In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank. Tea prices in the domestic (1)__________ continue to rule high in the current year despite the expectation of a higher production as compared to the previous year. During the past three months, tea prices have been (2)__________ with the prices of other companies. Unlike last year, tea prices have generally shown (3) __________, when tea prices rose dramatically, this year, prices seem to have (4) __________ at a rather high level. In the subsequent four months, the (5)__________ average price showed a downtrend.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 4.
- (a)abated
- (b)moderated
- (c)stabilised
- (d)equated
Answer
Why
Correct — C. The words after the blank are "at a rather high level", and stabilise is the verb in this set that takes at a level: to stabilise at a level is to stop moving and settle there.
The sense agrees. The level is described as high, so the verb must leave prices high rather than bring them down.
Stabilised does exactly that, so option (c) is the key.
Why the others are wrong
- (a)abated — Abate means to lessen or die down, as in the storm abated. It points downward and clashes with prices settling at a high level, and it does not take at.
- (b)moderated — Moderate means to become less extreme, which again means a fall away from the high level the sentence names. English says prices moderated, not prices moderated at a level.
- (d)equated — Equate means to treat two things as equal and needs with or to: you equate one thing with another. Equated at a high level gives the verb nothing to be equal to.
Concept
When a blank is followed by a preposition, the preposition is usually the whole question. Here it is at, and the options split cleanly on whether they can take it.
Stabilise at is standard: a quantity stabilises at a value, meaning it stops changing and holds there. Abate and moderate both describe a fall and are not followed by at.
The sense filter closes the item: the level is a rather high level, so a verb meaning to fall would contradict the level the sentence states.
The sentence sets this year against last year, when tea prices rose dramatically. The contrast wanted is not a fall but the end of a rise, which is what stabilising describes.
Key facts
- Stabilise at means to stop changing and settle at a stated value or level.
- Abate means to lessen in force or intensity, as in the storm abated.
- Equate takes with or to, as in equate wealth with happiness.
Study next
Common traps
- Picking moderated because it sounds measured, without checking the direction it implies.
- Ignoring at, which by itself separates stabilised from the other three.
Two of this passage's five blanks are settled by the preposition that follows them: blank 2 at English Q.22 and blank 4 here (9 Sep 2024, 16:00).
Related PYQs
No directly related past PYQ was found.