Directions (1-8): Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow.
There is a quotation by the great Greek philosopher, Socrates. Once he said, “Our prayers should be for blessings in general, for God knows best what is good for us.” This quote coincides with the prayer to God to give us whatever is good for us.Time and again, whenever we demand something from God that is continually denied to us, it is usually because we are asking for something that is not good for us ultimately.There have been many instances in which people prayed to God for something, and God did not grant their wish. Later they came to learn that receiving the wish would not have been a good thing after all. Will a mother allow the child to have poison? The child may cry for it and throw a tantrum, but if it is poison, the mother will not grant it. Instead the mother will give the child what is best for him or her. The child may not realize it at the time, but as the child grows and learns, the child is grateful for all the things the mother denied him or her that were ultimately not good.
Many people are anxious about making choices. The way to be sure we make the right choices about what to pray for is to pray that God gives us what is best for us. God makes no mistake. Rather than pray for something that may or may not be the best for us, let us pray for God’s will for us.What are the spiritual pearls to enlightened living?If we relax and rest in God’s will, we will find that everything works out for the best in the long run. Meditation is a process of relaxing in God’s will. Meditation provides a time when we can let go of all clutching and praying for this thing and that. It is a time in which we sit in a state of stillness and surrender to God’s will. It is a chance to let go of all our wants and desires. We merely sit in a receptive mood and ask God to grant what is best for us. We will find that God will give us much more than we had expected. That is the secret to enlightened living.
Through meditation, we will find the treasure of spiritual pearls to enlightened living that will bring us peace, happiness, and bliss. God wants us to come home. God wants us to live in eternal peace and bliss in the spiritual realm. When we make the decision to go back to God, then God opens all the doors for us. Then, if we pray to God to give us what is best for us, God will give us the fastest route back to our eternal home. It is only we who delay our homecoming by praying for things that take us in the opposite or different directions.
Q1. What could be the reason, as per the passage, for certain demands made by people being continually denied to them by God?
(a) There was arrogance in the prayer while making the demand.
(b) God ultimately wants good for us and wishes which aren’t good for us aren’t granted.
(c) God is partial, and grants wishes of only her/his favorites but not all.
(d) God doesn’t grant those wishes which are made of greed and/or hatred.
(e) Options (a) and (d)
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Q2. Why, as per the passage, a child, when it grows and learns, is grateful for all the things the mother denied her or him?
(a) The mother denied her child those things that were ultimately not good.
(b) A mother is a mother, and it is the duty of a child to be grateful of its mother.
(c) The school where the child studies teach her or him to be grateful of its mother.
(d) If the child won’t be grateful to its mother, then it would be outcasted in the society.
(e) None of the above.
Q3. According to the passage, what should be prayed to the God?
(a) We should pray to God for things we want.
(b) We should pray to God for things our mother wants.
(c) We should pray for God’s will for us.
(d) Options (b) and (c)
(e) Options (a) and (c)
Q4. What is the secret of enlightened living according to the passage?
(a) Sitting in a state of stillness and surrendering to God’s will.
(b) Letting go of all our wants and desires.
(c) Finding that God will give us much more than we had expected.
(d) Options (a), (b) and (c)
(e) None of these
Q5. According to the passage, what are the spiritual pearls to enlightened living?
(a) Relaxing in God’s will through sitting in a state of stillness and surrendering to God’s will.
(b) Letting go of all our wants and desires.
(c) Sitting in a receptive mood and asking God to grant what is best for us.
(d) Options (a), (b) and (c)
(e) None of these
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Q6. As per the passage, how can one find the treasure of spiritual pearls to enlightened living?
(a) Feeling gratitude toward one’s mother
(b) Letting go of all our wants and desires
(c) Praying to God for its will for us.
(d) Through practicing Meditation
(e) None of these
Q7. According to the passage, what is it that delays our coming back to eternal Home?
(a) Bad people around us.
(b) Our desires
(c) Our hatred for certain things
(d) Options (b) and (c)
(e) None of these
Q8. What is the synonym of ‘coincides’?
(a) addresses
(b) accompanies
(c) believes
(d) ducks
(e) corresponds
Directions (9-15): In the following questions, a phrase is highlighted in a sentence followed by three alternatives that may replace the highlighted phrase given in the sentence. Choose the most suitable option reflecting the INCORRECT alternative(s) that fails to replace the highlighted phrase. If none of the given alternatives are appropriate to replace then, choose option (e) i.e. “all are incorrect” as your answer choice.
