In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Earthquake is the (1)_________ breaking and displacement of substantial portions of the earth's outer rocky crust. During an earthquake, rock disturbances can cause rivers to change their flow. Landslides (2)__________ by earthquakes can cause significant destruction and loss of life. Tsunamis are a (3)_________ of damaging waves caused by large earthquakes that occur under the ocean. Earthquakes rarely directly kill anyone. Many (4)__________ and injuries are caused by falling debris and the fall of structures. The (5)_________ of an earthquake relies on how much and how far rock cracks and shifts.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.
- (a)prevented
- (b)blocked
- (c)triggered
- (d)subdued
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The gap takes a past participle between Landslides and by earthquakes — a reduced passive clause, short for "landslides that are ___ by earthquakes".
So the verb must let the earthquake be the cause of the landslide. And the rest of the line insists the landslide then happens: it "can cause significant destruction and loss of life".
Triggered means set off, started by something else. It is the one option that starts the landslide instead of stopping it. Option (c).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)prevented — Prevented reverses the causation. A landslide the earthquake stopped cannot go on, in the same sentence, to cause destruction and loss of life.
- (b)blocked — Blocked also stops the slide, and it wants an obstacle rather than an agent — you block a road with rubble, you do not block a landslide by an earthquake.
- (d)subdued — Subdued means brought under control or made less intense. It leaves the same contradiction: a landslide that has been damped down is not the one doing the destroying.
Concept
Landslides ___ by earthquakes is a reduced relative clause. The full form is "landslides which are ___ by earthquakes", so the gap needs a past participle and the by-phrase names the agent.
That grammar settles half the item, since all four options are past participles. The other half is logic: the clause after the gap says these landslides cause destruction, so the earthquake must have started them.
Trigger is the standard verb for one event setting off another.
Notice that prevented, blocked and subdued all mean stopping, while triggered means starting.
Once you see that, the item is a single yes-or-no about the direction of causation, and the rest of the sentence answers it for you.
Key facts
- A reduced passive clause drops which or that plus be: landslides (which are) triggered by earthquakes.
- To trigger something is to set it off or initiate it, usually something sudden or large.
- To subdue is to bring under control, to quieten or to conquer.
Study next
Common traps
- Filling the gap before reading to the end of the sentence.
- Reading by earthquakes as a time or a place instead of as the agent.
- Choosing blocked because landslides and blocked roads sit together in the mind.
Blanks in this format are set so that the sentence itself supplies the check — here the clause after the gap rules out every option that means stopping.
The same passage continues at English Q.21, Q.23, Q.24 and Q.25 of the 13 Sep 2024, 12:30 paper.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.