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 5.
- (a)stagnating
- (b)implicating
- (c)impeding
- (d)spreading
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The phrase is contribution to (5) ___ good thoughts and saving people's lives, so the blank is coordinated with saving and must do the same work it does.
Every option is an -ing form, so the ending decides nothing here. Sense decides everything.
A contribution to spreading good thoughts is a benefit, it takes good thoughts as an object, and it sits parallel with saving lives — option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)stagnating — stagnate means to stop flowing or developing, and it does not take an object — water stagnates, a career stagnates. Nobody is thanked for stagnating anything.
- (b)implicating — implicate means to show that someone is involved in wrongdoing. It takes people, not thoughts, and it accuses rather than contributes.
- (c)impeding — impede means to obstruct or slow down. Impeding good thoughts is the opposite of a contribution and cannot stand parallel with saving people's lives.
Concept
When every option carries the same ending, the ending is not the test. All four here are gerunds, which tells you only that the slot after to is a gerund slot.
The real test is the coordination. contribution to X and saving people's lives puts X in a list with an act that saves lives, so X must do good and must take an object.
spreading passes both. It is transitive — you spread news, spread awareness, spread good thoughts — and what is spread here is good.
Notice the preposition. The to in contribution to is not the infinitive marker but a preposition, which is why every option is a gerund rather than a base form.
The same pattern governs look forward to, object to and be used to, and it is worth carrying out of this question.
Key facts
- Contribution to is followed by a noun or a gerund, never by a bare infinitive.
- Spread is transitive and takes abstract objects: spread awareness, spread rumours, spread good thoughts.
- Stagnate describes something that stops moving or developing and does not take an object.
- Implicate means to show that somebody is involved in wrongdoing.
Study next
Common traps
- Assuming the -ing forms are testing gerund against infinitive, when all four are gerunds and only meaning separates them.
- Choosing impeding because it is the least common word, without asking whether obstruction can be a contribution.
Option sets in which all four choices share the same -ing ending are also asked 23 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.22 (including, manifesting, exaggerating, segregating — keyed including) and 18 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.22 (reducing, seeking, neglecting, declining — keyed seeking).
In each of those the ending is shared and the sense is what separates the options.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.