Showing posts with label GMAT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label GMAT. Show all posts

Thursday, 12 February 2015

HOMONYMS, HOMOGRAPHS & HOMOPHONES ------Their use with Explanation and Examples.


Meaning of  Homonyms, Homographs and Homophones ---- Their Explanation and  Use in Sentences :


Homonyms are the words that sound alike and have same spellings but have different meanings. 


Homo having its Greek origin means -- SameJust as in Homologous or Homogeneous .
Nyms too having greek origin means--- NamesJust as in Pseudonyms meaning --fake names.











For example :   


Desert and Desert, Stalk and Stalk, Bear and Bear, Bark and Bark  & Watch and Watch.

Similarly in 

Homographs --- 

Homo means --Same and Graph means --  to draw or write as in biography meaning to write about life.So


Homographs mean the words written in the same way i.e. words having same spellings though they may or may not  sound alike yet have different meanings. 

For example : 

Read and Read, Row and Row, Bow and Bow, Scale and Scale, Wind and Wind & Well and Well. 

Homophones

are words that sound alike but have different spellings and different meanings.

Greek word Homo means same
Greek word phone means sound


Homophones are :

Ate and Eight, Blue and Blew, Bail and Bale, Brake and Break, Complement and Compliment, Deed and Dead, Die and Dye,Dear and Deer, Fair and Fare,Flour and Floor, Gate and Gait, Hail and Hale, Hear and Here, Heal and Heel, Marry and Merry, Pair and Pare, Read and Reed, Right and Write, Sail and Sale, Stares and Stairs,Sight  and  Site or Cite, Tale and Tail, Vale and Veil & Waist and Waste etc.


It is most likely to make wrong use of   words looking and sounding alike but having different meanings. For this knowledge of  correct and  appropriate meanings of words is necessary. Only this  makes it possible to distinguish between the difference in meanings of these words.      



Here is a list of  homophones and homographs with their meanings and use in sentences for understanding.









Apprise:  ( to acquaint or to provide information) : The manager apprised the boss about the latest developments in the office.

Appraise : ( To assess or to evaluate ) : The banker got the value of ornaments appraised from the valuer.


Auxiliary: ( Supporting, Supplementary ) : In emergency, the auxiliary staff was put on duty in the hospital.

Axillary : ( Related to axis ) : The axillary rod of the wheel was replaced by the mechanic.


Antic : ( adventurous experience or actions) The children enjoyed themselves to see antics of the juggler.

Antique: ( Traditional or relating to old times) We went to see antique weapons displayed in the museum.


Apposite: ( Relevant, Appropriate ) : We all were saved by apposite remarks made by the chairman about the incident.

Opposite : ( Contrary, Contradictory ) : He started his car and fled in the opposite direction.


Affect ( Verb,To show impact, or to feign) The changing climate has affected the cropping pattern of this area. OR She affected to be sick on that day.

Effect : ( Noun,Influence) : My advice had no effect on him.


Ale : ( Drink or wine) The tribal people served ale to their guests.

Ail ( to be sick) His ailing grandmother expired yesterday.


Alley :( street): We wandered through the winding alleys of the old city.

Allay:(to remove,to dispense with):He allayed her fear by counselling her.   


Allusion :( Indirect reference) The speaker made several allusions from holy scriptures in his speech.

Illusion : ( misconception) : He was having an illusion of surpassing his targets this time.


Bail : ( Surety or guarantee ) : The young man was set free on a bail.

Bale : ( Pack or bundle) : The merchant  purchased twenty bales of cotton.



Beside : ( By the side of ) : The child was sitting beside his mother.

Besides : ( In addition to ) : Besides the teacher there were two students also present in the room.



Bear : (to tolerate) : The old mother had to bear the loss of her money.

Bear : ( an animal) : The juggler presented his show with the help of a bear and two monkeys.


Bridal :( relating to a bride) : The girl wearing bridal dress was looking pretty.


Bridle : ( Rein, restraint) : There is a need to bridle the powers of the dictator.


