The with Newspapers, Holy Books, Ships, Musical Instruments Quiz | Intermediate Level | 20 Questions & Answers with Explanations

"Violin" is a musical instrument, always taking the, while "cricket" is a sport, taking no article at all — this double-blank tests both rules together in a single sentence.

Correct sentence: "He plays the violin in a band but also plays cricket on weekends."

Memory hook: instrument → the; sport → no article — whenever both appear in the same sentence, check them independently, since they follow opposite rules.

"Guitar" is an instrument, taking the, while "football" is a sport, taking no article, following the same instrument-versus-sport pattern.

Correct sentence: "She plays the guitar every evening and also plays football with her friends."

Memory hook: this is the exact same pairing pattern tested throughout this level — instrument first (the), sport second (no article) — memorise the sequence as a reflex.

"Cricket" correctly takes no article as a sport, but "sitar," a musical instrument, is missing its required the — it should be "plays the sitar."

Correct sentence: "He plays cricket professionally and also plays the sitar as a hobby in his free time."

Memory hook: this sentence has the correct half (cricket, no article) right next to the incorrect half (sitar missing the) — don't assume that one correct-looking half means the whole sentence is fine.

This reinforces the newspaper rule with a British publication, confirming that the applies regardless of the newspaper's country of origin.

Correct sentence: "He reads the Guardian online since it's no longer available in print in his city."

Memory hook: the newspaper rule is universal across countries and languages — the Hindu, the Times of India, the Guardian, the New York Times all take the.

This tests a different rule entirely — "the 1971 war" takes the because it refers to a specific, historically identified war, similar to how specific, identified events take the (this is a specificity rule, not the ships rule, even though a ship's name appears earlier in the same sentence).

Correct sentence: "The INS Vikrant played a crucial role during the 1971 war and remains a symbol of national pride."

Memory hook: don't assume every article blank in a sentence containing a ship's name is testing the ships rule — "the 1971 war" is a separate, specific-event pattern; identify which rule actually applies to each blank individually.

This reinforces the musical instrument rule with the flute, confirming the applies to every instrument, not just the most commonly cited examples (sitar, guitar, piano).

Correct sentence: "She has been practising the flute for nearly a decade and performs at cultural events regularly."

Memory hook: extend your instrument list beyond the most famous examples — flute, drums, saxophone, veena — all follow the identical the rule.

"Badminton" is a sport, taking no article, so "the badminton" is incorrect.

Correct sentence: "He plays badminton every Sunday morning with his neighbours before breakfast."

Memory hook: this reinforces the reversed trap once more — an incorrectly added the before a sport is just as commonly tested as a missing the before an instrument.

This reinforces the holy books rule with the Quran, confirming the pattern applies consistently across the Gita, the Bible, and the Quran.

Correct sentence: "My uncle owns an old copy of the Quran that has been in our family for generations."

Memory hook: notice "an old copy" correctly uses the ordinary a/an sound rule (vowel sound "o"), while "the Quran" separately follows the holy-books rule — two different article rules operating in the same sentence.

This reinforces the musical instrument rule with the drums, confirming the is correct even for instruments typically referred to in the plural.

Correct sentence: "She learned to play the drums in college and later joined a professional band."

Memory hook: "the drums" (plural instrument name) still follows the exact same rule as singular instrument names like "the guitar" or "the piano."

"Hockey" is a sport, taking no article, so no article is needed here.

Correct sentence: "He has captained the team playing hockey since his college days."

Memory hook: notice "the team" earlier in the sentence correctly uses the (a specific, known team), while "hockey" itself takes no article — check each noun separately rather than assuming one rule applies to the whole sentence.

"Violin" is missing its required the — it should be "the violin" — and separately, "the chess" is incorrect since chess is a game taking no article; however, since only one segment can be marked and A appears first with the clearer, more foundational error, that's the flagged segment.

Correct sentence: "He learned the violin at a young age but never developed a serious interest in chess."

Memory hook: some advanced-style questions contain two separate errors in different segments — always resolve the whole sentence in your head even if the format only allows you to flag one.

This reinforces the newspaper/publication rule with a well-known weekly magazine, confirming the pattern extends beyond daily newspapers to other named periodicals.

Correct sentence: "She subscribes to the Economist for weekly updates on global business and politics."

Memory hook: the "the + publication name" rule extends naturally to magazines and weeklies (the Economist, the New Yorker), not just daily newspapers.

This reinforces the musical instrument rule with the saxophone, confirming the applies to less commonly tested instruments as well.

Correct sentence: "He plays the saxophone in a jazz ensemble that performs every Friday night."

Memory hook: even instruments less frequently mentioned in textbooks (saxophone, clarinet, cello) follow the exact same unchanging the rule.

This reinforces the ships rule with the Titanic, one of the most iconic examples of a named ship taking the.

Correct sentence: "Historians continue to study wreckage from the Titanic to understand exactly what happened that night."

Memory hook: "the Titanic" is probably the single most recognisable example of the ships rule — anchor your memory of this category to this one famous name.

"Tennis" is a sport, taking no article, so "the tennis" is incorrect.

Correct sentence: "She excels at tennis and has won several regional tournaments in her age category."

Memory hook: "excels at [sport]" is a slightly different verb pattern than "plays [sport]," but the underlying no-article rule for sports stays exactly the same regardless of which verb introduces it.

This reinforces the musical instrument rule with the harmonium, an instrument more specific to Indian classical and devotional music, confirming the rule applies universally regardless of the instrument's cultural origin.

Correct sentence: "He has been teaching himself the harmonium using online tutorials during the lockdown."

Memory hook: the instrument rule doesn't discriminate by culture or region — Western instruments (violin, guitar) and Indian instruments (sitar, tabla, harmonium) all follow the identical the rule.

This reinforces the newspaper rule with a major American financial publication, confirming the pattern extends across countries and specialised subject areas.

Correct sentence: "She contributes a weekly column to the Wall Street Journal on emerging market trends."

Memory hook: the newspaper rule applies regardless of the publication's country, language, or specialised focus (general news, business, sports) — "the + name" stays constant.

This reinforces the musical instrument rule with the cello, rounding out the extended instrument list tested at this level (flute, drums, saxophone, harmonium, cello).

Correct sentence: "She has recently taken up learning the cello, finding it more challenging than she initially expected."

Memory hook: by now, treat "learning/playing + the + [any instrument name]" as an automatic, reflexive pattern — the rule has no real exceptions across any instrument.

"Football" is a sport, taking no article, so "the football" is incorrect — meanwhile, "cricket" later in the sentence is correctly used without an article, creating a useful side-by-side contrast.

Correct sentence: "He plays football on weekends but takes cricket far more seriously during the season."

Memory hook: this sentence deliberately places an incorrect "the football" next to a correct "cricket" (no article) — use the correct ha

"Chess" is a game/sport, taking no article, so "the chess" is incorrect — the article should be dropped entirely.

Correct sentence: "She plays chess very well and has represented her state at the national level."

Memory hook: this reverses the more common trap — instead of a missing the before an instrument, this tests an incorrectly added the before a sport/game; check both directions of error.