In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. The adverse (1)__________ of climate change and environmental degradation are increasingly driving human mobility the world over, particularly in countries with high exposure and low (2)__________ capacity. While most climate-related mobility currently occurs within countries, desperation and deteriorating environments can also compel people to seek a livelihood elsewhere through (3)__________ migration. While climate change negatively impacts everyone, everywhere, those already in vulnerable situations due to geography, poverty, gender, age, disability, origin, or other status, including migrant women who (4)__________ climate-sensitive livelihoods, and children who are less able to survive extreme weather events, are at the greatest risk of suffering harm. It is (5)__________ to recognise this reality and take meaningful action to protect the human rights of those most affected by climate change, including migrants.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.
- (a)fast
- (b)irregular
- (c)regard
- (d)fixate
Answer
Why
Correct — B. The blank modifies migration, so it needs an adjective, and the clause says what desperation and deteriorating environments compel people to do: seek a livelihood elsewhere.
Irregular migration is the established term for movement outside a country's legal or authorised channels, which is the route open to people driven by desperation.
regard and fixate are not adjectives at all, so the slot itself removes them before meaning is weighed → option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)fast — Fast is an adjective, so the slot accepts it, but speed is not the point. The causes the sentence gives are desperation and a deteriorating environment, not haste.
- (c)regard — Regard is a noun (esteem) or a verb (to consider), never an adjective, so it cannot modify migration however sensible regard for migrants might sound.
- (d)fixate — Fixate is a verb meaning to focus obsessively. A verb cannot fill an adjective slot in front of a noun, and nothing here is being fixated on.
Concept
Two filters again, and in this order: the slot and then the collocation.
The slot wants an adjective before migration, and that removes the verb fixate and the noun regard at once — you never have to think about what they mean.
The collocation decides between the two adjectives left. Irregular migration is a fixed phrase in migration writing, naming entry or stay outside legal channels, while fast migration is not a phrase English uses.
Key facts
- Irregular migration means movement that happens outside the laws or regulations of the countries concerned.
- An adjective slot in front of a noun rules out verbs however well they match the topic.
- Regard works as a noun and as a verb, but there is no adjective regard.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing fast because it is grammatically possible and the sentence reads urgently
- Treating regard as an adjective because regarding exists
The same word is used from the other side elsewhere — at 26 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.22 irregular is the distractor and routine is keyed, so the vocabulary is identical and only the sentence decides.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.