Fill in the Blanks with Shortcut tricks Set 01

Answer: (b) outraged, act

Explanation:
1. 'Feel morally outraged' means to feel shocked and angry about something wrong.
2. 'Act upon' feelings means to take action because of them, which fits the warning about burning down houses.
3. The other pairs do not form sensible phrases (for example 'stand upon' or 'build upon' feelings do not fit the logic).

Teacher's Note:
1. Look for collocations: outraged, act upon.
2. Check the second blank with the connecting preposition 'upon'.

Answer: (c) organisms, unhinged

Explanation:
1. 'Biological organisms' is the natural phrase for living beings, and 'come unhinged' means to lose one's balance or sanity.
2. 'Grounded ... or else they come unhinged' completes the contrast about needing stability.
3. 'Features' and 'souls' are not biological, and 'come forward', 'come back' or 'come again' do not carry the warning.

Teacher's Note:
1. Choose words that fit the idea of needing stability.
2. Come unhinged and come undone are idioms for breaking down.

Answer: (a) Celebrating, welcomed

Explanation:
1. 'Celebrating' fits a joyful anniversary of the golden years, and 'welcomed all their guests' is the usual action of hosts.
2. 'Remembering' and 'commemorating' suit a memorial, not a party, and 'promised' or 'brought' do not fit 'guests'.
3. 'Observing' with 'greeting' gives a wrong verb form for the main clause.

Teacher's Note:
1. Match tone: anniversary party = celebrate and welcome.
2. Check both blanks for sense.

Answer: (e) power, seriously

Explanation:
1. The corporation lacks the 'power' to do more than send notices, and attaching cars is meant to make people take notices 'seriously'.
2. 'Authority' and 'guts' are possible for the first blank but the second words 'appropriately' and 'sincerely' do not collocate with 'take notices'.
3. 'Pressure' and 'influence' do not fit 'have the ... to do anything'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Take something seriously is a common collocation.
2. Test both blanks together.

Answer: (c) flouted, penalized

Explanation:
1. Those who break the rule ('flouted' this norm) would be 'penalized'.
2. 'Followed' and 'obeyed' would not lead to punishment, and 'applauded' is the opposite of what is expected for defiance.
3. 'Accompanied' does not fit 'norm'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Flout = openly break a rule.
2. Both blanks must show the same logic: break the rule, face a penalty.

Answer: (b) fast

Explanation:
1. 'Fast asleep' is the fixed phrase meaning in a deep sleep.
2. 'High', 'severe' and 'total' do not collocate with 'asleep'.
3. 'Has' is not an adverb.

Teacher's Note:
1. Fast asleep, wide awake: fixed pairs.
2. Learn adverb-adjective collocations.

Answer: (c) gently

Explanation:
1. Braking 'gently' explains why the vehicle did not stop suddenly.
2. 'Immediately' would cause a sudden stop, and 'silently' and 'completely' do not explain the result.
3. 'Detected' is a verb form and cannot follow 'braked'.

Teacher's Note:
1. The word must support the cause-effect logic of the sentence.
2. 'Since' introduces a reason.

Answer: (c) by

Explanation:
1. In a passive construction the doer is introduced by 'by'.
2. 'Escorted by two policemen' means two policemen accompanied him.
3. The other prepositions do not show the agent.

Teacher's Note:
1. By + agent in passive voice.
2. Escorted by, accompanied by.

Answer: (d) frequently

Explanation:
1. Because Madhav is sick, he needs to see the doctor 'frequently' (often).
2. 'Seldom' and 'usually' do not fit the necessity expressed, and 'timely' is an adjective.
3. 'Avoided' is a verb form.

Teacher's Note:
1. The adverb must fit the idea of illness.
2. Adjectives such as timely cannot modify a verb.

Answer: (a) care

Explanation:
1. 'In the care of' someone means under their supervision.
2. 'Duty', 'work' and 'help' do not follow 'in the servants'' in this sense.
3. 'Innocence' makes no sense.

Teacher's Note:
1. In someone's care is a fixed phrase.
2. Check the noun that completes the idiom.

Answer: (a) hardly, when

Explanation:
1. 'Hardly ... when' joins two events happening almost together: she had hardly left the hospital when she slipped.
2. The other pairs do not form a correct correlative with the past perfect.
3. The pattern is 'had hardly + V3 ... when'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Hardly ... when; no sooner ... than.
2. Use the past perfect for the first event.

