What should come in blank (4) ?

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 (4) ?

1. A. amicably
2. B. morally
3. C. tied (Correct answer)
4. D. tightly

Correct Answer

Option C — tied

Detailed Solution & Explanation

The correct answer is tied.

Key Points

• The passage links the rupee's movement to global crude oil prices, and the natural way to express that dependence is that the currency is tied to them.
• The distractors fail on sense: *amicably* and *morally* are adverbs unrelated to economics, and *tightly* is an adverb that cannot itself fill a verb or participle slot.
• Only tied produces a grammatical and meaningful phrase in context.

Additional Information

• India imports a large share of its crude oil, so higher oil prices increase dollar demand for payments and tend to weaken the rupee — the mechanism the passage relies on.
• Related vocabulary: pegged to, linked to, correlated with, dependent on, driven by.
• Note the distinction between being tied to a factor (an economic relationship) and being pegged to a currency (a formal exchange-rate policy); India follows a managed float.
• Where three options are adverbs and one is a participle, the grammar of the sentence usually settles the answer before meaning is considered.