Directions (1-5): In the following questions, a paragraph is divided into five parts with one of the parts been omitted. You must choose the most suitable alternative among the five that should fill the omitted part making the paragraph grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. If none of the given alternatives are appropriate to fill the blank, choose option (e) i.e. “None of these” as your answer choice.
Q1. Twenty-three lions have died in as many days (A)/ in the eastern part of Gujarat’s Gir sanctuary. (B)/ ________________________________________, (C)/ this case is even more worrisome as the big cat population (D)/ in Gujarat is the last of the Asiatic lions in the wild. (E)
(a) While mass mortalities in wildlife are always a cause for concern
(b) the big cat population in Gujarat is the last of the Asiatic lions
(c) Some others have died due to poisoning and infighting
(d) the lines of what comprises wildlife conservation are getting blurred
(e) None of these
Q2. _________________________ (A)/ have led to fear among industries of load shedding again. (B)/
“We are in a position where only big industries can afford (C)/ to use diesel-run generator sets. So, if there is load shedding we will be hit hard,” (D)/ said an engineering goods exporter. (E)
(a) On Wednesday morning, in some areas there was no power for about half-an-hour.
(b) High tension consumers
(c) Frequent power cuts during the last few days
(d) Wind energy producers point out that dip in wind production
(e) None of these
Q3. Vegetables weighing nearly 2.5 tonnes were sent (A)/ _________________________ (B)/ to Kochi airport from Coimbatore International airport on Wednesday. (C)/ This is the first time a consignment of perishable goods was sent from (D)/ Coimbatore International Airport to another airport by bonded trucking, said a Customs official here. (E)
(a) of perishable cargo handled
(b) to try bonded truck service
(c) on the rise and
(d) with improvement of roads
(e) None of these
Q4. The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president M.K. Stalin(A)/ _________________________ (B)/ after assuming charge as the (C)/ head of the party on September 18, (D)/ when he will participate in a demonstration in front of the Collectorate in the city. (E)
(a) will make his maiden visit to Salem, a district of Tamil Nadu,
(b) will be organised jointly by the Salem Central, East and West district units of the DMK.
(c) condemn the corrupt practices indulged in by the Chief Minister, Deputy Chief Minister and other Ministers
(d) highlights and demands a thorough probe into gutkha scandal
(e) None of these
Q5. The September 12 commemoration of the Revolutionary Comrades Day (A)/ _____________________________ (B)/ was curtailed by the police, as various outfits and collectives (C)/ affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) and the ideology of the Naxalbari (D)/ movement were disallowed from paying en masse tributes at the memorial stupa here in Naikankottaai on Wednesday. (E)
(a) to walk up to the stupa and garland the busts of R. Balan and L. Appu
(b) over 300 people gathered from across the State to commemorate the day
(c) under the current regimes both at the Centre and the State
(d) in memory of the slain Naxal Balan
(e) None of these
Directions (6-7): Each of the following questions has a paragraph from which one sentence has been deleted. From the given options, choose the sentence that completes the paragraph in the most appropriate way.
Q6. The popularity of the National Pension System (NPS), the market-linked vehicle, has been soaring with investors desperately seeking retirement options. But for a newbie investor, investing in NPS can be very much like visiting a Starbucks outlet for the first time. The scheme offers so many choices that one is unsure where to start. With a little help though, you can use NPS’s large menu to your advantage. One of the first choices you’ll need to make while opening an NPS account is whether you need just a Tier I account or want to add on a Tier II account as well. __________________________________________________________. The Tier II account is a voluntary investment vehicle where you can put in and withdraw money at any time.
(a) Review the performance of your PFM at least twice a year and exercise the switch option if there’s a big lag.
(b) Two, you cannot park more than 5% in Alternative Investment Funds.
(c) The NPS lets you choose who will manage your money.
(d) If retirement savings is your goal, a Tier I account should suffice.
(e) None of these
Q7. When Sunil Thakur — a 28-year-old Bengaluru-based IT professional — bought a term insurance cover of ₹1 crore in 2016, he was single and had no dependents. Now married and father of a one-year-old girl, Sunil strongly feels that his ₹1-crore term plan may not be sufficient to sustain his family’s needs and cover his life goals 15-20 years down the line. ______________________________________________________________. Both his income and expenses will rise significantly in the next couple of years. And to cover the loss that may include Sunil’s sudden death, perhaps a cover with higher sum assured might be required.
(a) He believes that his professional and personal lives were only beginning.
(b) The average salary considered here is ₹10 lakh per annum.
(c) Technically, an individual’s life cover should be strictly based on his/her stage of life.
(d) A term insurance plan should always continue till your earning capacity persists.
(e) None of these
Directions (8-15): In each of the following questions, a statement is given with two blanks. Followed by two columns, Column (A) contains words that might fill in the first blank and Column (B) contains words that might fill in the second blank. Choose among the options, the right pair of words that can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. If none of the options could fill in the blanks, mark your answer, “None of the above; (e)”.
Q8. Although the BJP government had _________________ withdrawn its move to amend the Acts under public pressure, ___________________ protests had taken place across Jharkhand.
Column (A)
(1) Deliberately
(2) Subsequently
(3) Knowingly
Column (B)
(4) Spreading
(5) Prevailed
(6) Widespread
(a) 1-5
(b) 2-6
(c) 3-4
(d) 2-5
(e) None of the above
Q9. The ________________ of “exemplary damages” for property destroyed in incidents of __________________ should be based on electronic media/private video evidence.
