Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow…
2019
Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by selecting the correct/most appropriate options :
Learning a language under any circumstances requires hard work and concentration. However, the circumstances can make a difference in both quality and quantity. Most foreign language students learn in a classroom, from a text-book. In a classroom, language learning can be controlled so that all the necessary structures are taught. Highly motivated students can thus learn the language efficiently and quickly. Learning on the streets and in the markets from experience and need can be effective although the student learns only what he happens to need, in a haphazard way.
Some language students find this real-life situation more meaningful because the students’ success in fulfilling their needs depends on their language ability. However, shop-keepers are more likely to be tolerant of incorrect grammar than classroom teachers, so mispronunciations and errors will not matter much. Nevertheless, the rewards are different for the type of language learning situations. They are immediate (goods, bought in a store) in the real-life but delayed until a quiz or oral recital for the classroom learner.
The kind of language learnt in each setting differs too. In the classroom, the student is more likely to learn the grammatical language of educated people. The language learnt out of necessity often lacks the fine details of the classroom variety and might include informal expressions such as slang. The people learning on the street must be easily understood. Therefore, they might actually sound more like native speakers — although not necessarily educated people. So a combination of classroom instruction and the experience of using language in the street will result in the best language learning of all.
What does the word ‘motivated’ mean in the following phrase?
‘Highly motivated students can thus ……..’
- A.
intelligent
- B.
resourceful
- C.
muddled
- D.
interested
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: A vocabulary-in-context question asks you to identify which word preserves the sentence's meaning and its logical relationship to the surrounding passage — not the word's isolated dictionary sense. When several choices seem broadly related, the correct one is the one that keeps the passage's cause-and-effect or descriptive logic intact.
Application: The passage says classroom learning "can be controlled so that all the necessary structures are taught," and that students who are highly ___ "can thus learn the language efficiently and quickly." The blank must describe an attitude toward learning that directly explains fast, efficient results — an eager, willing engagement with the material, not a cognitive trait or skill.
Contrast: Now compare each option by its own value:
"intelligent" describes innate cognitive ability, not an attitude or drive toward learning; the passage's cause (a way of approaching study) is different from being naturally clever.
"resourceful" describes an ability to solve problems creatively with limited means, which is not the quality that makes classroom-controlled instruction "efficient and quick."
"muddled" means confused or disorganised, the opposite of the efficient, well-structured learning the passage describes.
"Interested" captures a willing, engaged attitude toward learning that explains why such students learn efficiently and quickly in a controlled classroom setting, matching the passage's cause-and-effect.