Direction: Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer to each…
2024
Direction: Read the passage carefully and choose the correct answer to each question out of the four alternatives and fill in the blanks
Every month, scientists ___(i)___ new gadgets and new ways to make technology faster and better. Our homes are full of hardware (such as DVD players and computers) and ___(ii)___ (such as computer games and MP3s). ___(iii)___ suggests, however, that it is the young people who are best able to deal with this change. Whereas teenagers have no problem ___(iv)___ a DVD player, their parents and grandparents often find using new technology ___(v)___ and different. But if you’re a teenager who criticizes your parents for their ___(vi)___ of technological awareness, don’t be too hard on them! Sometime ___(vii)___the future, when you’ve got children of your own, your ___(viii)___ to deal with new technology will probably ___(ix)___ and your children will feel more ___(x)___ with new technology than you do.
Find the appropriate word in case
(ix)=?
(question no 1 till 10 are linked together )
- A.
please
- B.
decrease
- C.
able
- D.
easy
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
In grammar-based cloze blanks, the word filling a blank must match the part of speech required by the sentence's structure. The modal auxiliary "will" is always followed by the base form of a verb (will + verb) — it cannot be followed by an adjective standing alone, and a transitive verb needing an object cannot complete an intransitive slot.
The blank sits in "your ability to deal with new technology will probably ___(ix)___." Since "will probably" must be followed by a verb describing what happens to that ability over time, the correct word must be a verb that stands alone and completes the idea. "Decrease" is exactly this: a verb meaning "to become less," giving "your ability … will probably decrease" — matching the passage's later point that "your children will feel more comfortable with new technology than you do."
"Please" is a verb but always needs an object ("please someone") or functions as a polite interjection — it cannot complete "will probably ___" on its own and carries no sense of change over time.
"Able" is an adjective, not a verb; it cannot follow "will probably" directly (that would need "will probably be able"), so it breaks the sentence's grammar.
"Easy" is also an adjective, not a verb; like "able," it cannot stand alone after "will probably" without an inserted "be," so it too breaks the sentence's grammar.
Reading the completed sentence — "your ability to deal with new technology will probably decrease and your children will feel more comfortable with new technology than you do" — confirms the meaning fits the passage's argument that ability shifts from parents to children over time, so "decrease" is the answer.