Table of Contents
Directions (1-5): In the following question, a sentence is divided into five different parts including two highlighted ones. The highlighted parts of the sentence are grammatically correct and do not require any correction. However, the remaining three parts may contain errors in one or more than one parts of the sentence. Choose the best alternative among the five options given below each sentence that determines the portions that require correction to make the sentence grammatically correct.
Q1. The recent international debate (I)/over President Donald Trump (II)/announced the recognition of Jerusalem (III)/as the capital of Israel and the shifting of (IV)/the US embassy there resounded in the UN. (V)
(a)Only (III)
(b)Only (V)
(c)Both (II) and (III)
(d)Both (III) and (V)
(e)No error
Q2. Scientists are reluctant to attribute a particular event (I)/like the 2017 Southern California fires (II)/or the southwest floods in Japan, but they associate (III)/the rise in weather-related episodes along decades with (IV)/higher temperatures in increased greenhouse gases in the air. (V)
(a)Only (I)
(b)Only (IV)
(c)Both (IV) and (V)
(d)All (I), (IV) and (V)
(e)No error
Q3. Improvisation of scientific equipment (I)/with the use of local resources is the right way (II)/to teach science as it is now hard (III)/to conceive of science education without (IV)/the help of equipment and materials. (V)
(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (I) and (III)
(c)Both (III) and (IV)
(d)Both (I) and (IV)
(e)No error
Q4. Seventy years of Independence constitute (I)/a convenient planks to look back at what we have (II)/achieved and to look forward to (III)/what we aspire to do, particularly in the (IV)/field of science and technology education. (V)
(a)Only (II)
(b)only (III)
(c)Only (IV)
(d)Both (II) and (IV)
(e)No error
Q5. Despite the theological beliefs and ethical principles (I)/underlying the affinity within the ‘Abrahamic religions’, (II)/the ‘city of peace’ i.e. Jerusalem, has been destroyed (III)/at least twice by Babylonians, Romans and even Mongols, (IV)/besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times and exchanged hands on 44 occasions. (V)
(a)Only (I)
(b)Only (III)
(c)Both (III) and (IV)
(d)Both (I) and (IV)
(e)No error
Directions (6-8): Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which one sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the one that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
Q6. At the Myanmar media development conference in December last year, journalists and editors had sounded pessimistic about press freedom and censorship. _____________________________________. But there was near total consensus that the crisis in Rakhine – after the guerrilla attacks on 30 police stations in August last year by the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army – had put the clock back alarmingly on freedom of expression as a whole and media freedom in particular. The all-powerful military had found the crisis rather useful, not only to boost its own image as the protector of national sovereignty but also to reinforce the draconian censorship that had been the overriding feature of 50 years of military rule in Myanmar.
(a) Most of them said the press in Myanmar was still muzzled, and some who had actively supported the movement for democracy and suffered for it blamed the Aung San Suu Kyi-led government for failing to live up to its promises of ensuring freedom of expression.
(b) The civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi coming to power in 2015 had raised hopes of more respect for media freedom.
(c) There were at least 17 legal provisions – from communication law to electronic law to the dreaded penal code – under which journalists could be arrested and perhaps jailed for life.
(d) The old motion picture law is being redrafted amid the debate sparked by the scrapping of a feature film which dealt with the military.
(e) To add insult to injury, the authorities provided a photo accompanying the government’s statement showing the two journalists standing handcuffed behind a table covered with documents, an image designed to suggest their guilt.
Q7. US President Donald Trump calling out Pakistan on Twitter for giving safe haven to terrorists, and suggesting that the US stop giving it any more aid constitute the clearest articulation by any US President on the subject. The early morning tweet from President Trump is a heartening message for India, which has consistently highlighted the Pakistan’s support for terrorists. While Trump’s statement represents a diplomatic victory for India, a clear recognition of its concerns, New Delhi cannot expect anything more from Washington. Tackling Pakistan remains something that India needs to do, but the support is welcome. _________________________________________________.
(a) If the US were to stop all support to Pakistan now, it would be one more arena that it cedes to China.
(b) India must take the US’ unambiguous statement as recognition of its position.
(c) For the rest, India must forestall armed intervention by Pak proxies and work to undermine the founding ideology of Pakistan.
(d) It must leverage this moment to push for Islamabad’s diplomatic isolation.
(e) President Trump tweeted while on holiday and apparently without consultation with his advisers.
Q8. Mhaswad is a small remote town in Satara district, Maharashtra’s sugar bowl. Located in the rain shadow region, it faces perennial drought, and agrarian distress is widespread. However, a unique movement involving several thousands of women has quietly gained momentum over the years in this region, breaking boundaries and turning rural women into successful entrepreneurs, goat doctors and athletes. The movement, started by the Mann Deshi Foundation in 1996, uses development tools such as microenterprise to empower women and help them find alternative livelihoods. ___________________________________________________________.
