In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. The third National Wildlife Action Plan for 2017- 2031, underlying India’s plan for wildlife conservation, was unveiled (1)______ the Global Wildlife Programme conference. The plan recognises (2)________ addresses concerns pertaining to climate changes and its impact on wildlife . The plan details the importance of ecosystems for food production, health and other aspects of (3)______ survival and sustainable development. It also emphasises preservation of genetic (4)_______ and sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems which has direct bearing on our scientific advancements and support to millions of rural communities. The plan underscores rehabilitation of threatened wildlife species (5)_______ inland aquatic, coastal and marine ecosystems while conserving their habitats.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.
- (a)breed
- (b)species
- (c)group
- (d)human
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The blank modifies survival, and the run-up to it is food production, health and other aspects of ______ survival.
Food and health are human goods, and the blank is paired with sustainable development, a phrase about people.
The passage keeps species for wildlife, using it in its own right at sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems. So the blank is human. Option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)breed — breed names a subdivision of a domesticated species, like a dog breed. Nothing here concerns livestock lines, and breed survival is not an English collocation.
- (b)species — species fits the wildlife theme but not this list — food production and health are human concerns. The passage gives species its own slot at sustainable utilisation of species and ecosystems.
- (c)group — group survival needs a named group, and the passage names none. It is also too loose to sit beside sustainable development, a standard term about human societies.
Concept
A vocabulary blank in a cloze is settled by the words around it, not by the topic of the passage.
Two signals decide this one. First collocation: human survival and sustainable development are set phrases in conservation writing, while breed survival and group survival are not.
Second coherence: the sentence lists food production and health, which are human needs, and the passage has already given wildlife its own vocabulary elsewhere.
Read the neighbouring nouns before you read the theme.
The passage is about wildlife, which is precisely what makes species look right. The topic of a passage and the sense of one sentence inside it are different questions.
Key facts
- Human survival and sustainable development are standard collocations in conservation writing.
- A breed is a subdivision within a domesticated species, not a synonym for species.
- In a cloze, the nouns on either side of the blank decide it more reliably than the subject matter does.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing species because the passage as a whole is about wildlife.
- Overlooking that food production and health are human needs.
- Treating breed as a general word for any kind of animal.
Word-choice blanks pit near-synonyms against each other and are decided by the neighbouring words rather than by the theme.
The same shape is keyed at 10 Sep 2024, 4:00 PM, English Q.23, where epidemic, local, endemic and pandemic compete and the clause about millions of people around the world keys pandemic.
It runs again at 9 Sep 2024, 4:00 PM, English Q.21, where field, zone, market and area compete and tea prices in the domestic ______ keys market.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.