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GATE 2018 IN GA Q.2: solution and answer

GATE 2018 · INGA Q.2 · 1 mark · MCQ

“In spite of being warned repeatedly, he failed to correct his ______ behaviour.”

The word that best fills the blank in the above sentence is

  1. (A)

    rational

  2. (B)

    reasonable

  3. (C)

    errant

  4. (D)

    good

See the question in the paper
GATE 2018 IN GA question 2Tap to open full size

Answer and solution

ANSWER

The answer is (C) errant: "In spite of being warned repeatedly, he failed to correct his errant behaviour."

Official answer: CSource: Official answer key, GATE 2018 IN (IIT Guwahati)

  1. Start with the clues. "Warned repeatedly" and "failed to correct" both say the behaviour was wrong, because you only correct something that is faulty.

  2. So the blank needs an adjective with a negative meaning, something like wrong or faulty.

  3. (A) rational means based on reason, and (B) reasonable means sensible or fair. Both are positive words, and nobody gets warned again and again to correct sensible behaviour.

  4. (D) good is also positive, so "correct his good behaviour" contradicts itself.

  5. (C) errant means straying from the proper course, that is, misbehaving or doing wrong. "Correct his errant behaviour" makes sense.

  6. Errant is the only option with the negative meaning the sentence needs, so the answer is (C).

KEY IDEA

Let the context decide whether the word is positive or negative. "Warned repeatedly" and "failed to correct" mean the behaviour was wrong, so the blank needs a negative adjective. Of the four options, only errant (straying from what is right, misbehaving) is negative.

WATCH OUT FOR

Choosing rational or reasonable because they sound formal, or because the student half-remembers them as words used about behaviour. Both are positive, and you do not correct sensible behaviour. Some students also mix up errant with arrogant or errand. Errant comes from the same root as err and error and means going wrong.

From the GATE 2018 IN paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 32 Grammar & vocabulary questions, with notes

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