Complement : (to supplement) : She started working in an office to complement his father’s income.

Compliment : ( comments of admiration or praise) : We paid our compliments to him on his success.


Continuous : (to continue without a break): The authorities ensured continuous supply of food articles to the army.

Continual : ( to continue intermittently) : The continual rains are good for crops.



Confident : ( Poised, Assured) : The young man is confident of his success in the examination.

Confidant : ( Trust worthy, intimate) : The manager is a confidant of the boss.



Considerate :(  Thoughtful Careful) : He is very considerate of helping me.

Considerable :( Substantial, Sufficient) : A considerable time has elapsed when you visited us last.



Council : (committee) : He is a member of municipal council.

Counsel :(Verb,to advise, to guide): I tried to counsel with him but all was in vain.

Counsel: (Noun, adviser): You should consult some legal counsel for his advice.



Conscious: ( aware) : He is conscious of his shortcomings.

Conscientious : (  diligent Hardworking) : You can depend upon such a  conscientious  worker like him.


Cell : (Smallest part of body): Human body consists of many small cells.

Cell : (Prison apartment) : The prisoner was kept in a dungeon cell for many months.

Cell :( small battery ) : I purchased two pencil cells from the market for my clock.

Sell : ( to give for money) : He is not willing to sell his house now.


Root : ( part of a plant) : The root of a plant lies under the ground.

Route : ( path, way) : They took a long route to reach there.



Spacious : ( Having sufficient space): His new house is very spacious.

Specious : ( False, Inaccurate): Do not rely upon his specious assurances.



Proscribe: ( Ban, forbid): This book is proscribed by the government.

Prescribe : ( advise) : Take this medicine as prescribed by the doctor.



Lessen : ( to reduce) : This medicine will lessen your pain.

Lesson : (class lesson moral) : His message always contain a lesson in it.



Facility : ( Provision, flair): All the facilities were provided to the guests.

Felicity : ( Joy, Pleasure) : The speaker welcomed the guests with a great felicity.


Founder : (the person who founded) : The founder of this charitable institution was a very noble man.

Founder : ( To fail miserably) : The peace committee foundered  in its efforts to restore peace among the two factions.


Gait :( way of walking) : She is very proud of her graceful gait.

Gate :( entrance) : The host welcomed the guests at the gate of his house.


Incite : ( to provoke) : His provocative speech incited the workers.

Excite: ( Enthuse) : The children were very excited to go out for a picnic.



Illicit : ( against social norms) : She has illicit relations with her boss.

Elicit :( stimulate bring about) :The inquiry elicited many unknown facts about the case.

Illegal : ( against law) : He amassed huge money through illegal means.



Ingenious: ( creative,clever) : Inventions are made by persons with ingenious minds.

Ingenuous : ( Innocent) : Child’s ingenuous smile won hearts of all.



Collusion: ( involvement) : The police is working in collusion with criminals.

Collision : (to strike against) : There was a collision between a bus and a truck on the road.


Dissent :( Differ): I dissent with his views on this point.

Decent : ( Good ) : His behaviour towards his fellow workers was very decent.

Descent : (Downward slope) : The descent of the mountain was very steep.


Vary : ( Differ) : Human behaviour varies according to time, circumstances and person.  

\Wary : ( Alert ) : The behaviour of the guard was wary towards all.


Cloth : ( Unstitched piece of cloth) I purchased a piece of cloth from the shop.

Clothes : ( Stitched clothes) : The washer man was washing our clothes.





EXERCISE NO 1

(Exercise of Homophones for practice)

Fill in the blanks with a word out of given in options :

1. The village woman was carrying a ..............(Pale/Pail) full of water on her head.


2. The young boy is .............(adapt/adept) in working on a computer.


3. Drinking has shown an adverse ..............(affect/effect) on the  health of his son.


4. The mother showered immense ..........(affectation/affection) on her young child.


5. At the close of the day, the manager of the factory............(dispersed/ disbursed)      wages to the workers.


6. The government is making serious efforts towards...........(lightening/ lightning )      the tax burden of the common man.


