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English Usage Test 30

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
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Tags: English Usage Test English Skills GRE Preparation GMAT TOEFL SAT English Verbal Ability English Speaking IELTS LAW Bank PO English Verbs Sentence Completion (Gap Fills) Sentence Completion Critical Reasoning (Paragraph Based) Critical Reasoning Best Expression Sentence Improvement Paragraph Completion
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Directions: Choose the best alternative among the four alternatives which completes the sentence with proper meaning.

The best athletes naturally ________ toward the schools with the most athletic scholarships.

  1. make a claim

  2. gravitate

  3. precipitate

  4. be of interest

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

'Gravitate' (to move toward something, to be drawn or attracted especially by natural inclination) in option (2) due to its meaning fits the blank. Hence, (2) is the answer.

Directions: Choose the best alternative among the four alternatives which completes the sentence with proper meaning.

His act of ________ was well pronounced when he refused to accept money for services rendered.

  1. denunciation

  2. abnegation

  3. reverence

  4. alacrity

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

The latter part of the sentence (refused to accept money for services rendered) provides clue for the blank. 'Abnegation' (a giving up of rights, etc.; self-denial; renunciation) in option (2) fits our prediction, hence, (2) is the answer.

Directions: Choose the best alternative among the four alternatives which completes the sentence with proper meaning.

His speech was so ________ that the audience got ________.

  1. boring, interested

  2. funny, sick

  3. powerful, shocks

  4. hackneyed, bored

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

'That' links the two contrasting phrases in the sentence. Option (4) provides the best combination. The speech was not 'hackneyed' (worn-out, old, trite) but still the audience got bored. Hence, option (4) is the answer.

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

Mrs. Sheela's daughter, who had love marriage, was very unhappy with her husband. When she turned to Mrs. Sheela for support, Mrs. Sheela replied, “I can't believe it. You had a love marriage!”

What is Mrs. Sheela's assumption, based on which, she has said the above statement?

  1. She believes that love marriages do not have any problems.

  2. Problems are faced only by those who have arranged marriages.

  3. Problems within a marriage must be solved by the spouses themselves.

  4. None of the above

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

Option (1) best answers Mrs. Sheela's assumption.

Directions: In the following question, four different ways of writing a sentence are indicated. Choose the best way of writing the sentence.

A. When rates were raised in 2000, postal service officials predicted that the increase would make further rate increases, unnecessary for at least five years.

B. When rates were raised in 2000, postal service officials predicted they would mean that further rate increases would not be needed for at least five years.

C. When rates were raised in 2000, postal service officials predicted that it would not be unnecessary for further rate increases for at least five years.

D. When rates were raised in 2000, postal service officials predicted further rated increases will not be needed for at least five years.

  1. A

  2. B

  3. C

  4. D

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The use of pronoun 'they' in B and the use of 'will' in D make the sentences incorrect. Since the sentence is in past tense (raised), only 'would' must be used in the second half of the sentence. In C, the double negation (not be unnecessary) changes the meaning of the sentence. If the rates were raised recently, it will not be necessary to raise them again for minimum of five years. Thus, only A is the best way of writing the sentence and option (1) is the answer.

Directions: Select the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (i).

Nuemann and Morgenstern assume a decision framework in which all options are thoroughly considered, each option being independent of the others, with a numerical value derived for the utility of each possible outcome (these outcomes electing, in turn, all possible combinations of choices). The decision is then made to maximize the expected utility. (i), such a model reflects major simplifications of the way decisions are made in the real world. Humans not able to process information as quickly and effectively as the model assumes; they tend not think ___(ii)___ as easily as the model calls for; they often deal with a particular option without really assessing its (iii)__ and when they do assess alternatives, they may be extremely nebulous about their criteria of evaluation.

  1. regrettably

  2. firstly

  3. obviously

  4. apparently

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

The sentence following the blank sums up the idea expressed in the passage above. Therefore the blank must begin with 'obviously'. Hence, option (3) is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, four different ways of writing a sentence are indicated. Choose the best way of writing the sentence.
A. One of incumbent government's first acts was to rescind the ordinance, prohibiting the sale to other countries to any chemical banned on medical grounds in the country.
B. One of the incumbent government's first acts was to rescind the ordinance, prohibiting that any chemical banned on medical grounds in the country is sold to other countries.
C. One of the incumbent's first acts was to rescind the ordinance that any chemical be prohibited from sale to other countries that was banned on medical grounds in the country.
D. One of the incumbent government's first acts was to rescind the ordinance that any chemical banned in the country on medical grounds is prohibited from being sold to other countries sale to other countries.

  1. A

  2. B

  3. C

  4. D

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The ordinance prohibited the sale to other countries is explicit in A, hence, option (1) is the answer.

