What should come in blank (2) ?

Passage

PASSAGE (Q101–Q105): In the following question, some of the words in the passage have been left out. Read the passage carefully and choose the correct word for each blank, out of the four alternatives and fill in the blanks.

After falling consistently (1) the U.S. dollar for a major part of the year, the rupee has (2) somewhat over the last few weeks. It has risen by almost 5% from its lowest levels (3) in October. Even with this recent improvement, the rupee is still down about 11% since the start of the year. The rupee’s performance has been closely (4) to global crude oil prices. This makes sense, as imported oil accounts for about 80% of India’s total demand. The value of the rupee dropped when oil prices climbed earlier this year, a trend that lasted until early October. Since then, as global crude prices have fallen, the rupee has (5) against the dollar.

Question

What should come in blank (2) ?

1. A. ground
2. B. energy
3. C. admire
4. D. recovered (Correct answer)

Correct Answer

Option D — recovered

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is recovered.

Key Points

• The sentence turns on a contrast: after falling for much of the year, the rupee has done something different over recent weeks, and the next sentence confirms it has risen by almost 5% from its lowest levels.
• Recovered is the verb that fits both the grammar and that upward movement.
• The distractors fail on sense or form: *ground* and *energy* are nouns, and *admire* is unrelated to currency movement.

Additional Information

• The following sentence supplies the evidence, so the blank can be filled from context rather than guesswork — always read one sentence beyond the gap.
• Verbs describing currency strengthening: recover, rebound, appreciate, strengthen, firm up, gain; and weakening: slide, slip, weaken, depreciate, tumble.
• Note the collocation "recovered somewhat", where the adverb signals a partial rather than complete reversal — consistent with the passage saying the rupee is still down about 11%.
• Check that the chosen word fits the part of speech the sentence requires; a noun in a verb slot is the commonest cloze distractor.