football _______________ I had long known that the World Cup in Mexico in 1986 – with England, Scotland and Northern Ireland all playing – was going to clash with the O-level exam season. But I hadn’t really reckoned with how much stronger the _______________ of Gary Lineker and co would be when the alternative was RE revision. Given the footballing delights on display – whether Diego Maradona’s “goal of the century” or the drama of the Brazil v France penalty shootout – it was a one-sided contest for my attention.
compulsive, dissuadeobsessive, lurefanatical, appallpassionate, appeaseAll are CorrectOption B
- There is an interrogation that begins whenever a Muslim _______________ any role in the public eye, a sort of Muslim _______________. One can be a writer or a politician or a chef, and be asked questions that have nothing whatsoever to do with the matter at hand. Do you think homosexuality is a sin? What do you think of underage marriage? Do you think Israel has the right to exist? These questions are also asked in spurious surveys commissioned in the hope of generating headlines that suggest the majority of Muslims are violently homophobic, or conform to whatever latest trope is doing the rounds.
presumes, inquestexpects, investigationassumes, inquisitionaccepts, inquiryAll are CorrectOption C