Directions: Select the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (ii).

Nuemann and Morgenstern assume a decision framework in which all options are thoroughly considered, each option being independent of the others, with a numerical value derived for the utility of each possible outcome (these outcomes electing, in turn, all possible combinations of choices). The decision is then made to maximize the expected utility. (i), such a model reflects major simplifications of the way decisions are made in the real world. Humans not able to process information as quickly and effectively as the model assumes; they tend not think ___(ii)___ as easily as the model calls for; they often deal with a particular option without really assessing its (iii)__ and when they do assess alternatives, they may be extremely nebulous about their criteria of evaluation.

  1. quantitatively

  2. systematically

  3. scientifically

  4. analytically

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

The phrase in first passage - 'these outcomes electing, in turn, all possible combinations of choices' provides clue for this blank. As number of combinations are possible and somebody using that model would have to consider only one option at a time, therefore 'quantitatively' in option (1) fits our prediction.

Directions: Select the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (iii).

Nuemann and Morgenstern assume a decision framework in which all options are thoroughly considered, each option being independent of the others, with a numerical value derived for the utility of each possible outcome (these outcomes electing, in turn, all possible combinations of choices). The decision is then made to maximize the expected utility. (i), such a model reflects major simplifications of the way decisions are made in the real world. Humans not able to process information as quickly and effectively as the model assumes; they tend not think ___(ii)___ as easily as the model calls for; they often deal with a particular option without really assessing its (iii)__ and when they do assess alternatives, they may be extremely nebulous about their criteria of evaluation.

  1. implications

  2. disadvantages

  3. utility

  4. alternatives

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

In the light of above discussion, 'alternatives' in option (4) replaces the blank cogently, hence, it is the answer.

Directions: Select the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (ii).
A large company, ___(i)_____ people is about as common as using a gun or a switch blade to ___(ii)_____ an argument. As a result, most managers have little or no experience of firing people, and they find it emotionally traumatic; result, they often delay the act interminably, much as an unhappy spouse will prolong a bad marriage. And the world - class software organizations have a different way of firing people? No, but they do the deed swiftly, manly, and professionally.
The key point here is to view the fired employee as a “failed product” and to ask how the process ___(iii)_____ such a phenomenon in the first place.

  1. resolve

  2. thwart

  3. defeat

  4. close

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

People are fired when they could not resolve the argument. Hence, option (1) is the answer.

Directions: Select the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (i).
A large company, ___(i)_____ people is about as common as using a gun or a switch blade to ___(ii)_____ an argument. As a result, most managers have little or no experience of firing people, and they find it emotionally traumatic; result, they often delay the act interminably, much as an unhappy spouse will prolong a bad marriage. And the world - class software organizations have a different way of firing people? No, but they do the deed swiftly, manly, and professionally.
The key point here is to view the fired employee as a “failed product” and to ask how the process ___(iii)_____ such a phenomenon in the first place.

  1. dismissing

  2. punishing

  3. firing

  4. admonishing

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

This sentence - 'As a result, most managers have little or no experience of firing people, and they find it emotionally traumatic; result, they often delay the act interminably, much as an unhappy spouse will prolong a bad marriage' - provides the clue for the first blank. Therefore, 'firing' in option (3) fits our prediction, hence the answer.

Directions: Select the appropriate word from the given options and fill blank (iii).
A large company, ___(i)_____ people is about as common as using a gun or a switch blade to ___(ii)_____ an argument. As a result, most managers have little or no experience of firing people, and they find it emotionally traumatic; result, they often delay the act interminably, much as an unhappy spouse will prolong a bad marriage. And the world - class software organizations have a different way of firing people? No, but they do the deed swiftly, manly, and professionally.
The key point here is to view the fired employee as a “failed product” and to ask how the process ___(iii)_____ such a phenomenon in the first place.

  1. derived

  2. engineered

  3. produced

  4. allowed

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

If the fired employee is viewed as a failed product, obviously, first thing that comes to our mind is that how come he was allowed in the organisation. Therefore, option (4) is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. Gold, as a standard of value, is superior to all other indices anyone has been able to suggest: it is unchangeable, easy to transport and store, and finally its production is fairly flexible without ever going to excess.
B. There can be no stable and honest economy without a stable and honest currency. Therefore, we need currency which is based upon real values as the economy's guarantee.
C. Gold acquires all the more value in comparison with the fiduciary currency that is substituted for it, and it leaves the vaults of the public treasury all the faster, the more rigorously one tries to outlaw it.
D. It is a simple but striking fact that gold has come unharmed through all the catastrophes that have almost overwhelmed the human race.

