0

English Usage Test 6

Description: English Usage Test - Free english verbal ability test for entrance examinations like mba entrance, gre, sat, gmat, toefl preparation and practice tests
Number of Questions: 25
Created by:
Tags: English Usage Test English Skills GRE Preparation GMAT TOEFL SAT English Verbal Ability English Speaking IELTS LAW Bank PO Sentence Arrangement (Para Jumbles) Sentence Rearrangement Letter C Word Usage Letter QR Letter I Sentence Completion (Gap Fills) Sentence Completion
Attempted 0/25 Correct 0 Score 0

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided between an opening statement 1 and closing statement 6. The four statements are jumbled up and form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these six taken together.

  1. There are some who would like to believe in simplistic statements about post industrial society and the revolution of information technology whereby smaller societies can be sustained through the service sector alone. A. India cannot afford not to build its strengths in agriculture for reasons of food and nutritional security. B. Based on the strengths of these 2 sectors, it can build a major economic infrastructure for the services sector and use it to generate great wealth and employment for her people. C. Nor can it afford to ignore manufacturing strengths for reasons of economic and national security. D. A country like India cannot hope to build its future on the services sector alone, though it can be and will be a major component of the economy.
  2. Thus, the services sector, if properly developed along with the other 2 important and basic sectors, can really be considered a sector in the service of the people, to find new jobs and individual prosperity.
  1. ACDB

  2. ACBD

  3. BACD

  4. DACB


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

This para jumble argues on India's survival in post industrialized society. D is the direct link after statement 1, which is an explanation to statement 1. A gives direct link to D as it talks of the basic sector i.e. A

Directions: Find the statement where the given word hasn't been used correctly.
Inflict

  1. Tornadoes regularly inflict severe damage in USA.

  2. The infliction of corporal punishment in schools is forbidden.

  3. The commander inflicted the villagers with heavy taxation.

  4. Don't inflict yourself on your aunt as she is sick today


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

'Inflict' as in options (1), (2) and (3) means to cause suffering or unpleasantness. This implies we can 'inflict' something unpleasant on or upon a person as in (1) and (2) but we cannot, correctly, inflict a person with anything as in (3), which makes it incorrect.
'Inflict' in (4) means to impose a burden, especially by forcing your presence on someone. Hence, (3) is the answer.

Directions: Find the statement where the given word hasn't been used correctly.
Comprise

  1. Women comprise more than half the country's population.

  2. The three American divisions comprised General Truscott's VIth Corps.

  3. The league comprises fourteen teams all told.

  4. The complete set of reference books comprises six volumes.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

'Comprise' as used in (1), (2) and (4) means to consist of or composed of. But 'comprise' in (4) is incorrect as there is a general rule - a whole comprises its parts (not the other way around). The correct sentence would be to replace it with 'constituted'. 'Comprise' in (3) means to be made up of. Hence, (2) is the incorrect usage of comprise and it is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided between an opening statement 1 and closing statement 6. The four statements are jumbled up and form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these six taken together.
1. We believe that Indian industry can take major advantage of the newly emerging opportunities and even make up for the ones missed earlier.
2. Some of the smaller units have come up to meet the demands for equipment arising out of import substitution, or because of the local sourcing requirements of industries using imported equipment and know how.
3. Yet we cannot afford to forget a large number of small and tiny manufacturing units, which are in the organized, and the so-called informal sector.
4. They range from the level of artisanal craft to those with obsolete machinery and equipment, surviving mostly because of their low wage costs.
5. It is imperative that we prepare the tiny, small, medium and even bigger Indian industries to face a more competitive future.
6. That would mean a systematic upgradation of human skills in most of these industries and also large - scale modernization of many of them by continuous injection of newer technologies.

  1. DACB

  2. ADBC

  3. CBDA

  4. BCAD


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

This para jumble talks on small scale manufacturing units in India, which is clear from statement B and this gives a direct link to statement 1. C elaborates statement B, B à C. Hence, (4) is the correct answer.

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided between an opening statement 1 and closing statement 6. The four statements are jumbled up and form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these six taken together.

  1. During the five decades after independence, we had so many major problems to solve. A. Missed opportunities do not usually recur in the same form, and there are others waiting to seize these opportunities in today's competitive world. B. Our utmost attention during the next quarter century should be to attend to these problems of growth and removal of poverty. C. Much more than the blows to national pride, the worst outcome of such missed opportunities is the loss to the nation, as slow economic growth hits the poor the most. D. Looking back we have also not had the type of resolve that is required to wipe out the centuries of stagnation and emerge as a vibrant society.
  2. In order to do so, we may have to adapt many things from the world, as also prepare ourselves for future creative adventure.
  1. DACB

  2. DCAB

  3. ADCB

  4. CDAB


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

This para jumble talks about the opportunities that India has missed to become a healthy nation. D provides the link to stationary statement 1 as it also talks of past, which leaves us with (1) and (2) choices. C is to be followed by B, which throws light on the problem in statement C i.e. C à B. Hence, (1) is the correct answer.

