The one rule that governs everything here
Ornament loses marks. Precision wins them. Examiners reward clarity and economy and penalise decoration. Wordcraft never teaches a word so you can sound impressive. It teaches the word that is exactly right, the pair you must never swap, the verb a noun takes, and the fifteen words you can delete.
Glossary from the edition
12 words, each quoted in the sentence where it appeared in the 6 October 2026 edition. Meaning first, then the sentence, then where it came from.
That cannot be divided into separate parts (Oxford).
हिंदी: अविभाज्य; जिसे बाँटा न जा सके
Separate the divisible from the indivisible.
From Working for Peace: India's Role in the Russia-Ukraine War · The editorial’s method for a mediator: set apart the issues neither side will split (territory, sovereignty, security guarantees) from those that can be traded (trade routes, food exports, prisoner exchanges), and start with the second kind. The indivisible issues are the zero-sum ones of the 28 August lesson. Don’t confuse with invisible, which is about being seen.
The act of cutting off a person’s head (Oxford). Oxford gives the verb decapitate a second sense, 'to reduce the power of a group or organization by removing its leaders', which is the sense here.
हिंदी: सिर काटना; (लाक्षणिक) किसी संगठन के नेतृत्व का सफ़ाया
Americans judge each differently: the drone command is widely seen as necessary, while the removal of senior officers has been criticised as a "decapitation" of military leadership from within.
From America's Military Populism: Department of War Reforms · The quotation marks matter: the word is the critics' charge, not a neutral description, so in an answer credit it or use the plain version, 'the removal of senior commanders'. From Latin de, off, and caput, head (Etymonline dates decapitate to the 1610s): the caput of capital and per capita.
A medical condition in which soft tissue in the body becomes hard (Oxford). The Online Etymology Dictionary dates the figurative sense, 'excessive resistance to change', to 1954.
हिंदी: ऊतकों का कड़ा होना; (लाक्षणिक) जड़ता, बदलाव का विरोध
Unlock private capital; dismantle regulatory sclerosis; lower the cost of capital
From The Looming Crisis of World Unemployment: Demographic Dividend · Regulatory sclerosis is rules hardened to the point where they no longer respond to the economy they govern. Medicine keeps the literal sense in multiple sclerosis and arteriosclerosis. From Greek sklerosis, hardening, from skleros, hard. The word suits an essay or an editorial; in a GS answer, name the rules instead: 'slow approvals and overlapping inspections'.
An injury, illness or condition that means that part of your body or brain does not work as it normally would or as it does in most people (Oxford).
हिंदी: क्षति; किसी अंग या क्षमता की दुर्बलता
The press release notes that researchers are using the method in attempts to restore sight in people with visual impairment, by making surviving retinal cells respond to light.
From Nobel Prize in Medicine 2026: Optogenetics and Channelrhodopsin · Visual impairment and hearing impairment are the standard neutral terms in policy writing. Impairment names the condition; disability writing, including today’s editorial on AI, is about what happens when the condition meets inaccessible systems. The verb is impair, 'to damage something or make something worse' (Oxford): 'His age impaired his chances of finding a new job.'
An arrangement with a company in which you pay them regular amounts of money and they agree to pay the costs, for example, if you die or are ill, or if you lose or damage something; also (Oxford, sense 4) 'something you do to protect yourself against something bad happening in the future'.
हिंदी: बीमा; (संरक्षण में) विलुप्ति से बचाव हेतु सुरक्षित आबादी
For a species of about 120 birds, there is no time to wait for land-use reform; a captive population is insurance against extinction.
From Bird Islands: Great Indian Bustard, Landscape Conservation · Conservation has a term of art for this: the IUCN’s 2014 guidelines on ex situ management list a 'rescue or insurance population' among the roles a captive group can play. Project GIB’s breeding centres at Sam and Ramdevra in Jaisalmer held 97 birds as of 3 October 2026, 57 of them bred in captivity. The insurance pays out only if birds can later survive in the wild, which is the editorial’s point about habitat.
(economics) The amount by which money spent or owed is greater than money earned in a particular period of time; (formal) 'the amount by which something, especially an amount of money, is too small or smaller than something else' (Oxford).
हिंदी: घाटा; (वर्षा में) सामान्य से कमी
The Hindu links this to El Niño, with June 2026 recording India’s largest June rainfall deficit since 2014.
From Coal Stocks at Power Plants: Supply Up, Stocks Still Critical · IMD states rainfall as a departure from normal; for a district or subdivision, 20 to 59 per cent below normal is 'deficient' and 60 to 99 per cent below is 'large deficient'. A deficit is a shortfall over a period; debt is the stock that deficits add up to. Tharoor’s column uses the word for jobs: a 'jobs deficit of about 800 million'. Deficient, the adjective, is an earlier lesson.
The state of continuing to live or exist, often despite difficulty or danger (Oxford).
हिंदी: उत्तरजीविता; जीवित बचे रहना
With 41 of 60 born in India, the project’s success depends more on cub survival and space than on further translocations.
From Project Cheetah Reaches 60: KJP21 Cubs and a Botswana Lineage · In conservation, survival is counted: cub survival is the share of cubs still alive at a set age, and today’s bustard editorial says captive-bred birds released into the wild 'have low survival in their first years'. Medicine uses it the same way (five-year survival after a cancer diagnosis). Write 'low cub survival', not 'cubs are not surviving much'.
The official process of settling an argument or a disagreement by somebody who is not involved (Oxford).
हिंदी: मध्यस्थता द्वारा निर्णय; पंचाट
local remedies before arbitration, a right to regulate
From India-Switzerland Visit 2026: Mobility Pact and Young Professionals · In arbitration a neutral arbitrator decides and the award binds the parties; in mediation a neutral helps the parties reach their own agreement. India’s laws are the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and the Mediation Act, 2023. The deep dive’s point is India’s 2015 model investment treaty: an investor must first try the host country’s own remedies. Arbitrary, a 5 October word, shares the root: Latin arbiter, in law 'he who hears and decides a case' (Etymonline).
(formal) So dangerous or serious that it must by law be reported officially to the authorities (Oxford).
