NDA (II) 2016 General Ability Test · Question 4 of 150

Correct — C, 'although I am advising him for a long time.' A stretch of time that runs from the past up to the present takes the present perfect continuous, not the present continuous. The segment must read 'although I have been advising him for a long time.'

• (a)He does not listen to — Error-free — a present simple negative with do-support, which is right for a habit, and 'listen' correctly takes 'to'.
• (b)what I say, — Error-free — 'what I say' is a noun clause in statement order, serving as the object of 'listen to'.
• (d)No error. — The verb form in the third segment does not match 'for a long time', so the sentence carries a mistake.

'For' plus a period of time that reaches the present pulls the verb into a perfect form — 'have been advising', not 'am advising'.

Phrases such as 'for the last two years', 'since Monday' and 'for a long time' are the signal to look for. English distinguishes an action going on now from one that started earlier and is still going on, and only the perfect continuous carries the second sense. The same test decides Q8 of this very paper, where 'are on strike for the last fifteen days' has to become 'have been on strike'.

• 'For' measures the length of a period; 'since' names its starting point.
• The present perfect continuous — have or has been plus an -ing form — covers an action begun earlier and still running.
• The present continuous alone describes what is going on at the moment of speaking, with no reach back into the past.

• Reading 'am advising' as acceptable because the advising is still going on.
• Marking the first segment because 'does not listen' looks unusual beside the rest.

Asked as an error-spotting item — name the segment that carries the mistake, or mark 'No error.'

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Which segment carries the error — (a) We are waiting / (b) for the results / (c) since Monday. / (d) No error

  • (a)We are waiting
  • (b)for the results
  • (c)since Monday.
  • (d)No error

  Answer(a) We are waiting — with 'since Monday' it must read 'We have been waiting for the results since Monday.'

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Fill the blank — She ________ in this school for six years.

  • (a)teaches
  • (b)is teaching
  • (c)has been teaching
  • (d)was teaching

  Answer(c) has been teaching — the period runs from the past up to the present.