Answer: (e) halt

Explanation:
1. 'Come to a halt' is the standard expression meaning to stop.
2. 'A stoppage' and 'a decline' do not follow 'came to', and 'end' needs the article 'an'.
3. 'Closing' is not used in this idiom.

Teacher's Note:
1. Come to a halt/standstill.
2. Check the article (a/an) before the noun.

Answer: (d) illustrative

Explanation:
1. A parable is told to illustrate a moral, so the story is 'illustrative of' it.
2. 'Identical' and 'irrelevant' contradict the idea, and 'familiar' does not take 'of' in this sense.
3. 'Summary' is a noun and cannot fill the adjective slot.

Teacher's Note:
1. Illustrative of = showing an example of.
2. An adjective is needed after 'being'.

Answer: (b) make

Explanation:
1. The collocation is 'make an attempt'.
2. 'Give', 'take', 'keep' and 'have' do not combine with 'attempt'.
3. The verb after 'promised to' is in the base form.

Teacher's Note:
1. Make an attempt, make an effort.
2. Learn verb + noun collocations.

Answer: (b) to

Explanation:
1. 'Read to someone' is the correct structure when the listener is the indirect object.
2. 'Also', 'again' and 'well' are adverbs and cannot join the verb and its object.
3. 'By' does not show direction.

Teacher's Note:
1. Read something to someone.
2. Prepositions link a verb to its recipient.

Answer: (e) with

Explanation:
1. 'Annoyed with' is used for the person who causes irritation, and 'for' introduces the reason.
2. 'Annoyed about' is used for the thing, not for the person.
3. 'On', 'by' and 'for' do not fit before a person here.

Teacher's Note:
1. Annoyed with a person; annoyed about/at a thing.
2. Choose the preposition for the object type.

Answer: (e) considering

Explanation:
1. 'Considering the possibility' means thinking about it seriously.
2. 'Judging' and 'initiating' do not take 'possibility' as an object, and 'threatening' and 'applying' do not fit.
3. The present continuous 'are considering' suits a plan.

Teacher's Note:
1. Consider a possibility, consider an option.
2. Match the verb to its noun.

Answer: (d) attention

Explanation:
1. The collocation is 'pay attention to'.
2. 'Pay ear' is not used, and 'pay notice' would take 'take notice of'.
3. 'Awareness' and 'closure' do not collocate with 'pay'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Pay attention to; take notice of.
2. Learn exact collocations.

Answer: (b) except

Explanation:
1. 'Except for' means apart from, which matches 'unhurt except for a minor injury'.
2. 'Less for', 'also for' and 'just for' do not give the exception.
3. 'While for' is not a phrase.

Teacher's Note:
1. Except for introduces an exception.
2. The word 'unhurt' calls for an exception in the next phrase.

Answer: (c) little, before

Explanation:
1. 'Little chance' means almost no chance, and 'before she leaves' limits the time.
2. 'Perhaps chance' and 'also chance' are ungrammatical.
3. 'More ... after' and 'full ... therefore' do not make sense.

Teacher's Note:
1. Little chance = hardly any chance.
2. The conjunction must fit the time sequence.

Answer: (b) would

Explanation:
1. 'Would' is used for repeated actions in the past, as here (a past habit during training).
2. 'Have to' and 'will' show present or future time, and 'destined' is an adjective.
3. 'Use to' is a wrong form; the correct form is 'used to'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Would + base verb for past habits.
2. Used to has -d in the affirmative past.

Answer: (b) I know

Explanation:
1. The relative pronoun can be omitted in a defining clause, so 'I know' completes the sentence.
2. (a) and (c) use the wrong verb form 'knows' after 'I', and (d) 'which' is for things, not people.
3. (e) 'I had known' changes the tense.

Teacher's Note:
1. A relative pronoun as an object can be omitted.
2. One of the kindest people I know is a fixed construction.

Answer: (c) advice

Explanation:
1. Advice from a lawyer can lead to the solution of a problem.
2. 'Behaviour' and 'fees' do not resolve problems, and 'approval' does not suit a lawyer's role.
3. 'Impact' would need a verb like 'had'.

Teacher's Note:
1. Pick the noun that logically causes the result.
2. A lawyer gives advice.

Answer: (e) competition

Explanation:
1. 'Competition in the industry' leads companies to lower prices.
2. 'Budget', 'finance' and 'instalments' do not lead to lower prices in this way.
3. 'Decrease' would give a circular meaning.

Teacher's Note:
1. Competition lowers prices.
2. Check the logic of cause and effect.