Mixed English Questions for Mains Exam — Set 378

Directions(1-5): Two sentences with one blank in each, followed by five alternatives, are given. Choose that option as the answer that can be filled in both the blanks of both sentences to make the sentences grammatically correct and meaningful.

1. A) Mosquito larvae usually flourish down in puddles but municipal workers who are overworked can sometimes ____________ to spray such water bodies during these monsoons.
   B) Before the financial crisis, regulators hoped that banks would be sensible about risks that they took but banks knew that because they were so large the government would not allow them to __________.
   Attempt
   Fail
   Forget
   Neglect
   Close
   Option B
   

    

2. A) Concrete is not as weatherproof as stone and teams of workmen need to be constantly _____________ to fill in cracks which develop, making maintenance of concrete both tedious and expensive.
   B) There was a traitor among the fifty-odd death-dealers he had above ground, and he had ________ twelve-hour shifts to keep an eye on the apartment where he sent Deidre.
   Proceeded
   Appointed
   Decided
   Assigned
   Allocate
   Option D
   

    

3. A) Out of the total loans ______ by the bank, the largest share was for infrastructure.
   B) The trees are ______ throughout the area.
   disbursed
   covered
   distributed
   spanned
   extended
   Option E
   

    

4. A) The company has a current account deficit of more than 6 per cent of GDP and _________ on foreign capital to bridge the gap between what it spends and what it earns.
   B) The company mainly __________ on its corporate banking business but has now decided to expand its operations to retail banking and credit card business.
   Bank
   Relies
   Count
   Trusts
   Confidence
   Option B
   

    

5. A) This course teaches you not to _____ to temptations.
   B) We hope to increase our _______ of rice this year.
   produce
   yield
   succumb
   submit
   share
   Option B
   

    

Directions(6-10): Four statements are given below at A, B, C and D. There may be some errors in the given statements. Mark the incorrect statement as the answer. If all the statements are incorrect, mark option E, i.e., “All are incorrect” as the answer.

6. The government’s decision of focusing on farm irrigation instead of an ecological approach to water conservation will reserve two decades of carefully crafted conservation policies.
   Two decades of carefully crafted policies advocating an ecological approach to water conservation has been reversed by the government’s narrow focus on farm irrigation.
   The government reversed two decades of carefully crafted policies advocating an ecological approach to water conservation, replacing them with a narrow focus on farm irrigation
   The reversal of the government over two decades of carefully crafted policies advocating an ecological approach to narrow focus on farm replacement irrigation.
   All are incorrect
   Option D
   Sentence D is the incorrect statement. Governments do not get ‘reversed’, they can fall, formed, etc. Also, neither ‘farm’ nor ‘irrigation’ can be replaced or separated.

    

7. Her inefficiency in speed is harming her prospects in spite of her knowledge regarding the machine operation.
   She knows to operate the machine but her speed is inefficient.
   She knows how to operate the machine but her prospects are being harmed because of her moderate speed.
   Her knowledge regarding the machine operation is nullified because of her slow speed in operating it.
   All are incorrect.
   Option B
   

    

8. This year’s spelling bee contest was not hard as proved by the success of the ten competitors out of total eleven.
   The success of ten participants and the failure of one proved that this year’s spelling bee contest was easy.
   Ten participants have passed and one has failed the spelling bee contest this year, proving that it was an easy endeavour.
   The spelling bee contest this year was easy as the ten participants have passed while one failed.
   All are incorrect
   Option E
   The error lies in option D. The auxiliary ‘participants’ has two principal verbs – passed and failed. It needs to be connected to both in the correct manner. Hence both the connectors ‘have’ and ‘has’ need to be utilized in the sentence.

    

9. The result is the ostensible setting aside of the writer from the reporter triptychal of travelogue, diary entries, and philosophical.
   What results is a triptychal of travelogue, diary entries, and philosophical asides that ostensibly set the writer apart from the reporter.
   Triptychal of travelogues, diary entries and philosophical asides are the results that genuinely set the reporter apart.
   Setting the writer apart from the reporter ostensibly the triptych of travelogue, diary entries and philosophical asides.
   All are incorrect
   Option E
   Triptych means a set of three associated artistic, literary, or musical works intended to be appreciated together.
   Triptychal doesn’t make sense, hence options A, B and C can be eliminated.

    

10. The war of succession ultimately boiled over to who had more power.
    The war of succession ultimately boiled below to who had more power.
    The war of succession ultimately boiled upon to who had more power.
    The war of succession ultimately boiled down for who had more power.
    All are incorrect
    Option E
    In the given sentences, boiled down is the phrasal verb that should have been used which means summarizing something, to reduce or simplify (something) to the most basic, essential, or fundamental element(s). In this context it means that the one who had more power, succeeded. ‘Boiled down’ should be followed by ‘to’ and not ‘for’, hence option D is incorrect.