हिंदी: अधिसूचनीय; जिसकी सूचना कानूनन देनी अनिवार्य हो
Cancer is not a communicable disease, yet it can be made notifiable: notification is a legal reporting duty, not a sign of contagion.
From To Fight Cancer, Count It: Making Cancer Notifiable · Oxford ties the word to danger; the column widens it to a reporting duty that serves planning, which is why it adds 'not a sign of contagion'. On 11 August 2026 the Supreme Court asked the 19 States and Union Territories that had not notified cancer to consider doing so; 17 of the 36 already had. The verb is notify; the noun notification also means an official order published in the Gazette.
Difficult or impossible to reach, get or use (Oxford).
हिंदी: दुर्गम; जिस तक पहुँच या जिसका उपयोग संभव न हो
On the NClude platform, which uses AI to help disabled people fill job applications and government forms on inaccessible websites, 2,462 users were surveyed: 1,313 completed a task previously closed to them, but only 543 through AI alone.
From Disabled Citizens and the Future of AI: Accessibility First · In disability law accessibility is a right: in Rajive Raturi v. Union of India (8 November 2024) the Supreme Court held it a facet of Article 21 and found the accessibility rules toothless, giving the Centre three months to frame mandatory standards. The negative is inaccessible, with in-; unaccessible is not standard.
To travel regularly by bus, train, car, etc. between your place of work and your home; (law) 'to replace one punishment with another that is less severe' (Oxford).
हिंदी: रोज़ आना-जाना; (विधि) सज़ा को हल्की सज़ा में बदलना
Two-wheelers are the main mode for 42.6% of workers who commute to a fixed workplace, while students mostly walk.
From National Household Travel Survey 2025-26: How India Commutes · Articles 72 and 161 empower the President and a Governor to 'suspend, remit or commute' a sentence; Oxford’s own example is 'The death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.' Article 72 is the wider power: it alone covers sentences by a court martial. The traveller’s sense grew out of the payment sense: Etymonline records commuter by 1822 in American English, first the holder of a commutation ticket, a reduced-rate railway or ferry ticket.
To prove that something is true; to make something legally recognised; to state officially that something is useful and of an acceptable standard (Oxford).
हिंदी: सत्यापित करना; पुष्टि करना
Notification gives timely information on diagnosed cases; registries validate, enrich and analyse it to understand incidence, patterns and trends.
From To Fight Cancer, Count It: Making Cancer Notifiable · Notification is the first report; the registry validates it before planners use it, which is why the column wants both. Oxford gives the opposite as invalidate, and the legal sense in 'to validate a contract'.
The seven lessons
One entry of each type, every day: a system, not a word list.
1 · Word roots
populus · popularis · poplicus
Latin: a people, a nation, the body of citizens; "a word of unknown origin" (Etymonline)
Today’s Hindu column on the US military is about populism, and its write-up speaks of "populist culture politics". Shashi Tharoor’s table calls India the "World’s most populous country"; the cheetah deep dive lists metapopulation among its keywords; and population and public run through almost every page. The Online Etymology Dictionary traces English people through Old French to Latin populus, "a people, nation; body of citizens; a multitude, crowd, throng", which also gives Spanish pueblo and Italian popolo.
| Word | Formed from | Meaning | From the edition, or from the root |
|---|---|---|---|
| people | Old French pople, from populus | persons in general; a nation | root |
| population | Late Latin populatio (1610s in English) | all the people who live in an area; a group of people or animals living in an area (Oxford) | edition: throughout, from the travel survey to the cheetahs |
| populous | post-classical Latin populosus, full of people | where a large number of people live (Oxford) | edition: "World’s most populous country" |
| popular | Latin popularis, of the people | liked by many; of ordinary people | root |
| populism, populist | the US People’s Party (populist 1892, populism 1893) | a type of politics that claims to represent the opinions and wishes of ordinary people (Oxford) | edition: the US military column, "populist culture politics" |
| public | Latin publicus, from Old Latin poplicus | of or for people in general | edition: "public health authorities" (the cancer column) |
Populism can be a charge. Oxford defines it neutrally. The Online Etymology Dictionary notes that from the 1960s it was used for movements that rally ordinary people who feel disregarded by established parties and elites, and that it is also used pejoratively, for simplistic demagoguery. The Hindu column puts rhetoric about personnel’s appearance and identity, and the removal of senior officers, on the populist side of the US military overhaul. In an answer, say what you mean by the word in the same sentence: "populist measures, such as the removal of senior officers".
Public, the hidden member. Public does not look like people, but Etymonline traces Latin publicus to Old Latin poplicus, "pertaining to the people", from populus, altered probably under the influence of pubes, "adult population, adult". So public health and public interest belong to the family.
Populous, not popular. Populous counts people; popular means liked. India is the most populous country, Uttar Pradesh the most populous State; neither is "the most popular". Populated is also standard ("densely populated"), but populous is the exact word for a place with many people.
The false friend: depopulate. Depopulate, to empty a place of its people, looks like de- plus populate, and that is how English uses it. Etymonline adds that it came, "perhaps", from Latin depopulari, "to lay waste, ravage": Latin populari meant to plunder, and on such evidence the root of populus is said to have meant "army". The ravaging sense did not survive in English.
From the US military column (populism, "populist culture politics"), Tharoor’s column ("World’s most populous country"), the cheetah deep dive (metapopulation) and the cancer column ("public health authorities").
2 · Look-alike words
contagious · infectious
spread by close contact between people; passed on by infection, by contact or another route
Today’s cancer column says notification "is common for infectious diseases, where reporting helps contain outbreaks", and the edition’s warning box adds that notifying cancer is "not a sign of contagion". The Constitution uses both words side by side: Entry 29 of the Concurrent List reads "Prevention of the extension from one State to another of infectious or contagious diseases or pests affecting men, animals or plants." (The column’s fact vault gives the sense of it as "the spread".) The two words overlap, and the overlap is the trap.
| contagious | infectious | |
|---|---|---|
| Oxford | "a contagious disease spreads by close contact between people" | "an infectious disease can be passed easily from one person to another, especially through air or water" |
| Oxford’s example | "Scarlet fever is highly contagious." | "Flu is highly infectious." |
| Of a person | has a disease others can catch by close contact | "I’m still infectious." (can pass the disease on) |
| The edge case | a contagious disease is always infectious | an infectious disease need not be contagious: tetanus, caught from bacteria in soil, "cannot be transmitted from person to person" (WHO) |
| The noun | contagion | infection |
The safe rule. Infectious is the wider word: the disease is caused by germs that enter the body. Contagious adds that it passes from person to person by contact. Every contagious disease is infectious; tetanus shows that the reverse fails. Oxford’s learner definition of infectious stresses spread between people, so the words are often used loosely; in a GS answer, the exact pair is worth getting right.