7.  The moon will be on the...........(vane/wane) for the next fifteen days.

        
8. Tears welled up in the eyes of all the people on hearing ...................(veils/wails ) of the old              woman.


9. The overnight left out food articles went...........(soar/sour) the next day.


10. His parents were put to a great .................(humiliation/humility ) on account of  his indecent       behaviour.
 








Sunday, 7 December 2014

CLOZE TEST - Paragraph Completion - Sentence completion by filling in blanks with words given in options---- Exercises from various examination questions.


PARAGRAPH COMPLETION


With a view to assess vocabulary level and skill of proper use of words, there are blanks given in a  passage. Such questions are known by different titles like Close test etc,
  • These blanks  are required to be filled with appropriate words. 
  • For this  a few words are given as their options. 
  • Out of these one word which is the most appropriate is to be filled in the blank space. 
  • Sometimes these words have very close proximity in meaning with each other. There is a chance that more than one word appear to be suitable for use.But the most appropriate word according to its meaning and use in the blank space is required to be selected and filled in it.
  • For this a fair good knowledge of language and proper use of words is essentially required. 
  • A wrong word or a misplaced use of a word sometimes makes a  havoc with the meaning of the sentence.
  • While selecting appropriate words, the method of selection and rejection of words given as options can be used. 
  • A constant practice and wide reading makes things simpler. Here are some exercises for practice..

For making a correct choice of a word to be filled in the blank, following steps are suggested:

  • First identify different parts of speech in the given sentence.
  • Find out the part of speech required in the blank space.
  • Try to find out the link of  different parts of speech in the sentence with that   required in the blank i.e. if some noun is required its adjective available in the sentence  or if some verb is required, its adverb available in the sentence etc.
  • From the link available, position of the required word can be assessed,i.e. it will tell whether the word will be in singular or plural form etc.
  • An assessment can also me made from the relative conjunction, preposition or article in the sentence an article singular or plural will tell about the word.
  • An attempt can also be made through identifying and linking the blank with the tense used in he sentence.   
  • Above all this the required is to understand the meaning and sense of the sentence and to choose the most appropriate word according to that out of given options to be filled in the blank. A positive or negative  sense of the sentence can make indication to the word to be used in the blank.
  • In most of the cases, these sentences comprise of  clauses more than one, formation and tense of one clause can give clue to structure of the other clause and thereby about the word to be filled in the blank. 
  • To cap all these practice makes the job easy and convenient.

            


Exercises For Practice (with solutions)


Exercise No 1.

In  the following passage there are blanks  which are numbered. Against these numbers below the passage are given words. Find out the appropriate one of these words/group of words that fits in the blank.



Banks have been 1………………..............conduct loan melas to disburse loans 

2…………….............quality of loaning process and banks have been forced to 

3…………...….loans so that vote banks of ruling party is 4………………and 

become greater. Banks have been used to 5…...………….all non – 6……….... 

….......…..services like tax collection or salary payment or disbursing subsidy 

 oriented loans under various government sponsored schemes or7…….branch 

8…………........…….in the name of service area approach or PM  Jan Dhan     

 Yojana. Further to make the situation worse, banks have been 9…................

and allowed by previous government to do non- banking business like insurance, 

mutual fund, demat etc. In this way banks 10……….......................….the safety 

of bank's 11…………….assets and wasted time in capturing insurance business 

from own customers. They could earn a few crores of rupees in commission on 

selling insurance policies but they lost hundreds and thousands of crores of 

rupees by financing to bad borrowers or by  12…………. monitoring loan asset 

or by writing off bad loans. There is a saying " Penny wise pound foolish."



Options & Answers for Exercise 1

1.  Coerced, catered, pressed,forced to,induced.

2.  forefeiting, foregoing,yielding, sacrificing denouncing.

3.  marking off,writing off,cutting off,diminishing, trimming.

4.  protected,secured, safe, thriving sheltered.

