In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option, in the questions that follow, to fill in each blank. A dance which is created or choreographed and performed according (1)___________ the tenets of the Natya Shastra is called a classical dance. The two broad (2)____________ of classical dancing are the tandava and the lasya. Power and force are typical of the tandava; grace and delicacy of the lasya. Tandava is (3)_______________ with Shiva, and lasya with Parvati. Dance which is pure movement is called nritta, and dance which is (4)_______________ in nature is called nritya. A dancer, in the classical tradition, has to have years of training before he or she can begin to perform on the stage. The four main (5)_____________ of classical dancing in India are : Bharat Natyam, Kathakali, Manipuri, Kathak .Bharat Natyam is the oldest and most popular dance-form of India.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 1.
- (a)with
- (b)for
- (c)to
- (d)of
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The trigger is the fixed phrase according to. It works as a single two-word preposition, and the second word never varies.
Read the blank back into the passage: 'performed according to the tenets of the Natya Shastra is called a classical dance'. Option (c) is what the phrase requires.
Nothing in the meaning of the sentence decides this one. It is collocation, learnt as a unit.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)with — with gives 'according with', which English does not use to introduce a standard. The phrase built on with is in accordance with, and that needs accordance, not according.
- (b)for — for never follows according. For points to a purpose or a beneficiary, while the blank needs a word pointing to the standard the dance follows.
- (d)of — of is the pull for anyone half-remembering on account of or in view of. Attached to according it is still wrong: the pairing English settled on is according to.
Concept
Cloze blanks come in two kinds. Some are decided by meaning; others are fixed phrases you either know or you do not, and no amount of reasoning recovers them.
According to is the second kind. It behaves as one preposition, takes a noun phrase after it, and marks either a source, as in according to the report, or a standard, as in according to the rules.
This sentence uses the standard sense: a classical dance is one performed by the tenets the Natya Shastra lays down.
Do not blend according to with in accordance with. Both introduce a standard, but each fixes its own second word, and swapping the halves produces the two likeliest wrong answers here.
Key facts
- According to is a compound preposition and takes a noun phrase as its object.
- In accordance with carries the same sense of conformity, using accordance rather than according.
- According to also marks a source of information, as in according to the survey.
Study next
Common traps
- Writing according with by borrowing the with from in accordance with.
- Choosing a preposition by sense when the blank belongs to a fixed phrase.
A preposition blank often opens these cloze sets — also asked 11 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.21, where to is keyed after 'come as a surprise', and 10 Sep 2024, 09:00, English Q.21, where at is keyed for 'unveiled at the conference'.
The remaining blanks in this passage move to vocabulary, at Q.22, Q.23, Q.24 and Q.25.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.