DIRECTIONS: In each question, a sentence is written in four different ways. Choose the option which gives the most effective and grammatically correct sentence. Pay attention to grammar, word choice and sentence construction.
1.
(a) It was thought that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the word through an orderly process, and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
(b) It was gradually thought that throughout the world, freedom and prosperity would spread through an orderly process, and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
(c) Through an orderly process, it was thought that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the world, and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
(d) It was thought, through an orderly process that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the world and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
Answer: (a) Option (b) is incorrect because of the placement of the word ‘gradually’. Options (c) and (d) are incorrect. The ‘orderly process’ has to refer to the spread of freedom and prosperity and not to the ‘thought process’ as mentioned in options (c) and (d).
2.
(a) He must again learn to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize, that one can be taking from the earth and the atmosphere only so much as one puts back into them, as did the ancient in India centuries ago.
(b) As did the ancient in India centuries ago, he must again learn to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize that one can take from the earth and the atmosphere, only so much as they put into them.
(c) He must again learn to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize, as did the ancient in India centuries ago, that one can take from the earth and the atmosphere, only so much as one puts back into them.
(d) He must again learn, as did the ancient in India centuries ago, to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize, that one can be taking from the earth and the atmosphere, only so much as one puts back into them.
Answer: (c) Options (a) and (d) have a parallelism error; Option (b) has a pronoun error; Thus, option (c) gives the correct sentence.
3.
(a) He made a blunder mistake.
(b) I have learnt this lesson word by word.
(c) She does not know swimming.
(d) He got his daughter married.
Answer: (d)
- Blunder – big mistake.
- I is verbose/ error of redundancy word.
- She does not know how to swim.
4.
(a) The average male investor expects to see all his investment stocks moving up, and they are often disappointed.
(b) The people in my country are smaller than in other countries
(c) The number of failures of product in final quality inspection are increasing every year.
(d) Before restructuring a firm, the CEO must consider the employees.
Answer: (d)
(a) has subject – verb agreement error. It should be–he is often disappointed,
(b) should be “the people in my country are smarter than those (the people) in other countries”
(c) The number of failures is of a product.
5.
(a) Pele, whom many people consider is the greatest footballer of all times, represented Brazil in four World Cups.
(b) When the news about the decline in the quarterly sales of the product broke out, it was difficult to say who the company would hold responsible for this disaster.
(c) When the tension with the business partners increased, Mr. Singh decided to visit them personally and talk to whomever is willing to sort the discord
(d) Who do you think was supposed to meet Mr. Brown from the news bureau, the well-known author, during his week-long visit to Delhi?
Answer: (c)
Option (a) should read “Pele, whom many people consider as….”.
Option (b) should read “….it was difficult to say whom the company would….”. Option (d) should read “….. Mr Brown, the well-known author from the news bureau……”.
6.
(a) Returning home from the dinner, we were annoyed to find that the porch light is broken again.
(b) If you keep on losing your composure on minor issues, that isn’t going to get you no where.
(c) In the meeting, Mr. Mehta informed the executives that they have to fulfill the target regardless of the stringency of the deadline
(d) The call for the assembly was very disappointing, as we haven’t hardly initiated our discussion on a new venture outside the main conference bloc.
Answer: (c)
Option (a) should read “….. porch light was broken again”.
Option (b) should read “…. that isn’t going to get you anywhere”.
Option (d) should read “….we have hardly initiated…..”.
7.
(a) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is that it is not always a bad thing, but that it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
(b) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is not that it is always a bad thing, it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
(c) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is not that it is always a bad thing, but that it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
(d) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is not it is always a bad thing, but that it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
Answer: (c) Grammatically (c) is the best choice as the sentence is in a logical sequence.
8.
(a) A symbiotic relationship develops among the contractors, bureaucracy and the politicians, and by a large number of devices costs are artificially escalated and black money is generated by underhand deals
(b) A symbiotic relationship develops among contractors, bureaucracy and politicians, and costs are artificially escalated with a large number of devices and black money is generated through underhand deals.
(c) A symbiotic relationship develops among contractors, bureaucracy and the politicians, and by a large number of devices costs are artificially escalated and black money is generated on underhand deals.
(d) A symbiotic relationship develops among the contractors, bureaucracy and politicians, and by large number of devices costs are artificially escalated and black money is generated by underhand deals.