Column (A)
(1) Assessment
(2) Examining
(3) Check-ups
Column (B)
(4) Unsettled
(5) Violence
(6) Passion
(a) 1-5
(b) 2-6
(c) 3-4
(d) 2-5
(e) None of the above
Q10. The Ministry of External Affairs ____________ to comment on the development until the meeting was officially _________________ by the OIC.
Column (A)
(1) Renounced
(2) Welcoming
(3) Declined
Column (B)
(4) Announced
(5) Declaration
(6) Pronouncing
(a) 1-5
(b) 2-6
(c) 3-4
(d) 2-5
(e) None of the above
Q11. Pakistan PM Imran Khan, who had agreed to ______________ the summit, pulled out at the last minute, after the Saudi Crown Prince ________________ advised him to.
Column (A)
(1) Appear
(2) Attend
(3) Present
Column (B)
(4) Alleged
(5) Reportedly
(6) Wildly
(a) 1-5
(b) 2-6
(c) 3-4
(d) 2-5
(e) None of the above
Q12. ________________ in section 21 of the CNT Act and section 13 of the SPT Act would have _________________ the government to allow use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes.
Column (A)
(1) Fluctuations
(2) Instabilities
(3) Changes
Column (B)
(4) Certified
(5) Enabled
(6) Calmed
(a) 1-6
(b) 3-5
(c) 2-4
(d) 2-6
(e) None of the above
Q13. The liability will be __________________ by the actual perpetrators of the crime as well as organisers and their shares would be ________________ by the court.
Column (A)
(1) Bear
(2) Borne
(3) Suffice
Column (B)
(4) Determination
(5) Provided
(6) Decided
(a) 1-6
(b) 3-5
(c) 2-4
(d) 2-6
(e) None of the above
Q14. The government has not cleared the air in __________________ terms that it has no plans for an elaborate plan to ________________ citizens.
Column (A)
(1) Clarity
(2) Unambiguous
(3) Indisputable
Column (B)
(4) Tabulate
(5) Organizes
(6) Arranging
(a) 1-6
(b) 3-5
(c) 2-4
(d) 2-6
(e) None of the above
Q15. The principles of absolute _________________ shall apply once the nexus with the event that __________________ the damage is established.
Column (A)
(1) Priority
(2) Responsible
(3) Liability
Column (B)
(4) Hasten
(5) Precipitated
(6) Triggering
(a) 1-6
(b) 3-5
(c) 2-4
(d) 2-6
(e) None of the above
Solutions:
S1. Ans. (a)
Sol. The most appropriate phrase to form a coherent sentence is “While mass mortalities in wildlife are always a cause for concern”. It is to be noted that the sentence has mentioned earlier about the deaths of lions, thus drawing a hint from this, the next part compares this case with all the others cases of concern. All the other phrases/clauses are irrelevant. Hence, option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.
S2. Ans. (c)
Sol. The blank would be filled by a noun or a noun-equivalent. What are noun-equivalents? They are noun-phrase, noun-clause, Gerund and Infinitive.
Among the options, options (c) and (d), upon filling the blank, make a coherent paragraph with the rest of the paragraph. But upon a deeper thought, one realizes that it is more coherent if ‘frequent power cuts during the last few days’ causes ‘fear of load shedding’ than ‘dip in wind production’ causing ‘fear of load shedding’. Term ‘dip in wind production’ in itself is wrong as wind production is not meaningful.
Hence, option (c) is the correct answer.
S3. Ans. (e)
Sol. The sentence where the blank occurs seems to be in passive-voice. The sentence already has a subject, and the verb. So, the likelihood of filling the blank, appearing after the verb, with a complement or an adverb is more. But none of the given options, (a), (b), (c) and (d), make a coherent sentence/paragraph upon filling the blank. Hence, option (e) is the correct answer.
The correct phrase could have been ‘by bonded trucking facility’.
S4. Ans. (a)
Sol. The blank would be filled by a part of predicate consisting of a verb phrase. Among the given options, option (a) makes a coherent paragraph with the rest part of the paragraph.
Option (b) is senseless and completely irrelevant to the context of the sentence.
Options (c) and (d) don’t satisfy the additional requirement of coherency added by the clause ‘when he will participate in a demonstration in front of the Collectorate in the city’.
Hence, option (a) is the correct answer.
S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. The given sentence has a subject-phrase, a meaningful and complete verb-phrase and a predicate phrase. The blank seems to be filled by the part-of-speech which would qualify the subject-phrase rather than the verb-phrase. Among the given options, option (d) not just qualify the subject-phrase but also fills the blank to make a contextually meaningful paragraph.
Option (c) fails to tell the significance of the presence of the phrase ‘at the centre and the state’.
Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.
S6. Ans. (d)
Sol. If retirement savings is your goal, a Tier I account should suffice, is the sentence which completes the paragraph in most appropriate way. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.
S7. Ans. (a)
Sol. He believes that his professional and personal lives were only beginning, is the sentence which completes the paragraph in most appropriate way. Hence, option (a) is the right answer choice.
S8. Ans. (b)
Sol. Subsequently and Widespread can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.
S9. Ans. (a)
Sol. Assessment and Violence can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (a) is the right answer choice.
S10. Ans. (c)
Sol. Declined and Announced can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.
S11. Ans. (d)
Sol. Attend and Reportedly can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.
S12. Ans. (b)
Sol. Changes and Enabled can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.
S13. Ans. (d)
Sol. Borne and Decided can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.
S14. Ans. (c)
Sol. Unambiguous and Tabulate can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.
S15. Ans. (b)
Sol. Liability and Precipitated can fill in the blanks consecutively to make the sentence grammatically correct and contextually meaningful. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.