Directions (1-10):
Each question has two blanks with one blank to be filled by an idiom and other
to be filled by a word. Choose the option which correctly mentions the idiom
and the word to fill the blanks.
Q1. The landmark Cold
War nuclear Weapons agreement might ____________________ if Russia, as
announced by the US Secretary of State during a NATO foreign ministers’
meeting, does not come into ____________________ with the treaty within
60 days.
(a) throw cold water;
problem
(b) end up in smoke;
compliance
(c) carry the ball;
assessment
(d) smell a rat; Europe
(e) burn your boots;
The United States
Q2. Sameera had become
very uncomfortable and ____________________ when visiting her parents
after losing the final match in tennis to an/a ____________________ and
suffered chronic tension.
(a) couch potato;
difference
(b) a dark horse;
treatment
(c) a house of cards;
division
(d) beyond the pale;
equality
(e) ill at ease;
underdog
Q3. After two hours
spent ________________ in the snow, I realized we were on a
______________________.
(a) wandering; wild
goose chase
(b) researching; hard
of hearing
(c) wanting; house of
cards
(d) gaining; maiden
speech
(e) working; couch
potato
Q4. A hospital in
Srinagar has ____________________ the plea of a Sikh girl who had
offered her kidney to save her terminally ill Muslim friend, accepting the ____________________
raised by the prospective donor’s father.
(a) driven home;
acrimony
(b) dressed down;
history
(c) called in question;
sacrifices
(d) curried favour;
money
(e) turned down; demurs
Q5. The Senate’s
refusal last year to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty may have been a ____________________.
The US is certainly not interested in ____________________ her
pursuit for Nuclear weapons.
(a) drop in the bucket;
undermining
(b) feather in one’s
cap; enervating
(c) weal and woe;
vindicating
(d) straw in the wind;
terminating
(e) leaps and bounds;
blaming
Q6. Turning to style,
the new Altima looks…all right. If that sounds like a ____________________,
in my book it’s two-handed applause: Nissan’s sedan styling language has ____________________
lost in translation at times, including on the hot mess known as the
Maxima.
(a) dressing down;
maintained
(b) bone of contention;
intimated
(c) left-handed
compliment; seemed
(d) house of cards;
belied
(e) cuckoo in the nest;
galvanized
Q7. Even as top market
voices debate whether current prime minister Narendra Modi would get a second
term in Lok Sabha elections 2019 and its ____________________ on the
stock markets, Porinju Veliyath says that the question is ____________________
for long-term investors.
(a) impact; beside the
mark
(b) betrayal; an axe to
the grind
(c) qualification;
putting two and two together
(d) drawing; drawing a
blank
(e) venality; calling
in question
Q8. A contempt
conviction against the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr David Asante
Apeatu, was Monday set ____________________ by the Commercial Division
of the Accra High Court after the court declared it as ____________________.
(a) abnormally; weal
and woe
(b) aside; null and
void
(c) cheerfully; curry
favour
(d) blissfully; under a
cloud
(e) carelessly; feather
in one’s cap
Q9. His oil paintings
are ____________________, with a dreamlike quality that sets them apart,
his characters pictured against gentle scenery and striking skies. Many of his
landscapes are unmistakably Yorkshire-sweeping valleys dotted with barns,
towering mill chimneys, ____________________ terraces and wild moorland.
(a) innocuous; turned
down
(b) parsimonious; butt
in
(c) restive; drawing a
blank
(d) commensurate;
picked to pieces
(e) distinctive;
cheek-by-jowl
Q10. A three-judge
bench of the Supreme Court in a verdict on Wednesday expressed different
opinions on this with one saying that the provision of ____________________ has
failed to become a ____________________ and the other two holding that a
larger bench had already decided its continuance in the rarest of rare cases.
(a) maiden speech;
aberration
(b) a left-handed
compliment; calumny
(c) a cuckoo in the
nest; acrimony
(d) capital punishment;
deterrent
(e) a wild-goose chase;
venality
SOLUTIONS:
S1. Ans. (b)
Sol. Idioms:
throw cold water means discourage;
end up in smoke means to
fail;
carry the ball means to
be in charge;
smell a rat means to
suspect foul dealings;
burn your boots means do
something that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation;
Words:
Compliance [noun] means
‘the action or fact of complying with a wish or command’;
The tone of the
sentence suggests that Russia is being warned in relation to her compliance
with an agreement related to Nuclear Weapons. Among the given idiom, the idiom
‘end up in smoke’ which means ‘to fail’, provides the correct
context to the blank, and among the given words, ‘compliance’ is the
correct word to fill the blank.
Among the given
options, option (b) is the correct answer.
S2. Ans. (e)
Sol. Idioms:
Couch potato means a
person who prefers to watch television;
A dark horse means an
unknown entry;
A house of cards means an
insecure scheme;
Beyond the pale means unreasonable
or unacceptable;
Ill at ease means uneasy;
Sameera had lost her
final match and it is given that she was very uncomfortable. Among the given
options, the idiom ‘ill at ease’ and the word ‘underdog’ provide
the correct context to the sentence.
Hence, option (e) is
the correct answer.
S3. Ans. (a)
Sol. Idioms:
Wild-goose chase means a
pointless search;
Hard of hearing means to
be deaf;
House of cards means an
insecure scheme;
Maiden speech means first
speech;
Couch potato means a
person who prefers to watch television;
Words:
Wandering means ‘travelling aimlessly from place to
place; itinerant’ ;
Researching means ‘investigate
systematically.’;
Wanting [adjective]
means ‘lacking in a required or necessary quality’;
Gaining means ‘obtain or secure (something wanted
or desirable)’;
Working means ‘functioning
or able to function’;
Among the given
options, the word ‘wandering’ and the idiom ‘wild-chase goose’
provide the correct context to the blanks of the sentence.
