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 limbs of the flying squirrel are interlinked with a membrane. When the creature (1)________ into the air, the membrane opens and the squirrel seems to (2)_______ swiftly downwards. This movement gives the (3)_______ of flight. However, it is not flying really. It is a (4)_______ in the air from a higher level. It is also noteworthy that a squirrel cannot (5)_____ its direction while it is in flying mode.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.
- (a)fancy
- (b)suspicion
- (c)affect
- (d)impression
Answer
Why
Correct — D. Give the impression of is a set phrase: to make something look a certain way without its being so.
The passage then says exactly that — "However, it is not flying really" — which is appearance set against reality, and impression is the noun for an appearance produced on the mind.
The verb in front of the blank is what decides it. Gives the ___ of takes impression → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)fancy — Fancy is a liking or a passing whim, as in take a fancy to something. Gives the fancy of is not an English phrase.
- (b)suspicion — Suspicion is a belief that something wrong is going on, and it is aroused or raised rather than given. Nothing in the passage is under doubt.
- (c)affect — Affect is a verb meaning to influence. The slot follows the and needs a noun, and the noun that sounds like it here is effect, spelt differently and meaning a result.
Concept
Noun blanks in a cloze turn on the verb standing in front of them. Give the impression of is one of a small family of set phrases English uses for how a thing appears.
Learn the family together: create the impression, get the impression, be under the impression.
The rejected options have their own partners. Suspicion runs with arouse and raise. Fancy runs with take a fancy to. Learning the verb with the noun makes these blanks decidable without weighing shades of meaning.
Option (c) is the affect-and-effect trap in disguise, planted in a slot where only a noun can stand.
Key facts
- Give the impression of means to make something appear a certain way.
- Affect is normally the verb, meaning to influence, and effect the noun, meaning a result.
- Suspicion collocates with arouse or raise rather than with give.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing affect because the movement really does affect how the squirrel looks.
- Reading suspicion as any kind of guess or hunch.
- Filling the blank on meaning alone while ignoring the verb gives in front of it.
Affects against effects is the whole of the question at 17 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.21, where the same pair opens a cloze passage on climate change.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.