Answer: (b) Comes across as a best option as (a), (c) and (d) are grammatically not correct.
(a) having “the” before politicians,
(c) mixing up propositions and consumptions, and
(d) having an error in “by large number”, which should be replaced with “by a large number”.
9.
(a) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create difference of prices at which goods are traded on the world market and their price within a local market.
(b) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create a difference of prices at which goods are traded with the world market and their prices in the local market.
(c) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create a difference between prices at which goods are traded on the world market and their prices within a local market.
(d) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create a difference across prices at which goods are traded with the world market and their prices within a local market.
Answer: (c)
(a), (b) and (d) are eliminated and answer is (c) because as the difference is created between prices and not of or across as is given in the other option.
10.
(a) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is that it is not always a bad thing, but that it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
(b) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is not that it is always a bad thing, it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
(c) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is not that it is always a bad thing, but that it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
(d) The main problem with the notion of price discrimination is not it is always a bad thing, but that it is the monopolist who has the power to decide who is charged what price.
Answer: (c) is correct because it rightly states that exercising any other option will cause failure.
11.
(a) A symbiotic relationship develops among the contractors, bureaucracy and the politicians, and by a large number of devices costs are artificially escalated and black money is generated by underhand deals.
(b) A symbiotic relationship develops among contractors, bureaucracy and politicians, and costs are artificially escalated with a large number of devices and black money is generated through underhand deals.
(c) A symbiotic relationship develops among contractors, bureaucracy and the politicians, and by a large number of devices costs are artificially escalated and black money is generated on underhand deals.
(d) A symbiotic relationship develops among the contractors, bureaucracy and politicians, and by large number of devices costs are artificially escalated and black money is generated by underhand deals.
Answer: (a) is the best option and can’t be changed with any other options given there as it explains fully the problem of the narrator.
12.
(a) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create difference of prices at which goods are traded on the world market and their price within a local market.
(b) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create a difference of prices at which goods are traded with the world market and their prices in the local market.
(c) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create a difference between prices at which goods are traded on the world market and their prices within a local market.
(d) The distinctive feature of tariffs and export subsidies is that they create a difference across prices at which goods are traded with the world market and their prices within a local market.
Answer: (a) is correct answer. It most suitably answers the question of the author.
13.
(a) Any action of government to reduce the systemic risk inherent in financial markets will also reduce the risks that private operators perceive and thereby encourage excessive hedging.
(b) Any action by government to reduce the systemic risk inherent in financial markets will also reduce the risks that private operators perceive and thereby encourage excessive gambling.
(c) Any action by government to reduce the systemic risk inherent due to financial markets will also reduce the risks that private operators perceive and thereby encourages excessive hedging.
(d) Any action of government to reduce the systemic risk inherent in financial markets will also reduce the risks that private operators perceive and thereby encourages excessive gambling.
Answer: (b) is the answer as realistic details combined with romantic temperament can make up a good novel.
14.
(a) Creativity in any field is regarded not only as valuable for itself but also as a service to the nation.
(b) Creativity in any field is not regarded only as valuable on its own, but also as a service to the nation.
(c) Creativity, in any field, is not only regarded as valuable, but also as a service to the nation.
(d) Creativity in any field is regarded not only as valuable in itself but also as a service to the nation.
Answer: (a) is the best option as none of the others discusses any involvement of welfare aid.
15.
(a) From the sixteenth century onwards, people started feeling disdainful and self-conscious about their body and its products that led to a heightened focus on emotional and bodily regulations.
(b) The heightened focus on controlling the body and emotions comes from disdain and self-consciousness about the body and its products, found in the sixteenth century.
(c) From the sixteenth century onwards, a growing disdain for and self-consciousness about the body and its products took hold, leading to a heightened focus on emotional and bodily regulation.
(d) The heightened focus on emotional and bodily regulations started from the sixteenth century onwards, when people felt disdain and self-consciousness about the body and its products.
Answer: (a) is the correct answer. It is a polite and courteous way of saying that he should transfer some of the control.
16.
(a) As I sat on the park bench enjoying the cool night air and gazing at the people who were taking a break from the tensions of the world, two young lovers passed by me.
(b) As I sat on the park bench and was enjoying the cool night air and gazing at the people who were took a break from the tensions of the world, two young lovers passed by me.
(c) As I was sitting on the park bench and was enjoying the cool night air and was gazing at the people who were taking a break from the tensions of the world, two young lovers passed me by.