Communicable is the policy word. Health programmes divide diseases into communicable and non-communicable, as in the NP-NCD, the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Non-Communicable Diseases, named in the cancer column’s vault. Cancer is non-communicable; the column’s point is that it can still be notifiable, because notification is "about data for planning, not contagion".
Contagion, the metaphor. Oxford’s third sense of contagion (formal) is "something bad that spreads quickly by being passed from person to person", with the example "the contagion of political extremism". Economists use it for a crisis that spreads from one market to another. The 4 October pair, endemic, epidemic, pandemic, measures how far a disease has spread; this pair says how it spreads.
From the cancer column: "common for infectious diseases", "not a sign of contagion" and the Entry 29 line in its fact vault.
3 · Word partners
sworn · affirmed · attested · notarised · self-declared
how a written statement is given legal weight, in the words of the Oaths Act, 1969, the Notaries Act, 1952 and the Code of Civil Procedure
Today’s affidavits write-up asks "why must a citizen swear an affidavit at all?" It traces the device to "Act XIV of 1848, which empowered the Supreme Court at Fort William (Calcutta) to commission persons to take affidavits and solemn affirmations". The 4 October pack taught the word and its commonest verb, to file an affidavit. Today’s lesson covers the other verbs: who swears, who administers the oath, what a notary does, and what a citizen does without one. The statutes use a small, exact set of verbs.
| Step | The verb | The source’s wording |
|---|---|---|
| the maker, on oath | swears an affidavit; the affidavit is sworn | Oxford, affidavit: "a written statement that you swear is true, and that can be used as evidence in court" |
| the maker, without an oath | affirms; makes a solemn affirmation | Oaths Act s.5: "A witness, interpreter or juror may, instead of making an oath, make an affirmation." |
| the officer | administers the oath; takes the affidavit | CPC s.139: "may administer the oath to the deponent"; Notaries Act s.8(1)(e): "administer oath to, or take affidavit from, any person" |
| the notary, on a document | attests, verifies, authenticates or certifies its execution | Notaries Act s.8(1)(a): "verify, authenticate, certify or attest the execution of any instrument" |
| the result | the document is notarised | Oxford, notarize: "if a document is notarized, it is given legal status by a notary" |
| the citizen, alone | self-attests a copy; self-declares a fact | the edition’s trap box: "signing your own photocopy as a true copy" and "stating a fact in writing yourself" |
| the US alternative | declares under penalty of perjury | 28 U.S.C. 1746: "I declare (or certify, verify, or state) under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct." |
Sworn or affirmed. An affirmation is the solemn alternative to an oath: the Oaths Act lets a witness make one "instead of making an oath". That is why the 1848 Act spoke of "affidavits and solemn affirmations", and why the edition’s trap box says an affidavit is a statement "sworn or affirmed before an authorised person". Write sworn or affirmed when you mean both.
The officer administers; the maker swears. The notary or magistrate does not swear anything. Section 139 of the Code of Civil Procedure lets the officer "administer the oath to the deponent", the person who makes the affidavit. "The notary swore the oath" gets the roles backwards.
Attested is not self-attested. When a notary or a gazetted officer attests, a second person vouches for a signature or a copy. When a citizen self-attests, they sign their own photocopy as a true copy; when they self-declare, they state a fact in writing themselves. Neither is sworn. The Centre has asked offices since 2013 to accept self-attested copies and self-declarations in place of affidavits and attestation by gazetted officers where possible.
Under penalty of perjury. Oxford defines perjury as "the crime of telling a lie in court after you have sworn to tell the truth". The US statute keeps that liability for a declaration that is not sworn at all, which is the writer’s point: the oath can go while the punishment for lying stays. Oxford spells the verb notarize; notarise is the usual -ise spelling in Indian and British writing.
From the affidavits write-up ("swear an affidavit", "affidavits and solemn affirmations", the trap box, "unsworn declarations under penalty of perjury"), checked against the Oaths Act, 1969 (s.5), the Notaries Act, 1952 (s.8), the Code of Civil Procedure (s.139) and 28 U.S.C. 1746.
4 · Today's key term
founder effect
FOWN-dər i-FEKT · the loss of genetic variety when a new, isolated population is started by a few individuals
Today’s cheetah deep dive lists founder effect among its keywords and explains the worry in two sentences: "A small founder group is vulnerable to inbreeding. A Botswanan father adds a third source population to the Namibian and South African lines, widening the gene pool." Merriam-Webster defines the founder effect as "the effect on the resulting gene pool that occurs when a new isolated population is founded by a small number of individuals possessing limited genetic variation relative to the larger population from which they have migrated", and dates the term’s first known use to 1970.
| Term | What it means | Where it appears |
|---|---|---|
| founder effect | a few founders carry only part of the source population’s variety, so the new population starts narrow | the cheetah deep dive, keywords |
| founders | the individuals that start the population | the cheetah deep dive: "The founders were wild-caught animals from Africa." |
| inbreeding | "breeding (= producing young) between closely related people or animals" (Oxford) | the cheetah deep dive: "vulnerable to inbreeding" |
| gene pool | "all of the genes that are available within breeding populations of a particular species" (Oxford) | the cheetah deep dive: "widening the gene pool" |
| bottleneck | a sharp fall in the numbers of an existing population, which also loses variety | not in today’s edition |
Why it matters at Kuno. Project Cheetah began on 17 September 2022 with eight cheetahs from Namibia; more came from South Africa in 2023, and nine from Botswana in February 2026. On 5 October KJP21, a 32-month-old female born in India, gave birth to five cubs, taking the count to 60, of whom 41 were born in India. Their father is Botswanan, so these are the first cubs of the Botswana lineage. Every new source line adds variety the founders did not carry.
