Mixed English Questions for Mains Exam— Set 155

Directions (Q.1-5): Read each of the sentences to find out whether there is any grammatical mistake/error in it. The error, if any , will be in TWO PARTS of the sentence. The combination of those parts is the answer. If no part in the sentence has an error, then select ‘No error’ as your answer. (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any)

1. (A) All the devilish dilemmas remain. All the impossibilities are as impossible as they were on referendum day – /(B) but now they are solemnly written on paper. We can’t have /(C) frictionless EU trade without a customs union, but that stop us buccaneering the globe for those exclusive deals with Mauritania or wherever else Liam Fox chooses to turn to. /(D) Ireland stands where it did: preserving an open border, made possible by the Good Friday agreement, means the UK must stay close to the EU forever.
   AB
   BC
   CD
   AD
   NE
   Option B
   B. written = written down.
   Write” means “compose a sentence (or sentences).” “Write down” means “write something on a piece of paper (or other similar material)” or “put something in writing.” We can write something mentally, but we have to write things down physically.
   C. stop = stops

    

2. (A) Loved by some philosophers, loathed by others, the so-called trolley problem is the quintessential moral puzzle. /(B) A runaway train is heading towards five people tied with a track. /(C) You can change a signal, diverting the train down a spur, so saving five lives. Unfortunately, one person is on the spur, and will die. /(D) What should you do? Most people – young and old, rich and poor – believe you should divert the train.
   AB
   BC
   CD
   AD
   NE
   Option C
   B. with = to
   C. will = would

    

3. (A) On Monday, 35-year-old Sana Muhammad shot dead with a crossbow in east London. /(B) She was eight months pregnant, but her baby miraculously survived. /(C) Her ex-husband has been charged with her murder. This is what it takes for an alleged victim of domestic violence to make it from statistic to headline: a murder of unimaginable barbarism, carried out with a medieval weapon, /(D) leaving behind the ultimate symbol of vulnerability – a motherless child was seized, literally, from death.
   AB
   BC
   CD
   AD
   NE
   Option D
   A. was shot dead(passive voice).
   D. omit “was” after “child”

    

4. (A) Since 1976, Prince Charles Philip Arthur George, Prince of Wales, Earl of Chester, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince and Great Steward of Scotland, /(B) has been helping young people into work. The charity he founded, the Prince’s Trust, /(C) has helped more than 900,000 young people into education or employment. /(D) But his own apprenticeship has gone on for a very, very, very long time.
   AB
   BC
   CD
   AD
   NE
   Option E
   

    

5. (A) Public figures talk and act as if environmental change will be linear and gradual. /(B) But the Earth’s systems are highly complex, and complex systems do not respond to pressure in linear ways. When these systems interact (because the world’s atmosphere, oceans, land surface and lifeforms do not sit placidly within the boxes that make study more convenient), their reactions to change become highly unpredictable. /(C) Small perturbations can ramify wildly. Tipping points are likely to remain invisible until we pass them. /(D) We could see changes of state so abruptly and profound that no continuity can be safely assumed.
   AB
   BC
   CD
   AD
   NE
   Option C
   c. pass = have passed
   D. abruptly = abrupt

    

Directions (Q.6-10):Which of the following phrases given below the sentence can replace the words /phrase given in the bold in the sentence grammatically and meaningfully. If the sentence is correct as it is , your answer is option (5) i.e No correction required.

6. The Avni affair will outlive her. This has become clear over the past few days. The post-mortem witness report casts doubt the official version of events that led to the shooting of the man-eating tigress—officially known as T1—in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal district earlier this month. A National Tiger Conservation Authority team has begun a probe. Political parties, from the Shiv Sena to the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party, are putting the boot in.
   I. doubt over the officials
   II. doubt on the official
   III. doubting the official
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I & II
   No Correction Required
   Option B
   

    

7. Perhaps the greatest achievement of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been in making many leading Indian politicians who describe themselves as secular and liberal believe that the average Hindu is concerned only about his faith and they must, therefore, pandering his beliefs if they are to make any headway politically. Making generalizations about the ‘average’ Hindu is perilous, given that there are close to 950 million people described as Hindus in India alone.
   I. pander to his beliefs
   II. will pander his beliefs
   III. pander his beliefs
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I & III
   No Correction Required
   Option A
   

    

8. Following Emmanuel Macron’s election as President of France in May 2017, global elites breathed a sigh of relief. The populist wave, they reassured themselves, had been crested. Voters had regained their sanity. Helped along by an electoral system in which the two leading candidates faced off in a second round, the “silent majority” had united behind the centrist candidate in the runoff.
   I. is crested
   II. has crested
   III. had crested
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both II & I
   No Correction Required
   Option C
   

    

9. If the story of the awakening of Siddhartha, later known as Gautama Buddha, were to be reprised in our time, the boy prince would not need to leave the confines of his opulent palace to be exposed to the miseries of life. Breathing in the toxic air would be sufficient to alert him to the fact that all is not well in the kingdom of the Licchavis.
   I. all was not well
   II. all cannot be well
   III. all is not being well
   Only I
   Only II
   Only III
   Both I & III
   No Correction Required
   Option A
   

    

10. Developing road networks in a timely and cost-effective fashion plays an important role in economic development. In recent years, the government has been adopting the public private partnership (PPP) approach in road development. Today, India has the distinction of having the largest PPP programme globally in the roads sector. More than 560 road projects comprising a total length of 45,000 km with an estimated investment exceeding ₹200,000 crore have been awarded on PPP basis so far by the Centre and various state governments.
    I. government had adopted
    II. government has adopted
    III. government is adopting
    Only I
    Only II
    Only III
    Both II & III
    No Correction Required
    Option B