Directions: Find the statement where the given word hasn't been used correctly.
Range

  1. Elephants range over vast areas in search of food.

  2. The teacher was impressed by the boy's ranging interests.

  3. Police marksmen practice at the rifle range.

  4. Because of man's encroachment on its limited range, the panda is threatened with extinction in the wild.


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

'Range' as used in (1) is correct as it means to wander or rave, which gives cogent meaning to the sentence. Option (2) highlights incorrect usage of 'ranging' as it makes no sense. Instead, it should be - The teacher was impressed by the range of the boy's interacts. ('Range' here means an extent or scope). In (3), 'range' depicts an area for target shooting and in (4), it means the area or region in which a plant or animal species is found. Hence, (2) is the answer.

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).

The ________ of religion expressed by Epicures and Lucretius is not altogether easy to understand, if one accepts the conventional accounts of the ________ of the Greek religion and ritual.

  1. symbolism, enigma

  2. adulation, interrogation

  3. hatred, cheerfulness

  4. trauma, grandness


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

(3) is most meaningful as it points out that given the 'cheerfulness' of conventional accounts of their religion, the philosophers 'hatred' is what is surprising. Hence, (3) is the answer.

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).
Created to defend the ________ and to convert unbelievers in many lands to Christianity, the society of Jesus - better known as the 'Jesuits' - found themselves ________ in political ________ almost from the beginning of their existence.
  1. vatican, entangled, foursquare

  2. pontiff, inculpable, trickery

  3. papacy, embroiled, skullduggery

  4. Holy Sec, angelic, impeachment


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The clause following 'Jesuits' is in contrast to what precedes it. It forms a cause-effect relationship and the effect is negative as we can make out from the latter part of the sentence. All the options for the first blank fit our prediction. Now, let's try for the second blank. 'Embroiled' and 'entangled', both mean involved, which leaves us with these 2 options (1) and (3). 'Foursquare' means frank, honest, forthright whereas 'skullduggery' means dishonesty, which is cogent with political in the sentence. Hence, (3) is the answer.

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).

'My Experiments with Truth' in an ________ autobiography in which the author traces his fight against _____, his _____ succumbing, his devotional attachment to India and God and his people.

  1. flamboyant, temptations, frequent

  2. ostentations, enticement, sporadic

  3. conceited, incentives, incessant

  4. unpretentious, temptations, intermittent


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

'Unpretentious' means simple, prosaic, therefore, it replaces the 1st blank. Hence, (4) is the answer. 

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).
The ________ freemasons retained this classification in their so-called degrees. Freemasons also start out as ________ and then rise by ________ to the status of journeyman and master.
  1. ruinous, inured, increments

  2. speculative, apprentices, degrees

  3. inquisitive, veteran, accretion

  4. apathetic, novice, crescents


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

'Freemason' is a member of an international freethinking male society having as the principles brotherliness, charity and mutual aid. As 'speculative' and 'inquisitive' both fit our prediction for first blank, thus, we are left with 2 options - (2) and (3). The operative word for second blank is 'rise'. As 'veteran' means experienced, practiced, thus 'apprentices' (any learner or beginner) replaces the second blank. Hence, (2) is the answer.

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).
Among the properties of individual things, some are ________and other accidental, the accidental properties of a thing are those it can lose without losing its ________ such as wearing a hat, if you are a man.
  1. deliberate, property

  2. benevolent, demeanor

  3. enforced, personality

  4. essential, identity


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

“Essential' contrasts with 'accidental' as a type of property (a 'deliberate' property is absurd). Hence, (4) is the answer.

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).

The impact of recently published collection of essays, written during and about the last presidential campaign is lessened by its timing, it comes too late to affect us with its _______ and too soon for us to read it out of historical ________.

  1. foresight, anxiety

  2. veracity, respect

  3. assuredness, skepticism

  4. immediacy, curiosity


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The first part of the sentence implies that the impact of the publication of the essays about the presidential campaigns is less than what it might have been, had it been published either earlier or much later than at present. If it had been published earlier, it would had the merit of topicality. If it had been published much later, it would have had historical value. The pair of words which gives this meaningful sense to the sentence is in (4), which is the answer. (you could also have approached the question with the argument that the phrases 'historical anxiety', 'historical consistency', 'historical skepticism' and 'historical respect' do not make sense and that 'historical curiosity' is the only possible choice for the second missing word).

