English I Quiz 2: 12 April 2026 (January 2026 term)

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

The arguments by Aghion and Howitt were based on what principles?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

What happens when another company invents a better product?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

What is the meaning of the word “incremental”?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

According to the passage, what is the purpose of a patent?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

What is the main goal of the Aghion–Howitt model?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

Why should R&D be subsidised, according to the first trend?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

The phrase “rises to the top of the chain” refers to _____.

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

As per the second trend, when can an R&D investment be considered too high?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

What does the term creative destruction mean in the passage?

Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions
These two economists took this idea of “creative destruction” — where innovation leads to gains, but also to the destruction of the incumbents — and created a mathematical model to capture it. They showed, through maths, how technological advancement leads to sustained growth.
The basic assumption is that economies include companies that do research and development to create a product that they can patent, thereby creating a monopoly for them and putting them at the top of the chain. However, a patent can’t stop another company from also investing in R&D and coming up with a new product. If that new product is better, it will replace the incumbent and the profits will now flow to the new company.
The model developed by Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt can be used to analyse whether there is an optimal volume of R&D, and therefore to analyse economic growth in a free market scenario where there is no political interference. They found that there were two competing trends that made it difficult to arrive at an answer.
The first trend is that, when a new innovation comes in and replaces another, the benefits from the replaced technology still continue to flow to society, even if the company that developed it is no longer making profits from it. In other words, technology that has been outcompeted has more value for society than for the company that developed it. This makes it imperative that R&D be subsidised so that companies aren’t discouraged from it.
However, the other competing trend is that when a company comes up with an innovation that rises to the top of the chain, it starts receiving the bulk of the profits even though the actual improvement might have been incremental over the older technology. For society, the gain from this new technology is limited because it is only a relatively small improvement over the older technology. In such a scenario, investments into R&D might be too high from a societal point of view. Therefore, under this trend, R&D should not be subsidised. The answer to the question of how much R&D needs to happen will, of course, vary depending on the society and the economy in question. However, Mr. Aghion and Mr. Howitt’s theory can be useful for understanding which measures will be most effective in arriving at the optimum R&D level for sustained growth.
Source: Economics Nobel Prize 2025: How innovation drives economic growth – The Hindu

Which statement best summarises the two trends in the passage?

Read the excerpt given below and fill in the blanks with those forms of the verbs which best fit the passage from the options provided. Your chosen answer should maintain the tense consistency of the excerpt.
In an evil hour, my father had received my letter, containing my eloquent and detailed apology for declining a place in the firm, and I (i)______summoned home in all haste, his chief ambition being that I should succeed, not merely to his fortune, but to the views and plans by which he (ii) _____ he could extend and perpetuate that wealthy inheritance. I (iii) _____ how deeply my father's happiness was involved, and with something of his own pertinacity, had formed a determination precisely contrary, not conceiving that I should increase my own happiness by augmenting a fortune which I (iv) _____ was already sufficient.
My father cut the matter short: when he was my age, his father (v) _____ him out and settled his legal inheritance on his younger brother, and one of that brother's sons would take my place if I crossed him any further.
Extracted from: Mee, Arthur, and J. A. Hammerton, editors. The World’s Greatest Books: Vol. VIII — Fiction.
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Find the appropriate verb to fill blank (i).

Read the excerpt given below and fill in the blanks with those forms of the verbs which best fit the passage from the options provided. Your chosen answer should maintain the tense consistency of the excerpt.
In an evil hour, my father had received my letter, containing my eloquent and detailed apology for declining a place in the firm, and I (i)______summoned home in all haste, his chief ambition being that I should succeed, not merely to his fortune, but to the views and plans by which he (ii) _____ he could extend and perpetuate that wealthy inheritance. I (iii) _____ how deeply my father's happiness was involved, and with something of his own pertinacity, had formed a determination precisely contrary, not conceiving that I should increase my own happiness by augmenting a fortune which I (iv) _____ was already sufficient.
My father cut the matter short: when he was my age, his father (v) _____ him out and settled his legal inheritance on his younger brother, and one of that brother's sons would take my place if I crossed him any further.
Extracted from: Mee, Arthur, and J. A. Hammerton, editors. The World’s Greatest Books: Vol. VIII — Fiction.
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Find the appropriate verb form to fill blank (ii).

Read the excerpt given below and fill in the blanks with those forms of the verbs which best fit the passage from the options provided. Your chosen answer should maintain the tense consistency of the excerpt.
In an evil hour, my father had received my letter, containing my eloquent and detailed apology for declining a place in the firm, and I (i)______summoned home in all haste, his chief ambition being that I should succeed, not merely to his fortune, but to the views and plans by which he (ii) _____ he could extend and perpetuate that wealthy inheritance. I (iii) _____ how deeply my father's happiness was involved, and with something of his own pertinacity, had formed a determination precisely contrary, not conceiving that I should increase my own happiness by augmenting a fortune which I (iv) _____ was already sufficient.
My father cut the matter short: when he was my age, his father (v) _____ him out and settled his legal inheritance on his younger brother, and one of that brother's sons would take my place if I crossed him any further.
Extracted from: Mee, Arthur, and J. A. Hammerton, editors. The World’s Greatest Books: Vol. VIII — Fiction.
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Find the appropriate verb form to fill blank (iii).

