Dear Readers,
Directions (1-10): In the following questions, choose the grammatically correct sentence from among the five options given for each question.
Q1. A. It looks like it is going to rain this afternoon.
B. It looks as if it is going to rain this afternoon.
C. It looks as if it is going to rain today afternoon.
D. It looks like it is going to rain today afternoon.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q2. A. A belief that he is humble and being really humble is what makes him so likeable.
B. A belief that he is humble and being really humble are what makes him so likable.
C. Believing that he is humble and really being humble is what makes him so likeable.
D. Believing that he is humble and really being humble are what makes him so likable.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q3. A. This book left by who knows whom? has been lying here for days.
B. This book - left by who knows whom - has been lying here for days.
C. This book left by - who knows who? - has been lying here for days.
D. This book left by - who knows who - has been lying here for days.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q4. A. I can understand my sister better than my mother.
B. I can understand my sister more than my mother.
C. I can better understand my sister than my mother.
D. I can understand my sister better than I can understand my mother.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
Q5. A. She said that Raj had a fall last week and he had been injured.
B. She said that Raj had fallen the previous week and he had injured.
C. She said that Raj had had a fall last week and he was injured.
D. She said that Raj had had a fall the previous week and he had been injured.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q6. A. In speaking with the Minister, he denied that there were any payoffs involved in the deal.
B. While speaking with the Minister, we were informed that there were no payoffs in the deal.
C. While speaking with the Minister, the Minister denied that there were any payoffs in the deal.
D. In speaking with the Minister, he denied to the journalists that there were any payoffs in the deal.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q7. A. She intended to get married to him, but then she goes and breaks relations with him.
B. She intended to get married to him, but than she goes and breaks relations with him.
C. She intended to get married to him, but then she went and broke relations with him.
D. She intended to get married to him, but then she will go and break relations with him.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q8. A. Of all the students in the class whom do you think the teacher likes the most?
B. Of all the students in the class who do you think the teacher likes the most?
C. Who do you think the teacher likes the best of all students in the class?
D. In the class, who do you think the teacher likes the most of all the students?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q9. A. In 2009, she was promoted to the position of General Manager, Systems.
B. She was promoted in 2009 to a General Manager, Systems post.
C. She was promoted to a General Manager, Systems position in 2009.
D. She was promoted in 2009 to General Manager, Systems.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Q10. A. If I had any idea, I would have warned you immediately.
B. If I had had any idea, I would have warned you immediately.
C. If I have any idea, I would warn you immediately.
D. I had had any idea, I would warn you immediately.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) None of these
Directions (11-15): The passage given ahead is followed by a set of five questions. Choose the most appropriate answer to each question.
Human Biology does nothing to structure human society. Age may enfeeble us all, but cultures vary considerably in the prestige and power they accord to the elderly. Giving birth is a necessary condition for being a mother, but it is not sufficient. We expect mothers to behave in maternal ways and to display appropriately maternal sentiments. We prescribe a clutch of norms or rules that govern the role of a mother. That the social role is independent of the biological base can be demonstrated by going back three sentences. Giving birth is certainly not sufficient to be a mother but, as adoption and fostering show, it is not even necessary!
The fine detail of what is expected of a mother or a father or a dutiful son differs from culture to culture, but everywhere behaviour is coordinated by the reciprocal nature of roles. Husbands and wives, parents and children, employers and employees, waiters and customers, teachers and pupils, warlords and followers; each makes sense only in its relation to the other. The term ‘role’ is an appropriate one, because the metaphor of an actor in a play neatly expresses the rule-governed nature or scripted nature of much of social life and the sense that society is a joint production. Social life occurs only because people play their parts (and that is as true for war and conflicts as for peace and love) and those parts make sense only in the context of the overall show. The drama metaphor also reminds us of the artistic license available to the players. We can play a part straight or, as the following from J.P. Sartre conveys, we can ham it up.
Let us consider this waiter in the cafe. His movement is quick and forward, a little too precise, a little too rapid. He comes towards the patrons with a step a little too quick. He bends forward a little too eagerly; his voice, his eyes express an interest a little too solicitous for the order of the customer. Finally, there he returns, trying to imitate in his walk the inflexible stiffness of some kind of automaton while carrying his tray with the recklessness of a tight-rope-walker....All his behaviour seems to us a game....But what is he playing? We need not watch long before we can explain it: he is playing at being a waiter in a cafe.
The American sociologist Erving Goffman built an influential body of social analysis on elaborations of the metaphor of social life as drama. Perhaps his most telling point was that it is only through acting out a part that we express character. It is not enough to be evil or virtuous; we have to be seen to be evil or virtuous. There is distinction between the roles we play and some underlying self. Here we might note that some roles are more absorbing than others. We would not be surprised by the waitress who plays the part in such a way as to signal to us that she is much more than her occupation. We would be surprised and offended by the father who played his part ‘tongue in cheek’. Some roles are broader and more far-reaching than others. Describing someone as a clergyman or faith healer would say far more about that person than describing someone as a bus driver.
