1 Honorary Degree – PTE – Reading Fill in the blanks ( Drop menu )

1 Honorary Degree – PTE – Reading Fill in the blanks ( Drop menu ) – GrowSkills – PTESkills.net

 1- Honorary Degree Text: 

Victoria University of Wellington has conferred an honorary degree on a distinguished astrophysicist in a recent graduation ceremony. Professor Warrick Couch ________the honorary degree of Doctor of Science for his remarkable contribution to our knowledge of galaxies and dark energy. Professor Couch is a distinguished astrophysicist who has ________a crucial role in the discovery that the Universe is expanding at an accelerating rate, a finding which led to the lead scientists being awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics in 2011, which he attended in recognition of his contribution. In his research, Professor Couch uses large ground-based and space-based telescopes to observe galaxy clusters, ________ are the largest Structures in the Universe. He is also involved in a number of national and international committees overseeing the management of these telescopes. ___________his own research activities, Professor Couch has worked to support young researchers and provide public comment on astronomy internationally.

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Model Answers with Explanation : 
1- Received : ✅* The sentence is in the past tense, conveying a completed event. Therefore, the simple past tense “received” is most appropriate. ✅
* “Was receiving” is in the past progressive tense indicating an ongoing event, which doesn’t fit the context well, since receiving a degree is generally a single, complete action, not one that continues over time.
* “Had received” is in the past perfect tense, which is used to indicate an action that occurred before another past action. Here, there’s no other past action mentioned that happened after Professor Couch receiving the honorary degree, so past perfect tense is not needed.
* “Is received” is in the present tense, which doesn’t match the overall past tense of the sentence. The honorary degree was conferred and received in the past, not the present.
2- played : ✅* The word “played” fits best in the blank because it is being used in a metaphorical sense to describe the significant part or role that Professor Couch has taken in the discovery. Neither “led,” “done,” nor “found” accurately describe a person’s role in an event or accomplishment the way that “played” does in this context. Also, using the word “played” suggests active and direct involvement. ✅
The blank space in the sentence needs to be filled with “played” because it is the most appropriate verb to use in this context. The phrase “played a crucial role” is a common English idiom that means to be an important part in achieving something. ✅

* The verb “led” could potentially work, but it implies that Professor Couch was the main person responsible for the discovery, which contradicts the later part of the sentence that states he attended the Nobel Prize ceremony in recognition of his contribution, suggesting he was not the lead scientist.

* The verb “done” is too vague and doesn’t fit well in this context. It doesn’t convey the sense of participation or involvement that “played” does.

* The verb “found” is incorrect because it implies that Professor Couch was the one who made the discovery, which again contradicts the later part of the sentence. It also doesn’t fit grammatically with “a crucial role”.
Therefore, “played” is the most appropriate verb to use in this sentence.
3- which : ✅* The blank space should be filled with “which” because it refers back to “galaxy clusters,” an inanimate object. The pronouns “who”, “they”, and “those” are used to refer to people, not objects. Besides, “which” is a relative pronoun used to introduce a clause giving further information about something previously mentioned. In this case, it introduces the clause “are the largest Structures in the Universe”, giving more information about the “galaxy clusters.” ✅* In the sentence, the blank space marked by “____” should be filled with “which” because “which” is used to introduce a non-restrictive relative clause that provides additional information about a preceding noun or noun phrase. In this case, the preceding noun phrase is “galaxy clusters,” and “which” introduces a clause giving more information about these galaxy clusters.

Here’s why the other options don’t work:
* “who”: This relative pronoun is used for referring to people, not objects or groups of objects like galaxy clusters.
* “they”: Using “they” would make the sentence fragmented and not provide a smooth transition from the preceding statement.
* “those”: While “those” can refer to specific objects or things previously mentioned, it doesn’t function the same way as a relative pronoun introducing a clause. Using “those” would break the flow of the sentence and create a disjointed statement.
Therefore, the appropriate choice is “which”, and the sentence should read:
4- In addition to : ✅ The blank space marked by “____” has to be filled by “In addition to” ✅because the context implies that the subject (Professor Couch) performs another action or has another responsibility besides his own research activities. “In addition to” is used to mention extra things or people apart from the ones already mentioned. It implies “along with” or “as well as”.

“As a result of” is used to show the effect or outcome of something that happened before. “Instead of” is used to suggest a substitution or an alternative. “Regarding” is used to refer to something or to be about something particular. None of these fillers match the context mentioned in this sentence.
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