New Pattern Cloze Test - Part 1

A section of an article is given. Here some words and some sentences are missing. You need to comprehend the paragraphs and find out the suitable word/ sentence, from the provided options, which fulfill the blank grammatically and contextually correct.
Just when the stand-off between India and China over the Doklam plateau threatened to go the way of the 1986-1987 Sumdorong Chu incident (Arunachal Pradesh), the two sides agreed to step back and disengage, thus avoiding a _________________ (A). The Indian side has pulled back its personnel and equipment to the Indian side of the boundary, while China has agreed to make ‘necessary adjustments and deployment’ on its part. It is unclear, _____________ (B), whether China will patrol the region, which it claims to have been doing earlier. Road construction will not continue for the present.
Behind the scenes, quiet diplomacy by the two sides, no doubt, led to the defusing of what could have been a serious crisis. China’s interest in Doklam is not of recent origin and has a long history. Those on either side of the divide currently claiming victory must, hence, pause to think what the future holds. Jumping to conclusions at this point could amount to (____________________________) (C).
India’s actions in Doklam are easy to______________ (D), viz. going to the help of a treaty partner in its time of need, a decision which incidentally has security ramifications for India. China’s reasons are more complex and labyrinthine but, _________________ (E), cannot be easily wished away.
To savour victory without understanding the factors at work would be a serious mistake. Going into the entire gamut of Sino-Indian relations to try to ______________ (F) what prompted China to moderate its stand after weeks of high decibel propaganda may not provide all the answers we seek.
To begin with, China and India have a kind of competitive coexistence. (_____________________________________________________________) (G). Both countries remain wary of each other’s intentions and actions. Yet, and despite the long-time rivalry between the two countries, we may need to look elsewhere for an explanation.
Understanding the way the Chinese mind works is, hence, important. The Chinese mind tends to be relational, i.e. dictated by context and relationship, and its methodology tends to be _____________ (H). When the Chinese state that they have halted road building in the disputed Doklam area, while adding that they may reconsider the decision after taking into account ‘different factors’, what China means is that it is willing to wait to implement its decision, but at a time of its choosing when an opportunity exists for a settlement suited to its plans. (_______________________________________________) (I)

A)

1- Confrontation
2- Fight
3- Nebulous
4- Affray
5- All of the above
Solution: 1 when there is an argumentative situation between two parties it’s a confrontation. And in the passage two sides are agreed to step back to avoid a clash so here confrontation is a right choice. Fight means violent struggle. Nebulous means unclear, unformed. Affray is group fighting in a public place.

B)

1- Although
2- But
3- Since
4- However
5- None of the above
Solution: 4 here is a contrast in the sentence before and after a blank and when there is format of positive and then negative or some type of criticism however is used like in the former sentence it is given that China has decided to make adjustments but it is unclear (which negates the former sentence) and but will not be appropriate so however is the correct choice.

C)

1- Bring home the bacon
2- Missing the wood for the trees
3- Beyond the pale
4- Under a cloud
5- None of the above
Solution: 2 “missing the wood for the trees” means missing the main object or thing because of focussing on the details. As in the sentence they are reaching at the conclusions without thinking about the future.

D)

1- Dominate
2- Contemplate
3- Discern
4- Neglect
5- None of the above
Solution: 3 discern means to recognize something and the word neglect dominate and contemplate does not fit as contemplate means think something deeply which is not relevant in the sentence

E)

1- Nevertheless
2- But
3- Since
4- Contrary to
5- In contrast
Solution: 1 as the sentence is contradictive so since makes no sense. But is used before the blank so it can’t be used. Contrary to and in contrast are used to express the contrast of the single feature in two different things so nevertheless is the right choice.

F)

1- Grasp
2- Disguise
3- Decipher
4- All above
5- None of the above
Solution: 3 in the sentence we need a word which means to understand or try to decode the reason what prompted the China to moderate its stand after weeks of high decibel propaganda may not provide all the answers we seek. So in this case only decipher is the right choice.

G)

1- This is again a delicate moment for China on the economic planes.
2- The Achilles’ heel of the Chinese economy is the lack of resources, specially oil. Oil from the Gulf region is critical for China’s growth.
3- For President Xi Jinping, presiding over the BRICS Summit at this juncture will help consolidate his informal leadership of the group.
4- While professing friendship, both sides nurse a mutual suspicion of each other — at times prompting several degrees of alienation.
5- China is even seeking more opportunities for cooperation, rather than confrontation, with the U.S. on trade matters.
Solution: 4 there is no talk of economy and opportunities of China which makes 1, 2 and 5 wrong. It is talking about China and India and in only 4th option it is talking according to the context to profess their friendship and about both sides so option 4 is the best choice.

H)

1- Obtuse
2- Tedium
3- Tirade
4- Volition
5- Refute
Solution: 1 obtuse means which takes time to understand which correctly fit according to the context. While other words like tedium means feel like being bored by something, tirade means angry speech of criticism, volition is act of making a choice and the word refute means prove something wrong.

I)

1- As the undisputed leader of BRICS, China believes it can take a signal step towards global leadership.
2- Little finality can, therefore, be attached to any of China’s actions.
3- Active power projection could at best provide a pyrrhic victory when the goal China has set is much higher.
4- One stated objective of the BRI is linking these regions with China’s land neighbours.
5- None of the above
Solution: 2 As the sentence is a concluding sentence and there is no talk of BRICS in the entire paragraphs so 1 and 4 will be eliminated. And in 3rd option it is talking about some power projections and goals which makes it also irrelevant. Only option 2 is a correct choice.