Wordcraft, 4 October 2026

Glossary from the edition

14 words, each quoted in the sentence where it appeared in the 4 October 2026 edition. Meaning first, then the sentence, then where it came from.

The seven lessons

One entry of each type, every day: a system, not a word list.

Worksheet

Every exercise from the session, on paper. Answers are folded under each one; the online session marks them for you and keeps your score.

Word roots · gnoscere, noscere: to come to know

1. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   The final NRC was released in August 2019 but has still not been formally ___ by the Registrar General.

   1. notified
   2. noticed
   3. notarised
   4. noted
   Answer

   notified. To notify is to make known officially, in India by publication in the Gazette. Noticed means observed, noted means recorded or remarked, and notarised means certified by a notary.

2. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   In M.K. Ranjitsinh (2024) the Supreme Court ___ a right against the adverse effects of climate change.

   1. notified
   2. reconnoitred
   3. cognised
   4. recognised
   Answer

   recognised. A court recognises a right: it acknowledges it formally. Reconnoitred means surveyed militarily, cognised is not standard English, and courts do not notify rights.

3. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

   Find the word that is the wrong member of the family.

   Pali has no native speakers today, so the language is incognito to most Indians.

   Answer

   incognito → unknown. Incognito means with one’s identity concealed, as of a person travelling incognito. A language that most people do not know is simply unknown to them.

4. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

   Match each word to its meaning.

   1. notify
   2. cognisance
   3. incognito
   4. notorious

   1. make known formally
   2. with identity concealed
   3. knowledge taken of a matter
   4. well known for something bad
   Answer

   • notify: make known formally
   • cognisance: knowledge taken of a matter
   • incognito: with identity concealed
   • notorious: well known for something bad

   Oxford senses: notify, to formally or officially tell; cognizance, knowledge or understanding; incognito, in a way that prevents others finding out who you are; notorious, well known for being bad.

5. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   Which of these words does NOT come from the root gnoscere, to know?

   1. novel
   2. diagnosis
   3. notorious
   4. noble
   Answer

   novel. Novel comes from Latin novus, new. Notorious (notus), noble (gnobilis) and diagnosis (Greek gignoskein, the same Indo-European root) all mean something known.

6. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   A doctor’s forecast of how a disease will develop is a ___.

   1. notion
   2. diagnosis
   3. prognosis
   4. cognisance
   Answer

   prognosis. Prognosis is knowing beforehand, the likely course; diagnosis is knowing apart, identifying the disease from its signs. Cognisance and notion are not medical terms.

7. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

   In Indian administrative English, what does it mean that a rule has been notified?

   1. It has been passed by Parliament but awaits the President’s assent
   2. It has been published in the Gazette and has legal force
   3. It has been drafted and circulated for public comment and objections
   4. It has been noticed by the courts in a case that is still pending
   Answer

   It has been published in the Gazette and has legal force. Notification is publication in the Gazette, the act that brings a rule or a register into force. Drafts for comment are released, not notified; Parliament passes Acts, and the President assents to them.

Look-alike words · endemic / epidemic / pandemic

8. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   Many fish species are ___ to a single river basin and are found nowhere else.

   1. pandemic
   2. sporadic
   3. endemic
   4. epidemic
   Answer

   endemic. In ecology, endemic means native to and confined to one place. Epidemic and pandemic describe outbreaks; sporadic means occasional and scattered.

9. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

   The World Health Organization characterised COVID-19 as a ___ on 11 March 2020.

   1. epidemic
   2. syndemic
   3. endemic
   4. pandemic
   Answer

   pandemic. By March 2020 the disease had spread across continents, the definition of a pandemic. An epidemic is confined to a community; endemic means steadily present; a syndemic is two or more epidemics interacting.

10. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that measures the wrong thing.

    Leprosy remains pandemic in 23 districts of Chhattisgarh, with prevalence above one per 10,000.

    Answer

    pandemic → endemic. A disease constantly present at a steady level in particular districts is endemic there. Pandemic means spread across a whole country or the world.

11. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each word to what it describes.

    1. endemic
    2. epidemic
    3. pandemic
    4. sporadic

    1. many cases at the same time in one community
    2. occasional, scattered cases
    3. spread over a whole country or the world
    4. steadily present in a place or group
    Answer

    • endemic: steadily present in a place or group
    • epidemic: many cases at the same time in one community
    • pandemic: spread over a whole country or the world
    • sporadic: occasional, scattered cases

    Oxford senses for the first three; sporadic is the contrast term for cases with no steady presence.

12. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which question settles endemic, epidemic or pandemic?

