NDA (I) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 7 of 146

Correct — A, these. The noun 'changes' is plural, which rules out the singular demonstratives 'this' and 'that'. Between the two plural options, the split construction '______ changes ... but others' calls for 'these' — the proximal demonstrative pointing to the changes just being discussed — rather than the distal 'those'. So 'These changes ... but others can be attributed to human activities' is the natural reading.

• (b)those — Is plural and so agrees with 'changes', but 'those' points to something more distant; in a 'these ... but others' split referring to changes just mentioned, 'these' is the idiomatic choice.
• (c)this — Is singular and cannot agree with the plural noun 'changes'.
• (d)that — Is singular as well, so it clashes with the plural 'changes'.

This is a demonstrative-agreement item — the plural noun 'changes' forces a plural demonstrative, and the proximal 'these' fits the 'these ... but others' contrast better than the distal 'those'.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Fill in the blank: ______ books on the table are mine; the ones on the shelf are yours.

  • (a)this
  • (b)that
  • (c)these
  • (d)it

  Answer(c) these — the plural 'books' needs a plural demonstrative, and 'these' points to the near set.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the correct word: ______ idea you suggested yesterday was excellent.

  • (a)these
  • (b)those
  • (c)this
  • (d)many

  Answer(c) this — the singular 'idea' takes a singular demonstrative.