Question

In the question below are given two sentences numbered I and II. In these sentences, two homonyms are given in italics type, which may be either misspelled or inappropriate in the context of the sentence. Read both the sentences carefully and decide on their correctness on the basis of the italicized words.
I. He was being laughed at for his antic gestures.
II. Antique articles are priced much these days.
A only sentence I is correct
B only sentence II is correct
C both the sentences I and II are correct
D I as well as II are incorrect, but both could be made correct by interchanging the italicized words
E neither I nor II is correct, and the sentence could not be made correct by interchanging the italicized words

Answer 1

Hint: In the first statement, the word needs to be an adjective talking about some gestures he was being ridiculed at. While in the second statement, we are looking for a word which means old, vintage, ancient kind of a word to fit in, for the sentence to make complete sense.

Complete answer:
>Option A is the correct answer. In the first sentence, the word ‘ANTIC’ means odd. Therefore the first sentence is absolutely correct i.e. he was being laughed at for his odd (weird) gestures.
>Option B is not the correct answer. In the second sentence, the appropriate word that would go with the context of the sentence will be ‘ANTIQUE’ which means old. The sentence is saying that old/vintage/ancient articles are priced much these days.
>Option C is not the correct answer, as discussed above, the word in the second statement is incorrect and it doesn’t fit into the context of the sentence, thus option C cannot be the answer.
>Option D is not the answer as sentence I is correct already and doesn’t need any rectifications, and the word of sentence I cannot be interchanged with II as it will change the context and meaning of both the sentences plus the word in the sentence II is not correct as well.
>Option E is not the correct answer as it says neither of the sentences are correct but it is not the case. Sentence I is correct with the word given.

Hence Option A: only sentence I is correct, is the correct answer.

Note:Antic and Antique are homophonic words but they differ in meaning. And therefore their usage and in the context they can be used is also different. For e.g. sun & son are homophonic words too.