At the end of the marathon everybody was <u>exhausted</u>. (Select the word or group of words that is most similar in meaning to the underlined word.)
- (a)weakened
- (b)honoured
- (c)satisfied
- (d)tired
Answer
Why
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.
Why the others are wrong
- (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.
Concept
'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.
Key facts
- 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'.
Study next
Common traps
- 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.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.
Practice
- 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.