Founder effect or bottleneck. Both leave a population with less variety than it had, but the cause differs. In a founder effect a few individuals leave a large population and start a new one; in a bottleneck an existing population crashes and the survivors rebuild it. Kuno’s cheetahs are a founder case; a herd cut to a few dozen animals by disease would be a bottleneck.
In an answer. Use the term for any reintroduction, translocation or captive-breeding programme that starts from a few animals, and pair it with the remedy: more founders, from more source populations, and links between sites so that animals can move.
From the cheetah deep dive ("founder effect", "A small founder group is vulnerable to inbreeding", "widening the gene pool"), with Merriam-Webster’s definition of founder effect and Oxford’s of inbreeding and gene pool.
5 · Cut the padding
the empty relative clause
which is, who are, that was: a pronoun and a form of be that carry nothing the next words do not
What padding looks like
A noun is often followed by a clause that describes it: "Channelrhodopsin, which is a protein that is found in a green alga, opens when blue light falls on it." Look at what which is and that is contribute. The pronoun points back to the noun just named, and is only links it to the description. Take both out and the description still sits beside its noun: "Channelrhodopsin, a protein found in a green alga, opens when blue light falls on it." Grammarians call the cut whiz-deletion, from wh- plus is. What is left is a noun phrase (a protein), a participle (found, conducted, loaded), an adjective phrase or a phrase with a preposition, and each of them can describe a noun without help.
Why it costs marks
Each empty clause costs two words, and a 150-word answer that introduces five institutions, laws or people can carry five of them: ten words, which is a whole fact. The clause also makes the reader hold the noun while a second subject and verb go by, so the main verb arrives later than it needs to. An answer that names the NSO, the CEA and a Foreign Minister in quick succession reads faster when each description is a phrase and not a clause.
Fix it in three steps
- Find which, who or that followed directly by is, are, was or were.
- Delete the pronoun and the verb together, and nothing else.
- Check that what is left still sits next to the noun it describes, and that no date or tense has been lost.
Worked example. Start: "The survey, which was conducted by the NSO between July 2025 and June 2026, covered 4,92,023 households." (17 words). Find: which was. Delete: "The survey, conducted by the NSO between July 2025 and June 2026, covered 4,92,023 households." (15 words). Check: the participle conducted sits beside survey, and the dates keep the time. Two words saved, no fact lost.
Before and after
| Padded | Plain | Words saved |
|---|---|---|
| Channelrhodopsin, which is a protein that is found in a green alga, opens when blue light falls on it. (19) | Channelrhodopsin, a protein found in a green alga, opens when blue light falls on it. (15) | 4 |
| The survey, which was conducted by the NSO between July 2025 and June 2026, covered 4,92,023 households. (17) | The survey, conducted by the NSO between July 2025 and June 2026, covered 4,92,023 households. (15) | 2 |
| Andrii Sybiha, who is Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, said Kyiv has four ceasefire proposals. (13) | Andrii Sybiha, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister, said Kyiv has four ceasefire proposals. (11) | 2 |
| Coal stocks at 84 of the 191 plants that are tracked by the CEA were critical on 30 September. (19) | Coal stocks at 84 of the 191 plants tracked by the CEA were critical on 30 September. (17) | 2 |
| The young professionals quota, which is set at 300 a year from each country, may rise to 500. (18) | The young professionals quota, set at 300 a year from each country, may rise to 500. (16) | 2 |
The edition’s affidavits write-up has the same shape in its trap box: "an affidavit, which is a statement sworn or affirmed before an authorised person such as a notary or magistrate". It is correct as written; "an affidavit, a statement sworn or affirmed before an authorised person" says the same in two fewer words.
When not to cut
Only which, who or that plus a form of be can go. When the clause has a verb of its own, it is doing work: in "the NClude platform, which uses AI to help disabled people fill job applications", deleting which leaves "the NClude platform, uses AI", which is broken. Keep the clause when the tense carries a fact ("the strength, which was 34 and is now 38"), and keep or reorder it when the shortened phrase would land next to the wrong noun: "the order of the Court, which was issued in August" cut to "the order of the Court issued in August" makes it sound as if the Court was issued. Write "the Court’s August order" instead.
Try it in your answer
Cut the empty clause from this sentence on today’s Nobel deep dive: "Peter Hegemann, who is based at Humboldt University of Berlin, shares the prize with two others." The model is in the exercises.
Typical answer sentences on the day’s topics: the Nobel deep dive (channelrhodopsin, Hegemann), the travel survey (NSO, 4,92,023 households), the Russia-Ukraine write-up (Sybiha), the coal deep dive (84 of 191), the Switzerland deep dive (300 a year) and the roundup (the Dibrugarh barge); the trap-box sentence from the affidavits write-up and the NClude sentence from the disability and AI write-up.
6 · Correct usage
Ukraine, not the Ukraine; Kyiv, not Kiev
the country takes no article, and its capital is spelt from Ukrainian, not Russian
Verdict: Avoid
What people write
"The war in the Ukraine began on 24 February 2022." "Ukraine’s Foreign Minister says Kiev has four ceasefire proposals."
What to write instead
"The war in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022." "Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha says Kyiv has four ceasefire proposals", as today’s Russia-Ukraine write-up has it. The edition writes Kyiv throughout and never the Ukraine.
Why
The article. English puts the before a few country names: plural ones (the Netherlands, the Maldives, the Philippines) and ones built on a common noun (the United States, the United Kingdom). Ukraine is neither. "The Ukraine" was common in English while the country was part of the Soviet Union, and an article before a single name tends to mark a region, as in the Deccan. Since the referendum of December 1991 confirmed independence, the country is Ukraine; "the Ukraine" now reads as dated, and to many Ukrainians as a slight on their sovereignty.
The spelling. Kiev is transliterated from Russian, Kyiv from Ukrainian. Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched the #KyivNotKiev campaign on 2 October 2018; the US Board on Geographic Names voted on 11 June 2019 to make Kyiv the only name for standard use in the US government; and the Associated Press switched on 14 August 2019, "in line with the Ukrainian government’s preferred transliteration to English and increasing usage". AP kept one exception: the dish is still chicken Kiev.
