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GATE 2020 IN GA Q.1: solution and answer

GATE 2020 · INGA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ

He is known for his unscrupulous ways. He always sheds______tears to deceive people.

  1. (A)

    fox’s

  2. (B)

    crocodile’s

  3. (C)

    crocodile

  4. (D)

    fox

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GATE 2020 IN GA question 1Tap to open full size

Answer and solution

ANSWER

(C) crocodile. The sentence reads: "He always sheds crocodile tears to deceive people."

Official answer: CSource: Official answer key, GATE 2020 IN (IIT Delhi)

  1. The first sentence sets the context. Unscrupulous means having no moral principles, so the blank needs a phrase for a false show of emotion that is used to deceive people.

  2. Idiom: crocodile tears means a false or insincere show of sorrow. It comes from the old belief that a crocodile weeps while it eats its prey. To shed crocodile tears is to pretend to be sad, which fits "to deceive people" exactly.

  3. English has no idiom that pairs fox with tears. The fox stands for cunning, but it never appears with tears, so (A) and (D) are ruled out.

  4. The idiom has a fixed form. Crocodile is a noun used like an adjective in front of tears, just as in crocodile skin. The possessive crocodile’s is not the idiom, so (B) is ruled out.

  5. Completed sentence: "He always sheds crocodile tears to deceive people." Answer: (C).

KEY IDEA

"Crocodile tears" is a fixed idiom for fake sorrow. The noun crocodile describes tears the way an adjective would, and the idiom never uses the possessive form.

WATCH OUT FOR

Picking (B) crocodile’s because the tears seem to "belong" to the crocodile. The idiom is always written crocodile tears, with no possessive. The other trap is picking a fox option because "unscrupulous" suggests cunning, but no idiom pairs fox with tears.

From the GATE 2020 IN paper. Every question of this paper · Download the full paper · All 32 Grammar & vocabulary questions, with notes

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