5.  transmit carry out, transact, convey,conduct.

6.  fecund, productive, creative, useful,prolific.

7.  careless, reckless inattentive,rapid, thoughtless.

8.  growth,development, expansion extension, increase.

9.  instructed directed focused,absorbed permitted.

10.surrendered,forefeited sacrificed foregone lost.

11. basic, core central essential, primary.

12. ignoring avoiding neglecting overlooking disregarding.



Exercise No. 2.


   In  the following passage there are blanks which are allotted with numbers. Below the passage are given words/group of words against these numbers. One of these words  fits in the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate option.




Speaking in public is a 1…………….as its other forms like singing, writing or 

acting are. The speaker is required to be careful or rather more2………..      

because one of its most important requirement is to appear 3………………      

 to the audience. In ancient times, the great speakers used to prepare their 

speeches before a 4……………….   of their known persons and noticed  their 

own 5……….............… and 6….......………. of the spectators. Their audience 

7……………….  their trused friends, critics and mentors. They repeated their 

speech a number of times in order to make 8………over their words, speech 

and way of speaking. This made their speaking perfect and 9. ……………and 

also made their way of speaking perfect and 10…………. This all appeared not 

only highly perfect product but also a genuine way of expression. This is the 

reason that we still study the speeches of great men to gain experience and 

perfection in  our acts of speaking in public more 11. ..........……………. and 

flawlessly.



Options & Answers for Exercise 2

1.(a)Aptitude (b) form of an art (c)occupation, (d)Vocation (e) profession.

2 (a)Alert (b)careful (c) cautious, (d)vigilant, (e)thoughtful.

3. (a)impulsive (b)prudent (c) discreet (d) subtle(e) spontaneous.

4. (a) assembly, (b) crowd, (c)  horde  (d) gathering (e) multitude.

5.  (a) defects (b) shortcomings (c) faults (d)imperfections  (e), mistakes.

 6.(a) reply, (b) response, (c) reaction,(d) answer, (e)rejoinder.

7. (a) included, (b) involved, (c) contained, (d) comprised, (e) gathered.

8. (a) appreciation, (b) expertise, (c) capability, (d) ability, (e) a good command.

9. (a) clean, (b) neat, (c) foolproof,  (d) immaculate,  (e) secure.

10. (a) correct, (b)  faultless, (c) right, (d) impeccable, (e) ideal.

11. (a) efficiently,  (b)  well, (c) competently, (d) ably, (e) proficiently.





Exercise No. 3.

In  the following passage there are blanks which are allotted with numbers. Below the passage are given words/group of words against these numbers. One of these words  fits in the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate option.




Parenting a child is not 1………………. taught anywhere. All learn from their 

own experiences.  This also depends on how well 2………………… a person is. 

For a person it can be a very 3………………. job and the other can leave the 

child to grow without proper guidance for becoming a good citizen.Some 

parents believe in giving total 4……………….. and insist that a child must not 

be checked for anything in 5…………………. years. It may appear true for the 

present day generation but it is firmly believed that a child must be taught to 

distinguish between  right and wrong. There is a dire need of 6………………… 

for a child at every step. Children learn most of life skills at an early stage. It is 

very easy to 7……………………. children with money and material gifts but a 

8……………….. parent one has to draw a line as to which demand of children 

is to be met and what is politely and firmly declined. There is no need to 

9………………… to the pressure of a child’s demand. Children need to be 

made know that there is no free flow of money but money is made available to 

them for their all essential requirements only so that they have a fair

 judgement of how much and where to spend.Parents who do not teach their 

kids the value of money at an early stage and do not limit their spending of 

money, invariably 10………………….. such life long damage that children

 sometimes ruin their lives by spending beyond their resources.Surplus or 

unaccounted money given to children can lead to abuse of money, poor 

attention to their studies and falling 11………………… to bad company. This 

all happens only when a child is never taught the value for money at right time 

and feels no pain in wasting it.That is why it is important to catch children 

young. 12…………………….. planning and spending is essential to make the 

kids responsible adults who can manage their lives well.