Not every renaming works the same way. The UN has used Türkiye since 1 June 2022, the day it received Ankara’s request, but Turkey is still standard English. Today’s Russia-Ukraine write-up uses both: Turkey for the ceasefire proposers, Türkiye for the 2022 grain deal. Either is correct; in your own answer, pick one and keep to it.
A quick test
Swap in a country whose name is one word and not plural: if you would not write "the France", do not write "the Ukraine". For the capital, ask which language the spelling comes from: Ukrainian gives Kyiv.
In your answer
"Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha has called India’s proposal the "most comprehensive" Kyiv has received." "The war in Ukraine began on 24 February 2022."
From the Russia-Ukraine write-up, which writes Kyiv throughout, Turkey for the ceasefire proposers and Türkiye for the 2022 grain deal.
7 · Idioms in answers
on paper
judged from written information only, but not proved in practice (Oxford Learner’s)
Today’s bird islands write-up reports the editorial’s sharpest charge: "India’s conservation, while emphasising coexistence on paper, in practice promotes islands and "African-style reserves"." Oxford Learner’s defines on paper as "judged from written information only, but not proved in practice", with the example "The idea looks good on paper." The phrase rarely travels alone. Its partner is in practice, which Oxford glosses as "in reality", and the force of the sentence lies in the gap between the two.
The family
| Expression | What it means | Plain equivalent | Register |
|---|---|---|---|
| on paper | judged from written information only, but not proved in practice | as written; in the rules | neutral; safe in GS answers |
| in practice | in reality | in fact; on the ground | neutral |
| toothless | having no power or authority | unable to enforce anything | critical; fine in GS answers when the reason follows |
| have teeth | of an organisation or a law: to be powerful and effective | is enforceable | informal; essays and interview |
| not worth the paper it’s written on | of an agreement or official document: having no value, especially legally | worthless | informal and strong; an essay at most |
| the letter of the law | the exact words of a law or rule rather than its general meaning | the text, not the purpose | often disapproving |
Where to use it
| Setting | Use it? | How |
|---|---|---|
| GS answer, introduction | No | Open with the fact: the first captive-bred Great Indian Bustards have been released into the Desert National Park. |
| GS answer, body | Yes | Paired with in practice, with a fact on each side: what the law requires, then the record of compliance. |
| GS answer, conclusion | With care | Only to name a gap the body has already proved, followed at once by the remedy. |
| Essay | Yes | A natural hinge for a section on implementation, if the evidence comes in the next sentence. |
| Ethics case study | Yes | Name the gap exactly: "the code of conduct exists on paper; nobody in the office has been trained in it". |
| Interview | Yes | Spoken register; useful when asked why a good law has not worked, with one example ready. |
| Précis and the compulsory English paper | With care | In a précis, keep it only when the passage turns on the gap; in that paper’s essay, as for any essay. |
Model sentences
"On paper, the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016 has required accessible digital services since 2019; in practice, the Chief Commissioner has penalised 155 establishments, including ministries, for websites and apps that disabled citizens cannot use." The same point in plain words: "The 2016 Act has required accessible digital services since 2019, yet the Chief Commissioner has penalised 155 establishments, including ministries, for websites and apps that disabled citizens cannot use." And the family’s other member, from the same write-up: "In Rajive Raturi (November 2024), the Supreme Court found India’s accessibility rules toothless and gave the Centre three months to frame mandatory standards."
Don’t confuse
On paper is not a paper tiger (the 14 September idiom): a paper tiger presents itself as powerful and is not, while on paper only marks the gap between what is written and what happens. Nor is it a dead letter, a law nobody enforces at all: the 2016 Act’s digital duty has been enforced against 155 establishments, so the problem is weak compliance, not a dead law. And the idiom takes no article: on the paper means on a particular sheet or in a particular newspaper.
From the bird islands write-up ("coexistence on paper, in practice promotes islands") and the disability and AI write-up (the rules the Supreme Court found "toothless").
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 · populus: the people
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Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
Tharoor’s table describes India as the world’s most ___ country.
- populous
- public
- popular
- populist
Answer
populous. Populous means a large number of people live there (Oxford). Popular means liked, populist describes a style of politics, and public means of people in general.
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Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
A politics that claims to speak for ordinary people against elites is called ___.
- populism
- population
- publicity
- popularity
Answer
populism. Oxford: populism is a type of politics that claims to represent the opinions and wishes of ordinary people. Popularity is being liked; publicity is public attention.
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Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the word that says the wrong thing.
Uttar Pradesh is India's most popular State by number of people.
Answer
popular → populous. A State with the most people is the most populous. Popular means liked, which the rest of the sentence does not claim.
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Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each word to its meaning.
- populous
- populism
- population
- depopulate
- politics claiming to speak for ordinary people
- where a large number of people live
- all the people who live in an area
- to empty a place of its people
Answer
- populous: where a large number of people live
- populism: politics claiming to speak for ordinary people
- population: all the people who live in an area
- depopulate: to empty a place of its people
Oxford for the first three; depopulate is de- plus populate in English use.
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Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Which English word comes from Latin populus by way of Old Latin poplicus?
- puppet
- popcorn
- pupil
- public
Answer
public. Etymonline traces public to publicus, from poplicus, from populus. Pupil and puppet come from other Latin words, and pop in popcorn imitates a sound.
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Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Why should an answer say what it means by 'populist'?
- It applies only to the US People’s Party
- It means the same as popular and adds nothing
- It is too informal for any written answer
- It can be a charge, not a neutral label
Answer
It can be a charge, not a neutral label. Etymonline notes that populism is also used pejoratively, so a bare label reads as a judgement. It is not informal, not limited to the 1890s party, and not a synonym of popular.
Look-alike words · contagious / infectious
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Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
Tetanus is ___ but not contagious: it is caught from bacteria in soil, not from another person.
- hereditary
- contagious
- infectious
- communicable
Answer
infectious. Tetanus is caused by bacteria, so it is infectious, but WHO says it cannot be transmitted from person to person, so it is neither contagious nor communicable. Hereditary means passed from parents through genes.