Q9. There are several things we can find out — what people ate, the kinds of clothes they wore, the houses on which they lived.
(i) in which they lived
(ii) in which they lives
(iii) in which they live
(a) Only (i)
(b) Both (ii) and (iii)
(c) Only (ii)
(d) Only (iii)
(e) All are incorrect
Q10. People have share new ways of carving stone, composing music, and even cooking food over several hundreds of years.
(i) People have been sharing
(ii) People have shared
(iii) People will share
(a) Both (ii) and (iii)
(b) Only (iii)
(c) Both (i) and (ii)
(d) Only (i)
(e) All are incorrect
Q11. While it was difficult to cross these frontiers, those who wanted could and does scale mountains
and cross the seas.
(i) did scale mountains
(ii) does scale the mountains
(iii) did scale the mountains
(a) Only (iii)
(b) Both (i) and (ii)
(c) Both (i) and (iii)
(d) Only (i)
(e) All are incorrect
Q12. The Iranians and the Greeks who came through the northwest about 2500 years ago called it the Indus theHindos or the Indos, and land for east of the river was called India.
(i) land to east
(ii) land for the east
(iii) land to the east
(a) Only (i)
(b) Both (i) and (iii)
(c) Both (ii) and (iii)
(d) Both (i) and (ii)
(e) All are incorrect
Q13. Manuscripts was usually written on palm leaf, or on the specially prepared bark of a tree known as the birch, which grows in the Himalayas.
(i) Manuscripts was usually write
(ii) Manuscripts are usually writings
(iii) Manuscripts were usually written
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) Both (i) and (ii)
(d) Only (iii)
(e) All are incorrect
Q14. How wonderful it is to watches the sky after sunset! One would first notice one or two bright dots shining in the sky.
(i) it is to watched the sky
(ii) it is to watching the sky
(iii) it is to watch the sky
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) Only (iii)
(d) Both (i) and (ii)
(e) All are incorrect
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Q15. The sun, the moon and all those objects shining in the night sky are called the celestial bodies.
(i) is called a celestial bodies
(ii) are called celestial bodies
(iii) is called the celestial bodies
(a) Only (i)
(b) Only (ii)
(c) Only (iii)
(d) Both (i) and (iii)
(e) All are incorrect
Solutions
S1. Ans. (b)
Sol. The answer for the question can be derived from the first paragraph of the passage. Kindly re-read the following sentence(s) : ‘Time and again, whenever we demand something from God that is continually denied to us, it is usually because we
are asking for something that is not good for us ultimately.’
There is no reference of options (a), (c) and (d) in the passage, and we must give answers as per the passage.
So, the correct answer is the option (b).
S2. Ans. (a)
Sol. The hint for the answer can be derived from the first paragraph. Kindly read the sentence which is as follow: ‘the child may not realize it at the time, but as the child grows and learns, the child is grateful for all the things the mother denied him or her that were ultimately not good’.
The mother denies certain things to her child because they aren’t ultimately good for her child.
Hence, the option (a) is the correct answer.
S3. Ans. (c)
Sol. The hint for the answer to the question can be derived from the second paragraph which is ‘Rather than pray for something that may or may not be the best for us, let us pray for God’s will for us’. Hence, the option (c) is the correct answer.
S4. Ans. (c)
Sol. Kindly read the last sentence of the second paragraph which is ‘that is the secret to enlightened living’. In the sentence, kindly note the pronoun ‘that’ and the helping verb ‘is’. The usage of the helping verb ‘is’ suggests that the ‘secret to enlightened living’ will be singular or there will be only one secret. What will be the antecedent of the pronoun ‘that’? It should be ‘finding that God will give us much more than we had expected’.
Hence, the correct answer to the question is the option (c).
S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. The hint for the answer to the question can be derived from the fifth paragraph.
With the spiritual pearls, the author means or is talking about the attributes which are present in an enlightened living.
The spiritual pearls are:
i). relaxing in God’s will;
ii). Letting go of all our wants and desires;
iii). Being receptive and asking God to grant what is best for us.
Hence, the options (a), (b) and (c) are the correct answer.
Finally, the option (d) is the correct answer.
S6. Ans. (d)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the sixth paragraph which is ‘Through Meditation, we will find the treasure of spiritual pearls to enlightened living that will bring us peace, happiness, and bliss.’
Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.
