Online Quiz
Link to this page from your website / blog (HTML code)
Directions (Q 12–19): Choose the word that best fills each numbered blank in the passage (3C).
In a self-help group, ten to twenty women from the same village meet (12) ________ and each member puts a small sum into a common fund. The habit of saving, (13) ________ it is formed, tends to last. As the fund grows, the group begins to lend small amounts to its own members, who repay with modest interest.
Because every member knows the others, the pressure to repay comes not from a distant bank (14) ________ from neighbours and friends. After the group has (15) ________ proper accounts for some months, a bank may agree to lend to it. Such loans have helped many women to (16) ________ small businesses – a tailoring unit, a dairy, a shop selling snacks. The benefits are not only (17) ________. Members say they have gained confidence in speaking at meetings and in dealing with officials. Groups do sometimes (18) ________, usually when records are not kept or when a few members dominate the rest. Yet the model has shown that people with very little money can still be (19) ________ borrowers when trust and regular habits are built into the system.
Correct Answer: C [regularly]
Explanation:
“regularly” – an adverb is needed for ‘meet’, and a saving habit needs regular meetings.
Blank (13)
Correct Answer: B [once]
Explanation:
“once” – ‘once it is formed’ = after it is formed (time/condition); the others break grammar or logic.
Blank (14)
Correct Answer: D [but]
Explanation:
“but” – the pair is ‘not … but’.
Blank (15)
Correct Answer: E [maintained]
Explanation:
“maintained” – has + past participle.
Blank (16)
Correct Answer: A [start]
Explanation:
“start” – ‘to’ is printed, so the base verb follows.
Blank (17)
Correct Answer: C [financial]
Explanation:
“financial” – an adjective after ‘are’ describes the benefits.
Blank (18)
Correct Answer: A [fail]
Explanation:
“fail” – ‘do’ (emphatic) + base verb.
Blank (19)
Correct Answer: E [reliable]
Explanation:
“reliable” – an adjective before the noun ‘borrowers’.
Directions (Q 20–26): Choose the word that best fills each numbered blank in the passage (3D).
Antibiotics are among the most valuable medicines ever (20) ________. Infections that once killed people within days can now be (21) ________ with a short course of tablets.
But every time an antibiotic is used, the bacteria it fails to kill have a chance to (22) ________, and over time some of them become resistant to it. The more often antibiotics are used without need, the (23) ____ this resistance spreads. A common mistake is to take antibiotics for colds and flu, which are caused by viruses, (24) ________ which antibiotics have no effect.
Another is to use leftover tablets from an earlier illness, or tablets given to someone else, (25) ________ a doctor's advice. Doctors therefore advise patients to take antibiotics only when prescribed and exactly as prescribed. (26) ________, the medicines that protect us today may not work for our children.
Correct Answer: D [discovered]
Explanation:
“discovered” – the sentence praises them; only ‘discovered’ fits ‘most valuable … ever’.
Blank (21)
Correct Answer: B [cured]
Explanation:
“cured” – the contrast with ‘once killed’ needs a positive result.
Blank (22)
Correct Answer: C [adapt]
Explanation:
“adapt” – adapt = adjust to new conditions, which is how resistance develops.
Blank (23)
Correct Answer: A [faster]
Explanation:
“faster” – ‘the more …, the + comparative’; misuse speeds up resistance.
Blank (24)
Correct Answer: B [against]
Explanation:
“against” – ‘no effect against’ viruses.
Blank (25)
Correct Answer: D [without]
Explanation:
“without” – the mistake is acting with no doctor's advice.
Blank (26)
Correct Answer: E [Otherwise]
Explanation:
“Otherwise” – ‘otherwise’ = if this advice is not followed – a bad result follows.
Directions (Q 27–31): Choose the phrase that best fills each numbered blank in the passage (3H).
Many families in small towns still keep their savings in a tin box at home, (27) ________ the risk of theft and fire. A savings account is safer, and the money stays easy to reach (28) ________ the account holder uses it from time to time. A bank deposit also earns interest (29) ________ keeping the money safe. For a family that may need cash suddenly, a recurring deposit is (30) ________ choice, because most banks allow it to be closed early with some loss of interest. (31) ________, a bank account protects savings far better than a tin box.
Correct Answer: A [in spite of]
Explanation:
“in spite of” – the risk does not stop the habit – a contrast before a noun phrase; ‘because of the risk’ reverses the logic.
Blank (28)
Correct Answer: D [as long as]
Explanation:
“as long as” – ‘as long as’ = on condition that; the money stays reachable on the condition that the account is used.
Blank (29)
Correct Answer: E [in addition to]
Explanation:
“in addition to” – the deposit is safe AND earns interest – addition; ‘instead of / in place of keeping the money safe’ contradicts ‘safer’.
Blank (30)
Correct Answer: C [a sensible]
Explanation:
“a sensible” – all five fit the grammar (a + adjective + choice); only the meaning decides – the reason that follows (it can be closed early with some loss of interest) shows that it is a good choice.
Blank (31)