  1. ACDB

  2. ADCB

  3. BADC

  4. CABD

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

This parajumble shows the necessity of a stable monetary standard as is clear from statement B, hence the beginning statement. Statement A answers the issue i.e. B à A. Out of D and C, D is a link to A and C forms the concluding statement of the paragraph and gives sense to the paragraph. Hence, (3) is the correct option.

Directions: Choose the best alternative among the four alternatives which completes the sentence with proper meaning.

The IIMs are government initiative, however, in most matters they are _______ and receive no instructions from the Centre.

  1. competent

  2. incompetent

  3. autonomous

  4. afar

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

'However' sets up the contrast in the sentence. The sentence suggests that though IIMs are government initiatives, but in most matters they take up their own decisions. 'Autonomous' in option (3) fits our prediction, hence, it is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. The crises of unemployment created by overproduction are therefore really only crises of distribution of goods to be consumed in the absence of sufficient buying power.
B. If, during certain periods, production exceeds consumption, society ought to intensify its programs of public works, such as scientific research, public health, and the reclamation of unused lands.
C. It is an extravagant waste of human energy to pay individuals to do nothing and the community ought to arrange matters so that everyone can do some useful labor.
D. Nothing but a shortsighted concern for the budget opposes such measures, since the community is suffering from an excess of consumers goods, which it does not know what to do with.

  1. BDCA

  2. CBDA

  3. ABCD

  4. ACBD

Show answer
Correct Option: B
Explanation:

This para jumble shows the wastage of human energy which is clear from statement C. Statement B that describes how to arrange these matters is the direct link to C i.e. C à B also it supports statement C. D is an explanation to C i.e. D à C and statement A forms the concluding statement. Hence, (2) is the correct answer.

Directions: In the following question, five statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. It poses dilemmas and conflicts of varied types for individuals, families and the society.
B. This creates the problem of spinsterhood too with its own sociological repercussions.
C. The importance and topically of the problem of dowry today is to be assessed not because the number of the reported cases of burning brides is increasing but also because a good number of girls remain unmarried even after crossing the marriageable age due to their parents inability to pay dowry.
D. The dowry problem is also crucial because many girls are humiliated and harassed for not bringing adequate dowry to the satisfaction of their in-laws and husbands creating the crisis of their personality disorganization.
E. It compels many parents to use illegitimate methods in earning money and increases corruption in the society.

  1. DAECB

  2. DBEAC

  3. CDEBA

  4. CBDEA

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

This is a very simple para-jumble. C begins the sequence as it introduces the subject-'dowry'. 'This' in B refers to the problem of dowry in C. Thus, we have CB link. B is to be followed by D as it also cites a problem on dowry and has 'also' in it. This CBD link is met only in option (4), hence, it is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, five statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. There are the socio-structural and demographic concomitants too of social change.
B. But this thesis about social change presents only the economic perspective.
C. It was believed by some scholars that industrialization would lead to the automatic dissolution of the caste system and its progressive replacement by a class system analogous to that found in the advanced industrial societies of the west.
D. Industrial society need not be a fully 'rational' society.
E. To a large extent, this expectation or visualization arose from the belief that the application of mechanical forces and nationality to the production of goods and services inspires social change.

  1. DABEC

  2. DCEBA

  3. AEBDC

  4. CEBAD

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

D might appear as the starting sentence but it in not so, instead it is the concluding sentence because it gives a view of industrial society as a conclusion. 'This expectation' in E refers to the idea expressed in C, thus, we have CE link. 'But this thesis' in B proposes a contrary view to sentence C, thus, we have CEB link. Hence, (4) is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, a related pair of words is followed by four pairs of words. Choose the one pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair.

CONFLUENCE : PEOPLE

  1. creek : water

  2. condiment : taste

  3. macadam : cobble

  4. congress : bill

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

(Constituent) A confluence (meaning a crowd) is made of individual people. Similarly, a macadam (meaning a path) is made up of individual cobble (meaning gravel).

Directions: In the following question, five statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. Chrysippus maintained that the good man is always happy and the bad man unhappy, and that the good man's happiness differs in no way from God's.
B. He was less exclusively ethical in his interests than the later stories.
C. Cleanthes maintained that all souls survive until the next universal conflagration.
D. On the question, whether the souls survive death, there were conflicting opinions.
E. But Chrysippus maintained that this is true only of the souls of the wise.

