NDA (II) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 24 of 146

Correct — B, dissected. To 'dismember' is to cut a body part away or tear a body apart limb from limb, and of the four options only 'dissected' — cut open or cut apart — belongs to that family. The other three describe things done to a finger without cutting it.

• (a)stitched — 'Stitched' means sewn up, which is what a doctor does after cutting, not the cutting itself.
• (c)plastered — 'Plastered' means covered with a cast or a dressing, so nothing is cut at all.
• (d)splintered — 'Splintered' means broken into sharp fragments. The look-alike 'splint', the support strapped to a broken finger, is the bait — but splintering is breaking, not cutting.

'Dismember' is built on the Latin membrum, a limb, and means literally to take the limbs off. 'Dissect' means to cut something apart, most often to examine it.

The printed sentence is medically odd — a doctor who dismembers a finger has not left much to cure afterwards — but a synonym item asks only for the option nearest in meaning to the given word, never for the most plausible story. Match the word, ignore the scenario, and pick from the cutting family.

• 'Dismember' means to cut or tear the limbs from a body.
• 'Dissect' means to cut something apart, usually for examination.
• A splint supports a broken bone while a splinter is a sharp fragment — neither involves cutting.

• Picking the word that fits what a doctor would sensibly do instead of what 'dismember' means.
• Choosing 'splintered' because 'splint' sounds medical.

Asked as a synonym item in which the sentence around the tested word is deliberately implausible.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'dissect'. The students had to dissect the specimen in the biology laboratory.

  • (a)preserve
  • (b)cut apart
  • (c)photograph
  • (d)weigh

  Answer(b) cut apart — dissection is cutting something apart to examine it.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the word nearest in meaning to 'amputate'. The surgeon had to amputate the crushed limb.

  • (a)bandage
  • (b)cut off
  • (c)massage
  • (d)examine

  Answer(b) cut off — to amputate is to remove a limb by cutting.