_______ the wind, it was getting stronger, and I was getting colder.
- (a)To begin with
- (b)By the way
- (c)First of all
- (d)Speaking of
Correct — D, Speaking of. The blank is immediately followed by the noun phrase 'the wind', and only 'Speaking of' takes a noun directly to shift the topic to it — 'Speaking of the wind, it was getting stronger...'. The others are complete adverbials that cannot govern the noun that follows.
- (a)To begin with — 'To begin with' is a sequencing marker; it cannot take 'the wind' as its object, so 'To begin with the wind' does not read as intended.
- (b)By the way — 'By the way' needs a full following clause, not the bare noun 'the wind', to introduce its aside.
- (c)First of all — 'First of all' enumerates a first point and cannot govern the noun 'the wind' that directly follows.
'Speaking of X' is a topic-shifting frame that attaches directly to a noun to turn the conversation to that noun.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Fill in the blank: _______ holidays, are you travelling this year?
- (a)Speaking of
- (b)As a result
- (c)First of all
- (d)In conclusion
Answer(a) Speaking of — it takes the noun 'holidays' directly to shift the topic.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Which opener attaches directly to a noun to change the subject?
- (a)Speaking of
- (b)Therefore
- (c)For example
- (d)Nevertheless
Answer(a) Speaking of — it governs a following noun to introduce a related topic.