20 February 2025 · Shift 1

Noun choice in a blank 'There are' is followed by a plural noun, so the blank needs a plural noun meaning 'occasions'. 'Times' is exactly that noun: 'there are times when ...' is the standard pattern for 'there are occasions when ...'. 'Sometimes' and 'anytime' are adverbs and cannot follow 'there are'; 'timings' means fixed scheduled hours (bus timings), not occasions. Hence the correct option is (c).

Word class and collocation Fix each blank by the word class it needs, then by meaning. Blank (1) sits before the noun 'design', so it needs an adjective: 'sleek' means smooth and streamlined. Blank (2) follows the adjective 'responsive' and is itself a noun naming a part of the phone: 'interface', the screen and controls the user works through. Blank (3) completes 'one of the most ___ gadgets', an adjective of demand: 'sought-after' means much in demand. Only option (d) gives sleek - interface - sought-after in that order.

Synonym in context The blank must be a synonym of the bracketed word 'funny', which means amusing and likely to make people laugh. 'Humorous' means causing amusement or laughter, so it carries the same sense and fits 'such a humorous person'. 'Tall' describes height, 'bad' describes quality and 'cold' describes temperament; none of them is about being amusing. Hence the correct option is (c).

Synonym of 'rudimentary' 'Rudimentary' comes from 'rudiment', the first principle of a subject, so it means basic, undeveloped, at an early stage. 'Elementary' also means dealing with the simplest, first principles, so it is the closest synonym. 'Intricate' and 'complex' mean detailed and made of many parts, and 'advanced' means highly developed - all three are opposites. Hence the correct option is (b).

Synonym of 'luxuriant' 'Luxuriant' describes growth that is thick, abundant and healthy - do not confuse it with 'luxurious', which means expensively comfortable. 'Lush' means growing thickly and richly, which is the same idea of abundant healthy growth. 'Leafless', 'bleak' and 'barren' all describe an absence of growth, so they are antonyms, not synonyms. Hence the correct option is (c).

Idiom substitution The highlighted part means 'go to bed so as to sleep', so the idiom chosen must mean exactly that. 'Hit the sack' means to go to bed in order to sleep - 'sack' is old slang for a bed - so it replaces the segment without changing the sense. 'Break a leg' is a wish of good luck, 'bark up the wrong tree' is to follow a mistaken line of thought, and 'cry over spilled milk' is to regret what cannot be undone. Hence the correct option is (d).

Spelling error 'Beginning' is begin + -ing, and a verb whose last syllable is stressed and ends consonant-vowel-consonant doubles that final consonant before -ing. So 'begin' becomes 'beginning' with a double 'n'; the option prints 'Begining' with a single 'n', which is the misspelling. 'Battery', 'bough' and 'barrister' are all spelt correctly. Hence the correct option is (b).

Adverb and adjective usage A word that modifies a verb must be an adverb; an adjective can modify only a noun. In the second-listed segment 'light applauded the performance', 'light' is modifying the verb 'applauded', so it must be the adverb 'lightly'. The corrected segment reads 'lightly applauded the performance'. The other three segments contain no modifier of a verb - they are a time phrase, a subject noun phrase and a prepositional phrase - so they are already correct. Hence the correct option is (b).

Antonym of 'capable' 'Capable' means having the ability and the skill to do something well, so its antonym must deny that ability. 'Incompetent' means lacking the ability to do something successfully, the exact opposite of capable. 'Considerate' (thoughtful of others), 'troublesome' (causing difficulty) and 'garrulous' (excessively talkative) all describe temperament, not ability. Hence the correct option is (b).

Adverb usage error A word modifying a verb or a participle must be an adverb, not an adjective. Segment B reads 'standing protective', where 'protective' is an adjective attached to the participle 'standing'; it must become the adverb 'protectively' - 'standing protectively in front of its owner'. Segment A is already correct because it uses the adverb 'loudly' with 'barked'; C is an ordinary prepositional phrase; D is a well-formed participial phrase. So the segment carrying the error is B. Hence the correct option is (d).

