In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. This Diwali is more significant because we are going to celebrate it after three years, without the evil shadow of Covid-19 that (1)________ looming over all festivities. The lockdowns and endless bad news of death and (2)________ had turned our country into a zone of gloom. But, this season of Diwali (3)________ all the sorrows of people by lighting the candle of hope in their lives. We can see the lights, the candles, the lanterns, and the busy people coming out of their houses and purchasing toys for their children. Let’s (4)________ those people who have made such a huge contribution to (5)________ good thoughts and saving people's lives.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.
- (a)has hovered
- (b)has adopted
- (c)had recognised
- (d)has shed
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The blank takes all the sorrows of people as its object, and the sentence opens with But, which reverses the gloom described just before it.
So the verb has to be transitive and it has to mean get rid of. shed is that verb: you shed a burden, shed inhibitions, shed sorrow.
The rest of the clause confirms the direction — the sorrows go by lighting the candle of hope. Option (d) is the only choice that removes anything.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)has hovered — hover is intransitive: something hovers over a place, but you cannot hover sorrows. It cannot take the object this sentence hands it.
- (b)has adopted — adopt means take on, which runs the wrong way. Adopting all the sorrows would deepen the gloom that But has just promised to reverse.
- (c)had recognised — recognise only acknowledges the sorrows, it does not remove them, and the past perfect had breaks the present frame of this season of Diwali.
Concept
Two filters settle most verb blanks: transitivity and direction of meaning.
Transitivity asks whether the verb can take the object the sentence supplies. all the sorrows is a direct object, so an intransitive verb is out however well it suits the mood.
Direction asks which way the sentence is travelling. But at the head of the clause marks a turn away from the gloom, so the verb must undo sorrow rather than acquire or merely notice it. shed carries the sense of casting off.
Tense is a third, weaker filter here: three options are present perfect and one is past perfect.
It still eliminates. A past perfect needs an earlier past event to be perfect with respect to, and this sentence offers none.
Key facts
- Shed means to cast off or get rid of, as in shed light, shed tears, shed inhibitions.
- Hover is intransitive and cannot take a direct object.
- The past perfect, had plus a past participle, needs a second and later past reference point in the context.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking has hovered because hovering echoes the shadow looming earlier in the passage, without checking whether it can take an object.
- Ignoring But, which fixes the direction the verb has to travel.
Verb blanks settled by sense rather than by form are also asked 09 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.22, where tea prices have been ___ with the prices of other companies is keyed aligning over encountering, favouring and countering.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.