IBPS PO Prelims English Language Mini Mock Test 35- Miscellaneous

Table of Contents

Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

In spite of his 1841 execution, DiogoAlves “lives” on to this day. For years, DiogoAlves terrorized the people of Lisbon, Portugal, killing or stealing at will. Although he was executed in 1841, he still “lives” on in a bizarre way. Indeed, today, 176 years after his death, his perfectly preserved head can be seen in a glass jar at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine. DiogoAlves is considered by many to be Portugal’s first serial killer. He was born in Galicia in 1810 and traveled to Lisbon as a young child to work as a servant in the affluent homes of the capital city. It wasn’t long before young Alves realized that a life of crime was better for turning a profit, and in 1836 he had himself transferred to work in a home located on the Aqueduto das ÁguasLivres, the Aqueduct of the Free Waters. Less than a half a mile long, the waterway allowed suburbanites and rural farmers to traverse the rural landscape from above, making their way into the city of Lisbon.

It was along this route that many of these unsuspecting commuters met DiogoAlves. Despite the fact that many of the workers who traveled long and far to reach the city were no more than humble farmers entering Lisbon to sell off their harvests, Alves targeted them. Awaiting their return home, he met them by nightfall along the Aqueduct, where he would rob them of their earnings. Afterward, Alves would throw them over the edge of the 213-foot tall structure, sending them falling to their deaths. Between 1836 and 1839, he repeated this process some 70 times. Local police initially attributedthe deaths to copycat suicides, which led to a temporary closure of the bridge. While the killings on the Aqueduct may have come to a stop, break-ins began sprouting up among private residences after Alves formed a gang of murderous robbers to target the wealthier residents of the city. The group was caught while killing four people inside the home of a local doctor, and Alves was arrested and sentenced to death by hanging.

Many regard Alves as the country’s first serial killer, and the last person to die by hanging, but this simply isn’t the case. A woman named Luisa de Jesus, who admitted to poisoning 28 children, is the first recorded serial killer in Portugal and was whipped, hanged, and burned in the streets of Lisbon for her crimes in 1772. Alves, who was hanged to death in February of 1841, may have been among the last people to die as a result of capital punishment before the country did away with the practice in 1867, but he wasn’t the last: Around half a dozen people followed him. Still, what was it about Alves that compelled scientists to preserve his head in a glass jar? For the most part, it was all about trends and timing. At the time of Alves’ execution, phrenology — the belief that certain mental or character traits were determined by the shape of one’s skull — was taking off. While the “laws” undergirding the discipline have since been debunked, researchers at the time were all too excited by the possibility that they might be able to understand what could make a person like Alves so undeniably evil.

As such, his head was removed from his already lifeless body and moved into the glass jar where it can still be found in today, perfectly preserved for all to see. Not much is known about the result of the study on Alves, as little recorded evidence, if there ever was any, remains. A second skull, which belonged to Francisco Mattos Lobo, who murdered a family of four before throwing their dog out of a window, was examined just one year after Alves’ death, in April of 1842.His head can be found in its own glass jar, housed right down the hall from that of DiogoAlves.

Q1.How DiogoAlves is assumed to be living on to this day even after he got executed in 1841?

(a) As his spirit is seen wandering in the streets of Lisbon.

(b) As he is considered an idol in his city and worshipped for all the good deeds he did.

(c)His head is still preserved perfectly in a glass jar at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine.

(d) His whole body is still preserved in the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine.

(e) None of these.

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Q2.Whom did Alves target as his victims?

(a) Men and women suspected of wrong doings in Lisbon.

(b) Women he considered unfaithful to their husbands.

(d) Ordinary farmers entering Lisbon to sell off their harvests.

(e) Killed people out of personal hostility.

Q3.After robbing farmers of their earnings, what methodology would Alves adopt to kill them?

(a) By torturing them and making them commit suicide from 213 foot tall building.

(b) By burning them alive on the top of 213 foot tall structure.

(d) By giving them the over excess drug mixture and making them suffer to death.

(e) None of these.

Q4.How were the deaths of the farmers attributed by the local police initially?

(a) Luisa de Jesus admitted of poisoning the farmers.

(b) Murders carried out by Francisco Mattos Lobo.

(d) That they were burned in the streets of Lisbon.

(e) None of these.

Q5.According to the passage, the main focus of phrenology is on

(a) Seeking correlations between dreaming and current knowledge about the functions of the brain.

(b) The branch of medicine involving study and treatment of the blood.

(d)Mental or character traits can be determined by the shape of the human skull.

(e) The use of the fingers and hands to communicate and convey ideas.

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Q6.Why did researchers at that time remove Alves head from his body and preserve it in a jar?

(a) As his was a great and intelligent mind known in the history.

(b) To study all normal human behaviors.

(d)As they wanted to know what could make a person so undeniably evil.

(e) None of these.

Directions (7-8) : Find out the word from the given options which is similar in meaning to the word given in bold in the passage.

Q7.Bizarre

(a)Normal

(b)Regular

(c)Unusual

(d)Ordinary

(e)Standard

Q8.Affluent

(a)Deprived

(b)Prosperous

(c)Destitute

(d)Needy

(e)Penniless

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Directions (9-10): Find out the word from the given option which is opposite in meaning to the word given in bold in the passage.

Q9.Humble

(a)Modest

(b)Meek

(c)Pretentious

(d)Unassertive

(e)Blamed

Q10.Compelled

(a)Obliged

(b)Constrained

(c)Self-ruling

(d)Forced

(e)Bound

Directions (11-15): In each of the questions given below, there is a statement which is correct grammatically .Mark that option as your answer. All of the options can also be correct, In that case, mark option (e) as your answer.

