In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Gandhi, (1)_________ father of the Indian nation, practiced ‘ahimsa’ in his personal and political life. He firmly believed that non-violence is not meant merely for monks, saints and priests; it is for commoners too. If violence is the law of the (2)_______-beasts, non-violence is the law of the civilised human species. ‘The spirit of the brute is inactive and so he knows no law; he knows only physical might. The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law, to strength of the spirit,’ Gandhi said. Ahimsa, to Gandhiji, meant that one should love all; even (3)________ enemies. And the expression of love, ahimsa, should be in such a manner that it impresses itself indelibly upon the so-called enemy, and then the enemy must return that love. It is a practically (4)________ philosophy. Gandhi was realistic; he believed that non-violence provides the fullest protection to one’s self-respect and sense of humour. It won’t work in the defence of (5)_______ gains and immoral acts. He called his marches off when people indulged in violence during protests for India’s freedom. His faith in ‘ahimsa’ played an influential role in enabling the creation of an independent India in 1947, with minimum bloodshed, breaking the shackles framed by the British.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.
- (a)an
- (b)for
- (c)the
- (d)a
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The blank opens an appositive describing Gandhi, and the noun it heads is pinned down by the phrase that follows it: father of the Indian nation. Only one person can answer that description.
English marks a uniquely identified noun with the definite article, so the is the fit.
An indefinite article would say one father among several, which the of-phrase contradicts. Option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)an — An is the indefinite article, and it is used only before a vowel sound. Father opens with the consonant f, so an father fails on pronunciation before its meaning is even weighed.
- (b)for — For is a preposition, not an article. Gandhi, for father of the Indian nation, is not English, and the slot in front of a bare noun needs a determiner.
- (d)a — A is grammatical in front of father but indefinite, introducing one of many. The of-phrase has already narrowed the noun to a single person, and that calls for the.
Concept
Article blanks turn on reference, not on sound alone.
Use the when the reader can tell exactly which thing is meant, because it is unique, because it has already been mentioned, or because a following phrase pins it down. Father of the Indian nation is pinned down by its of-phrase.
Use a or an when the noun is one of a class and the reader cannot yet tell which. Choose between the two by the sound that follows: an before a vowel sound, a before a consonant sound.
The same pattern recurs inside the passage. The law of the civilised human species takes the for exactly the reason blank 1 does, an of-phrase that fixes which law is meant.
Key facts
- The definite article the marks a noun the reader can identify uniquely.
- A postmodifying of-phrase is one of the things that can make a noun uniquely identifiable.
- An is used before a vowel sound and a before a consonant sound, judged by pronunciation rather than by spelling.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing a because father feels like an ordinary countable noun, without reading the of-phrase after the blank
- Choosing an out of habit before a word that begins with a consonant sound
This passage carries deletions numbered 1 to 5, asked as English Q.21 to Q.25 of this paper, and the blanks range across word classes: an article here, a compound adjective at Q.22, a possessive at Q.23.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.