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Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Which disease is infectious but not contagious?
- measles
- tetanus
- chickenpox
- scarlet fever
Answer
tetanus. Measles, chickenpox and scarlet fever pass from person to person; Oxford’s own example is 'Scarlet fever is highly contagious.' Tetanus does not.
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Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the word that is wrong.
Entry 29 of the Concurrent List covers infectious or contiguous diseases.
Answer
contiguous → contagious. Contiguous means sharing a border. Entry 29 speaks of 'infectious or contagious diseases'.
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Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each word to its meaning.
- contagious
- infectious
- non-communicable
- contagion
- passed on by infection
- spreads by close contact between people
- cannot pass from one person to another
- the spread of a disease by close contact
Answer
- contagious: spreads by close contact between people
- infectious: passed on by infection
- non-communicable: cannot pass from one person to another
- contagion: the spread of a disease by close contact
Oxford senses for contagious, infectious and contagion; non-communicable is the policy term the cancer column’s vault uses.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Why does the edition say notifying cancer is 'not a sign of contagion'?
- Cancer is contagious only in its earliest stages
- Cancer does not pass between people; the aim is data
- Contagion is reported to the police rather than to doctors
- Only contagious diseases can be notified by a State
Answer
Cancer does not pass between people; the aim is data. Cancer is non-communicable, and the column says notification is about data for planning. The other options misstate the disease or the law.
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Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
Economists feared financial ___ as the crisis spread from one market to the next.
- contamination
- infection
- contiguity
- contagion
Answer
contagion. Contagion, figuratively something bad that spreads quickly (Oxford, sense 3), is the economists' word for a spreading crisis. Contiguity is nearness; contamination is pollution.
Word partners · the verbs of an affidavit: sworn, affirmed, attested, notarised, self-declared
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Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
Under the Oaths Act, a witness may ___ instead of making an oath.
- attest
- notarise
- depose
- affirm
Answer
affirm. Section 5: a witness, interpreter or juror may, instead of making an oath, make an affirmation. Attest is what a notary does to a document; depose means to give evidence; notarise is the notary’s act.
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Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
Section 8 of the Notaries Act lets a notary verify, authenticate, certify or ___ the execution of any instrument.
- attest
- affirm
- declare
- swear
Answer
attest. The statute’s four verbs are verify, authenticate, certify and attest. The maker of a statement swears, affirms or declares; the notary does not.
-
Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the verb that gives the notary the maker’s role.
The notary swore the oath to the deponent.
Answer
swore → administered. CPC s.139: the officer may administer the oath to the deponent. The deponent swears; the notary administers.
-
Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each word to what happens.
- sworn
- affirmed
- self-attested
- self-declared
- made solemnly without an oath
- a fact stated in writing by the citizen
- own photocopy signed as a true copy
- made on oath before an authorised person
Answer
- sworn: made on oath before an authorised person
- affirmed: made solemnly without an oath
- self-attested: own photocopy signed as a true copy
- self-declared: a fact stated in writing by the citizen
The Oaths Act for sworn and affirmed; the edition’s trap box for self-attested and self-declared.
-
Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.
Put the making of a sworn affidavit in order.
- the maker swears to the statement and signs it
- the statement is drafted
- the affidavit is filed or submitted
- the officer administers the oath
- the maker appears before a notary or magistrate
Answer
- the statement is drafted
- the maker appears before a notary or magistrate
- the officer administers the oath
- the maker swears to the statement and signs it
- the affidavit is filed or submitted
Drafting comes first; the oath is administered by the officer and sworn by the maker; only then is the affidavit filed, the verb the 4 October pack taught.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
What does 28 U.S.C. 1746 allow?
- A declaration under penalty of perjury, unsworn
- An oath sworn before any notary in the world
- A statement that carries no liability at all
- Self-attested copies in place of originals
Answer
A declaration under penalty of perjury, unsworn. The US statute accepts an unsworn declaration made under penalty of perjury. It says nothing about notaries abroad or photocopies, and its whole point is that liability remains.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
In the edition’s trap box, how does a self-declaration differ from an affidavit?
- It is not sworn or affirmed before anyone
- It is made before a magistrate, not a notary
- It must be countersigned by a gazetted officer
- It can be used only in court proceedings
Answer
It is not sworn or affirmed before anyone. An affidavit is sworn or affirmed before an authorised person; a self-declaration is a fact the citizen states in writing themselves. The other options describe attestation or invent conditions.
Today's key term · founder effect
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
What is the founder effect?
- Lost variety when a few animals start a population
- A sudden crash in the numbers of an existing population
- The edge the first species to arrive has over later ones
- The mixing of genes when two populations interbreed
Answer
Lost variety when a few animals start a population. Merriam-Webster: the effect on the gene pool when a new isolated population is founded by a few individuals. The second option is a bottleneck; the third is gene flow; the fourth is about competing species, not genes.
-
Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
A Botswanan father adds a third source population, widening the gene ___.
- map
- pool
- flow
- bank
Answer
pool. The edition’s phrase is widening the gene pool, all the genes available in a breeding population (Oxford). A gene bank stores seeds or samples; a gene map locates genes; gene flow is the movement of genes between populations.
-
Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the words that reverse the edition’s point.
A small founder group is safe from inbreeding.
Answer
safe from → vulnerable to. The edition says a small founder group is vulnerable to inbreeding: with few founders, mates are more likely to be close relatives.
-
Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each term to its meaning.
- founder effect
- bottleneck
- inbreeding
- gene pool
- a few individuals start a new population
- an existing population crashes
- all the genes in a breeding population
- breeding between close relatives
Answer
- founder effect: a few individuals start a new population
- bottleneck: an existing population crashes
- inbreeding: breeding between close relatives
- gene pool: all the genes in a breeding population
Merriam-Webster for founder effect, Oxford for inbreeding and gene pool; bottleneck is the standard contrast term.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Why does the father of KJP21’s cubs matter to Project Cheetah?
