NDA (II) 2023 General Ability Test · Question 3 of 146

Correct — B, 'distance'. 'Go the distance' is a fixed idiom meaning to keep going right to the end of something demanding, which fits a speaker who doubts he can last through a tough course. It comes from boxing and racing, where a contestant who goes the distance survives every scheduled round.

• (a)way — English says 'go all the way' or 'go a long way'. On its own, 'go the way' means to share the fate of something, as in 'go the way of the dodo'.
• (c)far — 'Far' is an adverb and cannot follow the article 'the'.
• (d)route — One goes 'this route' or 'that route' when choosing a course of action, but 'go the route' is not the idiom for lasting to the end.

The blank completes a fixed idiom, so the test is whether the candidate recognises 'go the distance' as a whole phrase.

Three of the four options are words of travel, and that is the bait. Idioms are learnt whole, so the reliable move is to ask which complete phrase actually exists in English rather than which word makes literal sense after 'go the'.

• 'Go the distance' means to carry on to the end of a demanding task.
• 'Go the way of' means to meet the same fate as something else.

• Choosing 'way' because 'go all the way' sounds close enough.
• Placing an adverb such as 'far' immediately after 'the'.

Asked as a fill-in-the-blank item — choose the word that completes the sentence.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Complete the idiom. The injured runner was determined to go the __________.

  • (a)far
  • (b)route
  • (c)distance
  • (d)way

  Answer(c) distance — 'go the distance' means to last to the end.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Complete the idiom. Once printing spread, the hand-copied manuscript went the __________ of the scroll.

  • (a)way
  • (b)distance
  • (c)route
  • (d)far

  Answer(a) way — 'go the way of' means to meet the same fate as.