    1. Is the writer using British, American or Indian English?
    2. Is the sentence about animals, plants or people?
    3. What does it measure: presence, a surge, or a worldwide surge?
    4. Is the disease caused by a virus, a bacterium or a parasite?
    Answer

    What does it measure: presence, a surge, or a worldwide surge?. The three differ by scale and pattern, not by pathogen, species or variety of English.

13. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    'Corruption is endemic in the department' uses endemic in which sense?

    1. regularly present there and hard to remove
    2. found only in that one department and nowhere else
    3. occurring only occasionally and at random
    4. spreading rapidly across the whole country
    Answer

    regularly present there and hard to remove. Oxford’s general sense of endemic is regularly found in a place or group and difficult to get rid of. The ecological sense of 'found only there' is for species, not for corruption.

Word partners · the verbs of a parliamentary committee: constituted, nominated, referred, considers, examines, reports

14. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    Each Department-related Standing Committee is ___ for a term of one year.

    1. represented
    2. nominated
    3. reconsidered
    4. constituted
    Answer

    constituted. A committee is constituted; members are nominated; a committee is neither represented nor reconsidered for a term. The Rules give the committees a one-year term.

15. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    Twenty-one members are ___ by the Speaker and ten by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

    1. appointed
    2. constituted
    3. referred
    4. nominated
    Answer

    nominated. Rule 331D: members are nominated by the presiding officers. The chairperson is appointed from among them; the committee itself is constituted.

16. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Arrange the steps of a Bill’s passage through a standing committee in the order the Rules set out.

    • the Speaker or Chairman refers it to the committee
    • the committee examines it and takes evidence
    • the committee makes its report
    • the report is presented to the House, which then considers the Bill
    • the Bill is introduced in the House
    Answer

    1. the Bill is introduced in the House
    2. the Speaker or Chairman refers it to the committee
    3. the committee examines it and takes evidence
    4. the committee makes its report
    5. the report is presented to the House, which then considers the Bill

    Introduction comes first; reference is the presiding officer’s decision; examination and report follow; the House takes up the Bill only after the report is presented.

17. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each object to the verb the Rules pair with it.

    1. Demands for Grants
    2. a Bill
    3. members
    4. a report in the Rajya Sabha

    1. laid on the Table
    2. considered
    3. nominated
    4. examined
    Answer

    • Demands for Grants: considered
    • a Bill: examined
    • members: nominated
    • a report in the Rajya Sabha: laid on the Table

    Rule 331E uses consider for Demands and annual reports and examine for Bills; Rule 331D has members nominated; reports are laid on the Table of the Rajya Sabha.

18. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Who refers a Bill to a Department-related Standing Committee?

    1. The Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman
    2. The Minister in charge of the Bill in the House
    3. The committee itself, by a majority of its members
    4. The Prime Minister, on the advice of the Cabinet
    Answer

    The Speaker or the Rajya Sabha Chairman. Rule 331E: Bills are examined 'as are referred to the Committee by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker'. Ministers and the committee cannot refer a Bill.

19. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the word that uses the wrong verb.

    The Speaker constituted the Bill to the committee for examination.

    Answer

    constituted → referred. A Bill is referred to a committee; a committee is constituted. The Speaker referred the Bill to the committee for examination.

20. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which statement about a committee’s report is correct?

    1. It binds the government to amend the Bill as the committee recommends
    2. It is passed by the committee and becomes law on presentation
    3. It replaces the debate on the Bill in the House altogether
    4. It is advisory; the government need not accept it
    Answer

    It is advisory; the government need not accept it. Reports are recommendations. The House still debates and decides the Bill, and the government is free to accept or reject the suggestions.

Today's key term · umbrella species

21. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    What makes a species an umbrella species?

    1. Its popularity raises money and public support for conservation
    2. Its removal causes the whole ecosystem to change or collapse
    3. Protecting its large habitat shelters many other species
    4. Its presence shows that the surrounding environment is healthy
    Answer

    Protecting its large habitat shelters many other species. The umbrella is the large area requirement that covers other species' needs. Popularity defines a flagship, disproportionate effect a keystone, and signalling an indicator species.

22. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    The tiger is India’s best-known ___ species: its appeal has drawn funds and public support to conservation since 1973.

    1. flagship
    2. invasive
    3. endemic
    4. indicator
    Answer

    flagship. A flagship species is chosen for its charisma and the support it attracts. Indicator species signal environmental health; endemic and invasive describe distribution and origin.

23. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each label to its basis.

