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Para Completion questions for IPMAT, with solutions

7 free Para Completion practice questions for IPMAT Indore, Rohtak and JIPMAT, each with the answer and a full worked solution. No sign-in. Try each one first, then open the solution. The lessons for this chapter are in Para Completion on Learn.

1. Question 1Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing sentence in the middle

   A sentence is missing from the paragraph. Choose the sentence that best fills the blank.

   Making paneer at home is simple. First, bring a litre of full-fat milk to the boil. ______ Once the milk separates into solid curds and greenish whey, pour it through a muslin cloth. Finally, tie the cloth, press it under a heavy pan for an hour, and cut the block into cubes.

   1. A.Paneer is a good source of protein for people who do not eat meat.
   2. B.Then turn off the heat and stir in lemon juice, a spoonful at a time.
   3. C.Finally, cut the block into cubes and store them in a bowl of cold water.
   4. D.Then pour the boiling milk straight through a muslin cloth into a bowl.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: B. Then turn off the heat and stir in lemon juice, a spoonful at a time.

   Answer: (B) Then turn off the heat and stir in lemon juice, a spoonful at a time.

   Completed paragraph:

   Making paneer at home is simple. First, bring a litre of full-fat milk to the boil. Then turn off the heat and stir in lemon juice, a spoonful at a time. Once the milk separates into solid curds and greenish whey, pour it through a muslin cloth. Finally, tie the cloth, press it under a heavy pan for an hour, and cut the block into cubes.

   Flow: "First" boil → ? → "Once the milk separates" strain → "Finally" press and cut

   Clue: "Once the milk separates": something must make it separate.

   Why (B) is right: The steps run "First… [blank]… Once the milk separates… Finally". Something must make the milk separate between boiling and straining. (B) supplies it: lemon juice, an acid, curdles the hot milk.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (A) A fact about paneer, not a step; it breaks the sequence.
   • (C) The last step, which already appears at the end; it cannot come second.
   • (D) Straining comes after the milk has separated ("Once the milk separates… pour it through a muslin cloth"), so this is out of order.

2. Question 2Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing sentence in the middle

   A sentence is missing from the paragraph. Choose the sentence that best fills the blank.

   Meera's grandmother never threw away a glass jar. ______ They held pickles, buttons, coins, seeds for the next season and, once, a family of tadpoles that Meera brought home from the pond. When she died, the family counted more than two hundred of them, every one washed and labelled.

   1. A.Her kitchen shelves were lined with them, each put to some use.
   2. B.She often said that plastic boxes were cheaper, lighter and much harder to break.
   3. C.Meera loved visiting her during the long summer holidays in the village.
   4. D.Glass, she believed, was the oldest material ever made by human hands.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: A. Her kitchen shelves were lined with them, each put to some use.

   Answer: (A) Her kitchen shelves were lined with them, each put to some use.

   Completed paragraph:

   Meera's grandmother never threw away a glass jar. Her kitchen shelves were lined with them, each put to some use. They held pickles, buttons, coins, seeds for the next season and, once, a family of tadpoles that Meera brought home from the pond. When she died, the family counted more than two hundred of them, every one washed and labelled.

   Flow: she kept every jar → ? (where they were) → "They held" pickles, buttons, tadpoles → two hundred of them

   Clue: "They held pickles, buttons, coins…": "They" must be the jars.

   Why (A) is right: "They held pickles, buttons, coins…" needs "They" to mean the jars, and the sentence just before must keep the jars in view. (A) does, and "each put to some use" leads straight into the list of uses.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (B) Makes "They" point to plastic boxes, and contradicts her habit of keeping glass jars.
   • (C) Leaves "They" with nothing sensible to refer to.
   • (D) An odd belief about glass that does not lead into what the jars held.

3. Question 3Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing last sentence

   Choose the sentence that best completes the paragraph.

