- Cellular phone service has______ in a new phase of communication.
(a) called (b) ushered
(c) resulted (d) started
Answer: (b) Ushered (show or guide somewhere) seems to be the most appropriate in the context of the sentence.
- The present____has not prevented the railway minister from announcing an increasing number of superfast trains.
(a) crisis (b) syndrome
(c) generation (d) stability
Answer: (a) Only something negative can prevent a good measure. We have two choices representing negativeness: (a) and (b). But (b) is not applicable: A syndrome is a medical condition that is characterised by a particular group of signs and symptoms.
- She was a devoted wife and looked____ her husband very well.
(a) after (b) at
(c) for (d) upon
Answer: (a) Let us look at the look phrases. If you look after someone, you do what is necessary to keep him healthy, safe, or in good condition. If you look after something, you are responsible for it. It is your duty to see that it functions all right. If you look ahead you think about what is going to happen in the future; you make plans for the future.
On the contrary, if you look back you think about things that happened in the past. If A looks down on B, A considers B to be inferior or unimportant. If you look forward to something that is going to happen, you want it to happen because you think you will enjoy it. If you look into a problem you try to find out about it; you examine the facts related to the problem. If you look on while something happens, you watch it happening without taking part yourself. If you look up a fact or a piece of information, you find it out by looking in a reference book, list etc. If you look up to someone, especially someone, older than you, you respect and admire him.
- It is a penal_____to bribe a public servant.
(a) charge (b) offence
(c) code (d) tight
Answer: (b) The word penal means “punishable by law”. Hence, offence is the correct choice. An offence is a crime that breaks a particular law and requires a particular punishment. A sin, on the other hand, is a moral wrong. If you sin, you break the laws of God.
- The teacher_____the boy’s comic which he was reading during the Mathematics period.
(a) possessed (b) procured
(c) abandoned (d) seized
Answer: (d) The “comic’: (comics book) changes hands – it goes from the boy to the teacher. Only (b), (c) and (d) give this sense of change of hands. Of these, seized is the most appropriate. If someone in authority (here “the teacher”) seizes your property (here “the boy’s comic”), they take it from you, often by force. Of course, no boy would willingly part with his “comic”.
- This is a_____ translation of the speech.
(a) literary (b) literal
(c) verbal (d) verbatim
Answer: (b) A literal translation is one in which you translate each ‘word of the original work. Since each language has its own idiom, a literal translation leads to awkward usage. A literal translation is therefore not considered good. A good translation gives the meaning of each expression, sentence or paragraph, using words that sound natural.
- She put____ a brief appearance at the end of the party.
(a) on (b) in
(c) across (d) up
Answer: (b) in
- Once he has signed the agreement, he won’t be able to
back______.
(a) up (b) in
(a) at (d) out
Answer: (d) out
- The master dispensed_______the services of his servant.
(a) up (b) with
(c) from (d) through
Answer: (b) with
- That charming girl was the ____ of all eyes.
(a) target (b) cynosure
(c) doggerel (d) ambition
Answer: (b) If you are the cynosure of all eyes, you are a centre of attention or interest.
- In spite of her other_____, Kasthuri still managed to find time for her hobbies.
(a) occupations (b) preoccupations
(c) predilections (d) business
Answer: (b) Your preoccupations are the activities that take up your attention (or time), leaving little room for other things.
- The journey may be made by sea or___by road.
(a) alternately (b) alteringly
(c) conversely (d) alternatively
Answer: (d) What is the difference between alternately and alternatively? Alternatively implies that you have a choice (alternative) — either by sea or by road. In the given question conjunction “or” gives us the clue. When we say alternately it means first by sea then by road, the third time by sea again, the fourth time by road again, and so on. Since both the routes are being used in this case, the conjunction should be “and”.
- AIDS is not a disease that can be___through the air or by insects.
(a) circulated (b) transferred
(c) transmitted (d) conducted
Answer: (c) If A transmits a disease to B, A has the disease and causes B to have it. Here, “disease” gives us the clue.
- The official____ the Chief Minister of the situation in the town.
(a) apprised (b) informed
(c) appraised (d) asked
Answer: (a) Both (a) and (b) are correct but apprised is a formal usage. Such formal usages are preferred when the persons involved include “the Chief Minister” himself – a stately personage.
- His residence is on the______ of Hyderabad.
(a) rim (b) core
(c) periphery (d) outskirts
Answer: (d) The outskirts of a city (here “Hyderabad”) or town are the part that are farthest away from its centre.
- ____ at the major ports has led planners to develop satellite ports near them.
(a) density (b) containment
(c) transportation (d) congestion
Answer: (d) If there is congestion in a place, the place is extremely crowded and blocked with traffic or people. The problem of congestion is thus essentially a problem of space. It could be got rid of through addition of space (by developing “satellite ports”).
Blockade is slightly different. It is the action that is taken to prevent goods or people from entering or leaving it. The problem here is political – blockades are the creation of strikers or political groups. And the problem could persist even at the newly-developed satellite ports.
- Success comes to those who are vigilant not to permit______
from the chosen path.
(a) distraction (b) deviation
(c) alienation (d) diversion
Answer: (b) (a), (b) and (d) are close choices. Distraction happens to your thoughts. When we are talking of ‘path’, it is either deviation or diversion. While diversion is moving away from the main course (road), deviation is moving away from the normal (here “chosen”) path.
- The members were_____ of the date of the meeting well in advance.
(a) communicated (b) conveyed
(c) ignorant (d) inform
Answer: (d) (e) is rejected because the date became known to the members; the members were not known. Similar is the case with (6) and (2), (3) is rejected because it does not make sense. You can know (be informed) of something in advance. But you can’t be ignorant (not aware) “in advance.
- Their ____ to scale the mountain peak was an absolute failure.
(a) attempt (b) desire
(c) anxiety (d) proposal
Answer: (a) (b), (c) and (d) are the pre-action phase. One fails or succeeds only when one does a work. That is, when one tries. Hence, attempt. (e) makes no sense at all.
- _____ between labour and management is inevitable in any industrial society.
(a) co-ordination (b) competition
(c) friction (d) association
Answer: (c) Students of physics must be well aware of friction. Friction is the force that makes it difficult for things to move freely when they are touching each other. It thus shows a lack of co-ordination. If there is friction between people, there is disagreement and argument between them. That is exactly what happens “between labour and management.”