(d) As I sat on the park bench enjoying the cool night air and had been gazing at the people who were taking a break from the tensions of the world, two young lovers passed me by.
Answer: (a)
The phrase ‘pass somebody by’ means to happen without affecting somebody (e.g.. Life passed me by.) In this context it should be ‘pass by me’ which means physically they went by my side (rules out (c) and (d).
In (b) the tense is not correctly used. The present continuous (was enjoying) cannot go with the past (took a break).
17.
(a) Where the problems arises is when we decide that we already know what it takes to do a job.
(b) Where the problems arise is when we have decided we already know what it takes to do a job.
(c) Where the problems arise is when we decide that we already know what it takes to do a job.
(d) Where the problems arise is when we decide that we have already known what it takes to do a job.
Answer: (c)
In a ‘takes into doing’ is awkward construction. In (b) ‘have decided’ and ‘already known’ (d) are incorrect.
18.
(a) Burger King is planning to expand their product baskets by including low-calorie diet for health conscious consumers, faced with a growing backlash against processed food products.
(b) Faced with a growing backlash against processed food products in the West, Burger King is including low-calorie diet for health conscious consumers and planning to expand its product basket.
(c) Including low-calorie diet for health conscious consumers and faced with a growing backlash against processed food products in the West, Burger King is planning to expand his product basket.
(d) Faced with a growing backlash against processed food products in the West, Burger King is planning to expand its product basket by including low-calorie diet for health conscious consumers.
Answer: (d)
In (a) the subject and verb disagree – while ‘king is singular ‘their ‘ is plural. In (b) the meaning is totally distorted. In (c) both ‘semantics’ and parallelism’ (including faced) are wrong.
19.
(a) The Union Budget is aiming to provide access to masses and encourage private participation to set up or expand existing facilities.
(b) The Union Budget is aiming at providing access to masses and encouraging private participation for setting or expanding existing facilities.
(c) The Union Budget aims to provide access to masses and encourage private participation to setting up or expanding existing facilities.
(d) The Union Budget aims at provision of access to masses and encourage private participation to set up or expand existing facilities.
Answer: (b) The correct idiomatic expression is ‘aim at doing something’ or ‘aim for something’ ‘aim to’ is ‘informal’. The ‘aiming …….. encouraging is correctly used in (b).
20.
(a) It was thought that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the world through an orderly process, and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
(b) It was gradually thought that throughout the world, freedom and prosperity would spread through an orderly process, and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
(c) Through an orderly process, it was thought that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the world, and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
(d) It was thought, through an orderly process that freedom and prosperity would spread gradually throughout the world and it was hoped that tyranny and injustice would continually diminish.
Answer: (a)
Option (b) is incorrect because of the placement of the word ‘gradually’. Options (c) and (d) are incorrect. The ‘orderly process’ has to refer to the spread of freedom and prosperity and not to the ‘thought process’ as mentioned in options (c) and (d).
21.
(a) He must again learn to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognise, that one can be taking from the earth and the atmosphere only so much as one puts back into them, as did the ancient in India centuries ago.
(b) As did the ancient in India centuries ago, he must again learn to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize that one can take from the earth and the atmosphere, only so much as they put into them.
(c) He must again learn to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize, as did the ancient in India centuries ago, that one can take from the earth and the atmosphere, only so much as one puts back into them.
(d) He must again learn, as did the ancient in India centuries ago, to invoke the energy of growing things and to recognize, that one can be taking from the earth and the atmosphere, only so much as one puts back into them.
Answer: (c);
Options (a) and (d) have a parallelism error; Option (b) has a pronoun error; Thus, option (c) gives the correct sentence.
22.
(a) Seating arrangements influenced the kind of interaction that takes place
(b) seating arrangements’s influence the kind of interaction that takes place
(c) Seating arrangements influence the kind of interactions that take place
(d) Seating arrangements influence the kind of interaction that take place
Answer: (c)
Option (a) doesn’t have agreement of tense. Option (b) has apostrophe s. Option (d) needs takes instead of take.
23.
(a) Any organisation, large or small, trades with many different people and companies
(b) Any organization, large or small, trade with many different peoples and companies
(c) Any organization, large or small, trade with many different people and company
(d) Any organisation, large or small, trades with many different people and companies
Answer: (a)
(d) is also correct, but as (a) is earlier of two, so (a) will be the answer.