S7. Ans. (b)
Sol. The solution to the question can be derived from the last line of the last paragraph which is ‘it is only we who delay our Homecoming by praying for things that take us in the opposite or different directions.’
From the mentioned sentence, it can be understood that our own desires are delaying our coming back to our eternal Home.
S8. Ans. (e)
Sol. coincide [verb] means ‘go along with; coexist’.
Among the given options, only option (e) is the correct answer.
S9. Ans. (b)
Sol. The usage of the preposition ‘on’ in the highlighted phrase is wrong because no one lives on a house but in a house.
Among the given alternatives, only alternative (i) is correct. The alternatives (ii) and (iii) are wrong.
In the alternative (ii), the usage of the verb ‘lives’ after the pronoun ‘they’ is wrong.
The alternative (iii) imparts a present tense to the clause consisting the highlighted phrase when the other clauses have a simple past tense. This is erroneous.
Hence, the correct answer is the option (b).
S10. Ans. (d)
Sol. There is an error in the highlighted phrase. Past-participle form of verb should be used after the auxiliary verb ‘have’.
In the alternatives, the alternatives (ii) and (iii), upon replacing the highlighted phrase, will impart grammatically correct and contextually meaningful sense to the sentence.
So, Only alternative (i) is incorrect.
Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.
S11. Ans. (b)
Sol. There are two errors in the highlighted phrase:
One is the usage of ‘does’ is incorrect because the tense of the rest of the sentence is the Past Tense, while the usage of ‘does’ in the notion connected by a conjunction ‘and’ imparts a Present Tense. This is erroneous.
The second error is the omission of an article ‘the’ prior to the plural countable noun ‘mountains’.
Among the given alternatives, the alternative (ii) is incorrect because of the usage of ‘does’ (and the reason for which is explained above). The alternative (i) is erroneous because the omission of the article ‘the’ prior to the plural countable noun ‘mountains’.
The alternative (iii) is the correct answer.
Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer because the alternatives (i) and (ii) are erroneous.
S12. Ans. (e)
Sol. There are three errors in the highlighted phrase:
One is the omission of the article ‘the’ before the definite uncountable noun.
Second is the incorrect usage of the preposition ‘for’. The correct preposition to be used in the given context is ‘to’.
Third is, again, the omission of the article ‘the’ before ‘East’. The article ‘the’ is used before the four directions (North, West, East and South).
Among the alternatives, the alternative (i) doesn’t provide the article ‘the’ before the definite uncountable noun ‘land’ and ‘east’; the alternative (ii) doesn’t provide the article ‘the’ before ‘land’ and uses incorrect preposition ‘for’ between ‘land’ and ‘the east’; the alternative (iii) doesn’t provide the article ‘the’ before ‘land’, though it uses the correct preposition and also mentions the article ‘the’ before the ‘East’.
From above, it is realized that all the three alternatives are incorrect.
Hence, the option (e) is the correct answer.
S13. Ans. (a)
Sol. Manuscript [noun] means ‘A book, document, or piece of music written by hand rather than typed or printed.’;
There is a grammatical error in the highlighted phrase. ‘Manuscripts’ is a plural noun, but the verb ‘was’ assigned to it is singular. This is erroneous.
In the alternatives, the alternatives (ii) and (iii) are correct.
The difference between the alternative (ii) and (iii) is the structure of the sentence—one is in passive form while the other uses linking verb ‘are’, but both are grammatically correct and contextually meaningful.
The alternative (i) is erroneous because the simple past form of verb can never follow the auxiliary verb ‘was’.
Hence, the correct answer is the option (a).
S14. Ans. (d)
Sol. There is an error in the highlighted phrase. It is incorrect to use the form of verb ‘watches’ after ‘to’. The correct form of verb to be used is ‘watch’.
Among the given alternatives, the correct alternative to be used is only the alternative (iii). The alternatives (i) and (ii) are incorrect.
Hence, the correct answer is the option (d).
S15. Ans. (d)
Sol. There is an error in the highlighted phrase ‘are called the celestial bodies’. The use of the article ‘the’ is incorrect because the plural noun ‘celestial bodies’ is used in a general sense.
The alternative (i) is incorrect because of the usage of ‘is’ and the usage of the article ‘a’.
The alternative (iii) is incorrect because of the usage of ‘is’ and the usage of the article ‘the’.
The alternative (ii) is correct.
So, the alternatives (i) and (iii) are wrong.
Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.
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