Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underlined word segment in the given sentence. A herd of cattle consists of related females, cubs, and a small number of adult males.
- (a)pride of lions
- (b)school of fish
- (c)flock of birds
- (d)pack of wolves
Answer
Why
Correct — A. The give-away word is cubs. Cattle have calves; cubs belong to lions, tigers, bears and foxes.
The rest of the description settles which of them: related females, their cubs and a small number of adult males is the standard structure of a lion pride.
So the collective noun and its animal change together, to a pride of lions → option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)school of fish — A school of fish is a real collective noun, but young fish are fry, not cubs, and a school has no resident adult males of the kind described.
- (c)flock of birds — A flock of birds fails on the same word, since birds hatch chicks. A flock is also not organised as related females sharing a few males.
- (d)pack of wolves — A pack of wolves is the nearest miss, because wolf young can be called cubs. A pack is normally a breeding pair and their own offspring, not a group of related females with a small number of adult males.
Concept
A collective noun names a group of a particular kind, and English ties many of them to one animal — a pride of lions, a pack of wolves, a school of fish, a flock of birds or sheep.
This question is not really a vocabulary list. The sentence describes a social structure and dares you to notice that the animal named does not have it.
Cubs is the fault line. It names the young of certain carnivores, so any option whose animal has calves, chicks or fry drops out before you weigh anything else.
A herd of cattle is itself perfectly correct English. What is wrong is the description attached to it, which makes this a comprehension item wearing a vocabulary costume.
Key facts
- A lion pride is built around related females and their cubs, with a small number of adult males.
- Cattle young are calves, birds hatch chicks, and young fish are fry.
- Cub is the term for the young of lions, tigers, bears, wolves and foxes.
Study next
Common traps
- Accepting a herd of cattle because the phrase itself is correct English
- Choosing a pack of wolves on the word cubs alone, without testing the social structure
- Looking for a grammar fault when the fault is factual
The same trick, a plausible collective noun contradicted by the rest of the sentence, is at 13 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.10, where a small troupe of actors performing Carnatic music has to become an ensemble of musicians.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.