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.
If asked, "What matters are related to health i.e. health decisions ?" most of us would answer – hospitals, doctors and pills. Yet we are all making a whole range of decisions about our health which go beyond this limited area of doctors, pills etc. For example, whether or not to smoke, take exercise, wear a seat belt, drive a motor bike, drink alcohol regularly etc. The way we reach decisions and form attitudes about our health is only just beginning to be understood.
The main paradox is why people consistently do things which are known to be very hazardous. Two interesting examples of this are smoking and not wearing seat belts. Addiction makes smokers keep on smoking and whether to wear a seat belt or not is affected by safety considerations. Taken together both these examples show how people reach decisions about their health. Understanding this process is crucial. Only then can we effectively change public attitude towards voluntary activities like smoking. Smokers run the risk of contracting heart disease, several times more as compared to non-smokers. Even lung cancer. Despite extensive press campaigns which have regularly told smokers and car drivers the grave risks they are running, the number of smokers and non-wearers of seat belts has remained much the same. Although the numbers of deaths from road accidents and smoking are well publicized, they have aroused little public interest.
If we give smokers the real figures of deaths caused by smoking, will it affect their views on the dangers of smoking? Unfortunately not. Many of the real figures are in the form of probable estimates, and evidence shows that people are very bad at understanding this kind of information.
Which part of speech is the underlined word in the following sentence ?
Understanding this process is crucial.
- A.
Determiner
- B.
Preposition
- C.
Adverb
- D.
Conjunction
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: A determiner is a word placed directly before a noun to specify, identify, or quantify it — for example articles (a, the), demonstratives (this, that, these, those), possessives (my, your), and quantifiers (some, many). Demonstrative determiners like "this" point to a specific noun that follows them, distinguishing this use from the demonstrative pronoun use, where the same word stands alone in place of a noun (as in "This is crucial").
Application: In the sentence "Understanding this process is crucial," the underlined word "this" sits directly in front of the noun "process," forming the noun phrase "this process." Because "this" specifies which process is meant rather than replacing a noun on its own, it is functioning as a demonstrative determiner here.
Cross-check — why the other parts of speech do not fit:
Preposition: a preposition (in, on, at, by, with) shows a relationship of location, direction, time, or manner between a noun/pronoun and another sentence element; "this" expresses no such relationship.
Adverb: an adverb (quickly, very, here, often) modifies a verb, adjective, or another adverb; "this" is modifying the noun "process," not a verb, adjective, or adverb.
Conjunction: a conjunction (and, but, because, although) joins words, phrases, or clauses; "this" is not joining any two elements of the sentence — it sits inside a single noun phrase.
Result: "this" precedes and specifies the noun "process," so it is a determiner — consistent with the official CTET December 2019 Paper II answer key for this item.