Question

Read the following paragraph and answer the question that follows. The most __________(i)__________ respect in which ideas have helped mankind is numbers. There must have been a time when homo sapiens was a very rare species, subsisting precariously in jungles and caves, terrified of wild beasts, having difficulty in securing nourishment. At this period the biological advantage of his greater intelligence, which was cumulative because it could be handed on from generation to generation, had scarcely begun to outweigh the disadvantages of his long infancy, his lessened __________(ii)__________ as compared with monkeys, and his lack of __________(iii)__________protection against cold. In those days, the number of men must certainly have been very small. The main use to which, throughout the ages, men have put their technical skill has been __________(iv)__________ the total population. I do not mean that this was the intention, but that it was, in fact, the effect. If this is something to rejoice in, then we have occasion to rejoice. 
In the above passage identify the missing words. The table below contains possible words for each blank. Choose one word from each column for the 4 blanks. 

The correct answer is:

• A. uncertain, freedom, stubbled, extol
• B. equivocal, confidence, unshaven, endanger
• C. inconclusive, appetite, hirsute, decrease
• D. indubitable, agility, hirsute, increase

Hint:

For cloze tests, check three things: (1) semantic fit in context, (2) collocation (“increase the population,” “hirsute protection”), and (3) idiom/grammar (“the most indubitable respect”).

Answer 1

The Correct Option is D

Blank (i): “The most ______ respect in which ideas have helped mankind is numbers.”
The phrase “the most X respect” calls for a word meaning “beyond doubt/most certain.” indubitable (not doubtful) fits idiomatically: “the most indubitable respect … is numbers.”
Conclusion: (i) = indubitable.

Blank (ii): “… his lessened ______ as compared with monkeys …”
What do humans have less than monkeys? Not “freedom” or “confidence,” and “appetite” doesn’t match the contrast. “agility” naturally contrasts with monkeys’ physical nimbleness.
Conclusion: (ii) = agility.

Blank (iii): “… and his lack of ______ protection against cold.”
The sentence describes body hair as insulation; the precise adjective for “hairy” is hirsute. “Stubbled/unshaven” describe faces after shaving, not species-wide insulation.
Conclusion: (iii) = hirsute.

Blank (iv): “The main use to which … men have put their technical skill has been ______ the total population.”
The grammar matches an infinitive sense: “has been to increase the total population.” “Decrease” is the opposite of the author’s point; “endanger/extol” do not collocate with “population” as a direct object here.
Conclusion: (iv) = increase.

Therefore the four words are indubitable, agility, hirsute, increase, which is option (D).