CAT 2004 — VARC Question 15
Fill up the blanks A, B, C ... F, in the two passages below with the most appropriate word from the options given for each blank.
"Between the year 1946 and the year 1955, I did not file any income tax returns". With that ______A______ statement, Ramesh embarked on an account of his encounter with the Income Tax Department. "I originally owed Rs. 20,000 in unpaid taxes. With _____B________ and _______C______, the 20,000 became 60,000. The Income Tax Department then went into action, and I learned firsthand just how much power the Tax Department wields. Royalties and trust funds can be ______D_______; automobiles may be _______E______, and auctioned off. Nothing belongs to the ______F_______ until the case is settled."
Each statement has a part missing. Choose the best option from the options given below the statement to make up the missing part.
Archaeologists believe that the pieces of red-ware pottery excavated recently near Bhavnagar and __________ shed light on a hitherto dark 600-year period in the Harappan history of Gujarat.
Answer & solution
- A
estimated with a reasonable certainty as being about 3400 years old,
- B
are estimated reasonably certain to be about 3400 years old
- C
estimated at about 3400 years old with reasonable certainty,
estimated with reasonable certainty to be about 3400 years old,
Option 1 can be eliminated because the usage should be ‘estimated … to be … 3400 years old.’
Similarly, option 3 is also incorrect. ‘With reasonable certainty’ modifies ‘estimated’ and should be placed close to it.
Option 2 is awkward. We can rephrase the sentence to begin with ‘estimated’. Also, ‘pottery’ is singular (plural is potteries) and therefore, ‘are estimated’ cannot apply to singular ‘pottery’. Plus, the sentence looks grammatically inconsistent. One is not sure whether ‘are estimated’ applies to archaeologists or the pottery.
Hence, the correct answer is option 4.