Directions (1-5): Each question has two blanks with one blank to be filled by an idiom and other to be filled by a word. Choose the option which correctly mentions the idiom and the word to fill the blanks.
Q1. The landmark Cold War nuclear Weapons agreement might ____________________ if Russia, as announced by the US Secretary of State during a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting, does not come into ____________________ with the treaty within 60 days.
(a) throw cold water; problem
(b) end up in smoke; compliance
(c) carry the ball; assessment
(d) smell a rat; Europe
(e) burn your boots; The United States
Q2. Sameera had become very uncomfortable and ____________________ when visiting her parents after losing the final match in tennis to an/a ____________________ and suffered chronic tension.
(a) couch potato; difference
(b) a dark horse; treatment
(c) a house of cards; division
(d) beyond the pale; equality
(e) ill at ease; underdog
Q3. After two hours spent ________________ in the snow, I realized we were on a ______________________.
(a) wandering; wild goose chase
(b) researching; hard of hearing
(c) wanting; house of cards
(d) gaining; maiden speech
(e) working; couch potato
Q4. A hospital in Srinagar has ____________________ the plea of a Sikh girl who had offered her kidney to save her terminally ill Muslim friend, accepting the ____________________ raised by the prospective donor’s father.
(a) driven home; acrimony
(b) dressed down; history
(c) called in question; sacrifices
(d) curried favour; money
(e) turned down; demurs
Q5. The Senate’s refusal last year to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty may have been a ____________________. The US is certainly not interested in ____________________ her pursuit for Nuclear weapons.
(a) drop in the bucket; undermining
(b) feather in one’s cap; enervating
(c) weal and woe; vindicating
(d) straw in the wind; terminating
(e) leaps and bounds; blaming
Directions (6-10): Given below are five sentences of a paragraph in a jumbled fashion. Arrange the sentences to form a coherent paragraph and answer the following questions.
(E) Between 1977 and 1996, the power to impose presidential rule was exercised almost 59 times.
(A) Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s cabinet resorted to the power an estimated 50 times in her 14 years.
(D) The fact that it includes 15 instances between 1980 and 1984 after the Supreme Court held federalism a basic feature of the Constitution is quite telling.
(C) From 1991 till 2016, there have been 32 instances of the exercise of this power — compared to 92 instances in the preceding period.
(B) In S.R. Bommai v. Union of India (1994), the limitation laid down by the Supreme Court might have placed gentle breaks on exercise of this power, but the Centre continues to wield superior legislative powers, including residuary powers and legislative precedence.
Q6. What should be the Last sentence of the sequence?
(a) D
(b) A
(c) B
(d) C
(e) E
Q7. What should be the SECOND sentence of the sequence?
(a) D
(b) A
(c) B
(d) C
(e) E
Q8. What should be the FOURTH sentence of the final sequence?
(a) A
(b) E
(c) D
(d) B
(e) C
Q9. What should be the THIRD sentence of the final sequence?
(a) D
(b) A
(c) C
(d) B
(e) E
Q10. What should be the FIRST sentence of the final sequence?
(a) C
(b) D
(c) B
(d) E
(e) A
Solutions
S1. Ans. (b)
Sol. Idioms:
throw cold water means discourage;
end up in smoke means to fail;
carry the ball means to be in charge;
smell a rat means to suspect foul dealings;
burn your boots means do something that makes it impossible to return to the previous situation;
Words:
Compliance [noun] means ‘the action or fact of complying with a wish or command’;
The tone of the sentence suggests that Russia is being warned in relation to her compliance with an agreement related to Nuclear Weapons. Among the given idiom, the idiom ‘end up in smoke’ which means ‘to fail’, provides the correct context to the blank, and among the given words, ‘compliance’ is the correct word to fill the blank.
Among the given options, option (b) is the correct answer.
S2. Ans. (e)
Sol. Idioms:
Couch potato means a person who prefers to watch television;
A dark horse means an unknown entry;
A house of cards means an insecure scheme;
Beyond the pale means unreasonable or unacceptable;
Ill at ease means uneasy;
Sameera had lost her final match and it is given that she was very uncomfortable. Among the given options, the idiom ‘ill at ease’ and the word ‘underdog’ provide the correct context to the sentence.
Hence, option (e) is the correct answer.
