"When she fell down the ________, she received many _________ but little help." The words that best fill the blanks in the above sentence are A. stairs, stares B. stairs, stairs C. stares, stairs D. stares, stares

GATE 2018 · General Aptitude · Most Appropriate Word · medium

Answer: Option A (stairs, stares) is correct. She fell down the stairs and received many stares but little help.

1. Fill the first blank: She fell down the ___ -> needs a noun describing something you fall down. 'Stairs' (steps) is the correct word. 'Stares' does not make physical sense here.
2. Fill the second blank: She received many ___ but little help -> the contrast 'but little help' tells us the many things she received were not helpful. 'Stares' (prolonged looks from onlookers) fits: people stared but did not help. 'Stairs' makes no sense as something 'received'.