In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is an (1) _________ by the Government of India to celebrate and remember 75 years of independence and the beautiful history of its people, culture and achievements. This Mahotsav is (2) _________ to the people of India, who have not only been instrumental in bringing India this far in its evolutionary journey but also (3) _________ the power and potential to realise Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's (4) _________ of activating India 2.0, fuelled by the spirit of Aatmanirbhar Bharat. The formal journey of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav began on 12 March 2021, beginning a (5)______ to our 75th anniversary of independence and will finish a year later on 15 August 2023.
Select the most appropriate answer for blank number 1.%
- (a)associate
- (b)obligation
- (c)initiative
- (d)occult
Answer
Why
Correct — C. Read the blank with the words on both sides: an ___ by the Government of India to celebrate — an agent, then a purpose.
An initiative is a new plan or programme started by someone to achieve something, which is precisely that frame.
The article an settles nothing here, because associate, obligation and occult all begin with a vowel too. The frame is what decides it — option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)associate — An associate is a person you work with, or the verb to link two things. A government does not launch a person in order to celebrate an anniversary.
- (b)obligation — An obligation is a duty you are bound to discharge. The passage presents the Mahotsav as something mounted to celebrate and remember, not as a debt owed.
- (d)occult — Occult belongs to the hidden and the supernatural. Nothing in the passage is about mystery, and the word does not take by an agent to do something.
Concept
Cloze blanks are settled by collocation — which words habitually travel together — far more often than by grammar.
Here the slot is a frame: an initiative by someone to do something. Drop each option into the whole frame rather than judging it on its own.
Register helps as well. This is official prose about a national commemoration, and initiative is the standard word for a government programme in that register.
The passage carries its own facts — it dates the formal journey to 12 March 2021 and runs it to 15 August 2023 — so answer from the passage rather than from what you remember about the event.
Key facts
- Initiative means a new plan or process begun to achieve a particular aim.
- The frame is an initiative by someone to do something.
- All four options begin with a vowel, so the article an rules none of them out.
Study next
Common traps
- Using the article an as the decider when every option starts with a vowel.
- Choosing obligation because a government is the agent.
- Answering from what you know about Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav rather than from the passage.
The five-blank cloze sits at English Q.21 to Q.25 in each of the 35 CGL 2024 Tier-I papers on file here — counted across the banks, not assumed. Blanks 2 to 5 of this passage are English Q.22 to Q.25 of this paper.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.