Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank. Sharat is always ______ about showing up for work because he believes that tardiness gets us nowhere.

Correct — A. The clue sits in the reason clause: he believes that tardiness — lateness — gets us nowhere.

Because links a reason to the main clause, so the blank has to agree with that belief rather than contrast with it.

A person who thinks lateness achieves nothing is punctual about showing up: he arrives at the appointed time. That is option (a).

Why the others are wrong

• (b)
  patient — Patient describes how someone waits, calmly and without complaint. It says nothing about arriving on time, which is what the reason clause is about.
• (c)
  selective — Being selective about showing up would mean choosing which days to appear — the opposite of a man who holds that lateness gets us nowhere.
• (d)
  drowsy — Drowsy names a physical state, sleepiness, and has no bearing on timekeeping at all.

A one-blank vocabulary item is decided by the clue the sentence plants, not by which word sounds most like a virtue. Find the clue word, then check whether the connective asks you to match it or oppose it.

Here the clue is tardiness and the connective is because, so the blank must name the quality of someone who condemns lateness. Match, not contrast.

Had the sentence read 'although he believes that tardiness gets us nowhere', the polarity would flip and the answer with it.

Key facts

• Tardiness means lateness, or the habit of being late.
• Punctual means doing something at the arranged time.
• Because, since and as signal agreement between clauses, while but, although and yet signal reversal.

Common traps

• Choosing 'patient' because it is also a workplace virtue, without testing it against the clue word.
• Filling the blank from the first half of the sentence and never reading the reason clause.

No directly related past PYQ was found.