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 5.
- (a)adept
- (b)replace
- (c)adopt
- (d)swap
Answer
Why
Correct — D. After cannot the blank takes a bare verb, which removes adept at once: adept is an adjective meaning skilled, as in adept at climbing.
The sense the sentence needs is giving up one direction for another in mid-glide, and swap is exactly that — to exchange one thing for another.
"A squirrel cannot swap its direction while it is in flying mode" → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)adept — Adept is an adjective, not a verb, so nothing lets it follow cannot. It is often misread as adapt, which is a verb, but adapt is not on offer here.
- (b)replace — Replace wants the newcomer named — you replace one thing with another — and the sentence supplies no substitute direction for the squirrel to take up.
- (c)adopt — Adopt means to take something up for the first time, as in adopt a policy. You adopt a course at the start, while leaving the course you are already on is an exchange.
Concept
Work through two checks, in this order.
Part of speech first. The blank sits between cannot and an object, so only a verb can stand there. Adept is an adjective and drops out before you think about meaning at all.
Then the direction of the change. Adopt takes something up. Replace puts a new thing where an old one stood and expects both to be named. Swap exchanges one for the other, which is what a change of course in mid-air is.
Adept, adopt and adapt are a standard confusable trio. Adept means skilled, adopt means to take up, and adapt means to adjust to conditions.
Key facts
- Adept is an adjective meaning highly skilled, usually followed by at or in.
- Adopt means to take up or begin using something, such as a policy or a method.
- Swap means to exchange one thing for another.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading adept as adapt and choosing it for the sense adjust.
- Choosing replace without noticing that nothing is named to put in the old direction's place.
- Comparing meanings first and never running the part-of-speech check.
Options drawn from the adopt family also appear at 17 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.22 (adaptive, affective, adoptive, minimum) and 18 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.23 (has hovered, has adopted, had recognised, has shed).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.