IPMAT Indore 2022 · Verbal Ability · Question 3

The idiom. A piece of cake means something very easy to do.

Why it fits. The sentence pairs a simple aeroplane with an experienced pilot — both cues point to the task being effortless.

Why the others fail:

(a) left-handed game and (c) left-handed sport — neither exists in English. (The real phrase in that family is a left-handed compliment, meaning a remark that sounds like praise but insults; it has nothing to do with ease.)

(d) slice of cake — a real noun phrase but not the idiom. Idioms do not accept synonym substitution: it is a piece of cake, never a slice of cake, just as it is a piece of the action, not a slice of the action.

Answer: Option 2

Shortcut. Two of the four options are invented, and the fourth swaps one word of the real idiom — the standard construction for this question type.

The rule that catches (d): you cannot replace a word in a fixed idiom with a synonym, however natural it sounds. Piece is part of the expression.

Other “easy” idioms worth having ready, since the same idea is tested repeatedly: a walk in the park, child’s play, as easy as pie, plain sailing, a cinch.