NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 25 of 150

Correct — A, 'could'. 'Could not have' plus a past participle says that something was not even possible, and with 'Even Nanda' in front of it the sentence becomes the strongest praise available — not even the man who received the infant Krishna could have felt joy to match Gangu's. That is a statement about the limit of what was possible, which is precisely the work 'could' does.

• (b)would — 'Would not have' reports what someone's reaction was not, rather than what lay beyond reach, so it drops the comparison from an outer limit to a mere prediction — and 'even X could not have' is the form English fixes for this kind of superlative.
• (c)should — 'Should not have' carries reproach, saying that something was wrong or ill-advised, which turns a compliment into a criticism of Nanda.
• (d)ought — 'Ought' must be followed by 'to' before the verb, so the printed frame 'ought not have' will not stand; it also carries the same sense of duty as 'should'.

A modal verb followed by 'have' and a past participle looks back at the past and judges it — 'could not have' for impossibility, 'must have' for near-certainty, 'should not have' or 'ought not to have' for reproach.

Three tests clear the field quickly. Option (d) fails on form, because 'ought' needs 'to' before the verb that follows. Option (c) fails on sense, since reproaching Nanda has nothing to do with the passage. That leaves 'would' against 'could', and the frame 'Even X could not have ...' is the one English uses to say that a feeling reached the highest point anyone could reach. Note that the blank after 'have' is a separate numbered item, and whatever fills it has to be a past participle.

• 'Could not have' plus a past participle expresses impossibility in the past.
• 'Ought' is always followed by 'to' before the main verb, unlike 'could', 'would' and 'should'.
• In the Braj stories Nanda is Krishna's foster father, which is what makes his joy at receiving the infant the highest measure the passage can reach for.

• Choosing 'would', which is grammatical but weakens the comparison the passage is making.
• Missing that 'ought' is ruled out by form alone, before meaning is considered at all.

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 — 'Even an expert _____ not have solved that puzzle so quickly.'

  • (a)could
  • (b)should
  • (c)ought
  • (d)may

  Answer(a) could — 'could not have' states that something was beyond possibility.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word that best fills the blank — 'You ought _____ have told me earlier.'

  • (a)not
  • (b)to
  • (c)have
  • (d)for

  Answer(b) to — 'ought' is always followed by 'to' before the main verb.