In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. There is a saying that coming events cast their shadows before. (1)________, it is not universally true. Something can happen within a second, and one may not (2)________ it. (3)________, some instances show that predictions based on certain signs have gone wrong. People generally say that natural calamities can be predicted by observing the animals. But what if animals are suffering from some disease and don’t show any signs before the event appears? They may fail to make peculiar sounds or actions about the events which are going to take place. (4)________, some unnatural calamities that are likely to appear may forecast their shadows by some bad omens. (5)________, we should not completely cancel out the possibilities that animals can sense certain unnatural happenings.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.
- (a)Therefore
- (b)Moreover
- (c)However
- (d)Nevertheless
Answer
Why
Correct — B. Both sentences push the same way — against the saying.
Before the blank, an event can be over in a second and go unforeseen. After it: some instances show that predictions based on certain signs have gone wrong. That is a second piece of evidence on the same side, not a reversal.
An additive connector is needed, and Moreover is the only additive word among the four — so option (b).
Why the others are wrong
- (a)Therefore — Therefore claims the second sentence follows from the first. Failed predictions are not a consequence of events happening too fast — they are a separate piece of evidence for the same conclusion.
- (c)However — However reverses direction. The sentence after the blank agrees with the one before it, so a contrast connector would break the line of argument.
- (d)Nevertheless — Nevertheless concedes a point and then pushes back at it. Nothing is being conceded here — the passage is stacking evidence on one side.
Concept
Blank 1 and blank 3 sit in the same short stretch of the passage and take opposite kinds of connector, which is the whole point of asking both.
At blank 1 the passage turns against the saying, so it needs contrast. From that point on it is building the case against the saying, so blank 3 needs addition — one more reason on the same side.
Ask one question at every connector blank: does the new sentence agree with the last one or fight it? Agreement takes moreover, furthermore and besides. Fighting takes however, nevertheless and on the contrary.
However and Nevertheless are both offered here and are near-synonyms in this slot. A single-answer key is unlikely to rest on either, because whatever reading justified one would justify the other — which is itself a hint that the blank is not a contrast.
Key facts
- Moreover, furthermore and besides are additive connectors that add a point on the same side.
- However and nevertheless are contrastive and reverse the direction of an argument.
- Therefore marks a result, so the sentence before it must be the cause of the sentence after it.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing however out of habit because it is the commonest connector in the list
- Reading gone wrong as a contrast signal when the sentence agrees with the one before it
The same passage asks a contrast connector at blank 1 and an additive one here, so the pair tests whether you tracked the paragraph rather than each blank on its own — English Q.21 and Q.23 (09 Sep 2024, 09:00).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.