(a) Run entirely for and by women, the Foundation has so far reached out to three lakh rural women.
(b) Most women find it difficult to make the trip to Mhaswad.
(c) Women who want to run a tea stall or a small shop, who tailor saree blouses or prepare food products such as pickles need only a small amount of capital to kick-start their enterprise.
(d) Gender equality is an integral part of the Foundation’s mission.
(e) In these areas, there are so many issues that need practical solutions, so we keep developing and customising finance and credit products to support women entrepreneurs.
Directions (9-10): Read the following passage and then answer the question that follows.
Q9. Two recent World Bank studies on India’s rapidly depleting water resources have caused quite a stir. More interesting is how water seems to have become the new focus area for the Bank’s assistance: at $3.2 billion in 2005-08 from a mere $700 million in 1999-04. Within water also, more money is going to rural water, large hydropower projects, and water resource management in poorer states.
Which of the following statements generates the most appropriate inference of the above paragraph?
(a) The World Bank assistance to India for developing water resources has increased more than 4 times for 2005-08 as compared to the prior period.
(b) India’s water resources are depleting.
(c) Poorer states of India require a larger fund for water resource management projects such as rural water, large hydropower projects.
(d) The two World Bank studies on India have caused a stir.
(e) Water conservation and water management processes have stirred the greater demand in allocation of fund in the recent past.
Q10. In spite of the economics of direct entry system of recruitment being appreciated and accepted by the merchant navy, our armed forces still seem to be dragging their feet on this issue. If anything, our defence organization appears to be continually augmenting its training establishments by having in its fold professional institutions providing basic university education. There is not dearth of such institutions in our civil educational system. This results in unnecessary duplication at the expense of the defence budget.
From the above paragraph, it may be inferred that
(a)Merchant navy used to admit only college graduates in its training programmes.
(b)Merchant navy no longer provides basic university education in its training programmes.
(c)The nature of work involved in defence organization and merchant navy is similar.
(d)A major part of defence budget is spent on its training establishments.
(e)The direct entry system of recruitment is no more appreciated and accepted by the merchant navy.
Directions (11-15): In each of the following sentence there are three blank spaces. Below each sentence there are five options and each option consists of three words which can be filled up in the provided blanks in the sentence respectively to make the sentence grammatically correct. Choose the most appropriate set of words that makes the sentence contextually and grammatically correct.
Q11. On the _______________ of World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 11th Ministerial Conference (MC11) at Buenos Aires, India might have returned empty handed as a permanent solution to the issue of Public Stock Holding remained ______________ due to the adamant attitude of US, despite the fact that it was on the _______________ agenda of the MC11.
(a)completion, elusive, mandated
(b)effort, confronting, legal
(c)conclusion, tricky, ruled
(d)occasion, stable, due
(e)realization, apparent, entrust
Q12. Rising inequality ________________ growth by reducing demand, and reflects low productivity growth – considered reasons for the sluggish ________________ global growth of recent decades, __________________ in the US and other rich countries.
(a)aids, elementary, marked
(b)undermines, underlying, especially
(c)abate, important, commonly
(d)impaired, facile, highly
(e)attenuate, secondary, general
Q13. While rumours are resurfacing that the government may _________________ limited procurement of the Spike ATGM, it will be a __________________ decision as the army will be _________________ with multiple equipment for the same task.
(a)speculate, specific, puzzled
(b)ponder, fortuitous, stumped
(c)reflect, intentional, choke
(d)consider, haphazard, saddled
(e)ignore, incidental, loaded
Q14. This is in view of the fact that China has __________________ everything from power companies and contracts to the _________________ of garbage to stakes in the Karachi stock exchange, besides _________________ it around the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
(a)forfeited, mess, lining
(b)yielded, division, rolling
(c)acquired, collection, looping
(d)aggregated, mass, increasing
(e)fulfilled, group, reversing
Q15. It is ________________ to note that the country is producing more petroleum goods than it actually needs. It should ________________ more by further increasing its refining capacity. It would benefit the country and its __________________ to earn more from the petroleum sector.
(a)gratifying, produce, economy
(b)pleasant, solve, extravagance
(c)pleasing, provide, brevity
(d)mild, procure, reversal
(e)rare, negotiate, control
Practice More Questions of English for Competitive Exams:
Solutions
S1. Ans. (a)
Sol. There is a grammatical error in only the third part of the sentence. The verb “announced” should be replaced by “announcing” to make the sentence grammatically feasible. It can well be guessed from the verb used in the highlighted part of the sentence. Hence the option (a) is the correct choice.
S2. Ans. (c)
Sol. There are certain grammatical errors in both the fourth and the fifth parts of the sentence. In the fourth part of the sentence, the preposition “along” should be replaced by “over” as the correct preposition to replace the word should be “over” which means expressing duration. Similarly, in the fifth part of the sentence, the preposition “in” should be replaced by “from” as the correct expression should be “higher temperatures from increased greenhouse gases in the air” to make the sentence grammatically correct. Hence the option (c) is the correct choice.