    1. umbrella species
    2. flagship species
    3. keystone species
    4. indicator species

    1. effect out of proportion to its numbers
    2. large habitat needs that cover other species
    3. presence or health signals the environment’s state
    4. charisma and public support
    Answer

    • umbrella species: large habitat needs that cover other species
    • flagship species: charisma and public support
    • keystone species: effect out of proportion to its numbers
    • indicator species: presence or health signals the environment’s state

    The four labels answer four different questions: how much land, how much goodwill, how much ecological leverage, and what the species tells us.

24. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the label that is wrong.

    Sea otters are an umbrella species: when they vanish, urchins multiply and kelp forests collapse.

    Answer

    umbrella → keystone. A species whose removal changes the whole system out of proportion to its numbers is a keystone species. Umbrella refers to habitat area, not to this chain of effects.

25. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Protecting GIB grasslands also protects larks, spiny-tailed lizards, desert foxes and migratory birds. This fact makes the GIB a(n) ___ for the Thar.

    1. indicator species
    2. umbrella species
    3. invasive species
    4. sporadic species
    Answer

    umbrella species. Shelter for many species under one species' habitat protection is the umbrella effect. The GIB is not an indicator of anything in this sentence, and it is native, not invasive.

26. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which pair is correctly matched?

    1. Lichens as indicator species for air quality
    2. Tiger as indicator species for forest cover
    3. Sea otter as flagship species chosen for its range size
    4. Giant panda as keystone species of bamboo forests
    Answer

    Lichens as indicator species for air quality. Lichens are classic indicators of air pollution. The panda is a flagship (and umbrella), not a keystone; the sea otter is a keystone; the tiger is a flagship and umbrella, not an indicator.

Cut the padding · the delayed subject: there is, there are, it is ... that

27. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    Cut the dummy opener in fourteen words or fewer.

    There is a clause in the 2024 criteria that allows the classical form to be discontinuous with the modern language.

    Word limit 14

    Model

    The 2024 criteria allow the classical form to be discontinuous with the modern language. The criteria become the subject and take the verb allow; there is ... that disappears. No fact is added or lost.

28. Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.

    Cut the dummy opener in twelve words or fewer.

    It is the Lieutenant Governor who controls police and public order in the Union Territory.

    Word limit 12

    Model

    The Lieutenant Governor controls police and public order in the Union Territory. The real subject, the Lieutenant Governor, starts the sentence and takes the verb; it is ... who is removed with no loss.

29. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the phrase that delays the subject.

    There were about nine lakh names that were deleted from Uttarakhand's roll.

    Answer

    There were about → About. Remove there were and let the names be the subject: About nine lakh names that were deleted from Uttarakhand’s roll. In a full rewrite you would also drop that were.

30. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which is the plainest accurate version?

    1. There is a requirement under Section 19 of POCSO that any person with knowledge of an offence must report it
    2. Section 19 of POCSO requires any person with knowledge of an offence to report it
    3. It is Section 19 of POCSO that there is a requirement in for reporting
    4. There exists under Section 19 of POCSO a reporting requirement for persons
    Answer

    Section 19 of POCSO requires any person with knowledge of an offence to report it. The section is the subject and requires is its verb. The others open with a dummy subject or stack prepositions.

31. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each padded opener to its plain replacement.

    1. There are 24 committees that scrutinise ministries
    2. It is the Registrar General who notifies the register
    3. It was in 2005 that India declared elimination
    4. There is no national invasive species policy

    1. India declared elimination in 2005
    2. The Registrar General notifies the register
    3. Twenty-four committees scrutinise ministries
    4. keep it: existence is the point
    Answer

    • There are 24 committees that scrutinise ministries: Twenty-four committees scrutinise ministries
    • It is the Registrar General who notifies the register: The Registrar General notifies the register
    • It was in 2005 that India declared elimination: India declared elimination in 2005
    • There is no national invasive species policy: keep it: existence is the point

    Three openers delay a subject that can start the sentence; the fourth states an absence, which is what there is does best.

32. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    When is 'there is' the right choice?

    1. When the point is that something exists or does not
    2. When the sentence is comfortably under the word limit
    3. When the answer needs to sound formal and official
    4. Whenever the subject is a long or complex noun phrase
    Answer

    When the point is that something exists or does not. Existence is the one job the dummy subject does well. Word limits, long subjects and formality do not justify it.

33. Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.

    Put the three steps of the fix in order.

    • make the real subject start the sentence and give it the verb
    • check that the claim is unchanged and no sentence opens with digits
    • find the dummy opener (there is, it is ... that)
    Answer

    1. find the dummy opener (there is, it is ... that)
    2. make the real subject start the sentence and give it the verb
    3. check that the claim is unchanged and no sentence opens with digits

    Find, replace, check: the method taught in every concision lesson, applied to the delayed subject.

