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 5.%
- (a)allocation
- (b)breakdown
- (c)countdown
- (d)custom
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The frame is beginning a ___ to our 75th anniversary, and that anniversary is a fixed date lying ahead.
A countdown is exactly that: a marked run of time towards a coming event. It takes to — a countdown to the launch, a countdown to independence day.
The sentence has already given the start, 12 March 2021, so what begins on that date is the counting of the time left — option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)allocation — An allocation is a share of money, time or resources handed out. It is made of something or to a recipient, and a date is not a recipient.
- (b)breakdown — A breakdown is a collapse, or an itemised analysis of costs. It takes of, and neither sense begins on a date and runs to an anniversary.
- (d)custom — A custom is a practice a community repeats over the years. You do not begin a custom to a date, because a custom has no direction in time.
Concept
The preposition beside a blank is the cheapest test in a cloze.
The sentence prints a ___ to our 75th anniversary. Countdown takes to, breakdown takes of, allocation is of resources, and custom is the custom of a people.
The second test is direction in time. The passage gives a start date and an end date, so the blank names something that runs between them, which is what a countdown does.
Both dates you need — 12 March 2021 and 15 August 2023 — sit in the passage's last sentence, the one carrying this blank, so it can be answered without reading the rest of the passage again.
Key facts
- Countdown means the period counted backwards to a planned event, as in a countdown to the launch.
- The passage dates the formal start to 12 March 2021 and the finish to 15 August 2023.
- Breakdown means either a collapse or an itemised analysis, as in a breakdown of costs.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing breakdown because the sentence describes a process, without testing its preposition.
- Overlooking the two dates the passage supplies on either side of the blank.
- Treating countdown as a word only for rocket launches.
A blank sitting directly before a preposition is decided by that preposition — here the printed to. The earlier blanks of the same passage are English Q.21 to Q.24 of this paper.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.