Choose the option that best replaces the underlined word without changing the meaning of the given sentence:
There is a persistent need to reform our education system, which produces tractable and pliable citizens, rather than critical minds that interrogate the flaws in the systems that govern our lives.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → docile
Tractable means easily controlled, managed or taught. The sentence criticises an education system that turns out citizens who are easy to control and do not question the systems that govern them. Its synonym is docile.
Example: The new recruits were tractable and followed every order without complaint.
| Word | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| (1) traceable | able to be found or followed back to its source (it only sounds like "tractable": tractable is about being easy to control, traceable about being easy to track) | The stolen phone was traceable through its GPS. |
| (2) balky | stubborn and refusing to go on or obey (it is the opposite of tractable) | The balky mule refused to cross the stream. |
| (3) docile (answer) | quiet, obedient and easily controlled (both words describe a person who does what he or she is told, and docile also sits naturally beside "pliable" in the sentence) | The elephant was so docile that children could feed it by hand. |
| (4) fastidious | very careful about every detail and hard to please (it says nothing about being easy to control) | He is fastidious about the way his shirts are ironed. |
| Synonyms of tractable: docile, compliant, manageable, amenable Antonyms of tractable: balky, intractable, unruly, stubborn Also asked in CUET (UG): docile – 30-05-2026 Slot 1, 14-05-2026 Slot 2, 29-05-2024 Slot 1, 13-06-2023 Slot 1 fastidious – 30-05-2025 Slot 1, 14-05-2025 Slot 2, 29-05-2024 Slot 1 |