0QUESTION
There are two gaps in the sentence/paragraph given below. From the pairs of words given, choose
the one that fills the gaps most appropriately.
An intelligence community ___________, as the Post shows, by a toxic mixture of secrecy,
compartmentalization, turf rivalry, and tremendous duplication of effort is further ________ by a
problem familiar to every computer addict: too much information.
(a) hobbled, bedevilled (b) aggravated, emancipated
(c) paralysed, scuttled (d) beleaguered, persecuted
ANSWER
a The word in the first blank has to be a negative one.
We have clues in phrases like ‘toxic mixture of
secrecy’. Out of the options ‘hobbled’, ‘paralysed’ and
‘beleaguered would all fit the first blank. However, the
second blank is the decisive factor. Option (d) can be
eliminated as ‘persecuted’ means ‘oppressed’ or
‘tormented’. This is inappropriate in the given context
as ‘persecution’ implies an agent that is acting to grieve
or injure somebody. Here we need a word like
‘hampered’, which would mean being held back or
impeded by something. Option (c) comes the closest.
However, the use of the word ‘scuttled’ would be too
extreme in the given context. ‘Scuttled’ means
‘destroyed or wrecked’. An organization paralysed by
secrecy and then destroyed by too much information?
‘Bedevilled’ fits best out of the options. It means ‘cause
great and continual trouble’
