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SSC MTS 2024 PYQ — Question 88

SSC MTS - 16/10/2024 - (12:30 PM - 2:30 PM) • English • Q88

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In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

It was just before noon on June 26, 1975, and my friend and I were out exploring the bustling by-lanes of Delhi’s Karol Bagh, unaware that the Emergency had been declared, and that it would change our lives in ways we could have never ___1___. Though Indira Gandhi had herself announced the Emergency in a national broadcast at 8 am, IST, the news took its own time to reach the common people who went about their business as always. However, two hours into our outing, we ___2___ something was wrong. The pavement shops began to thin out as we watched and the bigger outlets too looked ready to ___3___; many of them worked behind half-downed shutters. We were young but fancied ourselves as political animals, which at the time was shorthand for being passionately anti-Congress and anti-Indira. There was no way we were going to head home without knowing what had happened. There was already considerable excitement in our small friends’ circle over two ___4___ developments: the June 12, 1975 Allahabad high court ruling unseating Indira for electoral malpractices and the Congress’s unexpected defeat in the State election in Gujarat. The Supreme Court had allowed Indira to continue as prime minister but that did not ___5___ our joy; it was a technical reprieve that did not lessen the political blow she had received.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is option 1 i.e. wrap up.

Context:
The writer is describing how shops and outlets were shutting down slowly after the Emergency was declared.

Meaning of the words:

  • Wrap up = finish, close down

  • Open up = start or begin

  • Pop up = appear suddenly

  • Chicken out = lose courage, back off

Correct word:
The sentence is: “The pavement shops began to thin out as we watched and the bigger outlets too looked ready to 3; many of them worked behind half-downed shutters.”
Here, wrap up is correct because it means the shops were preparing to close.

Reason:

  • 'Open up' is opposite in meaning (shops were closing, not opening).

  • 'Pop up' means suddenly appear, which does not fit.

  • 'Chicken out' is used for people losing courage, not for shops.

Final Sentence:
The pavement shops began to thin out as we watched and the bigger outlets too looked ready to wrap up; many of them worked behind half-downed shutters.

Hence, the chosen option will be correct.