In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Music is perhaps the most popular and widely practised (1)______ of fine arts, transcending all kinds of cultural and linguistic barriers. Any form of fine art is (2)________ to master and almost impossible to perfect, and music is no exception. Nature, it is learnt, has blessed almost two-thirds of the human race with musical ability of some sort. Music has the power to (3)______ out the deepest emotions. In fact, it is a magic medicine, and many seek refuge in it when they are depressed or stressed. It is this intimacy that makes us listen to music (4)______ even hum or sing sometimes. This singing, or realistically speaking, expressing one’s emotion musically sometimes takes a serious turn. The desire to sing before an audience is innocent and beautiful, and indeed, it is perfectly alright to have such a genuine desire. But it is also important to understand that singing is an (5)________ art—a highly refined one at that, which requires systematic, prolonged and strict training to be acceptable.
Choose the most appropriate option to fill in blank no. 2.
- (a)difficult
- (b)easy
- (c)irksome
- (d)serious
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The clause reads "Any form of fine art is (2)______ to master and almost impossible to perfect".
The conjunction is and, not but, so the two halves agree and climb: the blank is the milder rung and almost impossible is the stronger one. Difficult is the milder word on that same scale.
The frame also fixes the grammar. Adjective + to + verb (difficult to master) works only for adjectives that rate a task, which is what option (a) does.
Why the others are wrong
- (b)easy — Easy reverses the scale. Easy to master and almost impossible to perfect makes the sentence argue against itself, and the following clause, music is no exception, treats the claim as a difficulty, not a reassurance.
- (c)irksome — Irksome means tedious or irritating. It rates how annoying a task feels, not how hard it is, so it does not build up to almost impossible.
- (d)serious — Serious describes an attitude or a subject, not a level of difficulty, and serious to master is not an English construction the way difficult to master is.
Concept
Two independent tests settle this blank, and they agree.
The first is logical direction. And joins claims that point the same way, so a blank paired with almost impossible must also describe hardness — the pair reads as a rising scale.
The second is the adjective + to-infinitive frame. Easy, hard, difficult and impossible slot naturally into X is ___ to master; adjectives that describe manner or attitude do not.
Irksome is the closest of the wrong options because it is a negative word about a task, which is exactly why it is offered — negative is not the same as difficult.
Key facts
- And joins clauses that agree, so a blank coordinated with almost impossible must lie on the same scale.
- Adjectives that rate a task (easy, hard, difficult, impossible) take the frame adjective + to + verb.
- Irksome means tedious or annoying, not hard to do.
Study next
Common traps
- Reading the clause as a contrast and choosing easy
- Taking irksome as a more impressive way of writing difficult
Blanks in this section are regularly decided by the logical relation between the two halves of a sentence rather than by vocabulary. On 19 Sep 2024, 12:30, English Q.23, the same reading picks Although over However, Since and In spite of.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.