S3. Ans. (e)
Sol. The given sentence is grammatically correct and doesn’t require any correction. Hence the option (e) is the correct choice.
S4. Ans. (a)
Sol. There is a minor mistake in the second part of the sentence. The expression “a convenient planks” should be replaced by “a convenient plank” as the article “a” in the sentence suggests that the noun it refers should be in the singular number to make the sentence grammatically correct. The other parts of the sentence are grammatically correct. Hence option (a) is the correct choice.
S5. Ans. (e)
Sol. The given sentence is grammatically correct and doesn’t require any correction. Hence the option (e) is the correct choice.
S6. Ans. (a)
Sol. Among the given options, the sentence (a) fits perfectly into the provided space. The paragraph is about the Myanmar media development conference that was held in December last year. The sentence (a) correctly follows the theme of the paragraph and at the same time sentences given on either side of the blank space. Other options are irrelevant in the context of their inclusion in the paragraph. Hence option (a) is the correct choice.
S7. Ans. (e)
Sol. The paragraph discusses US President Trump’s tweet against Pakistan calling them as supporter of terrorists and refusing to provide any aid to them. The sentences before the blank talk about diplomatic victory for India through Trump’s statement. Hence the blank must be filled by the sentence embracing the statement of Trump. All the given statements except statement (e) are not going correctly with the theme of the paragraph. The sentence (e), talking about the tweet is making the paragraph complete. Hence option (e) is the correct choice.
S8. Ans. (a)
Sol. Entire paragraph revolves around the theme of the movement, in Maharashtra, empowering thousands of women to help them find their livelihoods. Hence the blank must be filled by the sentence that talks about the movement. Going through all the sentences, we find that the sentence (a) is going in harmony with the paragraph talking about the movement, running entirely by women that have covered three lakh rural women. Hence option (a) is the right choice.
S9. Ans. (c)
Sol. All the five statements can be visualized to be the theme of the given paragraph, but it is to be noted that the question demands the most appropriate one. Among the given options, the statement (c) summarizes the paragraph perfectly as the last two sentences of the paragraph express the central theme which can be observed in the statement (c). It is due to this reason that the larger chunk of fund is going to rural sector. Hence option (c) is the correct choice.
S10. Ans. (c)
Sol. “The nature of work involved in defence organization and merchant navy is similar.” is the most appropriate inference that can be generated from the paragraph. It is to be noted that the paragraph gives a comparative image between the two organizations. The other options lack this central idea of the passage. Hence among the given options, the sentence (c) provides the most suitable inference.
S11. Ans. (a)
Sol. “completion, elusive, mandated” is the correct set of words that fits into the provided blanks perfectly making the sentence meaningful. Hence option (a) is the correct choice.
Elusive means difficult to find, catch, or achieve.
Mandated means required (something) to be done; make mandatory.
Confront means come face to face with (someone) with hostile or argumentative intent.
Apparent means clearly visible or understood; obvious.
Entrust means assign the responsibility for doing something to (someone).
S12. Ans. (b)
Sol. “undermines, underlying, especially” is the correct set of words that fits perfectly into the provided blanks making the sentence meaningful. Hence (b) is the correct choice.
Undermine means lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously.
Underlying means be the cause or basis of (something).
Aid means financial or material help given to a country or area in need.
Abate means (of something unpleasant or severe) become less intense or widespread.
Impaired means weakened or damaged.
Facile means ignoring the true complexities of an issue; superficial.
Attenuate means reduce the force, effect, or value of.
S13. Ans. (d)
Sol. “consider, haphazard, saddled” is the correct set of words that fits perfectly into the provided blanks making the sentence meaningful. Hence (d) is the correct choice.
Haphazard means lacking any obvious principle of organization.
Fortuitous means happening by chance rather than intention.
Choke means prevent or inhibit the occurrence or development of.
Saddled means burdened (someone) with an onerous responsibility or task.
Incidental means happening as a minor accompaniment to something else.
S14. Ans. (c)
Sol. “acquired, collection, looping” is the correct set of words that fits perfectly into the provided blanks making the sentence meaningful. Hence (c) is the correct choice.
Acquire means buy or obtain (an asset or object) for oneself.
Loop means a shape produced by a curve that bends round and crosses itself.
Forfeit means lose or give up (something) as a necessary consequence of something else.
Aggregate means form or group into a class or cluster.
Yield means produce or provide (a natural, agricultural, or industrial product).
S15. Ans. (a)
Sol. “gratifying, produce, economy” is the correct set of words that fits perfectly into the provided blanks making the sentence meaningful. Hence (a) is the correct choice.
Gratifying means giving (someone) pleasure or satisfaction.
Extravagance means excessive elaboration.
Brevity means concise and exact use of words in writing or speech.
Reversal means a change to an opposite direction, position, or course of action.
Negotiate means obtain or bring about by discussion.
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