In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. As a result of Covid-19, the quick (1) ______ to digital training has exposed the hazards of student disengagement and the resulting consequences of lower student performance across (2) ______ courses. The latest (3) ______ has altered the education of millions of people around the world. New approaches and improvements in the school system are urgently required. Considering the increasing digital divide, the strategy may exacerbate existing inequality disparities. More than 500 million students, at various levels, around the world were forced to (4) _______ their studies. These changes have caused and will continue to cause some inconvenience, but they will also foster innovation and future reforms inside this education system. During a global Covid-19 pandemic, the 'pile-on effect' of the coronavirus can have long-term consequences for schooling, notably for the most vulnerable. Children, (5) ________ basic, core learning (reading, math, languages, etc.) was weak to begin with, face a significant risk of regression. During Covid-19, millions of children whose right to education has already been violated, particularly girls, are exposed to greater health and well-being hazards (both psychosocial and physical).
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.
- (a)transition
- (b)end
- (c)stagnation
- (d)set
Answer
Why
Correct — A. Two things fix this blank. The word straight after it is to, and the noun that takes 'to' in this sense is transition — a transition to something new.
The paragraph is about schooling moving from classrooms to screens under Covid-19, and what the writer calls 'quick' is that move.
Option (a) names a move, takes the right preposition, and points the same way as the sentence.
Why the others are wrong
- (b)end — end reverses the paragraph. Digital training is what schooling moved into, not something that stopped, and the sentence goes on to blame that move for disengagement.
- (c)stagnation — stagnation means standing still, which contradicts 'quick' in the same phrase. It also does not take 'to' in this sense.
- (d)set — set is a noun meaning a group, or a verb. 'The quick set to digital training' is not English, and no reading of 'set' fits the preposition.
Concept
A cloze blank is decided by its neighbours as much as by the argument.
Here the neighbour is the preposition 'to', and 'transition to' is a fixed pairing. Test each option by saying it with the preposition attached before you weigh its meaning.
The argument then confirms the choice. The whole paragraph describes a shift to digital training and its costs, so the blank names that shift.
The passage is a single continuous argument, so a later sentence can settle an earlier blank. Read all five blanks once before answering any of them.
Key facts
- Transition to is the standard pairing when naming a change from one state to another.
- The passage names the consequences of the shift as student disengagement and lower performance.
- The blanks numbered 1 to 5 in this passage are asked as five separate questions.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking 'end' because Covid-19 is associated with things stopping.
- Filling the blank on meaning alone and ignoring the preposition that follows it.
SSC closes the English section with a five-blank cloze on one short passage, one blank per question.
In this shift that block is 10 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.21 to Q.25, and the blanks alternate between vocabulary choices and grammar choices.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.