Options & Answers for Exercise 3

1. formally,originally,officially, ceremoniously, strictly.

2. trained, guided, educated, skilled, cultured, accomplished  

3. clever, skillful, expert, competent, useful,proficient

4.autonomy,sovereignty,independence, freedom, choice.

5. creative, formative, decisive,influential,determinative.

6. guidance, supervision,direction,regulation, control.

7. maltreat, spoil, pamper, misbehave,nourish.

8. vigilant,careless,overindulgent, prudent,cautious.

9. accept, shoulder, succumb, support,uphold.

10. inflict, effect, impact, shield,cause.

11. reason, cause, victim, influence, prey.

12. Judicious, intelligent, clever ,shrewd, active.







Exercise No. 4.





In  the following passage there are blanks which are allotted with numbers. Below the passage are given words/group of words against these numbers. One of these words  fits in the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate option.



Operation Flood was 1.............................. with the primary objective of 

2.............................rural milk producers with urban milk consumers, by 

3.......................viable producer cooperatives in the milk sheds and thus 

4..................rural milk producers to earn higher income from milk. The 

programme 5.............some 72 lakh members in nearly 61000 village societies 

 6........................over diverse ecologies in 174 milk sheds. The cooperatives 

procure an average of 90 lakh litres of milk a day to 7............................the

 ever growing urban demand for fresh milk from the country..


Options & Answers for Exercise 4

1. A)Visualised B)Launched C)created D) devoted

2. A)joining B) linking C)identifying D) bringing

3.  A) exposing B) generating  C) providing D)  creating

4.  A) enabling B) offering C) justifying D) activating 

5.  A) covers   B) rotates C) follows D)  motivates

6.  A) spread  B) distributed  C) assembled D) situated 

7.  A) satisfy   B) control  C) meet D)  attend






Exercise No. 5.




In  the following passage there are blanks which are allotted with numbers. Below the passage are given words/group of words against these numbers. One of these words  fits in the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate option.



Nanotechnology is the 1…………………of ‘miniature’. It is the engineering 

of working 2…………………at the molecular level. Due to advancement in

 technology area, nanotechnology is the 3…………………......….. field that 

interests many people. From the clothes and sunglasses we wear to 

computer drives and even cleaning products, nanotechnology which is 

4………………………….… by natural world,  plays a big part in 

manufacturing many familiar products of our daily use. It enhances our 

sunscreen’s 5……………………….. to reflect harmful ultra violet radiation, 

armours our designer shades against unwanted scratches. It increases the 

capacity of our computer gadgets for storage of data and photos for our 

use. Nanotechnology, very broad in its size, 6………………… in itself 

diverse fields of sciences like surface science, organic chemistry, molecular 

biology and semiconductor science etc. Similarly the research and 

applications associated to it are also equally 7………………………………  . 

Realising its commercial viability, the scientic institutions in India have 

started carrying out research and development work in this filed. It is now

 fast becoming a powerful technology that aids the development of products 

with 8………………………. performance. The two major categories of 

nanotechnology are nano-scale technology and molecular manufacturing. 

The former covers small structures and can be used for introducing

 stronger, better medicines and faster computers and so on. Molecular 

manufacturing is an attempt at building mechanical and chemical 

manufacturing systems that join molecules together.


Options & Answers for Exercise 5

    1.      fiction, art, science, project

    2.    style, systems, flair, ability

    3.    impending, forthcoming, upcoming, awaiting

    4.    transpired, emerged, inspired, revealed  

    5.    capacity, skill, ability, aptitude

    6.   absorbs, shows, portrays, imbibes 

    7.     useful, diverse, beneficial, indifferent

   8.     major, futuristic, trivial, strong




EXERCISE  NO. 6


Fill in the blanks in the following Paragraph with words out of given respective options :


It is a well-established (1…………………..) that some people have 

“mathematical mind” while others do not. (2……………), this  is

(3………………….) to mathematics; you never hear, for example, that 

someone with a historical mind. It is a general belief (4………………….) 

us that if we do not learn something it is because we cannot.  In fact 

mathematical ideas that are difficult at an early age are much easier to 

(5……………………) a few years later, if we give them another try.


