NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 24 of 150

Correct — B, 'bursting'. 'Bursting with' is the settled English pairing for being so full of a feeling that it seems ready to overflow — bursting with pride, with excitement, with joy. It also matches what the passage goes on to describe, which is the look on Gangu's face rather than anything he was doing with his feet.

• (a)jumping — The fixed phrase is 'jumping for joy', not 'jumping with joy', and a man holding a newborn is not leaping about.
• (c)dancing — This too names a physical action, and the sentences on either side are about the child in his arms and the expression on his face.
• (d)singing — 'Singing with joy' is not an English collocation at all, and nothing in the passage suggests he made a sound.

Collocation is the habit by which particular words keep company in English, and a cloze blank is very often settled by the preposition already printed beside it.

The preposition 'with' does most of the work here. Verbs of visible action take 'for' in this expression — one jumps for joy — while the verbs of being filled up take 'with', and 'burst' is the one of the four that belongs to that group. The surrounding lines confirm the choice, since they go straight on to read the man's face, so what is wanted is his state rather than his movements.

• 'Bursting with' pairs with pride, joy, excitement, energy and news.
• 'Jump for joy' is the fixed form of that expression.
• The sentences around this blank describe the baby in Gangu's arms and the expression on his face, both of which point to a state rather than an action.

• Choosing 'jumping', which is right in its own idiom but takes 'for' rather than 'with'.
• Treating all four options as interchangeable because each could describe a happy man.

Asked as a selecting-words item — one passage is printed and each numbered blank in it is a separate question.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word that best fills the blank — 'The parents were _____ with pride at the ceremony.'

  • (a)jumping
  • (b)bursting
  • (c)running
  • (d)shouting

  Answer(b) bursting — 'bursting with' is the pairing for being filled with a strong feeling.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word that best fills the blank — 'The children jumped _____ joy when the results came.'

  • (a)with
  • (b)for
  • (c)in
  • (d)by

  Answer(b) for — the fixed expression is 'jump for joy'.