Q11. What is the thematic highlight of this passage?
(a) Human behaviour depends on biological linkages and reciprocal roles.
(b) In the absence of reciprocal roles, biological linkages provide the mechanism for coordinating human behaviour.
(c) Human behaviour is independent of biological linkages and reciprocal roles.
(d) In the absence of strong biological linkages, reciprocal roles provide the mechanism for coordinating human behaviour.
(e) None of these
Q12. Which of the following would have been true if biological linkages structured human society?
(a) The role of mother would have been defined through her reciprocal relationship with her children.
(b) We would not have been offended by the father playing his role ‘tongue in cheek’.
(c) Women would have adopted and fostered children rather than giving birth to them.
(d) Even if warlords were physically weaker than their followers, they would still dominate them.
(e) None of these
Q13. It has been claimed in the passage that “some roles are more absorbing than others”. According to the passage, which of the following seem(s) appropriate reason(s) for such a claim?
A. Some roles carry great expectations from the society preventing manifestation of the true self.
B. Society ascribes so much importance to some roles that the conception of self may get aligned with the roles being performed.
C. Some roles require development of skill and expertise leaving little time for manifestation of self.
(a) A only
(b) B only
(c) C only
(d) A and B
(e) None of these
Q14. What is the meaning of the word ‘reciprocal’?
(a) to be in the same league
(b) to be opposite of something
(c) mutually dislike
(d) mutually corresponding
(e) None of these
Q15. Which word is the closest in the meaning to the word ‘virtuous’?
(a) sagacious
(b) scrupulous
(c) promiscuous
(d) sartorial
(e) None of these
Solutions :
S1. Ans.(b)
Sol. Answer Option B. “As” is a conjunction and “like” is a preposition; always use ‘as’, as if, as though etc. to introduce clauses. Today afternoon is incorrect. This afternoon, this morning, tonight etc.
S2. Ans.(c)
Sol. Answer Option C. “Believing that he is humble and really being humble” are not considered separately – it is a compounded singular subject like “slow and steady wins the race”; hence, the verb “is” is correct. Between options A and C – A is faulty parallelism.
S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. Answer Option B. ‘left by who knows whom’ is parenthetical, hence B punctuates it correctly. Left by whom (him) is better than ‘left by who (he)’, though some authorities may accept “who (left it?). “who knows whom” is more of an exclamation than an interrogation, hence the question mark may be omitted. Option B makes the best choice.
S4. Ans.(d)
Sol. Answer Option D. Sentences A and B are ambiguous. Sentence D is unambiguous, hence the answer.
S5. Ans.(d)
Sol. Answer Option D. This is the reported speech of the sentence: Raj had a fall last week and he was injured. In the other sentences, either the tense is incorrect or the adverb (last week must become previous week in reported speech).
S6. Ans.(b)
Sol. Answer Option B. ‘While speaking with the minister’ modifies the subject of the sentence. In none of the other sentence do we have any meaningful subject that can be modified by this phrase. Option C is ambiguous. Option D is also ambiguous.
S7. Ans.(c)
Sol. Answer Option C. Option C is consistent is the use of the simple past. Shifting to tenses especially as in option A is common in casual speech; it is not acceptable, however, in writing.
S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. Answer Option A. Who versus whom, whom fits the sentence because it is the object of likes “likes whom”, and not likes who?
S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. Answer Option D. Option D eliminates the redundancy of the words position and post.
S10. Ans.(b)
Sol. Answer Option B. In ‘if’ constructions go this way: If I had had …… I would have; If I had …… I would; If I have … I will; If I have … I am)
S11. Ans.(b)
Sol. The author has stated throughout the passage what defines behaviour in society and has also given a direct clue in the second paragraph. The rest of the options are negated in the passage.
S12. Ans.(c)
Sol. As clearly stated in the para mentioning roles, the opposite of how we would react if a father acted in a such a manner.
S13. Ans.(b)
Sol. The complete tone of the passage is about the same phrase, according to which the “self” of a person gets so mixed or aligned with the occupation that the occupation becomes the “self”. The examples of clergy man/bus driver represent the same idea and hence the right answer is: B only.
S14. Ans.(d)
Sol. reciprocal -given, felt, or done in return., mutually corresponding
Other options are irrelevant.
S15. Ans.(b)
Sol. promiscuous-having or characterized by many transient sexual relationships., demonstrating or implying an unselective approach; indiscriminate or casual.
virtuous-having or showing high moral standards.
scrupulous-(of a person or process) careful, thorough, and extremely attentive to details., very concerned to avoid doing wrong. hence, virtuous and scrupulous are synonyms.
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