NDA (II) 2024 General Ability Test · Question 6 of 141

Correct — A, independent. The preposition 'of' right after the blank is the decisive clue: English fixes 'independent of', whereas 'dependent' takes 'on' (dependent on), 'relevant' takes 'to', and 'consequent' takes 'on/upon' — so only 'independent' collocates with 'of'. It also fits the sense: because most food comes from cultivated agriculture, people wrongly assume that food is independent of (stands apart from) natural biota — the wild organisms of nature — a belief the passage goes on to challenge.

• (b)dependent — 'Dependent' would need the preposition 'on' ('dependent on natural biota'), not 'of'; it also reverses the belief the sentence is setting up.
• (c)relevant — 'Relevant' collocates with 'to', not 'of', and 'relevant of natural biota' is not idiomatic English.
• (d)consequent — 'Consequent' takes 'on/upon' and means 'following as a result'; it does not fit either the grammar ('of') or the sense here.

Cloze / collocation item: the adjective 'independent' takes the preposition 'of', which fits both the grammar (independent of) and the passage's set-up that farmed food is wrongly believed to stand apart from wild natural biota.

No directly related past PYQ was found.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Fill in the blank: The court's verdict is entirely ______ of public opinion.

  • (a)dependent
  • (b)independent
  • (c)reliant
  • (d)conditional

  Answer(b) independent — 'independent of' is the correct collocation; the others take 'on'.

• practice — not a real PYQ

  Choose the correct word: A good harvest is largely ______ on the timely arrival of the monsoon.

  • (a)independent
  • (b)dependent
  • (c)irrespective
  • (d)regardless

  Answer(b) dependent — 'dependent on' is the fixed collocation with the preposition 'on'.