NDA (I) 2018 General Ability Test · Question 27 of 150

Correct — B, To come up to expectations. To cut the mustard is to reach the standard that is being asked for, to be good enough for the job. It is a verdict on performance measured against a standard, and 'to come up to expectations' is that verdict in plain words.

• (a)Prepare spices out of mustard seeds — This reads the words at face value. An idiom is precisely a phrase whose meaning cannot be worked out from the words, and no kitchen sense survives in this one.
• (c)Making absurd expectations — It uses the right noun, expectations, but puts the person on the wrong side of them. The idiom describes someone meeting a standard, not someone setting an unreasonable one.
• (d)Very enthusiastic — Enthusiasm is about how eagerly a person sets to work, whereas the idiom judges the result. Someone can be very keen and still not cut the mustard.

An idiom item on 'cut the mustard', meaning to achieve the expected standard, to be effective or good enough.

Two options can go straight away, because one is the literal kitchen reading and one describes a feeling rather than a performance. That leaves two options built on the word 'expectations', and the choice between them is a matter of direction: the idiom describes a person who satisfies expectations, not one who creates unreasonable ones.

• Wiktionary defines the phrase as 'to achieve the expected standard; to be effective or good enough; to suffice'.
• It usually turns up in the negative, as in 'he just can't cut the mustard' or 'this hammer doesn't cut the mustard'.
• The 'mustard' in it comes from an older slang use of the word for something that adds zest, and hence for the standard to be reached; the 'cut' means to display a quality.

• Picking the literal option because the idiom names an everyday object.
• Choosing an option that repeats a word from the correct answer while describing the opposite role.

Asked as an idiom item in which one option is the literal reading and one shares a keyword with the answer but reverses who is doing what.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the meaning of the phrase — <u>to make the grade</u>

  • (a)to fail an examination
  • (b)to reach the required standard
  • (c)to climb a steep slope
  • (d)to mark answer scripts

  Answer(b) to reach the required standard.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the meaning of the phrase — <u>not up to scratch</u>

  • (a)badly injured
  • (b)below the required standard
  • (c)unable to write clearly
  • (d)too expensive

  Answer(b) below the required standard.