IPMAT Indore 2022 · Verbal Ability · Question 28

The word being tested: state, across its senses.

(b) “the most densely populated state in India” ✔ — a political region.

(c) “asked the lawyer to state the grounds” ✔ — the verb, to declare formally.

(d) “The state of his grandfather’s health” ✔ — a condition.

(a) “her demeanour to be of great state and refinement” ✘

Why (a) fails. The sentence praises someone’s bearing, pairing the blank with refinement. The word required is stature — standing, distinction, dignity — or possibly grace. State does not mean dignity or elegance; “of great state” is not an English phrase.

The intended sense is clear from the company it keeps: refinement and most impressive both point to personal distinction, which is stature.

Answer: Option 1

Shortcut. Use the list test again, as in Q82. The phrase is “of great ___ and refinement”, so the missing word must be a quality of personal bearing. Refinement tells you the register; state does not belong to it.

The near-pair is state / stature, and stature is the word for standing or distinction.

A pattern across Q80–Q85 worth giving students directly: every one of these six is built on a word that is one or two letters from the right one — spot/blot, collaborate/corroborate, cross/crass, flout/flaunt, draw/drawer, state/stature. When you find the tested word, ask what word it is nearly.