Directions : Read the following passage and answer the following questions…
2019
Directions : Read the following passage and answer the following questions based on the given passage.
The United States plans to put a space workshop into orbit in 1972, the Space Agency announced here [Houston] yesterday. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said the third stage of the giant Saturn 5 rocket used to send Apollo spaceships to the moon would be used to house the orbiting laboratory and observatory. The project will study man’s physiological and psychological responses in the space environment and provide more detailed information on his capabilities for extended manned flight. The workshop is to be fitted out on the ground and will be launched into a 220 nautical mile circular earth orbit. It will be occupied by a crew of three astronauts who will follow in a smaller rocket about a day later. At first, the astronaut-scientists will spend about 26 days in the orbiting workshop, but later visits lasting up to 56 days are planned. The laboratory will be built into a modified S-IVB third stage of the Saturn 5 rocket. The S IVB is used as the Saturn 1B’s second stage.
Which of the following is similar to MODIFIED, as highlighted in the passage given above?
- A.
immutable
- B.
incertitude
- C.
voracious
- D.
overhaul
- E.
none of these
Attempted by 6 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: A synonym question asks for the word closest in meaning to a target word AS IT IS USED IN CONTEXT. To 'modify' something is to change, alter or adapt it — usually by reworking or revising it rather than leaving it as it was. So the right answer must carry the core idea of 'changed / reworked'.
Application: In the passage the laboratory is built into a “modified S-IVB third stage” — i.e. an S-IVB stage that has been reworked/adapted from its original rocket role into a workshop. The word that best captures 'to rework / revise / revamp' is overhaul, which means to thoroughly examine and make changes or repairs — to renovate or revise something. A modified stage is an overhauled (reworked) stage.
Contrast with the distractors:
immutable – means 'unchangeable, fixed'. That is the OPPOSITE of modified, so it cannot be the synonym.
incertitude – a noun meaning 'uncertainty / doubt'. It is unrelated to changing anything and is the wrong part of meaning entirely.
voracious – means 'extremely hungry or greedy'. It has nothing to do with changing or altering.
none of these – not needed, because a valid synonym (overhaul) is present among the choices.
Result: The word meaning 'changed / reworked / revised' is overhaul.