NDA (II) 2017 General Ability Test · Question 9 of 150

Correct — D, 'tired'. 'Exhausted' means drained of energy after effort, and 'tired' is its plain everyday equivalent. A marathon leaves runners with nothing left in them, so the sentence is describing spent energy at the end of a long physical effort.

• (a)weakened — Being weakened is a loss of strength, which can follow illness or injury and need not follow effort; exhaustion is specifically the using up of energy.
• (b)honoured — Honour is recognition given by others and has nothing to do with the runners' physical state.
• (c)satisfied — Satisfaction is a feeling about the outcome, and the sentence reports how the body felt, not how the mind judged the race.

'Exhausted' is the strong form of 'tired' — completely drained of energy — and the same verb also means to use something up entirely, as when a supply is exhausted.

'Weakened' is the closest rival because both words describe a body with less to give. The distinction the item rests on is cause and completeness: exhaustion is what effort produces and it is total, while weakening is a reduction of strength from any cause. With 'at the end of the marathon' in front, effort is stated outright.

• The same verb gives 'exhaust a supply', meaning to use it up completely, and the exhaust of an engine, through which spent gases leave.
• 'Exhaustive' is a different word, meaning complete and covering everything, as in an exhaustive survey.
• 'Exhausted' takes intensifiers such as 'utterly' and 'completely' rather than 'very slightly'.

• Choosing 'weakened' because it also describes a body with less strength.
• Assuming the answer must be a longer or rarer word than the one underlined.

Asked as a synonym item — choose the word or group of words most similar in meaning to the underlined word.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'exhausted' in 'The climbers reached the camp exhausted.'

  • (a)worn out
  • (b)delighted
  • (c)puzzled
  • (d)injured

  Answer(a) worn out — exhausted means drained of all energy.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'exhaustive' in 'The committee made an exhaustive study.'

  • (a)tiring
  • (b)hurried
  • (c)thorough
  • (d)official

  Answer(c) thorough — an exhaustive study covers the subject completely.