In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Global warming is a major problem. The result will be the problems created by the rising temperatures of the Arctic region. As a result of global warming, (1)_________ in rainfall and plant distribution affect the migration patterns, feeding behaviour, and breeding preferences of numerous bird species. The increase in the temperature may also alter ocean currents, which may alter the (2)__________ ecology as a whole. Greenhouse gas emissions are responsible for the ongoing melting of the Arctic. This will result in a (3)__________loop since greenhouse gases trap the heat in the atmosphere and the additional emissions may (4)__________ the global warming process. Now, the only way to reverse the harm is for every person to be environmentally sensitive. This may offer us hope that we will be able to leave a green planet to our future generations, who presently appear to face (5)__________.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.
- (a)vicious
- (b)feeble
- (c)moderate
- (d)gentle
Answer
Why
Correct — A. English has a set phrase for a self-worsening cycle: a vicious circle, and a vicious loop is read the same way.
The clause introduced by since gives the reason and describes exactly that: greenhouse gases trap the heat in the atmosphere, and the additional emissions push the warming process further still.
A loop that feeds itself in a harmful direction is vicious, and no other word offered carries that sense → option (a).
Why the others are wrong
- (b)feeble — Feeble means weak. A loop that traps heat and drives warming on is the opposite of weak.
- (c)moderate — Moderate suggests something held within limits, while the sentence is describing a process that reinforces itself.
- (d)gentle — Gentle means mild and harmless, and it forms no standard phrase with 'loop' in this sense.
Concept
Some blanks are settled by collocation — the word English habitually puts in that slot — rather than by dictionary definition.
'Vicious circle' and 'vicious cycle' are the set phrases for an outcome that keeps making itself worse. Their positive counterpart is a virtuous circle, where each turn improves matters.
The connective is the second clue. Since here means because, so the clause after it has to justify the adjective you put in the blank — and trapped heat feeding more warming justifies vicious.
Vicious ordinarily means cruel or savage, and candidates who test only that meaning reject it here. Inside the set phrase the word has drifted to mean self-worsening, which is why the collocation has to be learnt as a unit.
Key facts
- A vicious circle is a cycle in which each stage worsens the next.
- A virtuous circle is its positive counterpart.
- Since in this sentence means because, and introduces the reason for the description in the main clause.
Study next
Common traps
- Rejecting vicious because its everyday sense is savage rather than self-worsening.
- Choosing an adjective that sits comfortably with 'loop' but leaves the since-clause unexplained.
Collocation blanks of this kind also appear on 25 Sep 2024, 16:00, English Q.22, where extreme weather brings 'intense' heat waves rather than mild or minor ones.
In both, the clause around the blank explains the adjective you are being asked to supply.
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.