Correct usage · at the earliest means no sooner than, not as soon as possible

34. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the phrase that an examiner may misread, and replace it.

    Kindly send the compliance report at the earliest.

    Answer

    at the earliest. → as soon as possible.. With no time before it, at the earliest is being used in the Indian sense of as soon as possible. Write that, and the sentence means the same to every reader.

35. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    The final register can be notified by December ___, since the data handover comes first.

    1. at the earliest possible
    2. at the earliest
    3. at earliest
    4. at the soonest time
    Answer

    at the earliest. A time, December, comes before the phrase, so at the earliest carries its dictionary sense: not before December. The other forms are not standard.

36. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    What does 'at the earliest' mean in standard British and American English?

    1. not before the time stated
    2. early in the morning of that day
    3. as soon as the writer possibly can
    4. before anyone else has done it
    Answer

    not before the time stated. Oxford: We can’t finish before next Friday at the earliest. The phrase sets the earliest possible time, not a request for speed.

37. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which sentence uses the phrase in its standard sense?

    1. Please revert to this office at the earliest
    2. The committee must hold its first meeting at the earliest
    3. The report will be ready by Friday at the earliest
    4. Kindly do the needful and confirm at the earliest
    Answer

    The report will be ready by Friday at the earliest. Only the first has a time before the phrase, so it means not before Friday. The others use the Indian office sense of as soon as possible.

38. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each phrase to its meaning.

    1. at the earliest
    2. at the latest
    3. as soon as possible
    4. early on

    1. no later than the time stated
    2. no sooner than the time stated
    3. at an early stage of something
    4. with no avoidable delay
    Answer

    • at the earliest: no sooner than the time stated
    • at the latest: no later than the time stated
    • as soon as possible: with no avoidable delay
    • early on: at an early stage of something

    Oxford gives at the latest as the partner floor-and-ceiling phrase; as soon as possible is the plain request; early on means at an early stage.

39. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Why is the verdict 'Avoid in exams' rather than 'Error'?

    1. Because it is grammatically wrong in every variety of English
    2. Because Oxford marks it as slang and advises against it in writing
    3. Indian offices use it widely, but no dictionary records the sense
    4. Because the phrase is American English, which examiners dislike
    Answer

    Indian offices use it widely, but no dictionary records the sense. A form used by the Supreme Court and every government office is not an error in India, but an examiner reading standard English will take at the earliest as no sooner than, so the phrase is best avoided when you mean as soon as possible.

Idioms in answers · set the clock back

40. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    In 'acceptance of the resolution would set the clock back', what did the Cabinet mean?

    1. it would change the time zone used in the State
    2. it would delay the Assembly’s next session by a year
    3. it would postpone the Assembly elections by a year
    4. it would return J&K to an earlier constitutional position
    Answer

    it would return J&K to an earlier constitutional position. The idiom means returning to a past situation, here the pre-1953 position. The other options read the clock literally.

41. Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.

    Critics said the new censorship law would ___ by fifty years.

    1. run out the clock
    2. turn the clock back
    3. put the clocks forward
    4. beat the clock
    Answer

    turn the clock back. Oxford’s own example: the law will turn the clock back 50 years, meaning return to old-fashioned ways. Putting the clocks forward is the literal summer-time change; beat and run out the clock are about time limits.

42. Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.

    Match each expression to its meaning.

    1. set the clock back
    2. the clock is ticking
    3. against the clock
    4. stop the clock

    1. hurrying to finish in time
    2. return to an earlier situation
    3. pause the counting of time
    4. time is running out
    Answer

    • set the clock back: return to an earlier situation
    • the clock is ticking: time is running out
    • against the clock: hurrying to finish in time
    • stop the clock: pause the counting of time

    Oxford idioms under clock. Only the first is about the past; the others are about deadlines.

43. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which placement follows the house style for a GS answer?

    1. In the first sentence, to set the tone
    2. Twice, to frame and to close
    3. Once, after the fact it sums up
    4. In the conclusion of every answer
    Answer

    Once, after the fact it sums up. At most one idiom in a GS answer, never in the first sentence, and only after the fact it sums up.

44. Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.

    Find the phrase that confuses two idioms.

    With the deadline hours away, officials were working to turn back the clock.

    Answer

    turn back the clock. → against the clock.. Hurrying to meet a deadline is working against the clock. Turning back the clock means returning to the past.

45. Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.

