In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Recently, the (1)________ of heart-attacks in young Indians (2)________ increased tremendously. Doctors are surprised to note that young men and women with seemingly healthy lifestyle are suffering deadly heart attacks. (3)________ diet and exercise play a (4)________ role in a person’s overall wellbeing, mental health is also a valuable factor. The (5)________ urban lifestyle is causing anxiety and depression in young Indians which may be a major factor behind the increased numbers.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.
- (a)wilderness
- (b)cosmic
- (c)rapidly
- (d)fast-paced
Answer
Why
Correct — D. The blank sits between the determiner The and the noun phrase urban lifestyle, and only an attributive adjective can stand in that slot.
fast-paced is a hyphenated compound adjective meaning full of rapid activity, and it is what makes the rest of the sentence follow: a hurried life 'is causing anxiety and depression in young Indians'.
The fast-paced urban lifestyle → option (d).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)wilderness — wilderness is a noun, and stacking it in front of 'urban lifestyle' yields no sense — it also points away from the city the sentence is describing.
- (b)cosmic — cosmic is an adjective, so the slot would take it, but it means relating to the universe. Nothing in the passage is about space.
- (c)rapidly — rapidly is an adverb, and adverbs modify verbs, adjectives and other adverbs, never a noun. 'Rapidly' would need an adjective or a participle after it, as in 'rapidly changing'.
Concept
The determiner tells you the word class the blank needs. Once The has opened a noun phrase and 'urban lifestyle' has closed it, whatever stands between them is an attributive adjective.
That one test removes the noun and the adverb before meaning is considered, leaving two adjectives to separate on sense.
English builds such adjectives freely with a hyphen — fast-paced, well-known, long-term. The hyphen ties the pair into a single modifier, which is why 'fast-paced' can stand where one adjective stands.
Adverbs do appear inside noun phrases, but only in front of an adjective or a participle: 'the rapidly changing urban lifestyle' is perfectly good English.
With nothing for it to modify here, rapidly fails on structure rather than on meaning.
Key facts
- An attributive adjective sits between the determiner and the noun it modifies.
- Fast-paced is a compound adjective meaning full of rapid activity or change.
- Adverbs cannot modify nouns, though they can modify an adjective or a participle inside a noun phrase.
- Cosmic means relating to the cosmos or the universe.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking 'rapidly' because the passage is about the speed of modern life
- Choosing 'cosmic' as the impressive-sounding option with the wrong meaning
- Deciding on meaning before checking which word class the slot allows
The words on either side of a cloze blank fix its word class, so read the neighbours before you read the options.
A hyphenated modifier is keyed the same way at 12 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.22, where 'forest-living' is taken over the noun 'life' and the adjective 'alive'.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.