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Placement Aptitude (Quant, Logical, Verbal) Module 18

Vocabulary interview questions

Interview questions on vocabulary: short warm-ups, then what each harder question tests, the first step of a good answer and its follow-ups.

12 questions: 3 warm-ups and 9 with model answers · Levels: Fresher to mid

Warm-up questions

Short questions with short answers, each answered in full.

Fresher

Why should you decide the sense of a word before looking for its synonym or antonym?

Answered in the lesson Synonyms, antonyms, word roots and spelling
Fresher

What makes a phrase an idiom, and how do you work out one you have never seen?

Answered in the lesson Idioms, phrasal verbs and one-word substitutes
Fresher

In a fill-in-the-blank item, in what order do you take the clues, and why that order?

Answered in the lesson Fill in the blanks and cloze tests

Questions with model answers

What each question tests, the first step of a good answer and the follow-ups to expect.

Fresher to mid

A synonym item reads "The doctor looked grave as she gave the results" and offers serious, solemn, heavy and buried. The key says SERIOUS; a candidate argues for SOLEMN. Who is right, and how would you repair the item?
What it tests

Separating near synonyms by the sense a sentence uses, using dictionary notes as evidence, and repairing an item that has two defensible answers.

First step

Name the sense first: grave here describes a person's manner, as if something sad or important has happened. Then test each option in the sentence against what a learner's dictionary says about it, and count how many survive.
Follow-ups
- Why is HEAVY wrong, though grave comes from a Latin word meaning heavy?
- Which change to the sentence leaves only SERIOUS?
- What should an item do when two near synonyms are among its options?
From the lesson Synonyms, antonyms, word roots and spelling
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In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

An antonym item asks for the opposite of INFLAMMABLE and offers flammable, non-flammable, explosive and burning. Half the room picks FLAMMABLE. Why do they, which answer is right, and how would you teach the trap so that it is not missed again?
What it tests

Knowing words whose prefix does not mean not, using word origins and dictionary definitions as evidence, and turning one trap into a rule a learner can reuse.

First step

Look up what inflammable means instead of reading its prefix: Oxford gives "that can burn easily", the same as flammable. So flammable is a synonym, and the opposite must mean not likely to burn.
Follow-ups
- Where does the in- of inflammable come from?
- Which other words look like opposites but are not?
- What would make this item unfair, and how would you fix it?
From the lesson Synonyms, antonyms, word roots and spelling
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

Explain, in under two minutes, why the spellings are occurred, offered, travelled and benefited, and say which of them American spelling writes differently.
What it tests

Stating the doubling rule with every condition, applying stress correctly, and knowing the British and American differences that dictionaries record.

First step

State the conditions: the word ends in one short vowel and one consonant, and the stress falls on its last syllable. Occur is stressed on its last syllable, so the r doubles; offer is stressed on its first, so it does not.
Follow-ups
- Why does British spelling double the l of travel?
- Is benefitted a misspelling?
- Why does panic become panicked?
From the lesson Synonyms, antonyms, word roots and spelling
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

An item asks what "cut corners" means in "The builder cut corners to finish early" and offers: did the work in the cheapest way, ignoring rules; took a shorter route; saved money wisely; worked faster than planned. A candidate picks "saved money wisely". What went wrong, and how do you defend the key?
What it tests

Using tone and a dictionary's usage label as evidence, telling a near meaning from the meaning, and explaining each distractor's trap.

First step

Look for the tone first. Oxford gives cut corners as doing something in the easiest, cheapest or quickest way, often by ignoring rules, and labels it disapproving. An option that praises the builder cannot carry that disapproval, however close its action is.
Follow-ups
- Why is took a shorter route a trap?
- Could worked faster than planned ever be right?
- How would you change the sentence so that its tone points to the answer?
From the lesson Idioms, phrasal verbs and one-word substitutes
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

Explain why "She turned down the offer" and "She turned it down" are correct but "She turned down it" is not, and why "She looked after them" is correct but "She looked them after" is not.
What it tests

Telling phrasal verbs from prepositional verbs, applying the pronoun rule, and finding the pattern of a new verb in a dictionary.

First step

Separate the two kinds. Turn down is a verb with an adverb particle, and its object may stand before or after the particle unless it is a personal pronoun, which must stand before it. Look after is a verb with a preposition, and the object always follows the preposition.
Follow-ups
- How do you tell which kind a new verb is?
- Where does the object of put up with go?
- Why does a long object usually go after the particle?
From the lesson Idioms, phrasal verbs and one-word substitutes
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

A one-word item asks for "a person who believes that it is not possible to know whether God exists" and offers atheist, agnostic, sceptic and cynic. Most of a batch picks ATHEIST. Why, and what method separates close substitutes like these?
What it tests

Reading a definition word by word, separating close one-word substitutes with dictionary definitions and roots, and giving a method that transfers to other close pairs.

First step

Underline what the definition says the person believes: not that God does not exist, but that nobody can know. Then compare each option's definition with that claim, word by word.
Follow-ups
- What does the root of agnostic say?
- How would the definition read if ATHEIST were the key?
- Which other close pairs need the same method?
From the lesson Idioms, phrasal verbs and one-word substitutes
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 2 minutes
Fresher to mid

A double-blank item reads "The experiment was ___, ___ its results could not be trusted", with the pairs careful … so, careless … so, careless … although and careful … because. Solve it without reading every pair in full, and explain why the order in which you test the blanks matters.
What it tests

Choosing the blank with the stronger clue, eliminating pairs one blank at a time, and showing what the order saves.

