Question

Choose the word which best fills the blank from the four options given.

His mental _______ accounts for such high quality of work.

• A. firm
• B. alertness
• C. aberration
• D. tightrope

Answer 1

The correct option is B alertness

'Mental' is an adjective, which is used to describe a noun here. Hence, we need a noun that can be described as 'mental' to fill in the blank.

Option A - 'Firm' is a noun which means a business or an organisation. A 'mental firm' would be a wrong choice as businesses can't be related to mental state. Thus option A is incorrect.

Option C - 'Aberration' is a noun which means 'a temporary change from the typical or usual way of behaving'. 'Aberration' can't account for his high quality of work, as it is not a good thing to have a mental aberration. For example, 'I'm sorry I'm late- I had a mental aberration and forgot that we had a meeting today.' Thus option C is incorrect.

Option D - 'Tightrope' means 'a tightly stretched wire or rope fixed high above the ground, across which skilled people walk, especially in order to entertain others.' 'Mental tightrope' is wrong as that can't help to have a high quality of work. Thus option D is incorrect.

Option B - 'Alertness' means the ability to quickly see, understand and act in a particular situation. 'Mental alertness' is a positive quality and it can account for such high quality of work. Thus option B is the correct answer.

'His mental alertness accounts for such high quality of work.'