Another handicap (followed/shown/ borne) by the math anxious seems to 

be a distrust of their own (6………………………..). An immediate right 

formula or give up the problem is  the real action on the part of a 

mathematician. Mathematicians trust their intuition in solving problems 

and they (7…………………………..) able to function without it. 

Another(8………………………..)distinction between the mathematics 

anxious and people who are not good at figures is a difference in attitude. 

So the persons with guessing and estimating (9………………………) and 

having intuitive thinking should be encouraged and rewarded in the class. 

This helps in learning word problems, coping with equations and 

confronting theorems and thereby overpowering the mythical 

(10…………………..) of mathematics.


Options & Answers for Exercise 6


1. myth/fable/legend

2. Formidably/  Dauntingly/ Interestingly

3. limited/restricted /perpetuated

4. amongst /against/ with

5. derive /comprehend/deduce

6. sensibility / intuition/Debility

7. cannot be/ would not be /should not be

8. obvious/tangible /glaring

9. perception/ attitude/ outlook

10. lack/fright /shock



EXERCISE  NO. 7



Fill in the blanks in the following Paragraph with words out of given respective options :


Global warming caused by global climate change is the 

single – most important (1……………………..)humanity is 

facing today. It is a far bigger threat to humanity’s(2..........) 

 than any other. Its ill effects attributed largely to

 industrialization, were taken serious note for the first time at 

the “Earth Summit” of 1992, held in Rio de Janerio, 

Brazil. The participating countries (3………………….) to 

undertake measures to reduce the volume of emissions of 

greenhouse gases to the level of 1990 by the year 2000. The 

Kyoto Protocol of 1997, that became operative in 2005, 

(4………………………) the goals set at the Rio Summit and 

fixed the target of reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases 

to the tune of 5.2 percent from the level of 1990, by the year 

2012. It adopted the (5………………………)of “common but 

differentiated responsibility” according to which the countries 

that were prime (6………………………………) for causing 

(7…………………………) to the ecology would contribute 

more for its mitigation agenda. It was understood that rich 

industrialized countries would provide modern technology for 

switching over to cleaner sources of energy which was the key 

to halting global warming. However success remained 

(8…………….) as the volume of greenhouse gases continued 

to increase and damage the environment in alarming 

proportions. Such emissions haveincreased by about 16 

percent from the level of 1990.


The industrialized countries having run away from Kyoto 

Protocol and emerging economies like China and India 

refused to accept legally binding emission cuts, there started 

the search for a new climate agenda. According to this, every 

country is to meet emission reduction targets and work out 

remedial measures of its own.  Member countries have been

 called uponto announce Intended Nationally Determined

 Contributions which means emission reduction targets are to

 be fixed by each member country keeping in view the volume

 of emissions and as per its capacity. The member countries, 

while pursuing remedial measures, by (9………………….)  

are supposed to introduce clean technology by buying 

wherever it is available in the market using their own means. 

In the new system all the countries seem to have common

 responsibility and there is no place for differentiated 

responsibility. It is clear that member countries, may be 

industrialized or emerging economies, would never permit the 

emission–cuts agenda to become a (10……………….) to 

industrialization and a burden on their finances.   




 Options & Answers for Exercise 7

1. hindrance/challenge/deterrent

2. endurance/existence/survival

3 desired/resolved/wanted

4 fixed/determined/reiterated

5 principle/tenet/edicts

6 participants/culprits/observers

7 injury/damage/loss

8 elusive/obscure/vague

9 effects/implications/consequences

10 hindrance/burden/limitation




For more visit :
 http://blog.lessonenglishgrammar.com/2016/12/paragraph-fill-in-blanks-exercises-for.html

Read and Learn More from video !
Please dont forget to like and comment if you learn something new! Thanks!!!