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
In September 2015, the leaders of 193 countries agreed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – the most (1)….plan ever to promote human development – by 2030. Nearly two years into the process, there are plenty of reasons for concern: the amount of financing raised so far is unlikely to be sufficient, and not all countries have (2)….data to measure progress on the ground. It is enough to test even the most diehard (3)….But there is still plenty of reason for hope. I recently visited Colombia, which, at long last, is leaving behind its decades-long civil conflict with the (4)….Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) and setting itself up for SDG success. In any country, achieving the SDGs will require government, business, aid agencies, multilateral banks, and civil society to work together, adopt flexible approaches, share knowledge, measure progress effectively, and recognize that the various targets are interconnected. Colombia seems to understand this, and is (5)….an (6)…. approach that leverages the strengths of each actor. Start with government. According to Colombia’s finance minister, Mauricio Cárdenas Santamaría, the country is localizing the SDGs through the planning department, using the SDG framework to guide reforms relating to the implementation of the peace agreement with the FARC, OECD (7)…., the National Development Plan, and the Paris climate agreement. Meanwhile, Cárdenas points out, Colombia’s policymakers are taking care to highlight the benefits of these efforts – in areas ranging from health care and education to employment – for the public. They recognize that a top-down approach will not work: to achieve the SDGs, all levels of the government, economy, and society must feel connected to the goals, understanding the (8)….impact that achieving them will have.To get business on board, the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, led by Monica de Greiff, is raising awareness of the SDGs among its 640,000 members and providing skills training in sectors like construction and health care. The aim is to achieve the SDGs’ targets while increasing the economy’s overall competitiveness. The good news is that, as Bruce MacMaster of the Bogotá-based business advocacy and think tank ANDI noted, businesses have a strong incentive to (9)….the gains of the peace process, especially in remote areas that have (10)….been cut off from government services. And, indeed, in Medellín, once the illicit drug capital of the world, the leaders of small and large businesses with whom I met are already integrating the SDGs into their business plans and supply chains.
Find the appropriate word in case 5
- A.
repel
- B.
pursuing
- C.
torpidity
- D.
conspicuous
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: In a grammar-based cloze blank, the missing word must satisfy both the sentence's structural slot (part of speech, tense, agreement) and its meaning in context. When a blank sits directly after a bare “is” with no other verb in the clause, the sentence is a present-continuous construction (“is + V-ing”), so only a present-participle verb can fill that slot.
Application: The sentence reads – “Colombia seems to understand this, and is (5)…. an (6)…. approach that leverages the strengths of each actor.” Here “is” is the auxiliary of a present-continuous clause with no other verb present, so blank (5) must be a present-participle verb immediately followed by the article “an” and the noun phrase “approach.” “Pursuing” is the -ing form of “pursue” (to carry forward, work toward), so “Colombia… is pursuing an approach” completes the clause correctly and matches the passage's theme of Colombia coordinating government, business, and civil society around the SDGs.
Cross-check: The original source article (Mahmoud Mohieldin, “How to Achieve the SDGs,” Project Syndicate, 2017) reads – “Colombia… is pursuing an integrated approach that leverages the strengths of each actor,” confirming the fit.
repel – a verb, but in its BASE form, not the required -ing form; it also means to drive away or repulse, the opposite of the cooperative approach Colombia is adopting.
torpidity – a noun (sluggishness/inactivity); a noun cannot function as the main verb the clause needs right after “is.”
conspicuous – an adjective (easily noticed); an adjective likewise cannot serve as the main verb required after “is.”