Directions: Select the option that fills in the blanks most suitably (in the same order).

It would seem that absolute qualities in art ________ us, that we cannot escape viewing works of art in ________ of time and circumstance.

  1. edify, an exemplar

  2. frighten, truancy

  3. confuse, a welter

  4. elude, a context


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The absolute qualities in art cannot frighten us or confuse us but can only edify (meaing instruct; educate) or elude (meaning evade; escape) us. So, (2) and (3) can be ruled out from the point of view of the suitability of the first missing word alone, leaving only (1) and (4) for examination. The phrase 'in an exemplar of time and circumstance' does not make the same eminent sense as 'in a context of time and circumstance'. So, (4) is a much better choice than (1), hence the answer.

Directions: In following question, four statement are provided between an opening statement 1 and closing statement 6. The four statements are jumbled up and form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these six taken together.

  1. The Government of India has mounted a major technology demonstration project for fly ash utilization. A. The construction of four dwelling units at the abandoned fly ash pond of the National Fertilizers Ltd. (NFL) at Panipat has been successful, and they have been tested through a monsoon season.
    B. In many parts of India, there are successful examples of the use of fly ash, first being Okhla Flyover bridge which is operating successfully. C. The results indicate that a structure up to four storey height can be safely and economically erected at abandoned ash ponds.
    D. This mission mode project was the result of earlier work by TIFAC and is now being implemented by it along with many national and state government agencies as well as industries and institutions.
  2. However, initial testing of the site is required as it is usually done for regular soils as well.
  1. ACBD

  2. DBAC

  3. BDAC

  4. BACD


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Looking at the para jumbles carefully, we come to know that it is about fly ash project. As statement A clearly shows the link, we are left with B or D. Statement D connects to statement 1 as TIFAC undertook the project. D is to be followed by B as it gives an e.g.  Statement C shows the results, it follows A. The only choice that answers this is (2).

Directions: Select the option that is the best substitute for the parenthesis given in the passage.

Indian capital goods industry is passing through a period of deep crisis.(.) With the drastic reduction of customs duties on capital goods, imported goods have flooded the Indian market. Indian industry is finding it very difficult to compete with the technologically superior plant and machinery from the developed countries. Naturally, in the times of globalization, every one has doubts about Indian competitiveness.

  1. Due to liberalization, import has become very easy.

  2. However, we see a very curious trend contrary to expectations.

  3. This industry may soon be wiped off the face of Indian manufacturing sector.

  4. Import of raw materials through the VABAL scheme was misused.


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Option (2) is not correct, as the trend has been described in a way that it seems easily evident on the account of occurrence of the word ‘Naturally’. The information in option (3) is too extreme to be considered correct, as it needs an explicit support in the passage, which we can’t find. The scheme given in option (4) VABAL has not been referred to in the passage anywhere, so this option is also not appropriate. Only option (1) is valid as evident from second line of passage. Therefore, option (1) is the correct answer.

Directions: Select the option that is the best substitute for the parenthesis given in the passage.
There is indeed a need to change deeply ingrained habits in a good in many organizations. Electric power and telephone companies always had their profits guaranteed by public regulation.(.) Customers demand just in–time delivery. Consumers are increasingly picky about quality and service. Employees sue at the drop of a hat alleging discrimination and sexual harassment. And with product lives shrinking, there is an urgent need in most mechanical industries in U.S. (and given more in those of Europe) to change drastically the way new products and new models are conceived, designed, made and marketed with the process eventually being telescoped into months from years.
  1. They had to create the requisite inner strengths themselves.

  2. There was heavy public pressure to perform.

  3. Now, they find themselves up against cut throat competition.

  4. However, the beautiful days of no work are over and a grim reality exists.


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Option (3) is correct.

Directions: Select the option that is the best substitute for the parenthesis given in the passage.

Adding to the difficulty are the different priorities of the central government. The emphasis in Beijing is on necessity of economic performance; all the talk is of the need for more profit, higher productivity, more plant discipline. For the central government, a vastly increased supply of consumer goods and of goods of improved quality must be the first priority. Without the incentives that only an increased consumer oriented good supply can provide, (.) It shows signs of slowing down now.

  1. there can be only better outputs

  2. there can be no reason to expect that we will witness a boom

  3. the economic drive shall be a massive success

  4. the economic drive, both on the farm and in the cities, would soon falter


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

We can reject option (2) on account of sentence ‘it shows signs of slowing down now’. Options (1) and (3) are assertions on results of economic policies being followed but this subject hasn’t been discussed in the passage. Again on account of last line, option (4) ‘economic drive, both on the farm and in the cities, would soon falter’, matches the passage in conclusion. This marks option (4) as correct answer.