  1. CBEDA

  2. ACDEB

  3. ADCEB

  4. BDEAC

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

As we are not able to find the starting or concluding statement, let's look for links. C follows D as C gives Cleanthes opinion to the question in D. As E begins with 'but', therefore statement E gives a contrary opinion to the Cleanthes opinion. Thus, we have DCE link, which is found in option (3), hence, it is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, five statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. He became a hero of socialist labour and was awarded the order of Lenin and many other honours.
B. He was closely involved with the development of thermonuclear weapons and in 1953, he became a full member of the Soviet academy of Sciences.
C. Born in Moscow in 1921, Sakharov followed his father's footsteps to became a physicist, graduating in 1942.
D. But this publicity for his political activities as a campaigner for nuclear disarmament has obscured the fact that he is one of the most brilliant physicists of his generation.
E. Sakharov's name is familiar to a western audience largely for political reasons, because of his position as a prominent 'dissident' in the 1970's.

  1. ECABD

  2. CEABD

  3. EDCBA

  4. ABDCE

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

C or E is likely to initiate the sequence. But as we are not able to decide, let's look for links. 'This publicity' in D refers to 'familiar' in E. Moreover, 'but' in D also provides a contrary view to E. Thus, we have ED link. ED link is found in only (3) option, hence, (3) is the answer. But let's check the sequence according to option. C logically follows D as the word 'physicist' connects both the sentences. Chronologically, B follows C. Hence, (3) is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, a related pair of words is followed by four pairs of words. Choose the one pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair.

ANALGESIC : RELIEF

  1. cryosurgery : ameliorate

  2. scalpel : cauterize

  3. antiseptic : decumbent

  4. sedative : tranquilize

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

(Purpose) The purpose of an analgesic is to provide relief. The purpose of a sedative is to tranquilize (meaning pacify).

Directions: In the following question, a related pair of words is followed by four pairs of words. Choose the one pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair.

PEDESTAL : BOLSTER

  1. stockade : precinct

  2. sluice : ferry

  3. ingress : levee

  4. masonry : edifice

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

(Type) Pedestal (meaning bottom of a pillar) is a type of bolster (meaning support). A stockade (meaning barrier) is a kind of precinct (meaning enclosure).

Directions: In the following question, four statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.

A. That question raises the issue of purpose in Nature.

B. Under these conditions, is it not more natural, more logical, and simpler to maintain provisionally - pending additional discoveries - that the miracles of life, and especially those of cellular life, are the work of the cell itself?

C. Does the rationality of Nature prove that it acts according to a deliberate plan directed towards an end to which everything has been subordinated?

D. To the extent that we penetrate farther and farther into the mysteries of vegetable and animal life and come to know better and better the multiple mechanisms, often opposed to one another, which release control and direct the behavior of the tiniest bacteria and the humblest cells of living creatures, we perceive that the marvels of ingenuity and apparent foresight which biology reveals to us are to be explained by the breakdowns of electrical and biochemical equilibria brought about by clearly defined compounds, enzymes or hormones, secreted by the living cells under the influence of the pleasant and unpleasant reactions which they experience.

  1. BCAD

  2. BDCA

  3. CADB

  4. DBCA

Show answer
Correct Option: C
Explanation:

In this para jumble, there are 2 questions and one question is an answer to the other. Looking carefully at C and B, it is C that forms the beginning of the paragraph. 'That question' in A is a direct link to C.

Directions: In the following question, five statements are provided. These statements form a coherent paragraph when properly arranged. Select the alternative representing the proper and logical sequencing of these statements.
A. Oriental legend in general affords this mountain an important role.
B. In later times, an important Zoroastrian temple of fire was erected here, and in the heyday of the Sassanians - the last pre-Islamic dynasty to rule Persia, from the fourth to the sixth centuries AD - the enormous palace of the Khosraus was built on the mountain.
C. It is known particularly for its extensive ruins, the oldest sections of which date back to the early first millennium BC.
D. In north-western Iran, south of the town of Tabriz, set in an extraordinarily beautiful landscape comparable with the 'Happy Valley', there is another mountain which bears the same name.
E. The Takht-i-Suleiman of Srinagar is not the only mountain throne of the biblical king in the huge expanse of land that stretches from Palestine to India.

  1. EDCBA

  2. ACBED

  3. ADCEB

  4. DCEAB

Show answer
Correct Option: A
Explanation:

D is an elaboration of E as indicated by “another mountain” in D, thus D follows E. 'It' in C is a reference to 'mountain' in D. Chronologically, B follows C. Hence, (1) is the answer.

Directions: In the following question, a related pair of words is followed by four pairs of words. Choose the one pair that best expresses a relationship similar to that expressed in the original pair.

NEUTRALISATION : ACID

  1. billow : current

  2. pabulum : reduction

  3. purification : ore

  4. detoxification : poison

Show answer
Correct Option: D
Explanation:

(Process of removal). Neutralization is the process of acid removal. Detoxification is the process of poison removal.

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