S3. Ans. (a)
Sol. Idioms:
Wild-goose chase means a pointless search;
Hard of hearing means to be deaf;
House of cards means an insecure scheme;
Maiden speech means first speech;
Couch potato means a person who prefers to watch television;
Words:
Wandering means ‘travelling aimlessly from place to place; itinerant’ ;
Researching means ‘investigate systematically.’;
Wanting [adjective] means ‘lacking in a required or necessary quality’;
Gaining means ‘obtain or secure (something wanted or desirable)’;
Working means ‘functioning or able to function’;
Among the given options, the word ‘wandering’ and the idiom ‘wild-chase goose’ provide the correct context to the blanks of the sentence.
Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
S4. Ans. (e)
Sol. Idioms:
Driven home means emphasise;
Dressed down means giving a scolding;
Called in question means challenge;
Curried favour means seek favourable attention;
Turned down means reject;
Words:
Demurs [noun] means ‘the action of objecting to or hesitating over something’;
Acrimony [noun] means ‘bitterness or ill feeling’;
The phrase ‘raised by the prospective donor’s father’ suggests that donor’s father raised objection to her daughter offering to donate her kidney, and hence, the hospital, accepting the plea of her father has rejected the plea of a Sikh girl who had offered her kidney.
Among the given options, the idiom ‘turned down’ and the word ‘demurs’ provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (e) is the correct answer.
S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. Idioms:
Drop in the bucket means a very insignificant amount;
Feather in one’s cap means a new and additional distinction;
Weal and woe means good times and bad times;
Straw in the wind means an indication of what might happen;
Leaps and bounds means rapidly;
Words:
Enervating [enervate, verb] means ‘make (someone) feel drained of energy or vitality’;
Vindicating [vindicate, verb] means ‘clear (someone) of blame or suspicion’;
Terminating [terminate, verb] means ‘bring to an end’;
Blaming [blame, verb] means ‘feel or declare that (someone or something) is responsible for a fault or wrong’;
The Senate has refused to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It means that the US is not interested in stopping her pursuit for Nuclear weapons.
Among the given options, the idiom ‘straw in the wind’ and the word ‘terminating’ provide the correct context to the blanks.
Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
S6. Ans. (c)
Sol. The correct sequence is ‘EADCB’.
The sentence (E) informs us about the theme of the paragraph which is ‘instances of the exercising of presidential rule between 1977 and 1996’. So, the sentence (E) should be the first sentence of the final paragraph. The sentence (A) informs about how many times such exercising of presidential rule happened during the Prime Ministerial era of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The occurrence of the pronoun ‘it’ in the sentence (D) suggests that there should exists a sentence prior the sentence (A) which would provide the antecedent for the pronoun ‘it’. Among the given sentences, only sentence (A) can provide the antecedent to the pronoun ‘it’ and the antecedent is the resorting to imposing presidential rule during the 14 years when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. So, A-D should be a sub-sequence. Among the sentences (B) and (C), the sentence (C) talks about the time era between 1991 and 2016 and the exercising of the power to impose presidential rule during that time era. The sentence (C) gels well with the sub-sequence A-D, but the sentence (C) should trail the subsequence A-D because the sub-sequence A-D talks about an earlier time while the sentence (C) talks about the latter time. So, we get the sub-sequence ‘ADC’. The sentence (B) talks about an instance of legal battle on the issue and seems to provide a conclusion by informing us about the limitation laid down by the Supreme Court but still the continuance of wielding superior legislative power by the Centre. Hence, the sentence (B) should be the last sentence.
Hence, the correct sequence is ‘EADCB’ and the option (c) is the correct answer.
S7. Ans. (b)
Sol. The correct sequence is ‘EADCB’.
The sentence (E) informs us about the theme of the paragraph which is ‘instances of the exercising of presidential rule between 1977 and 1996’. So, the sentence (E) should be the first sentence of the final paragraph. The sentence (A) informs about how many times such exercising of presidential rule happened during the Prime Ministerial era of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The occurrence of the pronoun ‘it’ in the sentence (D) suggests that there should exists a sentence prior the sentence (A) which would provide the antecedent for the pronoun ‘it’. Among the given sentences, only sentence (A) can provide the antecedent to the pronoun ‘it’ and the antecedent is the resorting to imposing presidential rule during the 14 years when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. So, A-D should be a sub-sequence. Among the sentences (B) and (C), the sentence (C) talks about the time era between 1991 and 2016 and the exercising of the power to impose presidential rule during that time era. The sentence (C) gels well with the sub-sequence A-D, but the sentence (C) should trail the subsequence A-D because the sub-sequence A-D talks about an earlier time while the sentence (C) talks about the latter time. So, we get the sub-sequence ‘ADC’. The sentence (B) talks about an instance of legal battle on the issue and seems to provide a conclusion by informing us about the limitation laid down by the Supreme Court but still the continuance of wielding superior legislative power by the Centre. Hence, the sentence (B) should be the last sentence.
