Question

Given is a sentence broken into parts, find the missing part from the given options:
P. It is far better to live for a short while
Q. ……………………………………….
R. contribution to the world.
A. and make some significant
B. than just idle away
C. than spend a long life
D. in gossiping and playing

Answer 1

Hint: The comparison, if happens, will take place after ‘R’. ‘Q’ requires more information to elaborate the thought expressed in ‘P’ and a conjunction is required to do this job rather than showing a comparison.

Complete step by step answer:
Option A – and make some significant:
Let’s join the three parts with this option – It is far better to live for a short while and make some significant contribution to the world. – This means that it is better to live for a short span and give something of worth to the world. Hence this part makes sense. The conjunction ‘and’ helps elaboration of the thought in ‘P’.
Option B – than just idle away:
This part doesn’t sound going well with ‘R’ – It is far better to live for a short while than just idle away contribution to the world. – The sentence doesn’t bring out any meaning since ‘than’ is used for comparison which is not appropriated after ‘P’. It could be used after ‘R’ though.
Option C – than spend a long life:
Same as option b, this part also doesn’t add meaning to the sentence and the comparison with ‘than’ isn’t appropriate– It is far better to live for a short while than spend a long life contributing to the world. –
Option D – in gossiping and playing:
This one also doesn’t add any meaning- It is far better to live for a short while in gossiping and playing contribution to the world – since a preposition ‘in’ doesn’t make sense as a conjunction would have.

Thus, the correct option is ‘A’ as the sentence becomes meaningful with the use of this option.

Note:
Contribution is a noun and should be preceded by an adjective in this sentence. Significant is the only adjective in the options whereas, away is an adverb, life itself is a noun and playing is a verb.