UPSC EPFO EO/AO 2021 · Question 4
Question 4 of the UPSC EPFO EO/AO Recruitment Test 2021 (General Ability Test, Advt. 51/2020) (5 September 2021). Try it first, then open the answer and explanation.
Select the most appropriate option for the blank space. With his back to the old man, he stood at the window, fists clenched, and his shoulders ______ with his choked sobbing.
- shivered
- shook
- vibrated
- moved
Show answer
Answer: (2) shook
When a person sobs, the body moves in short, jerky heaves, and the usual expression is that the shoulders "shook" with sobs: "his shoulders shook with his choked sobbing." "Shiver" means to tremble slightly from cold or fear, not from weeping. "Vibrate" describes rapid, mechanical movement, as of a machine or a string. "Moved" is too weak and vague to convey the force of his grief, which the clenched fists and choked sobbing make clear.