Directions : Read the passage given below carefully and answer the questions that follow (Q. Nos. 129 to 135) by selecting the correct/most appropriate options.
1. There is something we all want to do, although few of us readily admit it : Get rid of guests.
2. For nine months in the year, only my closest friends come to see me. Then, when temperatures start soaring in the plains, long-lost acquaintances suddenly remember that I exist, and people whom I am barely able to recognize appear at the front door, willing to have me put them up for periods ranging from six days to six weeks.
3. Occasionally, I am the master of the situation I inform them that the cottage is already bursting, that people are sleeping on the floor. If the hopefuls start looking around for signs of these uncomfortable guests, I remark that they have all gone out for a picnic.
4. The other day I received visitors who proved to be more thick-skinned than most. The man was a friend of a friend of an acquaintance of mine. I had never seen him before. But on the strength of this distant relationship, he had brought his family along.
5. I tried the usual ploy but it didn’t work. The man and his family were perfectly willing to share the floor with any others who might be staying with me.
6. So I made my next move. ‘I must warn you about the scorpions’, I said. The scorpion-scare is effective with most people. But I was dealing with professionals. The man set his son rolling up the carpet. ‘Sometimes centipedes fall from the ceiling’, I said desperately.
7. We were now interrupted by someone knocking on the front door. It was the postman with a rejected manuscript, his arrival inspired me to greater inventiveness.
8. ‘I’m terribly sorry’, I said, staring hard at a rejection slip. ‘I’m afraid I have to leave immediately. A paper wants me to interview the Maharishi. I hope you won’t mind. Would you like the name of a good hotel ?’
9. ‘Oh, don’t worry about us’, said the woman expansively. ‘We’ll look after the house while you are away.’
Which one of the following words is opposite in meaning to the word, ‘soaring’ (Para 2) as used in the passage ?
Correct Answer :
falling
Solution :
The correct answer is falling.
Step-by-step Explanation:
1. Analyze the word in context: In Paragraph 2, the author writes, "Then, when temperatures start soaring in the plains, long-lost acquaintances suddenly remember that I exist..." Here, the word "soaring" means rising rapidly or increasing significantly (referring to high temperatures).
2. Determine the opposite (Antonym): The opposite of rising rapidly or going up is decreasing or dropping rapidly, which is expressed by the word "falling".
3. Examine the other options:
• hovering: Remaining in one place in the air or remaining at or near a particular level (not opposite to soaring).
• exasperating: Causing intense irritation or annoyance (unrelated to temperature change).
• deteriorating: Becoming progressively worse (refers to quality or condition, not the physical directional motion/trend of temperature).
Thus, the word opposite in meaning to "soaring" is "falling".
Access expert-curated educational resources and study materials—completely free.
Create, conduct, and manage professional online assessments with Mindyard. Perfect for teachers and institutes.
Copyright © 2026 Mindyard. All Rights Reserved.
