Table of Contents
Directions (1-5): In each of the following questions given below, a sentence is given with some bold words which may contain errors. Below each of the sentences, a table is given with two columns in which column ‘A’ contains the list of bold words, and in column ‘B’ the suggested corrections are listed. You have to choose the best alternate among the four given options. If no correction is required against the given bold words, mark (e) .i.e. “None of the above” as your answer.
Q1. Prescriptions about global oil have flipped dramatically over the last six weeks, from fears of shortcoming to apprehension of a glut. Brent futures of oil for delivery in January 2019, which had risen to a four-year high of $86.30 per barrel on October 3, is now $66.60.
COLUMN (A)
(1) prescriptions
(2) flipped
(3) shortcoming
(4) risen
COLUMN (B)
(5) perceptions
(6) flip
(7) shortage
(8) arise
(a) Both (1) – (5) and (3) – (7)
(b) (2) – (6)
(c) (1) – (5)
(d) (3) – (7)
(e) None of the above
Q2. In 1770, long before computers were discovered, Wolfgang von Kempelen built what was widely believed to be the world’s first intelligent machine—a device so smart that it consistently beat some of the best minds of the day at chess.
COLUMN (A)
(1) discovered
(2) believed
(3) intelligent
(4) consistently
COLUMN (B)
(5) invented
(6) bewildered
(7) intelligently
(8) consistent
(a) Both (1) – (5) and (3) – (7)
(b) (2) – (6)
(c) (1) – (5)
(d) (3) – (7)
(e) None of the above
Q3. The Aspiring Principals Leadership program is designed for people who are likely to become principals soon. It focuses on educational leadership over than school administration, and emphasis curriculum planning, student progressive and teaching quality.
COLUMN (A)
(1) designed
(2) over
(3) emphasis
(4) progressive
COLUMN (B)
(5) designing
(6) rather
(7) emphasises
(8) progress
(a) (1) – (5)
(b) (2) – (6)
(c) (1) – (5)
(d) (2) – (6), (3) – (7) and (4) – (8)
(e) None of the above
Q4. Anganwadi centres (AWCs) are the focal point of distribution of health and nutrition services for pregnant women, lactating mothers and children. There have been improvements in the quantity, quality and coverage of services provided to the beneficiaries.
COLUMN (A)
(1) distribution
(2) improvements
(3) coverage
(4) beneficiaries
COLUMN (B)
(5) delivery
(6) improvement
(7) covering
(8) benefits
(a) (1) – (5)
(b) (2) – (6)
(c) (1) – (5)
(d) (2) – (6), (3) – (7) and (4) – (8)
(e) None of the above
Q5. Tamil Nadu has been in the limelight for long for its child labour problems. Children were falling pray to the exploitative labour in firecracker and matchsticks-producing industries. In 2012-13, a major fire accident occurred in Sivakasi, where both — children and adults — lost their lives.
COLUMN (A)
(1) limelight
(2) pray
(3) industries
(4) occured
COLUMN (B)
(5) highlighted
(6) prey
(7) establishment
(8) happening
(a) (1) – (5)
(b) (2) – (6)
(c) (1) – (5)
(d) (2) – (6), (3) – (7) and (4) – (8)
(e) None of the above
Directions (6-10): In the following question, a paragraph is given with a phrase/clause being omitted against each number. Choose the most suitable alternative among the five to fill the blank, forming a grammatically correct and contextually meaningful paragraph.
Tamil Nadu was more prepared than before to deal with Cyclone Gaja when it made landfall between Nagapattinam and Vedaranyam on November 16, but it still took a toll of at least 45 lives. The severe cyclonic storm (6) __________________________________________________________. Even so, the effort to professionalise disaster management through a dedicated national and State organisation initiated more than 15 years ago (7)__________________________________________________________, with bureaucracies acquiring higher efficiency in providing early warning and in mitigating the impact of cyclones. The National Cyclone Risk Mitigation Project started by the Ministry of Home Affairs has been working (8) __________________________________________________________ on Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, classified as States with higher vulnerability; most western coastal States are in the next category. However, there is a lot to be done to upgrade infrastructure and housing in coastal districts (9) __________________________________________________________in an era of extreme weather events. The lead taken by the State Disaster Management Authority (10) __________________________________________________________helped coastal residents move to camps and adopt safety measures.