   Many people think of bats as pests. Yet a single bat can eat hundreds of insects in one night, including mosquitoes and moths whose caterpillars damage crops. Some fruit bats carry pollen from flower to flower and scatter seeds across forests. ______

   1. A.Far from being pests, bats do work that farmers and forests depend on.
   2. B.Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly, rather than simply glide.
   3. C.Bats should therefore be protected by keeping them as pets in people's homes.
   4. D.Some bats, however, can carry diseases that are able to spread to humans.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: A. Far from being pests, bats do work that farmers and forests depend on.

   Answer: (A) Far from being pests, bats do work that farmers and forests depend on.

   Completed paragraph:

   Many people think of bats as pests. Yet a single bat can eat hundreds of insects in one night, including mosquitoes and moths whose caterpillars damage crops. Some fruit bats carry pollen from flower to flower and scatter seeds across forests. Far from being pests, bats do work that farmers and forests depend on.

   Flow: common view: pests → "Yet" insect control → pollination and seeds → ? (conclusion against the common view)

   Clue: "Many people think… Yet…": the paragraph argues against the common view.

   Why (A) is right: The paragraph opens with a common view ("pests") and argues against it with evidence ("Yet…"). The close should state the conclusion that the evidence supports. (A) does, answering the opening directly.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (B) True, but a new fact that does not conclude the argument about usefulness.
   • (C) An absurd jump; usefulness in fields and forests is no reason to keep bats at home.
   • (D) Turns back towards the "pest" view that the paragraph has just argued against.

4. Question 4Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing last sentence

   Choose the sentence that best completes the paragraph.

   Headlines often describe turmeric as a natural cure for everything from joint pain to cancer. Early studies suggest that a compound found in turmeric may reduce inflammation in mice. The doses used, however, were far higher than anyone could get from food, and results in mice often fail to hold in people. ______

   1. A.Turmeric is, in other words, a miracle cure for inflammation of every kind.
   2. B.Until trials in humans are done, claims that turmeric cures disease are premature.
   3. C.Mice, as everyone knows, are useless as subjects for medical research.
   4. D.Indian cooks have used turmeric in their kitchens for many centuries.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: B. Until trials in humans are done, claims that turmeric cures disease are premature.

   Answer: (B) Until trials in humans are done, claims that turmeric cures disease are premature.

   Completed paragraph:

   Headlines often describe turmeric as a natural cure for everything from joint pain to cancer. Early studies suggest that a compound found in turmeric may reduce inflammation in mice. The doses used, however, were far higher than anyone could get from food, and results in mice often fail to hold in people. Until trials in humans are done, claims that turmeric cures disease are premature.

   Flow: bold headlines → a promising early result ("suggest", "may") → two reasons for caution → ? (a cautious close)

   Clue: "suggest", "may", "however", "often fail to hold".

   Why (B) is right: After the bold headlines, the paragraph is cautious ("suggest", "may", "however", "often fail to hold in people"). (B) keeps that caution and draws the sensible conclusion: wait for human trials before believing the headlines.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (A) Wildly overconfident; it repeats the headlines and ignores both reasons for caution.
   • (C) Dismissive and extreme; the paragraph says mouse results "often" fail in people, not that mice are useless.
   • (D) True, but traditional use is not evidence about the doses or trials discussed.

5. Question 5Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing last sentence

   Choose the sentence that best completes the paragraph.

   The company's managers agree on one thing: there are too many meetings. The meeting to discuss why the company holds so many of them lasted three hours. It was followed by a smaller meeting to plan a workshop on time management, which was postponed because no one could find a free slot in the calendar. ______

   1. A.Meetings are an essential part of good management and should never be mocked.
   2. B.Nobody, it seems, has yet suggested cancelling a meeting.
   3. C.The company's profits, meanwhile, rose steadily throughout the year.
   4. D.Workshops on time management have been shown to raise productivity by a fifth.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: B. Nobody, it seems, has yet suggested cancelling a meeting.

   Answer: (B) Nobody, it seems, has yet suggested cancelling a meeting.

   Completed paragraph:

   The company's managers agree on one thing: there are too many meetings. The meeting to discuss why the company holds so many of them lasted three hours. It was followed by a smaller meeting to plan a workshop on time management, which was postponed because no one could find a free slot in the calendar. Nobody, it seems, has yet suggested cancelling a meeting.

