Which is the 2nd last word in the sentence "Technology is advancing very rapidly"?

Correct — C.
Rule: count the words from the right-hand end.

The sentence has five words: Technology, is, advancing, very, rapidly.
The last word is rapidly.
One place to its left is very, the 2nd last word → option (c).

Why the others are wrong

• (a)
  is — is is the 2nd word from the left, not from the right. Counting from the end runs rapidly, very, advancing, is, so it sits 4th from the right.
• (b)
  rapidly — rapidly is the last word itself. The question asks for the 2nd last, one place further left, which is very.
• (d)
  advancing — advancing is 3rd from the right: rapidly, very, advancing. It is the middle word of the five, one place too far left.

A position question turns on which end you count from. The last word is the 1st from the right, so the 2nd last is the 2nd from the right.

Number the words from the end: rapidly 1, very 2, advancing 3, is 4, Technology 5. The answer is the word at 2.

Key facts

• Last = 1st from the right, so 2nd last = 2nd from the right.
• In a sentence of n words, the kth word from the right is the (n − k + 1)th from the left.
• Here n = 5 and k = 2, so the 2nd last word is the 4th from the left: very.

Common traps

• Counting from the left and choosing is, the 2nd word
• Stopping at rapidly, the last word, instead of stepping one place further left

No directly related past PYQ was found.