NTS Verbal Reasoning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Choose the word most similar in meaning to 'BENEVOLENT':
- Cruel
- Kind (Correct answer)
- Angry
- Greedy
Correct answer: Kind
Benevolent means well-meaning and kindly, making 'Kind' the correct synonym.
Benevolent comes from the Latin 'bene' (well) and 'volent' (wishing). It means having or showing a desire to do good to others, characterized by kindness and generosity. The word is an antonym of malevolent. Synonym questions are a key part of NTS verbal reasoning.
Question 2: Select the word that is opposite in meaning to 'CONCEAL':
- Hide
- Reveal (Correct answer)
- Cover
- Mask
Correct answer: Reveal
Conceal means to hide something. Its opposite is 'Reveal', meaning to make known.
Conceal means to keep from observation, to hide or disguise. Its antonym is reveal, which means to make known, disclose, or uncover. The other options (hide, cover, mask) are all synonyms of conceal. Antonym questions test vocabulary depth in NTS exams.
Question 3: Choose the correct meaning of the idiom: 'To beat around the bush'
- To search in the forest
- To avoid the main topic (Correct answer)
- To win a competition
- To plant trees
Correct answer: To avoid the main topic
This idiom means to avoid discussing something directly or to be evasive.
The idiom 'to beat around the bush' means to discuss a matter without coming to the point, to avoid the main topic, or to be indirect in one's approach. It originates from hunting practices where beaters would drive game out of bushes. Idiom knowledge is regularly tested in NTS verbal sections.
Question 4: Fill in the blank: 'The doctor advised the patient to _____ from smoking.'
- refrain (Correct answer)
- restrain
- retain
- retreat
Correct answer: refrain
'Refrain from' is the correct collocation meaning to stop oneself from doing something.
Refrain means to stop oneself from doing something; it is commonly used with 'from'. Restrain means to hold back physically, retain means to keep, and retreat means to withdraw. The phrase 'refrain from' is a fixed collocation in English, frequently tested in NTS fill-in-the-blank questions.
Question 5: Choose the correctly spelled word:
- Accomodation
- Accommodation (Correct answer)
- Acommodation
- Acomodation
Correct answer: Accommodation
The correct spelling is 'Accommodation' with double 'c' and double 'm'.
Accommodation is commonly misspelled. The correct spelling has double 'c' and double 'm': A-C-C-O-M-M-O-D-A-T-I-O-N. A useful memory aid: the word is big enough to accommodate two c's and two m's. Spelling questions appear regularly in NTS verbal reasoning.
Question 6: In the sentence 'She is one of the most talented singers who _____ ever performed here', choose the correct word:
- has
- have (Correct answer)
- had
- having
Correct answer: have
The relative pronoun 'who' refers to 'singers' (plural), so the verb should be 'have'.
In this construction, 'who' refers to the plural noun 'singers', not 'one'. Therefore, the verb must agree with the plural antecedent: 'singers who have ever performed'. This is a common subject-verb agreement trap in NTS grammar questions.
NTS Verbal Reasoning 2
Choose the word most similar in meaning to 'BENEVOLENT':