   Flow: too many meetings → an ironic situation → another ironic situation → ? (a dry, ironic close)

   Clue: The humour is in the irony: a three-hour meeting about too many meetings.

   Why (B) is right: The paragraph is gently ironic: a three-hour meeting about too many meetings, then a time-management workshop that cannot be scheduled. (B) ends on the same dry note.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (A) A serious defence of meetings that clashes with the ironic tone.
   • (C) Profits are a new topic and add nothing to the joke.
   • (D) A solemn (and unsupported) statistic that breaks the light, ironic tone.

6. Question 6Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing sentence in the middle

   A sentence is missing from the paragraph. Choose the sentence that best fills the blank.

   Some years ago, the city replaced its old streetlights with LED lamps. ______ Within a year, the savings had paid for a third of the project, and the money was used to extend lighting to two neighbourhoods that had never had it. Residents there said that their streets felt safer at night for the first time.

   1. A.LED lamps were first developed in the twentieth century but became cheap only recently.
   2. B.Some residents complained that the new light was too white and harsh for their streets.
   3. C.The new lamps used about half as much electricity as the ones they replaced.
   4. D.The project was opposed at first by several members of the city council.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: C. The new lamps used about half as much electricity as the ones they replaced.

   Answer: (C) The new lamps used about half as much electricity as the ones they replaced.

   Completed paragraph:

   Some years ago, the city replaced its old streetlights with LED lamps. The new lamps used about half as much electricity as the ones they replaced. Within a year, the savings had paid for a third of the project, and the money was used to extend lighting to two neighbourhoods that had never had it. Residents there said that their streets felt safer at night for the first time.

   Flow: new lamps installed → ? (a saving) → "the savings" paid for part of the project → new lighting

   Clue: "the savings": the blank must say what was saved.

   Why (C) is right: "Within a year, the savings had paid for a third of the project" needs a saving to refer to. (C) supplies it: lower electricity use.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (A) History of the technology; there are no savings for "the savings" to point to.
   • (B) A real kind of complaint, but it is a drawback, not a saving.
   • (D) Opposition is not a saving, so "the savings" would have nothing to refer to.

7. Question 7Multiple choiceWritten by IPMATwayMissing last sentence

   Choose the sentence that best completes the paragraph.

   Historians disagree about why the Mughal empire weakened so quickly after Aurangzeb's death in 1707. Some point to the cost of his long wars in the Deccan; others to disputes among nobles over land revenue; others still to the rise of regional powers such as the Marathas and to the growing reach of European trading companies. ______

   1. A.Most would accept that no single cause is enough to explain the decline.
   2. B.The Marathas alone destroyed the empire within a few decades.
   3. C.Aurangzeb's wars were a foolish waste that any sensible ruler would have avoided.
   4. D.The European companies took little interest in Indian politics at the time.
   Show the answer and solution

   Answer: A. Most would accept that no single cause is enough to explain the decline.

   Answer: (A) Most would accept that no single cause is enough to explain the decline.

   Completed paragraph:

   Historians disagree about why the Mughal empire weakened so quickly after Aurangzeb's death in 1707. Some point to the cost of his long wars in the Deccan; others to disputes among nobles over land revenue; others still to the rise of regional powers such as the Marathas and to the growing reach of European trading companies. Most would accept that no single cause is enough to explain the decline.

   Flow: historians disagree → three groups of explanations → ? (a neutral close)

   Clue: "Historians disagree", "Some… others… others still".

   Why (A) is right: The paragraph is neutral and even-handed: it reports several explanations without choosing one. (A) keeps that stance and draws the fair conclusion that several causes were at work.

   Why the others are wrong:

   • (B) Picks one cause and states it absolutely ("alone"), which the even-handed paragraph does not do.
   • (C) A loaded judgement ("foolish waste") that breaks the neutral, scholarly tone.
   • (D) Contradicts the paragraph, which lists the companies' growing reach as one possible cause.