Mixed English Questions for Mains Exam — Set 190

Directions(1-8): Read the sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number corresponding to that part will be your answer. If the given sentence is correct as it is, mark the answer as ‘No error’. Ignore the errors of punctuation if any.

1. No one wants a woman who breaks (1)/ stereotypes, earns more than a man and (2)/ disrupts a carefully sculpted status quo that insures (3)/ the balance of power remains in perpetual imbalance. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option C
   To “insure” is to issue an insurance policy. The sentence talks about the certainty of the balance of power. In other words, the balance of power needs to be ensured. Hence, the correct answer is C.

    

2. Some doctors give out false along with wrong (1)/ information and since pets are extremely sensitive (2)/ to any incorrect treatment, you should always (3)/ take references from people who already have pets. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option A
   ‘Along with’ provides additional information. This means both the information statements are correct and can be independently presented. But, the clause “Some doctors give out false” isn’t complete. The adjective ‘false’ doesn’t have a noun to describe. But, if we replace ‘along with’ with ‘and’, we would have ‘information’ as the noun which would be described by ‘false’ and ‘wrong’. Hence, the correct answer is A.

    

3. When Anna Karenina, a woman with power (1)/ and privilege decides to oversteps social (2)/ and moral rules to be with her love, (3)/ devastating consequences take her life. (4)
   
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option B
   Though the verb ‘overstep’ follows the noun ‘a woman’, which is in third person, singular, the verb itself would be in its base form (overstep) as it is preceded by to-infinitive. Hence, the correct answer is B.

    

4. Claire, a nurse live during the time of (1)/ the second World War, travelled to (2)/ Scotland, to meet Jaime, a charming man and (3)/ they embarked on a journey of adventure and romance. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option A
   We need to replace ‘live’ with ‘alive’ or ‘who lived’. Since the sentence expresses activities that happened in a time before present, we need to use past tense.
   So, the correct answer is option A.

    

5. The study found that musicians have the ability (1)/ to remember information pertaining to auditory (2)/signals better owing to their training which makes (3)/ their working memory better than that of others. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option E
   

    

6. Himachal is known to attract trekkers and (1)/ nature enthusiastic from all over the world, (2)/ but a rise in footfall leaves a huge heap (3)/ of discarded plastic waste in the region. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option B
   ‘Enthusiastic’ is an adjective. There is no noun present after ‘enthusiastic’ to describe. But, if we use the noun ‘enthusiasts’ instead, we will get the subject ‘nature enthusiasts’, which fits the sentence description, as it talks about the tourists Himachal, attracts. Hence, the correct answer is B.

    

7. In the warm and beautiful summer, Margot (1)/ finds herself being drawn to her neighbour (2)/ and ruminate over the empty spaces in her marriage, (3)/ which she seeks to fill through infidelity. (4)
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option C
   The first part of the sentence, i.e. part (1) & part (2) are in passive voice. So, the verb in its participle form (drawn). ‘Being’ suggest that the action was continuing. ‘And’ in part (3) means Margot was being drawn and ruminated at the same time. But the part (3) and (4) are in active voice, so we just use the continuous form of the verb (ruminating). Hence, the correct answer is C.

    

8. A Jewish bookstore owner, Guido Orefice (1)/ struggles to protect his son from the horrors (2)/ of concentration camps by telling him that they (3)/ are playing a game, to save his life and innocent. (4)
   
   1
   2
   3
   4
   No error
   Option D
   Innocent is an adjective. But the sentence is describing one of the attributes of the boy, for which a noun(innocence) should be used. Hence, the correct answer is D.

    

Directions(9-10): A sentence divided into different parts is given. Find the part which doesn’t contribute to the main theme of the sentence and then rearrange the remaining parts to make a complete sentence. If the correct sequence is not given in the options, mark ‘None of these’ as your answer. If the given sentence is correct as given, choose ‘No correction required’.

9. that could antagonise firms seeking to profit from drones (A)/ which comes as reported near-misses involving the aircraft continue to rise (B)/ parish councils have representation with taxation, unlike bigger local authorities in England (C)/ the government’s focus on Brexit, and its reluctance to impose new laws, (D)/ have been blamed for the delay. (E)
   DAEB
   BCDA
   EACB
   None of these
   No arrangement required
   Option A
   

    

10. call on editors to improve diversity among their staff (A)/ the journalists, assembled under the auspices of a new group, (B)/ in order to improve their reporting of race issues and subjects (C)/ 20 people are unaccounted for, the country’s disaster management (D)/ Black Journalists Collective UK (BJCUK). (E)
    EABC
    ACBD
    BEAC
    None of these
    No arrangement required
    Option C