Fill in the blank with the appropriate word from the given options.
The newly admitted students walked into the college laboratory_____________.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → hesitatingly
Complete sentence: The newly admitted students walked into the college laboratory hesitatingly. Students who have newly joined a college are entering the laboratory for the first time, so they would walk in unsure of themselves, that is, hesitatingly.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) laboriously | with great effort and hard work (walking into a room needs no great effort, so the word does not suit the sentence) | The old man climbed the steep steps laboriously. |
| (2) hesitatingly (answer) | slowly and uncertainly, pausing because one is nervous or unsure | The new boy hesitatingly raised his hand to ask a question. |
| (3) surely | mostly used to show that the speaker is certain of something, and in “slowly but surely” it means steadily (neither sense fits new students entering a strange laboratory) | You will surely win if you practise every day. |
| (4) piously | in a deeply religious way (there is nothing religious about entering a laboratory) | The pilgrims piously bowed before the shrine. |
| Also asked in CUET (UG): piously – 11-05-2026 Slot 2, 11-05-2026 Slot 1 |