In the following sentence improvement question, the underlined part is cooked a conspiracy: Ram cooked a conspiracy to cheat Abdul. Choose the best replacement, or select no improvement if the sentence is already correct.

Introduction / Context:
This sentence improvement question tests your knowledge of idiomatic expressions in English. The sentence given is Ram cooked a conspiracy to cheat Abdul, where the underlined part cooked a conspiracy is unnatural. In English, certain verbs commonly collocate with specific nouns. Conspiracy is one such noun that normally appears with the verb hatch. The task is to choose the option that forms a natural and idiomatic phrase with conspiracy while accurately conveying the idea of secretly planning something wrong.

Given Data / Assumptions:

• Sentence: Ram cooked a conspiracy to cheat Abdul.
• Underlined part: cooked a conspiracy.
• Alternatives: cultivated, hatched, fabricated, no improvement, planned.
• Context: Ram is secretly planning a dishonest act against Abdul.

Concept / Approach:
The standard idiom in English is hatch a conspiracy or hatch a plot, which means to plan something secretly, usually for a harmful or unfair purpose. While cook up a scheme or cook up a story is idiomatic, cooked a conspiracy is not a standard or accepted collocation. Among the given options, hatched fits best because it directly forms the common expression hatched a conspiracy. Other verbs either have different typical objects or shift the meaning slightly away from the recognised idiom used in exams and formal English.

Step-by-Step Solution:

Verification / Alternative check:
We can test the improved sentence by checking it against common usage: Many newspapers and books use expressions like He hatched a conspiracy to overthrow the king or They hatched a conspiracy against their boss. The structure Ram hatched a conspiracy to cheat Abdul follows this pattern exactly. In contrast, Ram cooked a conspiracy is not a recognised phrase in standard English. Therefore, hatched clearly improves both correctness and naturalness.

Why Other Options Are Wrong:
Option A (cultivated) is used with things like habits, relationships, or land (cultivated a habit, cultivated a friendship), not with conspiracy. Option C (fabricated) usually collocates with story, evidence, or lie (fabricated a story), and while it suggests dishonesty, fabricated a conspiracy is not the normal phrase. Option D (no improvement) is wrong because cooked a conspiracy is awkward and non-idiomatic. Option E (planned), although grammatical, is too general and does not give the precise idiomatic expression that competitive exams often expect; the standard phrase taught and tested is hatched a conspiracy.

Common Pitfalls:
Students sometimes rely only on literal dictionary meanings and ignore common collocations. Cook is sometimes used metaphorically in cook up a plan, so cooked a conspiracy may sound acceptable at first glance, but it is not standard exam English. Similarly, verbs like fabricate or cultivate might appear tempting due to their associations with creating or developing something, but they do not match the set phrase needed here. To perform well in sentence improvement tasks, you should pay attention to verbs that regularly pair with certain nouns and memorise frequent idioms such as hatch a plot, commit a crime, bear a grudge, and so on.

Final Answer:
The correct improvement is hatched, giving the sentence: Ram hatched a conspiracy to cheat Abdul.