NDA (II) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 14 of 141

Correct — C, that. The blank opens a relative clause modifying 'a high-producing plant' — 'a plant that lacks resistance to drought' — so a relative pronoun is needed, and 'that' correctly introduces a defining (restrictive) relative clause for a non-human noun. The alternatives cannot head this clause: 'whom' is for people and only as an object, while 'whichever' and 'whenever' are not relative pronouns that can attach to an already-named noun.

• (a)whichever — 'Whichever' means 'any one that' and cannot introduce a defining relative clause on a specific noun already named ('a high-producing plant').
• (b)whom — 'Whom' is a relative pronoun for people (and only as an object), so it cannot refer to a plant.
• (d)whenever — 'Whenever' is a relative adverb of time ('at any time that') and does not fit a clause describing a plant's quality.

Cloze / relative-pronoun item: a defining relative clause on a thing ('a plant') takes 'that' (or 'which'), not the people-word 'whom' or the time-word 'whenever'.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Fill in the blank: This is the machine ______ prints the labels.

  • (a)who
  • (b)that
  • (c)whom
  • (d)whenever

  Answer(b) that — a defining relative clause on a thing takes 'that'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the correct word: A seed ______ is stored in damp conditions will rot.

  • (a)that
  • (b)whom
  • (c)whichever
  • (d)whenever

  Answer(a) that — 'that' heads the defining relative clause describing the seed.