- He shows cheetahs can breed in the monsoon
- He replaces males lost to leopard attacks
- He adds a third genetic line to the founders
- He was the first cheetah born in India
Answer
He adds a third genetic line to the founders. The father is Botswanan, so the cubs add a Botswana line to the Namibian and South African ones. KJP21, the mother, was born in India; the other options are not in the edition.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Which is a bottleneck, not a founder effect?
- A handful of settlers found a new village
- A disease cuts a large herd to a few dozen animals
- A few birds blown to an island found a new colony
- Eight cheetahs flown in start a population at Kuno
Answer
A disease cuts a large herd to a few dozen animals. In a bottleneck an existing population crashes and the survivors rebuild it. The other three are new populations started by a few founders, which is the founder effect.
Cut the padding · the empty relative clause: which is, who are, that was
-
Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.
Cut the empty clause in fourteen words or fewer.
Peter Hegemann, who is based at Humboldt University of Berlin, shares the prize with two others.
Word limit 14
Model
Peter Hegemann, based at Humboldt University of Berlin, shares the prize with two others. Who and is go together; the participle based describes Hegemann on its own. No fact is added or lost.
-
Say it shorter Rewrite the sentence below within the word limit.
Cut the empty clause in thirteen words or fewer.
The barge, which was loaded with 540 tonnes of methanol, left Dibrugarh on 5 October.
Word limit 13
Model
The barge, loaded with 540 tonnes of methanol, left Dibrugarh on 5 October. Which and was go; loaded sits beside barge, and the date keeps the past tense clear.
-
Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the words that can go.
Five cubs were born to KJP21, which is an Indian-born female, on 5 October.
Answer
which is → (delete). Five cubs were born to KJP21, an Indian-born female, on 5 October. The noun phrase describes KJP21 without the pronoun and the verb.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Which is the plainest accurate version?
- The survey, which is one that the NSO conducted, covered 4,92,023 households
- The survey, which was conducted by the NSO, covered 4,92,023 households
- The survey, conducted by the NSO, covered 4,92,023 households
- The survey that was conducted by the NSO covered 4,92,023 households
Answer
The survey, conducted by the NSO, covered 4,92,023 households. Conducted by the NSO describes the survey on its own. The second and third keep an empty which was or that was; the fourth adds a clause and the wrong tense.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
In which sentence must the relative pronoun stay?
- The plants, which are tracked by the CEA, were short of coal
- NClude, which is an AI platform, helps users fill in forms
- The quota, which is set at 300, may rise to 500
- NClude, which uses AI, helps users fill in forms
Answer
NClude, which uses AI, helps users fill in forms. Uses is a verb with its own meaning, so deleting which leaves NClude, uses AI, which is broken. In the other three, which plus a form of be can go.
-
Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each phrase to the right treatment.
- Channelrhodopsin, which is a protein found in an alga
- the plants that are tracked by the CEA
- the barge, which was loaded with methanol
- the order of the Court, which was issued in August
- Channelrhodopsin, a protein found in an alga
- the plants tracked by the CEA
- reorder: the Court’s August order
- the barge, loaded with methanol
Answer
- Channelrhodopsin, which is a protein found in an alga: Channelrhodopsin, a protein found in an alga
- the plants that are tracked by the CEA: the plants tracked by the CEA
- the barge, which was loaded with methanol: the barge, loaded with methanol
- the order of the Court, which was issued in August: reorder: the Court’s August order
Three empty clauses shrink to a phrase. In the fourth, a plain cut would attach issued to the Court, so the sentence is reordered instead.
-
Put in order Number the lines 1 upward in the correct order.
Put the three steps of the fix in order.
- find which, who or that followed by a form of be
- check the phrase still sits beside its noun
- delete the pronoun and the verb together
Answer
- find which, who or that followed by a form of be
- delete the pronoun and the verb together
- check the phrase still sits beside its noun
Find, delete, check: the method of every concision lesson, applied to the empty relative clause.
Correct usage · Ukraine, not the Ukraine; Kyiv, not Kiev
-
Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the phrase that needs fixing.
The war in the Ukraine began on 24 February 2022.
Answer
the Ukraine → Ukraine. The country takes no article: the war in Ukraine. The article belongs to the Soviet years, when it marked a region rather than a state.
-
Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
Andrii Sybiha has called India’s proposal the "most comprehensive" ___ has received.
- Kiev
- the Kyiv
- Kyiv
- the Kiev
Answer
Kyiv. Kyiv is the spelling from Ukrainian and the one the edition uses. Kiev is the Russian-based spelling, and a capital takes no article.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Which body made Kyiv the only name for standard use in the US government, and when?
- The US Board on Geographic Names, in June 2019
- Ukraine’s Parliament, in October 2018
- The Associated Press, in August 2019
- The UN General Assembly, in December 1991
Answer
The US Board on Geographic Names, in June 2019. The Board on Geographic Names voted on 11 June 2019. AP is a news agency, not a government body, and switched on 14 August 2019; October 2018 was the Foreign Ministry’s #KyivNotKiev campaign, not a vote of Parliament.
-
Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each name to the fact about it.
- Kiev
- Kyiv
- Türkiye
- chicken Kiev
- used by the UN from 1 June 2022
- the dish, which AP left unchanged
- transliterated from Ukrainian
- transliterated from Russian
Answer
- Kiev: transliterated from Russian
- Kyiv: transliterated from Ukrainian
- Türkiye: used by the UN from 1 June 2022
- chicken Kiev: the dish, which AP left unchanged
The capital’s spelling follows the language it comes from; the UN accepted Türkiye on receiving Ankara’s request; AP kept the dish’s name.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Which sentence follows current usage?
- The talks were held in Kyiv, the capital of the Ukraine
- The talks were held in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine
- The talks were held in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine
- The talks were held in Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine
Answer
The talks were held in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Both changes are needed: Kyiv, not Kiev, and Ukraine without the article. The other three keep one or both of the dated forms.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Why is "the Ukraine" best avoided?
- Ukraine changed its official name by law in 2019
- It marks a region, not an independent country
- It copies the Russian spelling of the country’s name
- Country names in English never take the article
Answer
It marks a region, not an independent country. The article belongs to the Soviet years. Some country names do take it (the Netherlands, the United States); 2019 was the US government’s vote on Kyiv, not a change of name; and the article has nothing to do with spelling.
