IPMAT Indore 2022 · Verbal Ability · Question 2

Step 1 — read what the sentence implies. “Ever since he won… he has been behaving ___” signals a change in manner caused by the award. Winning a prestigious prize characteristically produces a superior attitude towards others.

Step 2 — test the options.

(b) condescendingly ✔ — behaving as though superior to others; patronising. It is the natural consequence of sudden prestige and, crucially, it is an adverb describing how one treats people, which “behaving” requires.

(a) ambitiously — ambition is a drive, not a manner of behaving towards others, and winning a prize does not obviously make someone more ambitious.

(c) overly ✘ — grammatically impossible on its own. Overly is an intensifier and must modify an adjective or adverb (overly cautious, overly polite); it cannot stand alone after “behaving”.

(d) controversially — possible in isolation, but nothing in the sentence suggests controversy, and a prize does not imply it.

Answer: Option 2

Shortcut. Option (c) dies on grammar before meaning. Overly never stands alone — “behaving overly” is incomplete, because the word exists only to intensify something else. Run a part-of-speech check first; it costs nothing and often removes an option outright.

Among the rest, ask what a prize plausibly changes. Prestige affects how one treats others, which is what condescendingly describes; ambition and controversy are not consequences the sentence prepares.

Worth knowing: condescending = talking down to people while appearing gracious. It is among the most frequently tested attitude words in these papers.