IIM B UG (B.Sc-Hons.)- Sample Paper 2026 · English Comprehension · Question 14

IIM B UG (B.Sc-Hons.)- Sample Paper 2026 question on Synonyms, with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

SynonymsVerbal AbilityMultiple choiceMedium

Each of the questions has one or more sentences that has an underlined word or phrase. Below each question, there are four options consisting of a word or phrase. Choose the word or phrase that best retains the meaning of the original sentence if it replaces the underlined word or phrase.

To date, efforts to reduce road traffic deaths and injuries have primarily focused on crash prevention: safer roads, safer vehicles, better driver behavior. Prevention strategies remain essential. But when road crashes happen, the strength of a country’s emergency care system often determines whether an injured person survives, whether they recover fully, and whether households fall into long-term economic hardship.

  1. A
    Most usual
  2. B
    Most essential
  3. C
    Most detrimental
  4. D
    Most critical
Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

'Essential' here means vitally important – prevention strategies are still very important, even though emergency care also matters.

Option 4, 'Most critical', keeps this meaning: of the highest importance.

Option 1, 'Most usual', means common, not important.
Option 2 merely repeats the same word ('essential'), so it does not replace it with another word.
Option 3, 'Most detrimental', means most harmful – the opposite.

Shortcut: 'critical' is the standard synonym for 'essential' in the sense of vital.

Hence, the answer is option 4.

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