English Questions

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.

Silver bullet

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

Many persons of good education unconsciously circumscribe themselves ___________ a small vocabulary. They have a knowledge of hundreds of desirable wordswhich they do not put _________ practical use in their speech or writing. Many, too, are conscious __________ a poverty of language, which engenders in them a senseof timidity and self-___________. The method used for building a large vocabulary has __________ been confined to the study of single words.

large vocabulary has __________ been confined

In the following question, a sentence has been given in Direct/Indirect speech. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best express the same sentence in Indirect/Direct speech.

Vinod said to me, "Has your brother returned from Dubai?"

In the following passage some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

The ______________ of gurudakshina is very ancient and it is ________________ to the Indian culture and tradition. If you are absolutely ______________ about India, then it's advisable that you first try to understand the meaning of a guru and the ________________ of his presence in the lives of those around him. This, in turn, will help you to understand what guru dakshina is. In ancient India, a teacher or a guru was a spiritually _____________ guide.

If you are absolutely ______________ about India

In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

It does not suit you to cast ____________ on the character of such a pure woman.

In the following passage some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

Instead of finding the root cause of_________ of Indians, the British government took to more ____________ measures. Under the Defense of India Act, it gave more power to the police to arrest persons to stop processions with ____________ movements and actions. The Act brought in the Central Legislative Assembly was defeated by one vote. Even then it was to be passed in the form of an ordinance in the "interest of the public." Bhagat Singh who was in hiding all this while, volunteered to throw a bomb in the Central Legislative Assembly where the meeting to pass the ordinance was being held. It was a carefully laid out _________, not to cause death or injury but to _____________ the attention of the government, that the modes of its suppression could no more be tolerated. It was decided that Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt would court arrest after throwing the bomb.

not to cause death or injury but to _____________ the attention of the government

In the following question, sentence given with blank is to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

Fuel suppliers will ______________ the national oil shortage by raising prices to increase their bottom lines.

A passage is given with five questions following it. Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.

The saddest part of life lies not in the act of dying, but in failing to truly live while we are alive. Too many of us play small with our lives, never letting the fullness of our humanity see the light of day. I’ve learned that what really counts in life, in the end, is not how many toys we have collected or how much money we’ve accumulated, but how many of our talents we have liberated and used for a purpose that adds value to this world. What truly matters most are the lives we have touched and the legacy that we have left. Tolstoy put it so well when he wrote: “We live for ourselves only when we live for others.” It took me forty years to discover this simple point of wisdom.

Forty long years to discover that success cannot really be pursued. Success ensues and flows into your life as the unintended yet inevitable byproduct of a life spent enriching the lives of other people. When you shift your daily focus from a compulsion to survive towards a lifelong commitment to serve, your existence cannot help but explode into success. I still can’t believe that I had to wait until the “half-time” of my life to figure out that true fulfillment as a human being comes not from achieving those grand gestures that put us on the front pages of the newspapers and business magazines, but instead from those basic and incremental acts of decency that each one of us has the privilege to practice each and every day if we simply make the choice to do so.

Mother Teresa, a great leader of human hearts if ever there was one, said it best: “There are no great acts, only small acts done with great love.” I learned this the hard way in my life. Until recently, I had been so busy striving, I had missed out on living. I was so busy chasing life’s big pleasures that I had missed out on the little ones, those micro joys that weave themselves in and out of our lives on a daily basis but often go unnoticed. My days were overscheduled, my mind was overworked and my spirit was underfed.

Suggest a suitable title for the passage?