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 5.
- (a)rendition
- (b)glossary
- (c)network
- (d)resistance
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The frame is 'a cartoon ___ of Mike Tyson'. Whatever fills it must be a noun that can be of a person and can be described as cartoon - in other words, a version or depiction of him.
Rendition is that word. It names one particular version or performance of something, as in a jazz rendition of a folk song, so a cartoon rendition of Mike Tyson is a cartoon version of him.
It also has to be something you can see, because the sentence is an example of what VR shows a user. Option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)glossary — A glossary is a list of terms with their explanations, usually at the back of a book. A glossary of a boxer is meaningless.
- (c)network — A network is a system of connected things or people. It can follow of, as in a network of roads, but a cartoon network of a person is not a picture of him.
- (d)resistance — Resistance is opposition or the refusal to yield. It names an act, not an image, so nothing in a virtual boxing ring can be a cartoon resistance of someone.
Concept
Noun blanks are solved by the frame, not by the topic. Here the frame is 'a cartoon ___ of X', and a candidate word must survive both halves: it has to accept cartoon in front of it and of a person behind it.
Rendition carries two current senses - a performance or interpretation of a work, as in her rendition of the song, and a version or depiction of something. The passage uses the second.
One more filter finishes the job. The sentence is an example of what VR puts in front of a user, so the noun has to name something visible. Lists, systems and attitudes are not.
Rendition also has a separate legal and political sense - handing a person over to another jurisdiction - which has nothing to do with this passage. Context, not the dictionary's first entry, decides a cloze.
Key facts
- Rendition means a version, performance or depiction of something.
- A glossary is an alphabetical list of terms with explanations.
- A noun blank is fixed by the words on both sides of it, here cartoon in front and of Mike Tyson behind.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing network because the passage is about technology.
- Testing only whether the word fits after cartoon and never checking it against of Mike Tyson.
A closing blank settled by the words around it rather than by the passage's subject is set at 09 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.25, where 'the beauty spot was introduced to cover ___ a facial defect' takes up.
Here the surrounding words are cartoon and of, and between them they leave only one workable noun.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.