In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Culture is (1)_______, understanding, and protecting, like the cultivation of a garden, not the destruction or eradication of its roots. Understanding the roots and seeds, taking much care and providing instructed nourishment (2)_______ important for good gardening. Culture also is similar; understanding its acquaintance (3)______ literature and art and careful protection are required. Culture is the way of life of a particular society in which a group of people live together in one place. The society’s culture is visible in its literature, arts, social system, language and religion. It is a combination of traditions, customs, institutions, food habits, manners, morals, thoughts, tastes, views and beliefs. Usually, families (4)______ culture to the younger generations. As family system is becoming weak, schools, colleges and universities should take up this responsibility as education should promote potential values of its culture. The role of universities (5)_______ only to issue course completed certificates.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.
- (a)should not be restricted
- (b)should be restricted
- (c)should restricted
- (d)restrict
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The sentence just before the blank says schools, colleges and universities should take up this responsibility of carrying culture forward. The blank has to continue that argument, so the role of universities must reach beyond issuing certificates.
That calls for a negative, and should not be restricted supplies it while staying well formed: modal + not + be + past participle.
Option (a) is the reading the passage sets up.
Why the others are wrong
- (b)should be restricted — The grammar is sound, but the sense is reversed. The previous sentence asks universities to take up the work of transmitting culture, so limiting them to certificates contradicts it.
- (c)should restricted — After the modal should the verb must be a bare infinitive — restrict, or be restricted. should restricted is not a possible verb phrase in English.
- (d)restrict — restrict makes the clause active, so universities would be restricting something else. The singular subject The role would also need restricts.
Concept
Two things are being tested in one blank.
The first is the modal passive: modal + be + past participle, as in should be restricted, must be signed, can be seen. The negative slots between the modal and be — should not be restricted.
The second is polarity. Two of the options are grammatical and differ only by not, so grammar alone cannot separate them. The argument of the sentence before the blank does.
The word only is easy to misread here. It restricts the phrase that follows it — only to issue certificates — and does not by itself make the sentence negative, so the negation still has to come from the verb phrase.
Key facts
- A modal passive is formed as modal + be + past participle: should be restricted, must be completed.
- Not goes between the modal and be, giving should not be restricted.
- When two options differ only by not, the deciding evidence is the argument of the surrounding sentences rather than the grammar.
Study next
Common traps
- Deciding on grammar alone, when both surviving options are grammatical and differ only in polarity
- Reading only as if it already made the sentence negative
When a blank swallows the whole verb phrase, the four options here split into two well-formed modal passives and two malformed verb phrases, and meaning decides between the survivors.
Whole-phrase verb blanks are keyed at 13 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.25 (is gained) and 18 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.23 (has shed).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.