IPMAT Indore 2024 · Verbal Ability · Question 29

Blank 1 — what uncovers wrongdoing? The sentence describes a suspected case of race-fixing. An investigation is what is conducted into suspected misconduct and what “finds” things.

Analysis and appraisal examine data or value, and neither is the natural subject of “found that…” in a misconduct context.

Overview is a summary, which cannot find anything.

Blank 2 — intention. The runner slowed on purpose. Both purposely and deliberately fit; systematically (methodically, in stages) and particularly (especially) do not express intent at all. This blank eliminates (a) and (d) but not (b).

Blank 3 — the decisive one. The runner communicated to the one behind him while running. Test each:

signalling to someone ✔ — the standard verb for a discreet, non-verbal communication at a distance. “Signal to” takes exactly this preposition.

beckoning to someone — grammatically possible, but beckon means to summon someone closer with a gesture. A runner is not calling his rival over; he is indicating an arrangement.

waving to someone — a greeting, far too casual for a covert act.

speaking to someone — possible, but paired with the wrong adverb in (d).

The best fit across all three: investigation; deliberately; signalling.

Answer: Option 3

Shortcut. Solve the blank with the tightest constraint first — rarely the first one. Here blank 2 is purely about intent, which immediately removes systematically (a) and particularly (d).

That leaves (b) and (c), differing only in overview/beckoning versus investigation/signalling. An overview cannot “find” that something happened — findings come from investigations. Done.

General cloze strategy: read all three options in a row across, not one blank at a time. Two columns usually eliminate three options between them, and you never need to adjudicate the hardest blank.