Hence, the correct sequence is ‘EADCB’ and the option (b) is the correct answer.
S8. Ans. (e)
Sol. The correct sequence is ‘EADCB’.
The sentence (E) informs us about the theme of the paragraph which is ‘instances of the exercising of presidential rule between 1977 and 1996’. So, the sentence (E) should be the first sentence of the final paragraph. The sentence (A) informs about how many times such exercising of presidential rule happened during the Prime Ministerial era of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The occurrence of the pronoun ‘it’ in the sentence (D) suggests that there should exists a sentence prior the sentence (A) which would provide the antecedent for the pronoun ‘it’. Among the given sentences, only sentence (A) can provide the antecedent to the pronoun ‘it’ and the antecedent is the resorting to imposing presidential rule during the 14 years when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. So, A-D should be a sub-sequence. Among the sentences (B) and (C), the sentence (C) talks about the time era between 1991 and 2016 and the exercising of the power to impose presidential rule during that time era. The sentence (C) gels well with the sub-sequence A-D, but the sentence (C) should trail the subsequence A-D because the sub-sequence A-D talks about an earlier time while the sentence (C) talks about the latter time. So, we get the sub-sequence ‘ADC’. The sentence (B) talks about an instance of legal battle on the issue and seems to provide a conclusion by informing us about the limitation laid down by the Supreme Court but still the continuance of wielding superior legislative power by the Centre. Hence, the sentence (B) should be the last sentence.
Hence, the correct sequence is ‘EADCB’ and the option (e) is the correct answer.
S9. Ans. (a)
Sol. The correct sequence is ‘EADCB’.
The sentence (E) informs us about the theme of the paragraph which is ‘instances of the exercising of presidential rule between 1977 and 1996’. So, the sentence (E) should be the first sentence of the final paragraph. The sentence (A) informs about how many times such exercising of presidential rule happened during the Prime Ministerial era of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The occurrence of the pronoun ‘it’ in the sentence (D) suggests that there should exists a sentence prior the sentence (A) which would provide the antecedent for the pronoun ‘it’. Among the given sentences, only sentence (A) can provide the antecedent to the pronoun ‘it’ and the antecedent is the resorting to imposing presidential rule during the 14 years when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. So, A-D should be a sub-sequence. Among the sentences (B) and (C), the sentence (C) talks about the time era between 1991 and 2016 and the exercising of the power to impose presidential rule during that time era. The sentence (C) gels well with the sub-sequence A-D, but the sentence (C) should trail the subsequence A-D because the sub-sequence A-D talks about an earlier time while the sentence (C) talks about the latter time. So, we get the sub-sequence ‘ADC’. The sentence (B) talks about an instance of legal battle on the issue and seems to provide a conclusion by informing us about the limitation laid down by the Supreme Court but still the continuance of wielding superior legislative power by the Centre. Hence, the sentence (B) should be the last sentence.
Hence, the correct sequence is ‘EADCB’ and the option (a) is the correct answer.
S10. Ans. (d)
Sol. The correct sequence is ‘EADCB’.
The sentence (E) informs us about the theme of the paragraph which is ‘instances of the exercising of presidential rule between 1977 and 1996’. So, the sentence (E) should be the first sentence of the final paragraph. The sentence (A) informs about how many times such exercising of presidential rule happened during the Prime Ministerial era of Mrs. Indira Gandhi. The occurrence of the pronoun ‘it’ in the sentence (D) suggests that there should exists a sentence prior the sentence (A) which would provide the antecedent for the pronoun ‘it’. Among the given sentences, only sentence (A) can provide the antecedent to the pronoun ‘it’ and the antecedent is the resorting to imposing presidential rule during the 14 years when Mrs. Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister. So, A-D should be a sub-sequence. Among the sentences (B) and (C), the sentence (C) talks about the time era between 1991 and 2016 and the exercising of the power to impose presidential rule during that time era. The sentence (C) gels well with the sub-sequence A-D, but the sentence (C) should trail the subsequence A-D because the sub-sequence A-D talks about an earlier time while the sentence (C) talks about the latter time. So, we get the sub-sequence ‘ADC’. The sentence (B) talks about an instance of legal battle on the issue and seems to provide a conclusion by informing us about the limitation laid down by the Supreme Court but still the continuance of wielding superior legislative power by the Centre. Hence, the sentence (B) should be the last sentence.
Hence, the correct sequence is ‘EADCB’ and the option (d) is the correct answer.
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