Directions: From the alternatives given, choose the one which will be a suitable substitute for the underlined expression in the following.
His theatrical manner made even his sincere statements sound unconvincing.
  1. play-acting

  2. dramatics

  3. histrionics

  4. actions


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

Option (4) 'actions' is correct partially because what we need here is a specific term which can denote the affected or artificial manner of person. Option (1) is incorrect because though it is used to refer, behaving in dramatic manner but it is used in context of actors and plays. Option (2) 'Dramatics' is term commonly used to refer plays performed and produced by amateurs and also for dramatic effect. It can thereby be kept on hold. Option (3), histrionics, is specifically used to refer artificial or affected manner, and is most suited as answer in the present case, this marks it as correct answer.

Directions: From the alternatives given, choose the one which will be a suitable substitute for the underlined expression in the following.

As the speaker wandered in his talk and did not keep to the subject, the audience grew impatient.

  1. deviated

  2. rambled

  3. swerved

  4. equivocated


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Deviate is to turn aside to only a slight degree, Ramble is to talk aimlessly without connection of ideas, Swerve is to turn aside sharply or suddenly and equivocate is to mislead. It is clear from sentence that speaker was talking off subject and boring out his audience, so, best suited term from those given above is rambled as the speaker is just speaking aimlessly without connecting to his subject only to prolong his speech.  

Directions: From the alternatives given, choose the one which will be a suitable substitute for the underlined expression in each of the following.

The civic authorities were at their wits end when, despite their best efforts, cholera was unchecked and beyond control among the citizens.

  1. endemic

  2. spreading

  3. epidemic

  4. rampant


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

Endemic is used to term a disease under control, while this sentence is talking about an epidemic out of control of authorities. Epidemic is a noun and can be used to replace cholera and not the given expression of sentence. Spreading fits the sentence correctly, so keep it for final consideration. Word rampant means spreading, unchecked and widespread, you can see clearly that it perfectly replace the given expression. Therefore, option (4) is correct answer.

Directions: From the alternatives given, choose the one which will be a suitable substitute for the underlined expression in each of the following.

The unbearably conceited behaviour of the servant made him lose his job whenever he got one.

  1. indecent

  2. impatient

  3. insufferable

  4. insulting


Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The meaning of expression 'unbearably conceited' is an attitude having exaggerated opinion of oneself, which cannot be tolerated. So this expression has to be replaced by terms given. Lets analyze various options: (1) indecent, is incorrect because it means something morally offensive, this is not something conceited. (2), impatient is lack of patience but this can't be termed as something conceited. Some reasoning applies to option (4). Only option (3) insufferable seems a valid answer here because it means not sufferable or intolerable which can easily fit in the sentence giving same meaning as before substitution.

Directions: For the following question, choose the option that fills up the blanks the maximum number of times. (A) He ________ up the cottage before they moved in. (B) She got herself ________ up with a cozy flat. (C) He has been ________ once for all and won't trouble you again. (D) I know the race was ________.

  1. fixed

  2. fix

  3. faxed

  4. chalked


Correct Option: A
Explanation:

One can easily see that word ‘fixed’ as given by option (1) validly fits in all the given sentences, therefore, option (1) is correct answer.

Directions: For the following question, choose the option that fills up the blanks the maximum number of times. (A) Lightning ________ during the storm. (B) A light house ________ in the distance. (C) His eyes ________ angrily. (D) He ________ a torch at me.

  1. gazed

  2. flashed

  3. came

  4. went


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

In all the given blanks, the word that validly fits in each of the question is option (2) that is flashed. Therefore, correct answer for this question is option (2).

Directions: From the alternatives given, choose the one which will be a suitable substitute for the underlined expression in each of the following.
The flood of personal experiences and first-hand record of events written by the retired military general, who had seen much action during war, became the bestsellers in the late forties.
  1. memoirs

  2. reminiscences

  3. autobiography

  4. reports


Correct Option: B
Explanation:

Term 'autobiography' cannot be used in conjunction with word flood because it is singular. Similar reasoning applies to memories. In sentence, the flood of something has been described as best seller, therefore, it is in form of a book and thereby cannot be term as reports. 'Reminiscences' denotes first hand account, an account of remembered experiences. Therefore, (2) 'reminiscences' best fits the alternative for given sentence.

Directions: For the following question, choose the option that fills up the blanks the maximum number of times. (A) She had a shy ________ at her. (B) He had to ________ at his watch twice in the day. (C) ________ the ball down to fine leg. (D) ________ one's eye over the newspaper.

  1. walk

  2. cock

  3. kneel

  4. glance


Correct Option: D
Explanation:

The only word which fits in all the given sentences is ‘glance’, which marks option (4) as the correct answer.

- Hide questions