Q6. (a) the distribution of relief became politicised
(b) trying hard to reach remote and inaccessible areas
(c) damaged infrastructure, property and agriculture
(d) and 347 electric transformers were damaged in the cyclone
(e) and medical units have been set up
Q7. (a) appears to be paying off
(b) 372 medical camps and 1,014 mobile medical units
(c) have been partially or fully damaged.
(d) directed to estimate the damage to crops
(e) has been the worst cyclone to hit Tamil Nadu
Q8. (a) with the hazard through policies that expand resilient housing,
(b) whether the coastal States have equipped themselves
(c) in the regions in the delta have remained without power supply
(d) with severe injuries would be provided with Rs 1 lakh
(e) to reduce the impact of such catastrophic events
Q9. (a) in affected areas have benefited from it
(b) to meet higher standards of resilience
(c) the toll in Cyclone Gaja has touched 45
(d) to reach remote and inaccessible areas
(e) have been partially or fully damaged
Q10. (a) in issuing a stream of alerts ahead of Gaja
(b) revenue and the agricultural department officials
(c) including thatched huts and tiled roof houses
(d) this is in contrast to some earlier instances
(e) and the worst to affect the Cauvery delta
(Directions 11-15): In each of the given questions an inference is given in bold which is then followed by three paragraphs. You have to find the paragraph(s) from which it is inferred. Choose the option with the best possible outcome as your choice.
Q11.Political parties should come up with smarter solutions to gain farmer’s electoral clout.
[I] It makes sense for the government to procure directly from farmers at MSP and, instead of hoarding and resorting to open market sales at a later date, introduce it under the subsidized public distribution system. This will not only help farmers growing pulses with better prices, but also improve India’s terrible nutritional indicators—about 38% of our under-five children are stunted.
[II] That rural anger can cause noticeable political damage was proved beyond doubt when the ruling Bhartiya Janata Party performed poorly in rural areas in the Gujarat elections. Ground reports from the current phase of state elections suggest that farmers in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan have set the tone of electoral discourse in these states. Simultaneously, they are also setting the stage for the general elections next year to remind governments that there is a political cost to ignoring rural India.
[III] Indian farmer face a pressing problem that they are often at a loss about what to plant without any useful market intelligence. They take the previous year’s prices for a particular crop as a market signal, not where prices will be when they harvest their crop.
(a) Only (I)
(b) Only (II)
(c) Both (II) and (III)
(d) Both (I) and (III)
(e) None of these
Q12. There is an acute shortage of regular non-farm jobs in most parts of the country.
(I) Estimates of employment is usually done by the survey method either of households or enterprises. Household surveys give a better picture of unemployment/underemployment, while enterprise surveys provide better picture of employment growth or their industry classification. A third more recent attempt has been by tapping administrative sources of social security cover e.g., EPFO, PFRDA, etc.
(II) Manufacturing is the biggest employer only in a handful of districts: in the Coimbatore-Tirupur belt in Tamil Nadu, the Thane-Mumbai belt in Maharashtra, the Jalandhar-Ludhiana belt in Punjab and a few other districts scattered across the country
(III) The districts where the demand for jobs is the greatest, and where regular jobs are increasingly difficult to find. One big reason for the lack of much progress in creating regular non-farm jobs lies in India’s failure in manufacturing. Barely 26 of the 640 districts in 2011 had more than a fifth of their workforce employed in manufacturing.
(a) Only (III)
(b) Only (I)
(c) Both (II) and (III)
(d) Both (I) and (III)
(e) None of these
Q13. ATM industry must work with banks to meet new security standards.
(I) It is the responsibility of banks to ensure that the cash logistics industry meets the new security and financial requirements. There can be a case where the industry may need an extension in deadlines but scaremongering is not the best way to go about it. In an age of increasingly sophisticated fraudsters, the cash logistics industry cannot expect their standards to be static.