Q11.

(a) I could clearly seen the site since it was dark.

(b)We are all atheists about most of the gods that humanity has ever believed in.

(c)India is so poor that it cannot afford lose Mondays on account of strikes.

(d) He is usual tense but today he appears rather restless.

(e)All are correct

Q12.

(a)To a large extent, many cooperative societies need advice and guidance.

(b)The investigation was confine to manufacturing firms in the area.

(c)They quickly come back with pitchers laden with water.

(d)This is another kind of signing behavior.

(e)All are correct

Q13.

(a)India national pastime is cricket.

(b)Christopher Reeve confirm a faith in life that will not be easily forgotten.

(c)Forecasting the weather has always been a difficult business.

(d)He himself didn’t have many hope of recovery.

(e)All are correct

Q14.

(a)We seldom examined the basic character of its anatomy.

(b)The process continued for millions of year.

(c)The decline in write skills can be stopped.

(d)Financial services is up against tight liquidity and falling markets.

(e)All are correct.

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Q15.

(a)Learning is an important for both people and organisations.

(b)Good advertising can make people buy your products even they sucks.

(c)Making people laugh is trickable.

(d)The delegation of any power, to any person, is never absolute.

(e)All are correct.

Solutions

S1. Ans. (c)

Sol. Option (c) is the most appropriate choice to be selected as the answer.The answer can be inferred from the first paragraph of the passage where it is mentioned that although he was executed in 1841, he still “lives” on in a bizarre way. Indeed, today, 176 years after his death, his perfectly preserved head can be seen in a glass jar at the University of Lisbon’s Faculty of Medicine

S2. Ans. (d)

Sol. Option (d) is the most appropriate choice. The answer can be quoted from the text mentioned in the paragraph 2 itself which is given as follows: “Despite the fact that many of the workers who traveled long and far to reach the city were no more than humble farmers entering Lisbon to sell off their harvests, Alves targeted them.”

S3. Ans.(c)

Sol. Option (c) is the most suitable choice as the form of the answer. The answer can be deduced from the second paragraph itself where the overall methodology of Alves of how he used to kill farmers is mentioned. It is given that awaiting their return home, he met them by nightfall along the Aqueduct, where he would rob them of their earnings. Afterwards he would throw them over the edge of the 213 foot tall structure, sending them falling to their deaths.

S4. Ans. (c)

Sol. Option (c) is the most appropriate choice. The answer can be inferred from the second paragraph of the passage itself where it is given that local police initially attributed the deaths to copycat suicides, which led to a temporary closure of the bridge.

S5. Ans.(d)

Sol. Option (d) is the correct choice. The answer can be deduced from the 3rd paragraph of the passage where it is given that “For the most part, it was all about trends and timing. At the time of Alves’ execution, phrenology — the belief that certain mental or character traits were determined by the shape of one’s skull — was taking off.”

S6. Ans.(d)

Sol. Option (d) is the correct choice. The answer can be deduced from the second last paragraph of the passage where it is given that while the “laws” undergirding the discipline have since been debunked, researchers at the time were all too excited by the possibility that they might be able to understand what could make a person like Alves so undeniably evil.

S7. Ans. (c)

Sol. Bizarre means very strange or unusual.

Rest all the words are opposite of the given word.

S8. Ans. (b)

Sol. Affluent means having a great deal of money; wealthy.

Prosperous means bringing wealth and success.

Deprived means underprivileged.

Destitute means extremely poor and lacking the means to provide for oneself.

Penniless means having no money ; very poor.

S9. Ans. (c)

Sol. Humble means having or showing a modest or low estimate of one’s importance.

Pretentious means artificial, overambitious.

Modest means unassuming in the estimation of one’s abilities or achievements.

Meek means quiet, gentle, and easily imposed on; submissive.

Unassertive means (of a person) not having or showing a confident and forceful personality.

S10. Ans. (c)

Sol. Compelled means forced to do something.

Obliged means make (someone) legally or morally bound to do something.

Constrained means compelled or forced (someone) to follow a particular course of action.

Bound means a limitation or restriction on feeling or action.

S11. Ans. (b)

Sol. Option (b) is the only choice among all the given options which is grammatically correct. In option (a) ‘see’ will be used instead of ‘seen’. In option (c) “afford to lose” should be used because after afford/like/want we use to-infinitive. In option (d) ‘usually’ will be used instead of ‘usual’.

S12. Ans. (a)

Sol. Only option (a) is the one which is grammatically correct among all the given options. In option (b) , ‘confined’ will be used instead of ‘confine’ as the sentence is referring about the event happened in past. Option (c) will also take the past form of ‘come’ that is ‘came’. In option (d), this is another kind of sign behavior is an appropriate usage and not ‘signing’ behavior.

S13. Ans.(c)

Sol. Option (c) is the most appropriate answer as it is the choice which is grammatically correct. In option (a) , it must be “India’s national pastime is cricket.” Option (b) will take a past form of verb ‘confirm’. So it will be ‘confirmed’. The correction for option (d) will be ‘He himself didn’t have much hope of recovery”.

S14. Ans.(a)

Sol. Option (a) is the best answer choice which is grammatically correct. In option (b), ’years’ will be used instead of ‘year’. The correction for option (c) is “The decline in writing skills can be stopped”. In option (d) as financial services is used and not financial service, ‘are’ will be used and not ‘is’.

S15. Ans. (d)

Sol. Option (d) is the only option which is grammatically correct. In option (a), article ‘an’ will not be used before important, so it will be learning is important. Option (c) will be ‘making people laugh is tricky.’ In option (b), even if will be used and not just even.