Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option from those given below:
______ a private school were to offer him twice the salary, Mr Naidu would not leave the village school where he has taught for twenty years.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Even if
Complete sentence: Even if a private school were to offer him twice the salary, Mr Naidu would not leave the village school where he has taught for twenty years. No school has offered Mr Naidu anything. “Were to offer” and “would not leave” show an imagined case, and even then he would stay in his village school.
| Option | Meaning and use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) Even though | is used for a fact that is really true | Even though Kunal had a fever, he wrote all his papers. |
| (2) Even if (answer) | is used for a case that may or may not happen. It says that the result will not change even in that case | Even if you offer me a lift, I will walk to the temple. |
| (3) In spite of | is followed by a noun or an -ing word, not by a full clause with its own verb | In spite of the heat, the farmers worked all afternoon. |
| (4) Whereas | shows a contrast between two facts | Arjun drinks tea, whereas his wife drinks only coffee. |