(II) Automated Teller Machines, or ATMs, are ubiquitous. For many, they are the main source of cash withdrawals, with 2.21 lakh ATMs spread across the country. Over the last decade they have become a critical component in India’s larger payments landscape. Now, the Confederation of ATM Industry claims that there is a risk that a large number of ATMs in non-urban locations may soon be shut down on account of new regulations introduced by Reserve Bank of India.
(III) With the objective of deepening financial inclusion, RBI kicked off an era of differentiated banking by allowing SFBs (small finance banks) and PBs (payments banks) to start services. A total of 21 entities were given in-principle nod last year, including 11 for payments banks.
(a) Only (I)
(b) Only (II)
(c) Both (II) and (III)
(d) Both (I) and (III)
(e) None of these
Q14. A Terror attack on Chinese consulate in Pakistan
(I) Armed separatists stormed the Chinese Consulate in Pakistan’s Karachi on Friday, triggering an intense hour-long shootout during which two police officers and all three assailants were killed, Pakistani officials said.
(II) All the Chinese diplomats and staff at the consulate were safe and were not harmed during the attack or the shootout, senior police official Ameer Ahmad Sheikh said.
(III) The attackers stormed the Chinese consulate in Karachi, Pakistan shortly after 9 a.m., during business hours. They first opened fire at consulate guards and hurled grenades, then managed to breach the main gate and enter the building, said Mohammad Ashfaq, a local police chief.
(a) Only (I)
(b) (I) & (III)
(c) (II) & (III)
(d) All of (I), (II) & (III)
(e) None of (I), (II) & (III)
Q15. The spat will trigger periodic RBI scrutiny that will keep it on its toes.
(I) The RBI didn’t concede the demand for alignment of the capital norms to Basel (they are higher now), but by pushing back the deadline by a year for increasing the capital buffer, it has freed up funds for banks to lend.
(II) THE Indian economy has just managed to swerve and avoid a collision which would have had an enormous downside. After an escalating public spat, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the financial regulator, and the government decided to take a step back.
(III) The market hesitated to offer fresh capital to NBFCs and they faced higher interest rates while refinancing their lines of credit, the government was keen on the RBI making capital available to the sector.
(a) Only (I)
(b) Only (II)
(c) Both (II) and (III)
(d) Both (I) and (III)
(e) None of these
Practice More Questions of English for Competitive Exams:
Solutions
S1. Ans. (a)
Sol. The sentence is describing about the fluctuations in the price of oil barrel. Therefore, the words ‘prescriptions’ and ‘shortcomings’ are incorrect in the context of the paragraph. Hence, they should be replaced by ‘perceptions’ and ‘shortage’. ‘Perceptions’ means the way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted. ‘Shortage’ means a state or situation in which something needed cannot be obtained in sufficient amounts. Hence, option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.
S2. Ans. (c)
Sol. The sentence is describing about a smart device which was invented before computers, which was built by Wolfgang von Kempelen. Therefore, the word “discovered” which means be the first to find or observe (a place, substance, or scientific phenomenon) is incorrect and should be replaced by “invented” which means create or design (something that has not existed before); be the originator of. All the other highlighted words are grammatically and contextually correct. Hence, option (c) is the correct answer choice.
S3. Ans. (d)
Sol. The sentence is describing about a leadership program for the Aspiring Principals. It has also mentioned its areas of interests to work on. To frame a grammatically correct sentence, replace “over” with “rather” as “rather than” indicates that something is done in place of something else. “emphasis” should be replaced by “emphasizes” as the subject [The Aspiring Principals Leadership program] of the verb is singular. Moreover, “progressive” should be replaced by “progress” as progressive is an adjective which means happening or developing gradually or in stages while ‘progress’ is a noun which means forward or onward movement towards a destination. Hence, option (d) is the most suitable answer choice.
S4. Ans. (a)
Sol. The sentence is describing about the services provided by the Anganwadi centres. Services are rendered or delivered but cannot be distributed. To frame a grammatically correct and contextually meaningful paragraph, replace “distribution” which means the action of sharing something out among a number of recipients by “delivery” which means the supply or provision of something. All the other highlighted words are correct, hence, option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.
