In the following passage about the purpose of education, choose the most appropriate word to complete the blank: the quality of our educational curriculum as well as that of our teachers and students is likely to remain _____.

Difficulty: Medium

Correct Answer: inadequate

Explanation:


Introduction / Context:
This item completes the same critical sentence about the state of education. After mentioning the quality of the curriculum, teachers and students, the writer predicts that this quality is likely to remain something negative as long as society forgets the real purpose of education. The blank needs an adjective that naturally follows likely to remain and describes a standard that is not good enough. The best answer will match both the grammatical structure and the tone of criticism.


Given Data / Assumptions:
- The sentence is: the quality of our educational curriculum as well as that of our teachers and students is likely to remain _____. - Options are inadequate, indifferent, represented and unmeasurable. - The context is that people are unmindful of the truth that education is for life, not only for livelihood. - The writer is pointing out a deficiency in the education system.


Concept / Approach:
We need an adjective that expresses deficiency. The word inadequate directly means not good enough, insufficient in quality or quantity. This is a frequent collocation with quality. Indifferent can mean unconcerned or mediocre, represented simply means shown or symbolised, and unmeasurable suggests something that cannot be measured. Among these, inadequate is the most precise and common term for poor quality in formal evaluation, especially in education.


Step-by-Step Solution:
Step 1: Insert inadequate in the blank: the quality of our educational curriculum as well as that of our teachers and students is likely to remain inadequate. This sentence clearly states that the current standard is not good enough. Step 2: Try indifferent in the same place. The quality is likely to remain indifferent is grammatically possible, but indifferent as an adjective for quality is less common and weaker in criticism than inadequate. Step 3: Try represented. The quality is likely to remain represented does not make sense, because represented does not describe a level of quality. Step 4: Try unmeasurable. The quality is likely to remain unmeasurable suggests that we cannot measure quality, which is not the intended criticism. The writer is clearly saying that the quality itself is not sufficient, not that it cannot be measured. Step 5: Conclude that inadequate is the only option that fits perfectly in meaning and common usage.


Verification / Alternative check:
We can confirm by looking at how similar sentences appear in other texts. Policy reports frequently state that the quality of education remains inadequate, or that standards are inadequate to meet modern needs. This supports our choice. Also, the sequence truth, quality, teachers and students, inadequate forms a coherent argumentative chain: by ignoring the truth about education, we keep the quality of core elements of the system at an inadequate level.


Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option B: Indifferent is more commonly used to describe attitudes, such as indifferent students or indifferent public, rather than the quality itself, and therefore sounds less precise here. Option C: Represented does not describe quality; it is about showing or symbolising something and so does not fit the sentence. Option D: Unmeasurable shifts the meaning to an inability to measure, which does not match the writer's focus on poor standards.


Common Pitfalls:
Candidates sometimes choose indifferent because they associate it with lack of concern and therefore with a problem in education. However, the phrase indifferent quality is much rarer than inadequate quality in formal writing. Another pitfall is to overlook subtle differences between adjectives and to assume that any negative sounding word will fit. It is important to test each option in the sentence and ask whether it clearly conveys the author's intended criticism.


Final Answer:
The adjective that best completes the sentence is inadequate, so option A is correct.

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