English Skill Building – 119

Vocabulary Exercise

Fill in the blanks of the following paragraphs. Remember, the same word will fit into all the blank places. Find out what was the word.

Passage 1

My grandfather was reading the morning newspaper as usual, but, unlike other days, he was not his jovial self. His face looked __________, and overtaken by anxiety. I was curious to find out why he appeared so tense. Standing behind his chair, I peered into the newspaper to see what news he was reading then. I found out that he was reading a long op-ed on the situation in the Russia-Ukraine war front. There was a photo of trucks loaded with dead bodies of soldiers being taken for burial in __________. My grandpa was a pacifist, and shuddered to see spilling of blood. He felt that Putin had made a __________ mistake in invading Ukraine. The war has dragged on for eight months now, and no signs of a peaceful resolution had emerged. Instead, threat of a full-blown nuclear war was looming on Europe. The situation, no doubt, was very __________.

Passage 2

My father was a very reputed official of the company where he worked till his retirement. In recognition of his contributions to the organization co-opted him to the comany’s __________. He had many unusual habits. He seldom used the company car for commuting to and from work. Instead, he used to __________ a local train despite the inconvenience of traveling in the cramped compartments. He had joined the company soon after passing his engineering exam.Being a bachelor then, he stayed in a place which offered lodging but no __________.

In the work place, he was a true leader. He took everyone on __________ while implementing new practices. Often, he conducted classes for the new recruits. Like a teacher, he wrote important things on the __________ using multi-colored chalks.

He was a very honest manager. The top management gave him sweeping financial powers because his conduct was unquestionably above __________.

Passage 3

The Apex Court, after taking up the plea of the Tamil Nadu government that Karnataka was holding back the flow of Cauvery water, asked the Karantaka government counsel to file a __________ within 30 days. The latter verbally __________ his counterpart’s contention saying that Tamil Nadu routinely, and unfoundedly alleges that Karnataka hinders the flow of Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu. The judges remarked that the Court will g by technical facts only and will not be influenced by such claims and __________ claims. Around this time, the Advocate General of Kerala waiting to buy snacks at the canteen __________ rushed in and pleaded that Kerala should be made a party to the conflict and asked to submit its position before the court. The judges assured that the Court wouldn’t do anything under the __________, and ensure justice to the three parties.
When the court was about to rise for the day, a judge light-heartedly asked the Tamil Nadu counsel where he got his Mercedes car from. The counsel asserted that he had bought it a week ago over the __________ from a Delhi dealer.

Answers

Passage 1. Grave, Passage 2. Board, Passage 3. Counter