First step

Test the connector first, because the relation between the two clauses settles it: results that cannot be trusted follow from how the experiment was done, so the connector gives a result. That removes the pairs with although and because at once.
Follow-ups
- What if the first blank has the stronger clue?
- How many checks does the order save in this item?
- What do you do when each blank alone leaves two pairs?
From the lesson Fill in the blanks and cloze tests
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

A candidate marks "The board will take a decision on Monday" as an error and insists that only "make a decision" is correct. Is the candidate right? Settle it with evidence, and say what it means for an item whose options include both.
What it tests

Using a learner's dictionary as evidence for a collocation, telling British from American usage, and judging an item that has two defensible keys.

First step

Look up the noun, not the verb: the entry for decision shows the verbs it goes with. Read its example sentences and any label beside them, such as British English, before deciding that a form is wrong.
Follow-ups
- Why does looking up decision work better than looking up take?
- Which other verbs go with decision?
- How should a test item that marks take wrong be answered?
From the lesson Fill in the blanks and cloze tests
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes
Fresher to mid

In a cloze passage told in the past tense, a candidate fills one gap with a present-tense verb that reads well in its own sentence. Explain why the answer is wrong, and give a routine that prevents tense and pronoun drift across a whole passage.
What it tests

Treating a cloze passage as one text with one tense and one set of people, and turning that into a routine that works under time.

First step

Show the clash: find the verbs and time markers already in the passage, which fix its tense, and set the candidate's verb beside them. A gap is right only if it fits the passage, not only its own sentence.
Follow-ups
- What does the routine look like before the first gap is filled?
- How do you catch pronoun drift?
- When may a past-tense passage take a present-tense verb?
From the lesson Fill in the blanks and cloze tests
Model answer, Pro.
In the answer:
- Model answer
- Follow-up answers
- Common mistakes
- Rubric
- Variants
- about 3 minutes

All Placement Aptitude (Quant, Logical, Verbal) interview questions · The Placement Aptitude (Quant, Logical, Verbal) track

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Vocabulary interview questions

Warm-up questions

Why should you decide the sense of a word before looking for its synonym or antonym?

What makes a phrase an idiom, and how do you work out one you have never seen?

In a fill-in-the-blank item, in what order do you take the clues, and why that order?

Questions with model answers

A synonym item reads "The doctor looked grave as she gave the results" and offers serious, solemn, heavy and buried. The key says SERIOUS; a candidate argues for SOLEMN. Who is right, and how would you repair the item?

An antonym item asks for the opposite of INFLAMMABLE and offers flammable, non-flammable, explosive and burning. Half the room picks FLAMMABLE. Why do they, which answer is right, and how would you teach the trap so that it is not missed again?

Explain, in under two minutes, why the spellings are occurred, offered, travelled and benefited, and say which of them American spelling writes differently.

Explain why "She turned down the offer" and "She turned it down" are correct but "She turned down it" is not, and why "She looked after them" is correct but "She looked them after" is not.

A one-word item asks for "a person who believes that it is not possible to know whether God exists" and offers atheist, agnostic, sceptic and cynic. Most of a batch picks ATHEIST. Why, and what method separates close substitutes like these?

A double-blank item reads "The experiment was _, _ its results could not be trusted", with the pairs careful … so, careless … so, careless … although and careful … because. Solve it without reading every pair in full, and explain why the order in which you test the blanks matters.

A candidate marks "The board will take a decision on Monday" as an error and insists that only "make a decision" is correct. Is the candidate right? Settle it with evidence, and say what it means for an item whose options include both.

In a cloze passage told in the past tense, a candidate fills one gap with a present-tense verb that reads well in its own sentence. Explain why the answer is wrong, and give a routine that prevents tense and pronoun drift across a whole passage.

Warm-up questions

Why should you decide the sense of a word before looking for its synonym or antonym?

What makes a phrase an idiom, and how do you work out one you have never seen?

In a fill-in-the-blank item, in what order do you take the clues, and why that order?

Questions with model answers

A synonym item reads "The doctor looked grave as she gave the results" and offers serious, solemn, heavy and buried. The key says SERIOUS; a candidate argues for SOLEMN. Who is right, and how would you repair the item?

An antonym item asks for the opposite of INFLAMMABLE and offers flammable, non-flammable, explosive and burning. Half the room picks FLAMMABLE. Why do they, which answer is right, and how would you teach the trap so that it is not missed again?

Explain, in under two minutes, why the spellings are occurred, offered, travelled and benefited, and say which of them American spelling writes differently.

Explain why "She turned down the offer" and "She turned it down" are correct but "She turned down it" is not, and why "She looked after them" is correct but "She looked them after" is not.

A one-word item asks for "a person who believes that it is not possible to know whether God exists" and offers atheist, agnostic, sceptic and cynic. Most of a batch picks ATHEIST. Why, and what method separates close substitutes like these?

A double-blank item reads "The experiment was ___, ___ its results could not be trusted", with the pairs careful … so, careless … so, careless … although and careful … because. Solve it without reading every pair in full, and explain why the order in which you test the blanks matters.

A candidate marks "The board will take a decision on Monday" as an error and insists that only "make a decision" is correct. Is the candidate right? Settle it with evidence, and say what it means for an item whose options include both.

In a cloze passage told in the past tense, a candidate fills one gap with a present-tense verb that reads well in its own sentence. Explain why the answer is wrong, and give a routine that prevents tense and pronoun drift across a whole passage.

A double-blank item reads "The experiment was _, _ its results could not be trusted", with the pairs careful … so, careless … so, careless … although and careful … because. Solve it without reading every pair in full, and explain why the order in which you test the blanks matters.