Competitive Exam Special: Question of the Day: 21st Oct'09

The question below contains a number of sentences. Each sentence has pairs of word(s)/phrases that are highlighted. From the highlighted word(s)/phrase(s), select the most appropriate word(s)/phrase(s) to form correct sentences. Then, from the options given, choose the best one. In certain countries thievery is equal (A) / equivalent (B) to murder. The jury would rather acquit than (A) / then (B) convict on the basis of flimsy evidence. Maria is older (A) / elder (B) than Federico. He has provided a veracious (A) / voracious (B) statement of facts as justification. The police tried to elicit (A) / illicit (B) information from the suspect. OPTIONS     1) AAAAA    2) ABAAB   3) BAAAB   4) BBBAA   5) BAAAA

Solution

The correct usage in statement 1 is “equivalent” which means ‘amounting to’. “Equal” to is literal as explained in a mathematical equation ‘ two plus two is equal to four’. Therefore, options 1 and 2 are eliminated. In statement 2, “rather….than” is the correct grammatical usage.Therefore, option 4 is eliminated. In statement 3, “older than” is correct usage. Alternatively it is ‘elder to’. In statement 4, “Veracious” means ‘truthful’, while “voracious” means ‘ravenous’. “Veracious” fits in here in the context of the statement. A statement cannot possibly be “voracious”. To “elicit” means ‘to get information’ and is the apt word here; “illicit” means ‘illegal’. Therefore, option 3 is eliminated. Hence, the correct answer is option 5.