NDA (I) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 12 of 150

Correct — C, 'repel'. Attract and repel are the standard opposite pair — one draws things towards itself, the other drives them away — and that is the exact reverse of a fire drawing insects to it.

• (a)discharge — To discharge is to release, emit or dismiss; releasing something is not the same as driving it away, and the word is not the opposite of drawing something in.
• (b)destroy — A fire does destroy insects, which is why this option tempts, but destroying them is a different act from driving them off; the item asks for the reverse of attracting.
• (d)remove — To remove is to take something away, an act performed on the insects by somebody else, whereas 'repel' describes the fire itself pushing them off.

Attract and repel are a fixed pair in ordinary English and in physics — like charges repel, unlike charges attract.

The pull here is real-world rather than linguistic. Everyone knows what a flame does to a moth, so 'destroy' feels right; but the question is about the word, not about the insect. When an option is true of the situation without being opposite to the underlined word, it is a distractor.

• In physics, like charges repel and unlike charges attract, and the same pair describes magnetic poles.
• 'Repellent' as a noun names a substance that keeps insects away.
• 'Attraction' and 'repulsion' are the matching nouns.

• Choosing 'destroy' because it is what fire actually does to insects.
• Choosing 'remove', which quietly changes who is doing the acting.

Asked as an antonym item — choose the word most opposite in meaning to the underlined word.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word most opposite in meaning to 'attractive' in 'an attractive offer'.

  • (a)appealing
  • (b)tempting
  • (c)repulsive
  • (d)generous

  Answer(c) repulsive — the other three all draw a person towards the offer.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Complete the statement — Like magnetic poles ______ each other.

  • (a)attract
  • (b)repel
  • (c)dissolve
  • (d)absorb

  Answer(b) repel — two north poles push each other apart.