Idioms in answers · on paper
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
In the bird islands write-up, what does "coexistence on paper" mean?
- Coexistence has been written into a new Act of Parliament
- Coexistence is reported in newspapers but not in policy
- Coexistence is stated in policy but not proved in practice
- Coexistence is the subject of a draft not yet published
Answer
Coexistence is stated in policy but not proved in practice. On paper means judged from what is written, not from what happens. The editorial’s charge is that the policy speaks of coexistence while practice builds islands; it says nothing of a new Act or a draft.
-
Fill the blank Circle the letter that completes the sentence.
The scheme looks good ___, but no district has the staff to run it.
- on paper
- in paper
- on the paper
- by paper
Answer
on paper. The idiom is on paper, with no article. On the paper means on a particular sheet; in paper and by paper are not idioms.
-
Match the pairs Write the letter from the right against each number on the left.
Match each expression to its meaning.
- on paper
- in practice
- toothless
- have teeth
- judged from written information only
- having no power or authority
- be powerful and effective
- in reality
Answer
- on paper: judged from written information only
- in practice: in reality
- toothless: having no power or authority
- have teeth: be powerful and effective
All four meanings are Oxford Learner’s; have teeth is marked informal.
-
Find the error Circle it in the sentence below, then write the correction.
Find the phrase that needs fixing.
The rules exist in paper but not in practice.
Answer
in paper → on paper. The idiom is on paper. Its partner is in practice, which is why the two prepositions differ.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
Where does "on paper" belong in a GS answer?
- Only in the conclusion, never in the body
- After a fact, paired with in practice
- In the first sentence, to set the tone
- In every paragraph, to keep the contrast
Answer
After a fact, paired with in practice. The body is its natural place, with a fact on each side. Never in the first sentence, and once is enough.
-
Choose one Circle the letter of the correct option.
How does "on paper" differ from "a paper tiger"?
- A paper tiger looks powerful; on paper only marks a gap
- On paper is informal; a paper tiger is legal language
- A paper tiger refers only to documents and treaties
- They mean the same thing and can be swapped freely
Answer
A paper tiger looks powerful; on paper only marks a gap. A paper tiger presents itself as powerful and is not; on paper marks the gap between what is written and what happens. On paper is neutral, and a paper tiger is not limited to documents.
Reading in the CSAT shape
A passage quoted from To Fight Cancer, Count It: Making Cancer Notifiable, then inference questions on it.
A notifiable disease is one that hospitals, doctors and laboratories must, by law, report to public health authorities. It is common for infectious diseases, where reporting helps contain outbreaks. Cancer is non-communicable, but notification is about data for planning, not contagion.
Notification gives timely information on diagnosed cases; registries validate, enrich and analyse it to understand incidence, patterns and trends.
How many hospitals does a district need? Where should specialised cancer services go? How much radiotherapy, how many medicines? The writer argues these decisions should follow disease burden and population need, which requires data to flow from every level, including small hospitals and diagnostic centres.
Cancer data is deeply personal. Any national system must protect access, privacy and cybersecurity, with clear rules on permitted uses, identifiable data and anonymisation.
Better notification will find cases that were outside formal records. An initial rise should not be read as a sudden increase in cancer; it means India is seeing the problem more clearly.
Which of the following can be most validly inferred from the passage?
- Small hospitals already report every cancer case they diagnose
- Cancer is more common in India now than it was ten years ago
- A disease need not spread between people to be made notifiable
- Notification and cancer registries perform exactly the same function
Answer
A disease need not spread between people to be made notifiable. Cancer is non-communicable, yet the passage argues for notifying it because notification is about data for planning. The second contradicts the passage (registries validate and analyse what notification supplies), the third is the very misreading it warns against, and the fourth contradicts 'cases that were outside formal records'.
The argument that planning needs data from every level, including small hospitals and diagnostic centres, assumes which of the following?
- Small hospitals treat more cancer patients than large ones
- Disease burden is the same in every district of the country
- Diagnostic centres are better run than government hospitals
- Some cancer cases are diagnosed outside the large hospitals
Answer
Some cancer cases are diagnosed outside the large hospitals. Data must come from small hospitals and diagnostic centres only if some cases are diagnosed there. The second is stronger than the argument needs, the third is not about data at all, and the fourth would make district-level data pointless.
Which of the following best captures the crux of the passage?
- Rising cancer numbers show that India’s health system is failing
- Cancer registries should be replaced by a system of notification
- Notifying cancer would give planners data, if privacy is protected
- Cancer should be made notifiable because it is a contagious disease
Answer
Notifying cancer would give planners data, if privacy is protected. The passage argues for notification as a source of planning data, with privacy as the condition. The second contradicts it (cancer is non-communicable), the third contradicts 'registries validate, enrich and analyse it', and the fourth is the misreading it warns against.
If the passage is right, which of the following is most likely in the first years after cancer is made notifiable?
- Patients' records are made public to help research
- Recorded cases fall, as hospitals shift to registries
- Infectious-disease outbreaks become easier to contain
- Recorded cases rise, though the disease itself may not
Answer
Recorded cases rise, though the disease itself may not. Better notification finds cases that were outside formal records, so the count rises without any rise in cancer. The second reverses this, the third concerns infectious diseases, and the fourth breaks the privacy condition.
What is the main message of the passage?
- India’s cancer burden is smaller than its registries suggest
- Cancer data is too personal for the state to collect at all
- Only infectious diseases justify a legal duty to report cases
- Count cancer properly to plan care, and read early rises with care
Answer
Count cancer properly to plan care, and read early rises with care. The passage moves from what notification is, to why planning needs it, to the privacy condition and the warning about early numbers. The second overstates the privacy point, the third is what it argues against, and the fourth is not claimed.
Writing task · Should a self-declaration replace the affidavit?
In no more than 100 words, say whether a self-declaration should replace the affidavit for routine certificates, and give one reason. Use at least one of today’s affidavit words (sworn, affirmed, attested, self-attested or self-declared), do not pad a description with which is a or who is the, and do not write the Ukraine or Kiev.
Companion to Vocab Builder (what a word scores in a GS answer) and Key Terms. Wordcraft is the language itself.