    Which plain sentence says the same as 'the resolution would set the clock back'?

    1. The resolution would be passed earlier than originally planned
    2. The resolution would restore an earlier arrangement
    3. The resolution would extend the Assembly’s term by a year
    4. The resolution would be delayed indefinitely by the House
    Answer

    The resolution would restore an earlier arrangement. The idiom points to a return to the past. The others misstate what the Cabinet said.

Reading in the CSAT shape

A passage quoted from The Fourth Language We Are Leaving Out: Mother Tongue and Questions, then inference questions on it.

The National Education Policy, 2020 recommends that the medium of instruction, wherever possible, be the home language or mother tongue until at least Grade 5 and preferably till Grade 8, with English and other languages taught as subjects. Article 350A directs States to provide primary instruction in the mother tongue for linguistic minorities. The research case rests on comprehension and confidence.

Children who are taught in a language they do not understand concentrate on decoding words rather than ideas; UNESCO reviews find lower learning outcomes where the medium of instruction differs from the home language, and the effect falls hardest on first-generation learners. The less measured cost is confidence: a child who cannot follow the lesson stops participating, and participation is where questioning, reasoning and the habit of disagreement are learnt. In an economy where machines produce answers, these habits of enquiry are the distinguishing human skill; a classroom that silences questions in Grade 1 produces compliant rather than curious adults. The counter-case is real: English is the language of higher education, the professions and mobility, and parents choose English-medium schools because they see this.

The language question is not mother tongue versus English but comprehension first and English well. A child who learns to think aloud in her own language gains the confidence to question; English then opens doors that a silenced child never reaches. Policy should fund that sequence rather than argue about which language wins.

1. Which of the following can be most validly inferred from the passage?

   1. English-medium schooling always produces lower learning outcomes for every child
   2. First-generation learners should be exempted from learning English at school
   3. Parents choose English-medium schools for the opportunities English brings
   4. Article 350A requires every school in India to teach in the mother tongue
   Answer

   Parents choose English-medium schools for the opportunities English brings. The passage calls the counter-case real and says parents choose English-medium schools because they see that English is the language of higher education and mobility. The second is too extreme, the third misstates Article 350A (linguistic minorities, primary stage), and the fourth is the reverse of the author’s view.

2. The claim that a classroom which silences questions in Grade 1 produces compliant adults rests on which assumption?

   1. Machines will soon replace teachers in classrooms
   2. Every child who understands the lesson will ask questions
   3. Habits formed in early schooling persist into adult life
   4. Adults who ask questions were all taught in their mother tongue
   Answer

   Habits formed in early schooling persist into adult life. The argument moves from a Grade 1 habit to an adult trait, which works only if early habits persist. The second is too extreme, the third is not claimed, and the fourth is outside the passage.

3. Which of the following best captures the crux of the passage?

   1. Teach first in the child’s language, then teach English well
   2. Mother-tongue instruction matters more than measured learning outcomes
   3. The three-language formula should be made compulsory in every State
   4. English should be removed from the early years of schooling altogether
   Answer

   Teach first in the child’s language, then teach English well. The passage’s own summary is comprehension first and English well. The second and third go beyond or against it, and the fourth is outside its scope.

4. Which policy is most consistent with the passage?

   1. A single national medium of instruction for all schools in the country
   2. Replacing tests of reading and arithmetic with tests of confidence
   3. Postponing English until higher education and the professions
   4. Home-language teaching early, with English taught well as a subject
   Answer

   Home-language teaching early, with English taught well as a subject. The passage asks for a sequence: comprehension in the home language first, then English well. A single medium, abandoning learning tests and postponing English to college are not what it proposes.

5. What is the main message of the passage?

   1. English is the only language that matters for a child’s future prospects
   2. Learning outcomes cannot be measured fairly in multilingual classrooms
   3. The medium of instruction should be decided by parents alone, not the State
   4. Teach comprehension first; the confidence to question follows; then English
   Answer

   Teach comprehension first; the confidence to question follows; then English. The closing paragraph states the message. The second contradicts the passage, the third is not claimed, and the fourth is outside its scope.

Writing task · Should every Bill be referred to a standing committee?

In no more than 100 words, argue whether reference of every Bill to a Department-related Standing Committee should be the default. Use at least one of today’s committee verbs (referred, examines, examined, considers, considered, nominated, constituted, presented or laid), do not open a sentence with there is, there are or it is ... that, and do not write at the earliest when you mean as soon as possible.

Companion to Vocab Builder (what a word scores in a GS answer) and Key Terms. Wordcraft is the language itself.