Practice Questions: Cloze Test

Passage 1

Large - (1) -- of north India and the National Capital Region, in particular, record a marked deterioration in air quality with the onset of winter.  State governments have tried different ways to counter this deterioration, including through regulatory diktats. So far, durable success has not been achieved. The Centre informed the Supreme Court on Monday that it will soon --(2)- an ordinance to establish a statutory body to oversee efforts to check air pollution in the NCR. All the scientific studies of air pollution in the NCR have shown that the - (3) - is on account of a handful of factors. Three important contributors to poor air quality are the burning of paddy stubble in the NCR and surrounding regions, dust and density of - (4) - traffic. So far, regulatory efforts and stringent laws have failed to noticeably impact these factors. That is primarily because the underlying causes are economic. Stubble burning and vehicular density need economic solutions rather than heavy-handed regulation. Investing in better public transport infrastructure and giving farmers an - (5) - incentive to avoid burning stubble will provide more durable solutions.

Q1: The best-suited word for (1) is
(a) Swathe
(b) Sky
(c) Air
(d) Either (b) or (c)
Ans: (a)
Explanation: "Swathe" means a large area or extent, so "Large swathe of north India" is the correct collocation and fits the sense of a wide region affected by poor air quality.

Q2: The best-suited word for (2) is
(a) Stop
(b) Restrict
(c) Promulgate
(d) Propose
Ans: (c)
Explanation: "Promulgate" means to formally announce or put a law or ordinance into effect, so it correctly describes issuing an ordinance; "propose" would only mean to suggest it.

Q3: The best-suited word for (3) is
(a) Improvement
(b) Deterioration
(c) Tension
(d) Strain
Ans: (b)
Explanation: "Deterioration" means worsening, which matches "record a marked deterioration in air quality"; studies showing the deterioration is due to a few factors makes sense here.

Q4: The best-suited word for (4) is
(a) Air
(b) Urban
(c) Petrol based
(d) Vehicular
Ans: (d)
Explanation: "Vehicular traffic" is the standard phrase for traffic caused by vehicles; it fits the context listing contributors to poor air quality.

Q5: The best-suited word for (5) is
(a) Economic
(b) Social
(c) Political
(d) None of these
Ans: (a)
Explanation: The sentence argues for solutions tied to farmers' choices; an "economic incentive" (a financial reason) is appropriate to discourage stubble burning.

Passage 2

Changes in law after the Nirbhaya case included notifying stalking as a criminal offence, with repeat offences being non-bailable and punishable by five years -(1)-. But a - (2) - justice system, insensitive subcultures of police and the social stigmatisation of victims mean that seeking the law's protection remains rare. More often the woman will change her routine in various ways, sometimes too traumatised to keep going to school or work. In Nikita's case, a 2018 complaint against Touseef was withdrawn, reportedly under pressure from his politically powerful family. In countless other cases, maleness - (3) - sufficient impunity in and of itself. Obviously, the policing of stalkers must improve. But a host of other institutions from schools to families also need to do a much better job of socialising - (4) - relations. Today, dominant notions of romance - (5) - of male entitlement. While modernity is making men and women engage on technically equal terms on the outside, that transition needs to happen on the - (6) - plane as well. This needs open conversations about what relationships mean, what love means. It's not coercion. It's - (7) -.

Q1: The best-suited word for (1) is
(a) Jail
(b) Imprisonment
(c) Custody
(d) Free movement
Ans: (b)
Explanation: "Imprisonment" pairs naturally with "punishable by five years"; it is the legal term for being sentenced to time in custody.

Q2: The best-suited word for (2) is
(a) Sane
(b) Balanced
(c) Lucid
(d) Kafkaesque
Ans: (d)
Explanation: "Kafkaesque" describes an absurd, nightmarish or unjust bureaucratic system, which fits the idea of a justice system that discourages victims from seeking protection.

Q3: The best-suited word for (3) is
(a) Evicts
(b) Bestows
(c) Lends
(d) None of these
Ans: (b)
Explanation: "Bestows" means "gives" or "confers"; the sentence implies that being male confers a degree of impunity.

Q4: The best-suited word for (4) is
(a) Gender
(b) Social
(c) Caste
(d) Communal
Ans: (a)
Explanation: "Gender relations" is the correct collocation when discussing how schools and families should socialise attitudes between men and women.

Q5: The best-suited word for (5) is
(a) Reek
(b) Absence of
(c) Presence of
(d) Taste
Ans: (a)
Explanation: "Reek (of)" means strongly suggest or be characterised by; dominant notions of romance "reek of male entitlement" means they are marked by that attitude.

Q6: The best-suited word for (6) is
(a) Mental
(b) Physical
(c) Financial
(d) None of the above
Ans: (a)
Explanation: The sentence contrasts external equality with an inner change; "mental plane" refers to attitudes and beliefs, so "mental" is appropriate.

Q7: The best-suited word for (7) is
(a) Choice
(b) Mistake
(c) Misrepresentation
(d) Problem
Ans: (a)
Explanation: The author is distinguishing consensual relationships from coercion; "choice" succinctly captures this contrast.