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GATE 2020 EC GA Q.1: solution and answer

GATE 2020 · ECGA Q.1 · 1 mark · MCQ

The untimely loss of life is a cause of serious global concern as thousands of people get killed______accidents every year while many other die______diseases like cardio vascular disease, cancer, etc.

  1. (A)

    in, of

  2. (B)

    from, of

  3. (C)

    during, from

  4. (D)

    from, from

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Answer and solution

ANSWER

(A) in, of. People are "killed in" accidents and "die of" diseases.

Official answer: ASource: Official answer key, GATE 2020 EC (IIT Delhi)

  1. First blank, the preposition after "killed": a person is killed in an event such as an accident, a war or a fire. "Killed in accidents" is the standard collocation. "Killed from accidents" is not idiomatic. "Killed during accidents" would place the death at a time while an accident was going on; it does not say that the accident caused the death, which is what the sentence means.

  2. That rules out (B) and (D), which begin with "from", and (C), which begins with "during". Only (A) is left.

  3. Second blank, the preposition after "die": we say die of a disease or other internal cause ("die of cancer", "die of heart disease"). "Die from" is more usual for a wound or an outside cause ("die from injuries").

  4. Cardiovascular disease and cancer are diseases, so "die of diseases" fits best. This agrees with the "of" in (A).

  5. Check the whole sentence: "...thousands of people get killed in accidents every year while many other die of diseases like cardio vascular disease, cancer, etc." Both blanks read correctly.

  6. Answer: (A) in, of

KEY IDEA

Prepositions are fixed by collocation. "Killed" takes "in" before an event (killed in an accident, a war or a fire). "Die" takes "of" before a disease or internal cause (die of cancer), and "from" before a wound or external cause (die from injuries). The first blank alone is enough to answer, because only one option begins with "in".

WATCH OUT FOR

Picking (D) "from, from" because "die from a disease" sounds acceptable in everyday speech. The first blank rules it out: "killed from accidents" is not idiomatic English. Another mistake is picking (C) because "during" sounds formal. "Killed during accidents" gives only the time of the deaths, not their cause.

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