In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. People often say that the stars govern their fate but they forget the fact that success or failure is the result of one’s own (1)________. If we sow chaff, we can’t reap grain; and the result or consequence of an action depends on what one does and to the extent he (2)________ it. If we work hard, we succeed only to the extent that we work. People who think that the law of karma is (3)________ may feel that if one is destined to get something he will always get it whether he strives for it or not. But experience tells us that reward and punishments are the direct result of our action. Honesty and hard work never go unrewarded and (4)________ and evil deeds never go (5)________. In fact even the law of karma, in its proper sense, means that the fruit we get is decided by whatever actions we did in the past.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 4.
- (a)horribly
- (b)fairness
- (c)badly
- (d)dishonesty
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The blank is the first half of a compound subject: '______ and evil deeds never go ______'.
'Evil deeds' is a noun phrase, and items joined by and must match in class, so the blank must be a noun. That removes both adverbs at once, without any reading.
Of the two nouns left, the sentence is a mirror: honesty and hard work on one side, their opposites on the other. The opposite of 'honesty' is dishonesty.
Option (d) keeps both halves parallel — honesty and hard work are rewarded, dishonesty and evil deeds are not let off.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)horribly — Horribly is an adverb, and an adverb cannot join 'evil deeds' as the subject of 'never go ______'.
- (b)fairness — Fairness is a noun and would sit in the slot, but it is a virtue. Coupling it with 'evil deeds' would say fair conduct is punished, which reverses the passage.
- (c)badly — Badly is an adverb like (a). It fails on class before its meaning is even considered.
Concept
Coordination is a grammar test wearing vocabulary clothes. When 'and' joins two items they must be the same kind of thing — noun with noun, adjective with adjective, clause with clause.
Here the second item is fixed as evil deeds, so whatever fills the blank has to be a noun phrase capable of being a subject.
That leaves two candidates, and sense settles them: the sentence is an antithesis, so the blank takes the opposite of the 'honesty' in the first half.
Blanks 4 and 5 sit in one sentence and are best read together. If the subject is bad conduct, the second blank has to be about what does not happen to it.
Key facts
- Items joined by 'and' must belong to the same grammatical class.
- 'Dishonesty' is the noun built from 'dishonest' and is the direct antonym of 'honesty'.
- 'Horribly' and 'badly' are adverbs of manner and cannot serve as the subject of a clause.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing 'badly' because it feels like the opposite of honesty.
- Choosing 'fairness' because it is a noun and reads smoothly, without testing it against the sense of the sentence.
When the four options mix parts of speech, the grammar filter is the fast route and the meaning only decides the survivors.
The same filter is keyed at 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, EC Q.24, where 'it is from one unreal world to another (4)____ world' needs an adjective before 'world' and takes unreal, not the noun 'reality'.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.