Directions(1-5): In each question, a sentence is given followed by a blank. Each blank is followed by three options and you have to determine which option can be used in place of blank to make it a meaningful sentence and mark it as your answer.
- David Attenborough was given a platform last week at the International Monetary Fund to warn of the dangers of business as usual. He received a standing ovation. Donald Trump’s appointee to run the World Bank, David Malpass, used his first meeting with staff members to reassure them that there would be no _______________________ in the organisation’s attempt to help poor countries with climate-change mitigation and adaptation. Beyond the confines of Washington DC, a new wave of activists has been radicalised by the idea that the US could once again be transformed by a “new deal”, this time rooted in the struggle to save the planet.
a. political conflict
b. storm of swords
c. let-upOnly cOption D
- All this is real progress. When the Green New Deal was first proposed as a solution to the financial crash and deep recession of a decade ago, it had a brief moment in the sun before sinking without trace. But it has been given a new lease of life following support from the newly appointed New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, even though she now says her plan was _______________________ too fast.
a. turn out
b. rolled out
c. fall downOption A
- The struggle against fascism was pursued with vigour once the penny finally dropped. Economies were put on a war footing. The issues that had previously obsessed central banks and finance ministries – balancing the budget, controlling inflation – dwindled to insignificance. The economy’s purpose was to _______________________ the military equipment needed for victory. Nothing else mattered. The questions facing policymakers now are similar to those of the 1930s.
a. churn out
b. further ado
c. give offOption C
- The new Change UK party gathers some of the bravest, most independent-minded national parliamentarians in Britain (currently sitting as the Independent Group, aka Tiggers), and will probably field some of the most interesting candidates for the European parliament. That will _______________________ media and voter excitement, to counterbalance the brouhaha around Farage’s Brexit party.
a. come to a standstill
b. stir up
c. fire upOption B
- Electoral turnout in European elections is usually low. Last time it was 35.6% – by no means the lowest in the EU – with some 16.5 million people voting. This year the European poll doesn’t coincide with any other elections that might take people to the polling station anyway. Many moderate pro-Brexit voters will feel that it’s pointless to _______________________, since we’re supposed to be leaving the EU.
a. get up
b. turn out
c. crawl inOption A
- Dozens of academics told BBC News they were “harassed” out of their jobs and _______________ to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) by their university after making complaints. Although the BBC admits it does not know how many of these gagging _______________ relate to sexual misconduct or other kinds of harassment or bullying, the findings highlight a wider lack of transparency in the way universities handle all kinds of misconduct and discrimination.
constrained, ensemblesforced, clausesobliged, totalscompelled, plenariesAll are CorrectOption B
- Such clandestine university procedures make trying to _______________ the scale of harassment and bullying incredibly challenging and frustrating. But this problem goes beyond the challenges of investigative reporting: universities are denying victims fair access to information that enables them to properly fight bullies and harassers, which could _______________ perpetrators from continuing their abusive behaviour. This has to stop.
expose, acquiescereveal, interveneuncover, preventdivulge, advanceAll are CorrectOption C
- A survey by the National Education Union (NEU) this week found nine out of 10 school staff believe poverty is having “a detrimental effect” on their pupils’ education. Teachers described it in _______________ detail. Children with no space to do homework in their overcrowded home, or falling asleep in lessons because they can’t get a good night’s sleep. Some pupils were missing out on school entirely: they couldn’t afford a PE kit or even a ruler, and were too ashamed to turn up without them. Many staff reported seeing children struggling to _______________ in class simply because they were hungry.
dire, strainhorrendous, digressexcruciating, disperseharrowing, concentrateAll are CorrectOption D
- A decade of austerity has brought this sharply into focus. Squeezed wages, shrinking services and social security cuts are leaving more and more families without a means to afford the basics for functioning minds and bodies. Half the school staff _______________ by the NEU felt that the situation of poverty inhibiting learning had worsened over the past three years, particularly in primary schools. No wonder. It has become the new normal for schools to be “an unofficial fourth emergency service” to try and plug the gap of growing _______________ .
surveyed, deprivationmeasured, abundanceinvestigated, affluencechecked, perkAll are CorrectOption A
- Rising child poverty and a crumbling social fabric is not only robbing these young people of a decent childhood but of their futures too. Forget equal opportunity, an entire generation of low-income kids are being thrown on the scrapheap, left without the chance to build the skills to get through life; children who already had the odds _______________ against them compared to their wealthier peers. Only the most backwards nation conducts itself in this manner, _______________ the potential of millions of its population before they even get started.
equipped, airingrigged, stiflingoutfitted, windydecked, ventilatedAll are CorrectOption B
Direction (6-10): 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.