Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined word segment in the given sentence. Carnatic music is usually performed by a small troupe of actors, consisting of a principal performer, a melodic accompaniment, and a rhythm accompaniment.

Correct — A. The sentence says Carnatic music is performed, and then names a principal performer, a melodic accompaniment and a rhythm accompaniment. Those are three musical roles, not acting roles.

So the head noun actors is the fault, and troupe is the collective that belongs to actors and dancers. Ensemble is the standard collective for musicians performing together, so option (a) repairs the noun and its collective in one move.

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  panel of judges — A panel is the collective for judges or experts who assess something. The sentence puts people on a stage to perform, and nobody in it is adjudicating.
• (c)
  band of singers — Band at least keeps the group musical, but the sentence's own list adds a melodic accompaniment and a rhythm accompaniment. Calling the whole group singers still misdescribes it.
• (d)
  board of directors — A board of directors is a corporate body that governs a company. Nothing in a sentence about performing music turns the group into an administrative one.

Substitution items test collocation — which words habitually travel together in standard English.

Collective nouns are the clearest case. A troupe is a company of actors or dancers, an ensemble a group of musicians performing together, a panel a set of judges or experts, a board the governing body of a company.

The sentence supplies its own evidence for which one is wanted: it says the music is performed, then lists a lead and two accompaniments. Read past the underline before you choose — the giveaway is usually already on the page.

Key facts

• A troupe is the collective noun for a company of actors or dancers.
• An ensemble is a group of musicians who perform together.
• In Carnatic music the melodic accompaniment is usually the violin and the rhythm accompaniment the mridangam.
• Carnatic music is the classical music tradition of South India.

Common traps

• Reading only the underlined words and picking band because the sentence is about music.
• Rejecting troupe merely because it is an unfamiliar word, when the fault is the noun it governs.

No directly related past PYQ was found.