In the passage given below there are 10 blanks, each followed by a word given…
2024
In the passage given below there are 10 blanks, each followed by a word given in bold. Each blank has four alternative words given in options (A),(B),(C) and (D). You have to tell which word will best suit the respective blank. Mark (E) as your answer if the word given in bold after the blank is your answer i.e “No change required”.
The increasing cost of higher education in the United States has been a --(1)---(contrast) topic for debate in recent decades. American society - --(2)---(denigrate) the importance of education after high school, yet the cost of undergraduate and advanced degrees continually rises at a greater rate than ---(3)----(inflammation). According to the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, cost factors prevent 48% of college-qualified high school graduates from pursuing further education (McKeon, 2004, p. 45). The current system requires the majority of students to ---- (4)----(dissipate) extensive debt with the expectation that they gain ----(5)---- (unprofitable) post-graduate employment to repay their loans.
Which word will best suit the respective blank 3
(question no 11 till 15 are linked together )
- A.
inflation
- B.
inference
- C.
innocuous
- D.
incongruous
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: In this cloze format each blank already carries a bold prompt word; the task is to judge whether that prompt genuinely fits the sentence's grammar and meaning in context — if it does, no change is needed (option E); if it doesn't, the correct choice is whichever offered alternative DOES fit the context, regardless of how closely it resembles the bold prompt in spelling. A word that only superficially echoes the bold prompt's spelling while differing sharply in meaning is exactly the trap this format sets.
Application: The bold prompt after blank 3 is ‘inflammation’ (a medical term for swelling of body tissue), which does NOT fit here. The sentence structure “...rises at a greater rate than ___” needs a noun for an ongoing, measurable economic rate, since tuition-cost growth is being compared to it. ‘Inflation’ — the general rise in prices and fall in the purchasing power of money — is exactly that yardstick, and it closely echoes the spelling of ‘inflammation’ (inflat- vs inflamm-), which is the intended near-miss pairing.
Cross-check — why the other options don't fit:
inference denotes a conclusion reached through reasoning, not a quantity that changes over time, so it cannot be something costs “rise at a greater rate than.”
innocuous describes something harmless; it is a descriptive adjective about safety, not a measurable rate, so it does not fit the comparison.
incongruous describes something out of place or inconsistent; again a descriptive adjective, not a quantity with a rate, so it cannot complete the comparison.
Result: The sentence reads best as “...rises at a greater rate than inflation,” so inflation is the correct replacement for blank 3.