Read the excerpt given below and fill in the blanks with those forms of the verbs which best fit the passage from the options provided. Your chosen answer should maintain the tense consistency of the excerpt.
In an evil hour, my father had received my letter, containing my eloquent and detailed apology for declining a place in the firm, and I (i)______summoned home in all haste, his chief ambition being that I should succeed, not merely to his fortune, but to the views and plans by which he (ii) _____ he could extend and perpetuate that wealthy inheritance. I (iii) _____ how deeply my father's happiness was involved, and with something of his own pertinacity, had formed a determination precisely contrary, not conceiving that I should increase my own happiness by augmenting a fortune which I (iv) _____ was already sufficient.
My father cut the matter short: when he was my age, his father (v) _____ him out and settled his legal inheritance on his younger brother, and one of that brother's sons would take my place if I crossed him any further.
Extracted from: Mee, Arthur, and J. A. Hammerton, editors. The World’s Greatest Books: Vol. VIII — Fiction.
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Find the appropriate verb form to fill blank (iv).

Read the excerpt given below and fill in the blanks with those forms of the verbs which best fit the passage from the options provided. Your chosen answer should maintain the tense consistency of the excerpt.
In an evil hour, my father had received my letter, containing my eloquent and detailed apology for declining a place in the firm, and I (i)______summoned home in all haste, his chief ambition being that I should succeed, not merely to his fortune, but to the views and plans by which he (ii) _____ he could extend and perpetuate that wealthy inheritance. I (iii) _____ how deeply my father's happiness was involved, and with something of his own pertinacity, had formed a determination precisely contrary, not conceiving that I should increase my own happiness by augmenting a fortune which I (iv) _____ was already sufficient.
My father cut the matter short: when he was my age, his father (v) _____ him out and settled his legal inheritance on his younger brother, and one of that brother's sons would take my place if I crossed him any further.
Extracted from: Mee, Arthur, and J. A. Hammerton, editors. The World’s Greatest Books: Vol. VIII — Fiction.
Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Find the appropriate verb form to fill blank (v).

Fill in the blanks in List A with the most appropriate options in List B. There is only one fitting answer for each blank.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Each of these questions _____ to be answered separately.

Fill in the blanks in List A with the most appropriate options in List B. There is only one fitting answer for each blank.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

Yen _____ the currency in Japan.

Fill in the blanks in List A with the most appropriate options in List B. There is only one fitting answer for each blank.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

The spotted flycatcher ___ a thin, sibilant call.

Fill in the blanks in List A with the most appropriate options in List B. There is only one fitting answer for each blank.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

The nuns in that convent _____ under an oath of silence.

Fill in the blanks in List A with the most appropriate options in List B. There is only one fitting answer for each blank.

Based on the above data, answer the given subquestions.

The children _____ to be accompanied on their excursion.

Choose the correct option.
October works for us. Suman will not _________ by then.

Choose the correct option.
Ravi _______ not been to Europe.

Nitrogen atoms ___________ around the exoplanet.

Choose the future perfect continuous tense sentence from the following options:

Fill in the blank with future perfect progressive tense form.
The workers ________ for a month by the time the deal is made.

Choose the correct option.
Yesterday at nine, I ________ dinner.

Which of the following words has three syllables?

‘Your physique looks like that of a fitness expert or a sportsman. Could you suggest a trainer for me?’
Which among the following rightly represent the stress pattern in the underlined words in the given sentence?

‘The output of dairy produce has suffered because of large herds of cattle being affected by the deadly flu. The dairy farm owners will have to take control of the situation to produce the adequate quantity needed for profit-generation by the end of April.’
Choose the appropriate stress for the two usages of the word ‘produce’ in its given order in the sentence.

Which among the following is the correct stress-pattern when ‘conflict ’ functions as a verb?

In the plural noun landscapes, the plural marker sounds as ________.

The plural marker for the words ‘stakeholders’, ‘stockouts’, and ‘networks’ end in ___.

The plural marker for the words ‘mistakes’, ‘misconceptions’, and ‘oversights’ end in /s/, /z/, and /s/ sound respectively.

Which of the following has an aspirated stop?

Identify whether the sound /p/ in the following word is aspirated or not. Appearance

Which /p/ sound in the word people is aspirated?

The word ‘aversion’ has _____ syllables.

The word ‘performance’ has _____ syllables.

The /k/ sound in the word cobbler is aspirated.

The compound word swimming pool is stressed on the ___________.