Hence, option (a) is
the correct answer.
S4. Ans. (e)
Sol. Idioms:
Driven home means emphasise;
Dressed down means giving
a scolding;
Called in question
means challenge;
Curried favour means seek
favourable attention;
Turned down means reject;
Words:
Demurs [noun] means ‘the
action of objecting to or hesitating over something’;
Acrimony [noun] means ‘bitterness
or ill feeling’;
The phrase ‘raised by
the prospective donor’s father’ suggests that donor’s father raised objection
to her daughter offering to donate her kidney, and hence, the hospital,
accepting the plea of her father has rejected the plea of a Sikh girl who had
offered her kidney.
Among the given
options, the idiom ‘turned down’ and the word ‘demurs’ provide
the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (e) is the
correct answer.
S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. Idioms:
Drop in the bucket
means a very insignificant amount;
Feather in one’s cap
means a new and additional distinction;
Weal and woe means good
times and bad times;
Straw in the wind means
an indication of what might happen;
Leaps and bounds means rapidly;
Words:
Enervating [enervate,
verb] means ‘make (someone) feel drained of energy or vitality’;
Vindicating [vindicate,
verb] means ‘clear (someone) of blame or suspicion’;
Terminating [terminate,
verb] means ‘bring to an end’;
Blaming [blame, verb]
means ‘feel or declare that (someone or something) is responsible for a
fault or wrong’;The Senate has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban
Treaty. It means that the US is not interested in stopping her
pursuit for Nuclear weapons.
Among the given
options, the idiom ‘straw in the wind’ and the word ‘terminating’
provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (d) is
the correct answer.
S6. Ans. (c)
Sol. Idioms:
Dressing down means give
a scolding;
Bone of contention
means cause for quarrel;
Left-handed compliment
means an ambiguous compliment;
House of cards means an
insecure scheme;
Cuckoo in the nest
means an unwelcome intruder;
Words:
Maintained [maintain,
verb] means ‘cause or enable (a condition or situation) to continue’;
Intimated [intimate,
verb] means ‘state or make known’;
Belied [belie, verb]
means ‘(of an appearance) fail to give a true impression of (something)’;
Galvanized [galvanize,
verb] means ‘shock or excite (someone) into taking action’;
Among the given
options, the idiom ‘left-handed compliment’ and the word ‘seemed’
provide the correct context to the blanks.
A hint for using the
idiom ‘left-handed compliment’ in the first blank can be derived
from the phrase ‘two-handed applause’.
Hence, option (c) is
the correct answer.
S7. Ans. (a)
Sol. Idioms:
Beside the mark means not
to the point;
An axe to the grind
means to have a selfish interest;
Putting two and two
together means reason logically;
Drawing a blank means find
no favour;
Calling in question
means challenge;
Words:
Venality [noun] means ‘the
condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption’;
The sentence says that
top market voices are debating on whether current prime minister would get a
second term in 2019, but Porinju Veliyath seems to believe that its effect on
the stock market is not important for long-term investors.
Among the given
options, the word ‘impact’ and the idiom ‘beside the mark’
provide the correct context to the blanks. Hence, option (a) is the correct
answer.
S8. Ans. (b)
Sol. Idioms:
Weal and woe means good
times and bad times;
Null and void means invalid;
Curry favour means seek
favourable attention;
Under a cloud means under
suspicion;
Feather in one’s cap
means a new and an additional distinction;
‘set aside’ is a phrase
which means to get dismissed.
Among the given
options, the word ‘aside’ and the idiom ‘null and void’
provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (b) is
the correct answer.
S9. Ans. (e)
Sol. Idioms:
Turned down means reject;
Butt in means interrupt;
Drawing a blank means find
no favour;
Picked to pieces means analyse
critically;
Cheek-by-jowl means very
close together;
Words:
Innocuous [adjective]
means ‘not harmful or offensive’;
Parsimonious
[adjective] means ‘very unwilling to spend money or use resources’;
Restive [adjective]
means ‘restless’;
Commensurate
[adjective] means ‘corresponding in size or degree; in proportion’;
Distinctive [adjective]
means ‘characteristic of one person or thing, and so serving to distinguish
it from others’;
The given group of
sentences seems to praise the oil paintings.
Among the given
options, the word ‘distinctive’ and the idiom ‘cheek-by-jowl’
provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (e) is
the correct answer.
S10. Ans. (d)
Sol. Idioms:
Maiden Speech means first
speech;
A left-handed
compliment means an ambiguous compliment;
A cuckoo in the nest
means an unwelcome intruder;
Capital punishment
means death punishment;
A wild-goose chase
means a pointless search;
Words:
Aberration [noun] means
‘a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome
one’;
Calumny [noun] means ‘the
making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to damage
their reputation; slander’;
Acrimony [noun] means ‘bitterness
or ill feeling’;
Deterrent [noun] means
‘a thing that discourages or is intended to discourage someone from doing
something’;
Venality [noun] means ‘the
condition of being susceptible to bribes or corruption’;
The phrase ‘rarest of
rare cases’ suggests that the given sentence is talking about capital
punishment and about its effect as a deterrent.
Among the given
options, the idiom ‘capital punishment’ and the word ‘deterrent’
provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (d) is
the correct answer.
English Quizzes For SBI PO Mains 2023 - ...
