English Quiz

Directions (Q.1 to 5): In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are given below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

This happened thousands of years ago. Life was hard as people had to do all the work by themselves. A large number of people were __(1)__ . They would travel from one place to another in search of food and shelter. While travelling one day, a man arrived at the edge of a desert. He was walking on the sand, when suddenly he came across a frightening creature – it had extremely long, thin legs, a giant hump and a long neck. It was this neck that he extended towards the man, who, scared out of his __(2)__, ran away from the spot. The following day, he met the creature again. It was standing near a lake, drinking water. This time, the man was fascinated at what he saw — the creature putting its long neck into the lake and drinking water continuously. Then suddenly the giant creature looked up and stared straight into the eyes of the man standing across. But this time, an __(3)__ of water separated the two, and the man did not run away. He stood and watched the animal, which made no effort to come closer. In the following weeks, the man saw more such creatures, again and again. It seemed they were all over the desert, aimlessly walking about for miles on end. The man began to observe the creatures very closely. He saw that they were vegetarian. Moreover, despite their huge size, they were remarkably meek and gentle. And the stamina the creatures had was __(4)__. They could walk the entire length of the desert without being exhausted. Observing them, man of the desert without being exhausted. Observing them, the man thought, “What if I tame this creature and make it ferry all my stuff? I could then make the desert my home.” So, one day, while one of the creatures’ was dozing, the man went up to it and put a bridle in its mouth. Then he rode around on it, after placing an enormous amount of load on its back. With that, the taming of the camel was complete (for that was who the creature was). And ever since that day, the camel has faithfully __(5)__ up to its title of ‘Ship of the Desert’.

Question.1. 
1) masons
2) cobblers
3) farmers
4) nomads
5) potters

Question.2. 
1) humor
2) mind
3) wits
4) life
5) face

Question.3. 
1) expanse
2) stretch
3) wedge
4) pond
5) element

Question.4. 
1) unarguable
2) unbelievable
3) unforgivable
4) unbearable
5) unavailable

Question.5. 
1) been
2) ran
3) seen
4) lived
5) stood

Directions (Q.16- Q.10): Fill in the blanks which are given in sentences by choosing the most appropriate options.

Question.6. Jenkins said she found herself disturbed by the seemingly endless stream of _________ in the headlines, and hoped that the movie would promote a kind of heroism that involved mutual understanding rather than grandstanding.
1) maladies
2) goodies
3) tragedies
4) tranche
5) storm

Question.7. The _________ were not jihadis looking for a swift ascent to heaven, but small-time criminals with a history of mental illness: sociopaths, if you will.
1) perpetrators
2) demonstrators
3) spectators
4) audience
5) protestors

Question.8. Many vegetarians find it intuitively absurd that death is not considered harmful, but there are plenty of philosophers in history who have argued that not even humans are harmed by their own ________. 
1) destination
2) annihilation
3) determination
4) amalgamation
5) sterilization

Question.9. The rhetoric of meritocracy appears to has camouflaged the extent to which success and failure often hinge decisively on events completely beyond any individual’s control.
1) to have camouflaged
2) to had camouflaged
3) did camouflaged
4) to have camouflages
5) to do camouflage

Question.10. A few days after the column appeared, I was invited to appear on a Fox Business Network show hosted by Stuart Varney, a man deeply ______ of the importance of luck.
1) distrustful
2) incredulous
3) credulous
4) None of the above
5) All of the above

Solutions ▼

Answer.1. 4; People who travel in search of food and shelter are called nomads.

Answer.2. 3; The correct idiom is “to be scared out of one’s wits”, which means to be extremely frightened.

Answer.3. 1; “Expanse” refers to a great extent of something spread out.

Answer.4. 2; The man is amazed at the stamina of the creatures. So, “unbelievable” correctly fits in the blank.

Answer.5. 4; “Live up to something” means to fulfil.

Answer.6. 3; Tragedy is a noun that indicates disaster or bad fortune. It would be a tragedy to lose your job, but an even greater tragedy to fall ill while unemployed and without health care.

Answer.7. 1; A perpetrator is someone who has committed a crime — or at least done something pretty bad. The word perpetrator is so often associated with crime that police officers and other criminal justice types sometimes abbreviate it “perp.” A perpetrator is often a suspect until it has been proven that he or she carried out the offence. The word usually describes someone who’s committed a crime, but any wrongdoing will do.

Answer.8. 2; Annihilation is the total destruction of something. After an annihilation, there’s nothing left but total, horrific destruction, like a wild fire completely wiping out a forest or a tsunami sweeping away a seaside town.
Usage: In World War II, our nuclear bombs resulted in the annihilation of Hiroshima.

Answer.9. 1; to have camouflaged is the right answer.

Answer.10. 5; All of the above is the right answer. All the words can be fitted in the blank.