Direction : In each of the following sentences there are two blank spaces.…
2020
Direction : In each of the following sentences there are two blank spaces. Below each five pairs of words have been denoted by numbers (A), (B), (C), (D) and (E). Find out which pair of words can be filled up in the blanks in the sentences in the same sequence to make the sentence meaningfully complete.
The internal and concurrent audit system of banks is intended to red _____________ risks in real time, but has failed and must be _____________ up.
- A.
hood, kept
- B.
flag, shored
- C.
salute, prodded
- D.
dame, given
- E.
dress, developed
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept
Two-blank sentence-completion is solved by collocation, not by single-word meaning. Each blank must combine with the fixed word already next to it to form a real, established phrase, and BOTH words of a chosen pair must fit at once. So test each pair by two checks: does the first word form a valid phrase with the word before its blank, and does the second word form a valid phrase with the word after its blank — and do both resulting phrases agree with the sentence's meaning? A pair that satisfies only one blank, or forms a non-idiomatic combination, is rejected.
Applying it to this sentence
First blank, after "red": the audit system exists to identify and call out risks. "red-flag" means exactly that — to flag something as a danger — so "red flag risks in real time" reads correctly.
Second blank, before "up": the system "has failed and must be ___ up", i.e. strengthened and reinforced. "shore up" means to support, strengthen, or prop up something that is weak, so "must be shored up" fits the contrast set by "has failed".
Both halves of the pair "flag, shored" form valid phrases (red-flag, shored up) AND match the meaning, so this pair completes the sentence.
Why the other pairs fail
"hood, kept": "red hood" is not a relevant phrase for marking risks, and "kept up" (maintained) clashes with a system that "has failed" and now needs strengthening.
"salute, prodded": "red salute" does not mean to identify risk, and "prodded up" is not a standard phrase.
"dame, given": "red dame" is meaningless here, and "given up" (abandoned) contradicts the intent to repair the failed system.
"dress, developed": "red dress" is unrelated to auditing risk, and "developed up" is not idiomatic.
Result
The pair that makes both blanks meaningful is "flag, shored": "...intended to red-flag risks in real time, but has failed and must be shored up."