The lecture was attended by quite _______ students, so the hall was not very _______. A. a few, quite B. few, quiet C. a few, quiet D. few, quite
GATE 2019 · General Aptitude · English Grammar · medium
Answer: C. (a few, quiet) — 'a few' correctly denotes some students (positive tone), and 'quiet' correctly describes the noise level of the hall as an adjective.
- Choose between 'few' and 'a few': 'A few' = some (positive); 'few' = hardly any (negative). The lecture was attended, implying some people came. 'A few students' means some students attended — a positive, neutral count. 'Few students' would imply attendance was disappointingly low. The sentence states the hall was 'not very quiet', implying some noise from some people. So 'a few' is more appropriate for the first blank.
- Choose between 'quite' and 'quiet': The second blank follows 'not very ___'. This requires an adjective to describe the state of the hall. 'Quiet' (adjective, meaning silent/calm) correctly fills this — 'the hall was not very quiet' means it had some noise. 'Quite' is an adverb of degree and cannot follow 'very' in this context to describe the hall.
- Confirm option C: First blank = 'a few', second blank = 'quiet'. Full sentence: 'The lecture was attended by quite a few students, so the hall was not very quiet.' This is grammatically correct and logically coherent. This matches option C.