Grooming the next Ronaldo or Lionel Messi has become a national project in China, where the country’s No. 1 fan, President Xi Jinping, is ___A___ on transforming the country into a great football power. It is a ___B___ for China, whose teams have ranked poor to middling in recent international competition. But the effort has already ___C___ a surge of spending and support for the game that has stunned fans and players around the world. In the past two weeks, the main Chinese league has ___D___ foreign stars from Europe and South America with contracts reported to be worth as much as $40 million a year, the highest pay for any football player in the world. A Chinese club offered the real Ronaldo $105 million a year, but he declined, his agent said last week. These ___E___ sums are shaking the landscape of football.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank A A. Curious B. Stubborn C. Reluctant D. Decided E. Bent
Option: E
Usage of the word ‘reluctant’ would be contradictory in the context and hence option A can be immediately eliminated. If we use the word “decided” for the blank it would form a passive voice structure which would be irrelevant and would not make any sense. Option D gets eliminated as well. Now, among “curious”, “stubborn” and “bent”, the most suitable word is “bent” which is, when followed by the preposition ‘on’ forms an idiom that means ‘determined to do something’.
Ex. He was bent on quitting that job even though he was making a lot of money.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank B A. Wild goose chase B. moonshot C. fool’s errand D. white elephant E. tall talk
Option: B
Usage of either “white elephant” which means ‘a possession that is useless or troublesome’ or “tall talk” which means ‘the act or an instance of exaggerating’ would be absurd in the context and hence both options D and E can be eliminated. Now both “wild goose chase” (a foolish and hopeless search for or pursuit of something unattainable. ) and “fool’s errand” (a task or activity that has no hope of success. ) are more or less synonymous with each other and therefore neither of them could be used for the blank. The only choice left here is “moonshot”. The word refers to ‘a launch of a spacecraft to the moon’ and here in the context of the paragraph, it is used as an idiomatic expression to signify China’s vision to become great as a Football team.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank C A. estimated B. abolished C. unleashed D. diverted E. demystified
Option: C
In the given context while usage of the word “demystified” makes no sense, usage of any of the words “estimated”, “abolished” and “diverted” wouldn’t add any meaning to the context and hence would be illogical. Options E, A, B, and D get eliminated. The word “unleashed” which refers to ‘releasing or becoming unrestrained’ would be the perfect choice in the given context that clearly suggests that China has seen a surge (rise) in spending on Football.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank D A. processed B. passed C. appointed D. plucked E. dared
Option: D
Usage of either of the words “processed” and “dared” will be absurd and hence options A and E get eliminated as well. The word “passed” at blank is not making sense either. Option B can be eliminated too. The verb “appoint” is used to assign a position, job or role to a person and option C therefore gets eliminated as well. The verb “pluck” which in general refers to ‘take hold of (something) and quickly remove it from its place’ also means ‘picking or choosing someone/something for a cause’. The word “Plucked” therefore is the best choice among the given options.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank E A. giddying B. considering C. concerned D. extraordinarily E. yearning
Option: A
The paragraph seems to be indicating towards the fact that China is spending extraordinarily huge sums in Football sport and the whole world is amazed at this move taken by China. Now, as the gap is immediately followed by a noun, usage of an adverb would be ungrammatical here. Option D can be hence eliminated.
Further, none of the words “considering”, “concerned” and “yearning” adds any meaning to the context and hence options B, C and E also get eliminated too. The word “giddying” which refers to something that makes someone feel dizzy, elated or excited to the point of disorientation’ is the most suitable word for the blank.
The blockade of the national highways leading to the Manipur valley, called by the United Naga Council (UNC), has been in place since November 1. This has severely affected life in the State, with shortages and ___A___costs of essential supplies such as fuel and food, even as demonetization has ___B___ problems. Blockades like this are not new to Manipur. In 2011, there was initially a hundred-day-plus blockade enforced by Kuki-led groups and countered later by Naga groups, which together had a ___C___ effect on life in Manipur. This time the blockade is in place to oppose the creation of new districts by the Okram Ibobi Singh government. On December 9 it issued a ___D___notification for the creation of seven new districts by bifurcating seven (of a total of nine) districts. This decision had as much to do with long-pending demands — in particular, for a new Kuki-majority district to be carved out of the larger Senapati hill district — as with easing administrative access to ___E___ areas from the district headquarters.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank A A. escalating B. upfront C. diminishing D. varying E. considerable
Option: A
In any part of the word, when there is a shortage of essentials commodities, costs tend to escalate or increase. Option A clearly the best choice among all.
Though each of the other four words looks appropriate at the first glance yet is not logical in the given context of the paragraph.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank B A. exceeds B. pacified C. exacerbated D. vindicated E. exemplified
Option: C
Usage of “exceed” for the blank would be ungrammatical as the sentence is in Perfect Tense and the verb to be used must be in its past participle form while “exceed” is in the present form. This eliminates option A. Further, usage of any of the words “pacified”, “vindicated” and “exemplified” doesn’t make any sense when filled in the blank. The verb “exacerbated” the present form of which refers to ‘making a disease or situation worse; aggravate’ is the most suitable choice among the given ones.
48. Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank C A. tasting B. counter C. mounting D. befitting E. debilitating
Option: E
Usage of either of the words “mounting” and “befitting” would be absurd in the context and hence the options C and D can be eliminated. If we use the word “counter” for the blank it would not go well with the context because the blockade is already a negative act and it has only brought a negative effect to the state. This eliminates option B as well.
Now, between “lasting” which refers to ‘continuing to exist or having effect for a long time’ and “debilitating” which means ‘to make something weak’, the latter seems to fit the blank appropriately because there is no reference of duration of the effect of blockade has been given in the paragraph in the context of Manipur.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank D A. special B. live C. gazette D. detail E. retentive
Option: C
Usage of either of the adjectives “live” and “retentive” would be absurd in the context and hence can be eliminated immediately. The word “detail” could have been thought of, had it been in its past participle form ‘detailed’. Option D gets eliminated too. Between “special” and “gazette” the latter which refers to ‘a journal or newspaper, especially the official one of an organization or institution’ seems to a better choice in the context of the paragraph.
Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank E A. offshore B. far-flung C. outskirts D. remotely E. secluded
Option: B
Option C and D can be eliminated immediately because the word that would fit the blank must be an adjective while “outskirts” is a noun and “remotely” an adverb. Usage of either “offshore” or “secluded” does not make sense in the context either and options A and E can be eliminated as well. Clearly, option B is the most suitable choice both for the blank grammatically and contextually.
