SarkariPYQ

SSC MTS 2024 PYQ — Question 89

SSC MTS - 04/11/2024 - (9:00 AM - 11:00 AM) • English • Q89

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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.
The (1)______ life in Kashmir was drawing to its end after three (2)______ months. Miss Joan was leaving a week earlier than Mrs. Rhodes, and about two days before she left, I took her alone to the hotel for dinner. We walked to the hotel in (3)______ silence, a silence so heavy that I could (4)______ breathe. The hotel seemed to be far away and yet not far (5)______.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 4.

Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A

Explanation

The correct answer is option 1 i.e. hardly.

Context: The passage describes a silence so intense that it affects the narrator’s ability to breathe. The adverb should convey difficulty in breathing.

Meaning of the words:

  • Gladly – with pleasure, incorrect here.

  • Loudly – in a loud manner, irrelevant.

  • Gradually – slowly, does not fit the context.

  • Hardly – barely, almost not, correct here.

Correct word: Hardly, because the narrator could barely breathe in the profound silence.

Final Sentence: We walked to the hotel in perfect silence, a silence so heavy that I could hardly breathe.

Hence, the chosen option is correct.