Select the option that can be used as a one-word substitute for the given group of words. A small group of people who spend their time together and do not welcome other people into that group
- (a)Clique
- (b)Employees
- (c)Lobby
- (d)Squad
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The definition sets two conditions, and one word satisfies both.
The group is small, and it does not welcome other people into itself. Exclusiveness is not a side note in the word clique — it is what the word means.
A clique is named for who it keeps out, not for what it does or who employs it. Drop either half of the definition and other words compete, keep both and option (a) is what is left.
Why the others are wrong
- (b)Employees — Employees names a relation to an employer, not a social group. It fixes neither the size nor the closedness the definition asks for, and a firm's employees are not a clique.
- (c)Lobby — A lobby is a group that presses decision-makers to act in its interest. Its defining activity points outward, at persuasion, while this definition points inward, at keeping people out.
- (d)Squad — A squad is a small group organised for a task, in sport or in the forces. The size fits, but a squad is selected and can be reselected, so exclusiveness is no part of the word.
Concept
One-word substitution is decided by reading the definition as a list of conditions, not as an impression.
There are three here: it is a group, it is small, and it is closed to outsiders. Squad and team clear the first two and fail the third. Clique is the ordinary English noun built on the third.
The word also carries a mild disapproving tone — people rarely call their own circle a clique — and the tone matches the stem, which describes the group by what it refuses rather than by what it is for.
Only the exclusion clause separates the four options, so a candidate who reads the stem as 'a small group of friends' has thrown away the deciding condition before looking at the options.
Key facts
- Clique — a small, exclusive group that keeps other people out, usually said with disapproval.
- Lobby — a group organised to influence lawmakers or officials in favour of a cause.
- Squad — a small group organised for a shared task, as in a football squad or a police squad.
- The stem asks for a substitute for the whole group of words, so the answer must cover the exclusion clause as well as the size.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing squad because it is also small, after skipping the 'do not welcome other people' half of the definition.
- Reading lobby as any organised group, when the word means a group applying pressure on decision-makers.
One-word substitution is a standing fixture of the English block. In this shift it also appears at English Q.2 ('A government by the officials' — Bureaucracy), Q.7 ('A person who sells and arranges cut flowers' — Florist) and Q.9 ('A place where fruit trees are grown' — Orchard).
A person-defining version is keyed on 09 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.9 ('A person who likes to argue about anything' — Contentious).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.