In the passage given below there are 10 blanks, each followed by a word given…
2025
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 4
(question no 11 till 15 are linked together )
- A.
accrue
- B.
accumulate
- C.
acrimonious
- D.
accredited
Attempted by 2 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: B
Concept: In a vocabulary-based cloze passage, the correct replacement word must (1) match the part of speech the sentence structure demands, and (2) form a natural, idiomatic collocation with its object that fits the passage's meaning.
Application: In “...the majority of students to ___ extensive debt with the expectation that they gain ... employment to repay their loans”, the blank needs a verb meaning “to build up (debt) over time”, because the very next clause is about repaying that debt — debt is first taken on, then later repaid. “Accumulate” is the standard, idiomatic verb for building up debt (“accumulate debt”), so it fits precisely. By contrast, “accrue” normally describes something (interest, a benefit) building up TO a person passively, which is a weaker collocational fit here than “accumulate”. “Acrimonious” is an adjective (bitter/sharp), so it cannot fill the verb slot after “to” at all. “Accredited” means officially certified/recognised and has no semantic link to debt. The original bracketed word “dissipate” (to disperse or fade away, typically of feelings or energy) carries the opposite sense of building up, so it does not fit and must be replaced.
Cross-check: Reading the completed sentence — “the current system requires the majority of students to accumulate extensive debt with the expectation that they gain ... employment to repay their loans” — flows logically: debt is accumulated first and repaid later through employment, confirming “accumulate” as the best fit.