Directions (1-5): In each of the following sentences, part/parts of the sentence is/are left blank. Beneath each sentence, four different ways of completing the sentence are indicated. Choose the best alternative from among the four.
Q1. In pursuance of their decision to resist what they saw as anti-labor policies, the company employees’ union launched agitation to ____________ .
(a) show their virility
(b) reaffirm their commitment to the company
(c) bring down the government
(d) demonstrate their strength
(e) make their demands completely fulfilled
Q2. The safest general characterization of the European philosophical tradition as it has developed up to now, with all its diverse proponents, is that it consists of a ____________ Plato.
(a) series of footnotes to
(b) set of prologues to
(c) collection of chapters on
(d) string of commentaries to
(e) compilation of events
Q3. The interest generated by the soccer World Cup is ____________ compared to the way cricket ____________ the nation.
(a) milder, fascinates
(b) lukewarm, electrifies
(c) tepid, inspires
(d) unusual, grips
(e) ruthless, controls
Q4. No doubt, it was our own government but it was being run on borrowed ideas, using ____________ solutions.
(a) worn out
(b) second hand
(c) impractical
(d) appropriate
(e) meager
Q5. The telephone symbolizes that awkward ____________ in all communication technologies; while it ____________ to bring us together, it keeps us apart.
(a) paradox, needs
(b) irony, intends
(c) paradox, tries
(d) irony, wishes
(e) paradigm, targets
Directions (6-10): In each of the following sentences, five options are given. You are required to identify the best way of writing the sentence in the context of the correct usage of standard written English. While doing so, you have to ensure that the message being conveyed remains the same in all the cases. If the given sentence is correct, mark (e) .i.e. “No correction required” as your answer.
Q6. If he was to decide to go to college, one would recommend that he plan to go to IIM, Ahmedabad.
(a) If he was to decide to go to college, one would recommended that he plan to go to IIM, Ahmedabad.
(b) If he were to decide to go to college, one would recommend that he plan to go to IIM, Ahmedabad.
(c) Had he decided to go to college, one would recommend that plan to go to IIM, Ahmedabad.
(d) In the event that he decides to go to college, one would recommend that plan to go to IIM, Ahmedabad.
(e) No correction required
Q7. Except for you and I, everyone brought a present for the little birthday boy.
(a) Except for him and I, everyone brought a present for the little birthday boy.
(b) With the exception of you and I, everyone brought a present for the little birthday boy.
(c) Except for you and I, everyone had brought a present for the little birthday boy.
(d) Except for you and me, everyone brought a present for the little birthday boy.
(e) No correction required
Q8. When one reads the Hindi literature of the twentieth century, you find a striking contrast between the writings of Munshi Premchand and later day writers of popular Hindi fiction.
(a) When one read the Hindi literature of the twentieth century, you found a striking contrast between the writings of Munshi Premchand and later day writers of popular Hindi fiction.
(b) When you read the Hindi literature of the twentieth century, one finds a striking contrast between the writings of Munshi Premchand and later day writers of popular Hindi fiction.
(c) When one read the Hindi literature of the twentieth century, he finds a striking contrast between the writings of Munshi Premchand and later day writers of popular Hindi fiction.
(d) If one reads the Hindi literature of the twentieth century, you find a striking contrast between the writings of Munshi Premchand and later day writers of popular Hindi fiction.
(e) No correction required
Q9. Because of his tennis elbow injury, Limba Ram has not and possibly never will be able to pick up the bat again.
(a) Because of his tennis elbow injury, Limba Ram had not and possibly never will be able to pick up the bat again.
(b) Because of his tennis elbow injury, Limba Ram has not and possibly will never be able to pick up the bat again.
(c) Because of his tennis elbow injury, Limba Ram has not been and possibly never would be able to pick up the bat again.
(d) Because of his tennis elbow injury, Limba Ram has not been able to and possibly never will be able to pick up the bat again.
(e) No correction required
Q10. Had he realised how close he was to failing, he would not have gone to the party.
(a) Had he realize how close he was to failing, he would not have gone to the party.
(b) If he would have realized how close he was to failing, he would not have gone to the party.
(c) Had he had realised how close he was to failing, he would not have gone to the party.
(d) When he realised how close he was to failing, he did not go to the party.
(e) No correction required
Solutions
S1. Ans.(d)
Sol. ‘demonstrate their strength’ as in the given sentence, the contextual meaning of the sentence comes to be a union’s protest which is done by the company’s employees the ultimate goal of which is to show the strength they have.
S2. Ans.(a)
Sol. ‘series of footnotes to’ is the most appropriate answer that makes the grammatical as well as contextual sense here.
S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. ‘lukewarm’ here refers to intensity of the interest people in the Soccer World cup. Here, the writer is doing a comparison between the two games and says that the way cricket ‘electrifies’ (charges or instills with the spirit) the people is far more than the soccer World Cup does.
S4. Ans.(b)
Sol. ‘second hand’ makes the contextual sense here.
S5. Ans.(c)
Sol. As the telephone symbolizes the awkward ‘paradox’ of the communication, it ‘tries’ to bring the people together.
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. If he were to decide to go to college, one would recommend that he plan to go to IIM, Ahmedabad.
S7. Ans.(d)
Sol. Except for you and me, everyone brought a present for the little birthday boy.
S8. Ans.(c)
Sol. When one read the Hindi literature of the twentieth century, he finds a striking contrast between the writings of Munshi Premchand and later day writers of popular Hindi fiction.
S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. Because of his tennis elbow injury, Limba Ram has not been able to and possibly never will be able to pick up the bat again.
S10. Ans.(e)
Sol. No correction required