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. 3.
- (a)catalyse
- (b)yield
- (c)bring
- (d)effect
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The particle is already printed: "Music has the power to (3)______ out the deepest emotions".
So the blank does not want any verb meaning to produce — it wants a verb that forms a phrasal verb with out. Bring out means to make something appear or become noticeable, which is precisely what the sentence claims music does to emotions.
Catalyse, yield and effect are all used without out, so option (c) is the only one the printed particle allows.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)catalyse — Catalyse takes a direct object with no particle — you catalyse a reaction or catalyse change. Catalyse out is not English, and the scientific register also sits oddly in a passage about music.
- (b)yield — Yield means to produce or to give way, and it too takes its object directly: the field yields a crop. Yield out has no meaning in English.
- (d)effect — Effect is the meaning trap: as a verb it means to bring about, so it sounds close. But effect is used bare — effect a change — and it never takes out.
Concept
When a cloze blank leaves a particle stranded after it, the particle is the strongest evidence in the sentence. Only verbs that combine with that particle can fill the blank.
Bring out is a set phrasal verb: to reveal or to make noticeable, as in the light brings out the colour. That fits emotions being drawn to the surface.
Testing each option against the particle takes seconds and kills three of them, which is faster than weighing four shades of produce.
Effect and bring out overlap in meaning, so a student choosing on sense alone can defend effect; the particle out, which effect does not take, is what removes the overlap.
Key facts
- Bring out means to make something appear or become noticeable.
- Effect used as a verb means to bring about, and it takes no particle: effect a change.
- Yield means to produce or to give way, and is not used with out.
- Affect is a verb meaning to influence, while effect as a noun means a result — a separate pair worth keeping straight.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing effect because it means bring about, and missing that out is already printed
- Picking catalyse as the more impressive verb without testing it against the particle
Cloze blanks in this section are often settled by the word next to them rather than by the general sense. On 25 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.25, the choice is between calling for, calling on, calling at and calling from, and the particle decides it.
That same shift — 25 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.24 — asks a verb-and-object collocation, where the pledges made at Glasgow have to be honoured.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.