S5. Ans. (b)
Sol. The word “pray” which means address a prayer to God or another deity is incorrect and must be replaced by “prey” to form a contextually meaningful sentence. “prey” means someone who can be easily deceived or harmed. All the other highlighted words are correct, hence, option (b) is the most suitable answer choice.
S6. Ans. (c)
Sol. The passage is providing information on the severe recent cyclone that hit the areas of Tamil Nadu. The most appropriate phrase to complete the given blank is “damaged infrastructure, property and agriculture”. All the other clauses/ phrases fail to form a contextually coherent paragraph. Hence, option (c) is the most suitable answer choice.
S7. Ans. (a)
Sol. The passage is providing information on the severe recent cyclone that hit the areas of Tamil Nadu. The hint for the given blank can be drawn from the later part of the blank which states “…with bureaucracies acquiring higher efficiency in providing early warning…”. Since it indicates that the organisations did well in providing early warnings, the most suitable phrase to fill the blank becomes “appears to be paying off”. All the other clauses/ phrases fail to form a contextually coherent paragraph. Hence, option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.
S8. Ans. (e)
Sol. The passage is providing information on the severe recent cyclone that hit the areas of Tamil Nadu. Since the next part of the passage mentions these states as vulnerable, the most coherent phrase that makes the passage meaningful is “to reduce the impact of such catastrophic events”. All the other clauses/ phrases fail to form a contextually coherent paragraph. Hence, option (e) is the most suitable answer choice.
S9. Ans. (b)
Sol. The passage is providing information on the severe recent cyclone that hit the areas of Tamil Nadu. The most appropriate phrase to complete the given blank is “to meet higher standards of resilience”. The later part of the sentence indicates that the now a days the weather events has been increased. Thus, to provide protection from such events resilience standards should be increased. All the other clauses/ phrases fail to form a contextually coherent paragraph. Hence, option (b) is the most suitable answer choice.
S10. Ans. (a)
Sol. The passage is providing information on the severe recent cyclone that hit the areas of Tamil Nadu.
The most appropriate phrase to complete the given blank is “in issuing a stream of alerts ahead of Gaja”. All the other clauses/ phrases fail to form a contextually coherent paragraph. Hence, option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.
S11. Ans. (b)
Sol. Among the given paragraphs, only paragraph (II) successfully infers the given inference as it is describing quoting incidents as well as highlighting the electoral influence of farmers on elections. Thus, in order to perform well in elections, political parties must provide better solutions to reduce rural distress. Paragraph (I) and (III) provides irrelevant information in context of the inference. Hence, option (b) becomes the most suitable answer choice.
S12. Ans. (a)
Sol. Among the given paragraphs, only paragraph (III) illustrates the given inference as it has mentioned the states where the manufacturing jobs are difficult to find. It has further mentioned the cause due to which creation of non-farm jobs have become difficult. Paragraph (I) and (II) are irrelevant to the context of the inference. Hence, option (a) becomes the most suitable answer choice.
S13. Ans. (a)
Sol. Among the given paragraphs, only paragraph (I) precisely articulates the inference. It has mentioned about the risks of fraudsters, thus the security of ATMs must be enhanced. However, paragraph (II) mentions about the risks for ATM industry regarding its growth. Thus, fail to infer the given conclusion. Paragraph (III) is irrelevant to the context of the inference. Hence, option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.
S14. Ans. (b)
Sol. The inference statement is ‘Terror attack on Chinese consulate in Pakistan’. Among the given paragraphs, the paragraphs (I) and (III) clearly mention the location i.e., Chinese Consulate in Pakistan (as given in the given inference) and about the attack on the given location.
The statement (II) doesn’t mention the exact location where the attack or the shootout took place.
So, the given inference could be derived from the paragraphs (I) and (III). Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer.
S15. Ans. (e)
Sol. None of the given paragraphs illustrates the inference as paragraphs (I) and (III) provide irrelevant information while paragraph (III) although seems relevant but fails to provide the complete information. Paragraph (II) doesn’t mention anything about the scrutiny on RBI’s procedure or measure to control them. Hence, option (e) becomes the most suitable answer choice.
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