In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Augmented reality and virtual reality are two types of reality technologies that either augment or replace a real-world environment with a (1)________ one. In augmented reality, a virtual environment coexists (2)________ the actual world, to be instructive and offer more data about the real world that a user can access without having to search. When a handset is pointed at a piece of malfunctioning (3)________, for example, industrial AR apps might provide rapid troubleshooting information. Virtual reality is a (4)________ environmental simulation that completely replaces the user's surroundings with a totally virtual world. For example, VR may provide a user with a box containing a cartoon (5)________ of Mike Tyson in a virtual boxing ring.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.
- (a)beyond
- (b)with
- (c)along
- (d)behind
Answer
Why
Correct — B. The trigger is the verb, not the meaning. Coexist is intransitive, so it cannot take an object directly - the thing it exists alongside arrives in a with-phrase.
Nations coexist with nations; here a virtual environment coexists with the actual world. Strip the preposition and 'coexists the actual world' is ungrammatical, which is the quickest proof that one is required.
Sense agrees. Augmented reality lays a virtual layer over what is already there, which is what coexistence means. Option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)beyond — Beyond places one thing past another. AR's whole point is that the virtual layer sits on the real world at the same time, not further off than it.
- (c)along — Accompaniment needs along with, two words. Bare along means beside the length of something, as in walk along the road, and cannot follow coexist.
- (d)behind — Behind puts the virtual environment out of sight of the real one - the opposite of a layer you are meant to look at through a handset.
Concept
Some verbs choose their preposition, and no argument about meaning overrides the choice. Coexist with is one of them, alongside depend on, consist of, comply with and result in.
Learn these as two-word units. A candidate who has stored 'coexist with' answers this blank in a second.
Meaning is the second filter here, and it points the same way.
The sentence says the virtual environment is there 'to be instructive and offer more data about the real world' - it adds to the real world rather than moving away from it.
Both beyond and behind separate the two, and separation is what AR does not do.
Grammar and sense agree in this blank, which is the easy case. When they pull apart in a cloze, the verb's fixed preposition wins - a complement is not negotiable.
Key facts
- Coexist is intransitive and takes with for the thing it exists alongside.
- Along with means together with, while bare along means beside the length of something.
- In augmented reality the virtual content is overlaid on the real world rather than replacing it.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing along because along with would have worked, and skimming past the missing with.
- Treating the blank as a meaning question and picking whichever preposition sounds most technical.
Preposition blanks recur inside SSC's cloze passages rather than standing alone. At 09 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.21 the blank in 'From the beginning ___ the eighteenth century' takes of.
At 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.21, 'It has come as a surprise ___ Scheduled Tribes' takes to.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.