English Test for NIACL AO Prelims Exam Set – 2

Directions(1-5): In each of the following questions there are sentences. There is error in one of the parts. Mark the option which contains error parts as your answer. If no part contains error mark option E as your answer.

1. (A) Given that mining has a severe destructive impact on the ecology, resumption of large-scale activity should await a scientific /(B) audit of how sustainable it is. Any more mining should also account /(C) for the loss of employment while calculating economic gains. Just last year, public protests over contaminated groundwater and fouled air, as in Sattari taluk, underscored the need for strict environmental controls. /(D) It is relevant to point out that the Union Environment Ministry’s Expert Appraisal Committee found in 2013 that many of the past leases has been issued without the approval of the National Board for Wildlife, and miners had extracted ore in excess.
   A
   B
   C
   D
   NE
   Option D
   has been = had been

    

2. (A) With Jacob Zuma appearing to be finally willing to resign like President of South Africa, a protracted power struggle /(B) could soon draw to a close. Calls for the anti-apartheid veteran’s exit acquired momentum /(C) after South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa was elected leader of the African National Congress in December. /(D) Litigation in countless cases, the overhang of a 1990s arms deal and actions that undermined judicial investigations have marred Mr. Zuma’s decade-long presidency.
   A
   B
   C
   D
   NE
   Option A
   like = as

    

3. (A) As his supporters took top positions in the new ANC executive, Mr. Zuma brazened it out in the face of growing demands, /(B) within and outside the party and government, for his resignation as President. Over the past /(C) decaded he has survived many parliamentary motions against his rule, thanks largely to the ANC’s reluctance to rely on the opposition for such a manoeuvre. /(D) Recently, the South African Supreme Court criticised the legislature for failing to hold Mr. Zuma to account, giving succour to those calling for his impeachment.
   A
   B
   C
   D
   NE
   Option C
   decaded = decade

    

4. (A) The 2003 ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan is now alive only in the breach, with violations intensifying /(B) in numbers and much damage to life and livelihood along the border. /(C) The drift can only be arrested through high-level political intervention to save this very significant bilateral agreement between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. /(D) In the latest incident, four Indian soldiers, including an Army Captain, were killed in the Bhimber Gali sector in cross-border firing that went on through most of Sunday.
   A
   B
   C
   D
   NE
   Option B
   numbers = number

    

5. (A) The agreement was historic, and a triumph of diplomacy — Pakistan Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali announced /(B) a unilateral ceasefire on the Line of Control on Id; India suggested including the Siachen heights, /(C) and the ceasefire was eventually extended to the International Boundary. It was the high point of /(D) Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s premiership, and his successor, Manmohan Singh, heeded the legacy.
   A
   B
   C
   D
   NE
   Option E
   

    

Directions(6-10): In the passage given below there are 5 blanks. Every blank has four alternative words given in options (A),(B),(C), and (D). You have to tell which word is APPROPRIATE according to the context. If all are appropriate then mark your answer as “E”.

The Supreme Court order to halt the murky course that mining has taken in Goa should help restore some balance to the exploitation of iron and manganese ore in the ecologically ___5___ State. As the court observed this week in the Goa Foundation case, commercial mining activity can be rapacious in the absence of clearly laid down and strictly ___7___ conditions. This is exactly what has happened in Goa, with the State government displaying shocking disregard for rules and processes while renewing licences for a second time in 2015. It inexplicably chose not to exercise its right to view the licences as fresh ___8___ that require new environmental impact assessments. The Bharatiya Janata Party government in Goa invited a cloud of suspicion by hastily launching the renewal of licences just a day after it ___9___ a Grant of Mining Leases Policy on November 4, 2014. Quite extraordinarily, it issued 31 orders on a single day, January 12, 2015, apparently to pre-empt the Centre’s Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Ordinance that came into force the same day. Now that the Supreme Court has ___10___ the termination of 88 licences, grant of fresh licences and proper accounting of the losses, mining activity in its entirety should begin on a clean slate. Future decisions should be guided solely by the true cost to the environment and to human health.

6. sturdy
   fragile
   robust
   lusty
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

7. volitional
   discretionary
   enforced
   neglected
   All are Correct
   Option C
   

    

8. wholes
   takeovers
   evicts
   leases
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

9. unveiled
   concealed
   enrobed
   ensconced
   All are Correct
   Option A
   

    

10. tumbled
    ordered
    chaotic
    amorphous
    All are Correct
    Option B