“Her _______ should not be confused with miserliness; she is ever willing to assist those in need.” The word that best fills the blank in the above sentence is:
frugality
Sentence Completion: Understanding Context Clues
The given sentence is, “Her _______ should not be confused with miserliness; she is ever willing to assist those in need.” To accurately fill the blank, we need to find a word that describes a characteristic which can be mistaken for miserliness but is fundamentally different, especially given that the person is willing to help others.
Miserliness Explained
Miserliness refers to the quality of being a miser, meaning someone who hoards money or possessions and spends as little as possible. A miser is typically unwilling to spend, even on necessary things, and certainly unwilling to share or help others financially, even when they have the means.
Analyzing the Contrast
The second part of the sentence, “she is ever willing to assist those in need,” provides a crucial clue. It indicates that despite whatever characteristic fills the blank, the person is NOT truly a miser. The word in the blank must describe careful spending or resource management, but without the negative connotation of selfishness or unwillingness to help that comes with miserliness.
Evaluating the Options
- cleanliness: This refers to the state of being clean or hygienic. It has no relation to spending habits, saving money, or assisting others, making it irrelevant to the context of miserliness.
- punctuality: This refers to the quality of being on time. Like cleanliness, it bears no relevance to financial habits or generosity, thus it does not fit the sentence's meaning.
- frugality: This word means being economical and careful with money or resources; it implies avoiding waste and being resourceful. A frugal person manages their money wisely, avoids unnecessary expenses, and saves. This characteristic can sometimes be mistaken for miserliness by others, who might not understand the difference between careful spending and outright stinginess. However, a frugal person, unlike a miser, is willing to spend when necessary or to help others, as stated in the sentence: "she is ever willing to assist those in need." This perfectly aligns with the required contrast.
- greatness: This refers to the quality of being great or important. It is a broad term that does not describe a specific financial habit that could be confused with miserliness.
Frugality: The Best Fit
Given the analysis, frugality is the best word to fill the blank. It captures the essence of careful financial management without implying the selfishness inherent in miserliness. The sentence clearly distinguishes between the individual's cautious spending habits (frugality) and the negative trait of being a miser (miserliness) by highlighting her willingness to help others.
Important Questions from Verbal Deduction
Lamenting the gradual sidelining of the arts in school curricula, a goup of prominent artists wrote to the Chief Minister last year, asking him to allocate more funds to support arts education in schools. However, no such increase has been announced in this year`s Budget. The artists expressed their deep anguish at their request not being approved, but many of them remain optimistic about funding in the future.
Which of the statement(s) below is/are logically valid and can be inferred from the above statements?
(i) The artists expected funding for the arts to increase this year.
(ii) The Chief Minister was receptive to the idea of increasing funding for the arts.
(iii) The Chief Minister is a prominent artist.
(iv) Schools are giving less importance to arts education nowadays,Read the following paragraph and choose the correct statement.
Climate change has reduced human security and threatened human wellbeing. An ignored reality of human progress is that human security largely depends upon environmental security. But on the contrary, human progress seems contradictory to environmental security. To keep up both at the required level is a challenge to be addressed by one and all. One of the ways to curb the climate change may be suitable scientific innovations, while the other may be the Gandhian perspective on
Small scale progress with focus on sustainability.Choose the most appropriate phrase from the options given below to complete the following sentence.
The aircraft_______ take off as soon as its flight plan was filed.
Once the team of analysts identifies the problem, we _________ in a better position to comment on the issue.
Which one of the following choices CANNOT fill the given blank?“If you are looking for a history of India, or for an account of the rise and fall of the British Raj, or for the reason of the cleaving the subcontinent into two mutually antagonistic parts and the effects this mutilation will have in the respective sections, and ultimately on Asia, you will to find it in these pages; for though I have spent a lifetime in the country, I lived too near the seat of events, and was too intimately associated with the actors, to get the perspective needed for the impartial recording of these matters.”
Which of the following is closest in meaning to ‘cleaving’?
