In the following passage, there are blanks each of which has been numbered.…
2024
In the following passage, there are blanks each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, a set of suggested words is given, one of which fills the blank appropriately.
Recently the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) released separate reports on poverty. The World Bank (___1___) its benchmark of extreme poverty by 25 cents from $1 per person per day to $1.25 per person a day. The ADB announced an even (___2___) benchmark of $1.35 per person a day. These new benchmarks are based on surveys in the world’s poorest countries. Experts often like to claim that poverty has declined because of economic growth in India and China. This is wrong and (___3___). In the past twenty-five years the poverty rate in India has (___4___) by less than one-percentage point a year. Whether we use a poverty line of $1 per person per day or $1.25 per person per day makes little difference. The number of poor in India is large. The purpose of these statistics is not to dispute them but to (___5___) whether the benefits of economic growth are being shared with the poor.
Find out the appropriate word for blank number 2.
- A.
better
- B.
significant
- C.
plausible
- D.
higher
Attempted by 1 students.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: D
Concept: In a cloze passage, each blank must be filled with the word whose specific meaning fits BOTH the sentence's grammar and the facts stated elsewhere in the passage - not merely a word that sounds generally plausible in isolation. Where the passage supplies numbers or a comparison, the correct word must match that comparison exactly.
Application: The previous sentence states that the World Bank raised its poverty benchmark to $1.25 per person per day. The blank appears in the very next sentence: "The ADB announced an even ___ benchmark of $1.35 per person a day." Since $1.35 is a larger figure than the $1.25 just mentioned, the blank needs a word that expresses a quantity greater than what came before - and the word "even" in front of the blank reinforces this escalating sense (as in "even more" or "even bigger").
Contrast - why each other option fails:
better expresses a favourable QUALITY judgement (a better benchmark), not a numeric increase - the passage is comparing two dollar figures, not rating which measure is more useful.
significant conveys importance or notability in general, but says nothing about whether one number is larger than another, so it does not capture the stated $1.25-to-$1.35 comparison.
plausible means believable or credible - it concerns whether a claim seems true, which has no bearing on the size of a dollar figure at all.
higher expresses exactly that one quantity exceeds another, matching both the $1.25-vs-$1.35 comparison and the escalating sense created by "even ___".
So the word that correctly completes blank 2 is higher.