Passive voice structure A report cannot write; it is written, so the sentence must be in the passive voice. The passive of the simple past is 'was/were + past participle', and the singular subject 'report' takes 'was': 'The report was written by the analyst.' 'Has written' is active present perfect and makes the report the doer of the action, which is the error in the sentence. 'Was writing' is past continuous active, and 'written' alone would leave the clause with no finite verb. Hence the correct option is (b).

Contextual phrase substitution The underlined phrase describes what the parents are doing while the speaker receives a prestigious award, so it must fit a proud, happy moment. 'Applauding my success' does that: the parents in the audience clap to praise the achievement, and the -ing form keeps it parallel with 'sitting'. 'Jostling' means pushing roughly against people in a crowd, which cannot be done 'with their emotion', so the original phrase is the error. 'Hiding their nervousness' and 'supporting my fear' bring in anxiety the sentence never mentions, and 'pray for me' is not parallel to 'sitting'. Hence the correct option is (d).

Antonym of 'strategic' 'Strategic' describes something planned carefully for an important, long-term purpose, so it carries the sense of 'crucial, of key importance'. 'Trivial' means of little value or importance, which denies exactly that sense and is therefore the antonym. 'Hazy' is about clarity, 'cruel' is about kindness, and 'wise' is nearer to a synonym of strategic than to its opposite. Hence the correct option is (c).

Adjective collocation The blank needs the adjective that regularly goes with 'success' to mean an overwhelming one. 'A roaring success' is the fixed collocation for a huge, unmistakable success, and 'despite initial problems' sets up exactly that contrast. 'Loud' and 'sounding' are never used to qualify 'success', and 'cracking' is not the established partner of the noun here. Hence the correct option is (b).

Spelling error All four options are abstract nouns; three of them end in -ence, but 'allegiance' takes -giance, from Old French 'ligeance'. The option prints 'Allegience', with the i and e of -giance reversed, so it is the incorrectly spelt word; the correct form is 'allegiance'. 'Subservience', 'adherence' and 'reverence' are all spelt correctly with -ence. Hence the correct option is (a).

Cloze: article with adjective Blank (76) stands between 'is' and the noun 'concern', so it needs an article plus an adjective describing how that concern is changing. The rest of the passage lists worsening droughts and floods, so the concern is growing: 'an increasing concern'. 'Increasing' begins with a vowel sound, so the article must be 'an', not 'a'. 'A decreasing' and 'a stable' contradict the paragraph that follows, and 'an irrelevant concern' would make the whole passage pointless. Hence the correct option is (c).

Cloze: verb choice Blank (77) is the main verb of the plural subject 'rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns', and the passage is about damage, so the verb must be negative in sense. 'Jeopardise' means to put something into a situation where there is a danger of loss or harm, which is precisely what those patterns do to crop yields and food security. 'Stabilise', 'enhance' and 'promote' are all positive verbs; each would reverse the argument the passage is building. Hence the correct option is (d).

Cloze: verb choice Blank (78) needs a verb saying what droughts and floods do to agricultural output, and both are destructive events, so the verb must mean 'reduce'. 'Diminish' means to make less, so droughts and floods diminish the agricultural output in many regions. 'Augment', 'increase' and 'bolster' all mean to make greater; three options sharing one meaning cannot all be right, which itself marks 'diminish' as the odd one out and the answer. Hence the correct option is (a).

Cloze: subject-verb agreement Blank (79) is the finite verb of the clause 'Consequently, farmers ___ innovative strategies', and the passage states a general fact, so it takes the simple present. The subject 'farmers' is plural, and a plural subject takes the base form of the verb without -s: 'farmers employ'. 'Employs' is the singular form, 'employed' would push the statement into the past, and 'employing' is a participle that would leave the clause with no finite verb. Hence the correct option is (d).

Cloze: verb choice 'to ___ their resilience' is an infinitive of purpose, so the verb must state what the farmers are trying to do to their resilience. They adopt new strategies in order to strengthen it, and 'enhance' means to improve or increase the quality or strength of something. 'Reduce' and 'compromise' would weaken resilience, the opposite of the stated purpose, and 'accept' does not combine sensibly with 'resilience to these changes'. Hence the correct option is (d).