Q1. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'The teacher was disappointed / because many a student / in her class / have failed the test.'
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Answer: D. have failed the test.
'Many a' takes a singular noun and a singular verb. It should be 'many a student ... has failed the test'.
Error Spotting · hard
Q2. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Despite of his best efforts, / he could not / clear the examination / in his first attempt.'
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Answer: A. Despite of his best efforts,
'Despite' is itself a preposition and is not followed by 'of'. Use 'Despite his best efforts' or 'In spite of his best efforts'.
Error Spotting · medium
Q3. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'It is I / who is to blame / for the mess / in the office.'
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Answer: B. who is to blame
A relative pronoun agrees with its antecedent in person and number. The antecedent is 'I' (first person), so it should be 'It is I who am to blame'.
Error Spotting · hard
Q4. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: The professor's lectures were so ________ that even students with no background in the subject could follow them with ease.
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Answer: A. accessible
'Accessible' means easy to understand. 'Abstruse', 'esoteric' and 'convoluted' all mean difficult to understand, contradicting 'could follow them with ease'.
Cloze Test · medium
Q5. Choose the antonym of 'OSTENTATIOUS'.
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Answer: A. Unassuming
'Ostentatious' means characterised by vulgar or pretentious display. 'Unassuming' (modest, not pretentious) is its opposite; 'flamboyant', 'showy' and 'pretentious' are synonyms.
Antonyms · medium
Q6. A person who attacks cherished beliefs or established institutions is called:
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Answer: A. Iconoclast
An 'iconoclast' attacks traditional beliefs. A sycophant is a flatterer, a philatelist collects stamps, and a kleptomaniac has an urge to steal.
One-word Substitution · hard
Q7. Identify the segment that contains a grammatical error: 'Many people prefer / travelling by train / than travelling by bus / on long journeys.'
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Answer: C. than travelling by bus
'Prefer' is followed by 'to', not 'than', when comparing two nouns or gerunds: 'prefer travelling by train to travelling by bus'.
Error Spotting · medium
Q8. Fill in the blank with the most appropriate word: Critics dismissed the minister's promise of jobs for all as mere ________, designed to win votes rather than to be fulfilled.
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Answer: B. rhetoric
'Rhetoric' here means language designed to persuade or impress but often lacking sincerity or substance, which fits 'designed to win votes rather than to be fulfilled'.
Cloze Test · hard
Q9. What does the idiom 'a storm in a teacup' mean?
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Answer: A. Great excitement or anger over a trivial matter
'A storm in a teacup' refers to a great fuss or commotion about something unimportant.
Idioms and Phrases · medium
Q10. Choose the best replacement for the bracketed part of the sentence. Choose 'No improvement' if it is already correct. Had I known about the strike, [I would not travel] yesterday.
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Answer: B. I would not have travelled
'Had I known' is an inverted third conditional (past unreal). Its main clause takes 'would have + past participle', and 'yesterday' confirms past time: 'I would not have travelled yesterday'.
Sentence Improvement · hard
Q11. Read the passage and answer the question.
Passage: Cities are often several degrees warmer than the countryside around them, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island. Concrete and asphalt absorb sunlight by day and release it slowly through the night, while the scarcity of trees deprives streets of shade and of the cooling effect of evaporation. Air-conditioners, ironically, worsen the problem by pumping yet more heat outdoors. The consequences are not merely uncomfortable: heatwaves in dense neighbourhoods claim lives, particularly among the elderly and the poor. Remedies need not be expensive. Reflective roofs, tree-lined avenues and restored water bodies can lower local temperatures appreciably, suggesting that the heat of our cities is less a natural fate than a consequence of design.
Question: As used in the passage, the word 'appreciably' most nearly means:
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Answer: C. noticeably
'Appreciably' here means to a noticeable or significant degree. 'Gratefully' confuses it with 'appreciate' (to be thankful), and 'marginally' means only slightly, the opposite sense.
Reading Comprehension · medium
Q12. Rearrange the sentences P, Q, R and S to form a coherent paragraph.
P: The practice reflects a philosophy that treats damage as part of an object's history rather than something to disguise.
Q: Instead of being hidden, the repair thus becomes the most striking feature of the object.
R: In Japan, broken pottery is sometimes repaired by a method called kintsugi.
S: The cracks are filled with lacquer mixed with powdered gold.
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Answer: B. RSQP
R introduces kintsugi; S describes the method (gold-filled cracks); Q ('thus') states the visible result; P generalises to the philosophy behind 'the practice'.
Para Jumbles · hard
Q13. Choose the antonym of 'NEFARIOUS'.
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Answer: D. Virtuous
'Nefarious' means wicked or criminal. 'Virtuous' (morally good) is its opposite; 'iniquitous', 'villainous' and 'heinous' are synonyms.
Antonyms · hard
Q14. Rearrange the sentences P, Q, R and S to form a coherent paragraph.
P: Over time, these utilitarian structures were adorned with elaborate carvings and became places of social gathering.
Q: Communities responded by building stepwells, deep structures that reached down to the groundwater.
R: In the arid regions of western India, securing water through the long dry season was a matter of survival.
S: Descending flights of steps allowed people to reach the water even as its level fell during the dry months.
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Answer: C. RQSP
R states the problem of water scarcity; Q gives the response (stepwells); S explains how the steps worked; P, beginning 'Over time', describes their later development.
Para Jumbles · hard
Q15. A word, phrase or number that reads the same backwards as forwards, such as 'madam', is called a:
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Answer: D. Palindrome
A 'palindrome' reads the same in both directions. An 'anagram' rearranges letters to form another word, an 'acronym' is formed from initial letters, and a 'homonym' shares its spelling or sound with a word of different meaning.
One-word Substitution · medium
Q16. Choose the best replacement for the bracketed part of the sentence. Choose 'No improvement' if it is already correct. She [made him to apologise] for his rude remarks.
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Answer: B. made him apologise
In the active voice, causative 'make' (like 'let' and 'have') is followed by the bare infinitive without 'to': 'made him apologise'.
Sentence Improvement · medium
Q17. Read the passage and answer the question.
Passage: Cities are often several degrees warmer than the countryside around them, a phenomenon known as the urban heat island. Concrete and asphalt absorb sunlight by day and release it slowly through the night, while the scarcity of trees deprives streets of shade and of the cooling effect of evaporation. Air-conditioners, ironically, worsen the problem by pumping yet more heat outdoors. The consequences are not merely uncomfortable: heatwaves in dense neighbourhoods claim lives, particularly among the elderly and the poor. Remedies need not be expensive. Reflective roofs, tree-lined avenues and restored water bodies can lower local temperatures appreciably, suggesting that the heat of our cities is less a natural fate than a consequence of design.
Question: Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
Show answer
Answer: C. Urban heat is largely a product of how cities are built and can be reduced through thoughtful design.
The passage explains how building materials and lack of trees trap heat and ends by saying urban heat is 'less a natural fate than a consequence of design', with inexpensive remedies. Air-conditioners are only one contributing factor.
Reading Comprehension · hard
Q18. What does the idiom 'a flash in the pan' mean?
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Answer: B. A sudden success that is not repeated or sustained
'A flash in the pan' is something that promises great success at first but fails to last, from old flintlock guns whose powder flashed in the pan without firing the charge.
Idioms and Phrases · hard
Q19. What does the idiom 'to take the wind out of someone's sails' mean?
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Answer: D. To deflate someone's confidence by saying or doing something unexpected
'To take the wind out of someone's sails' means to make someone lose confidence or momentum, typically by anticipating their action or saying something unexpected.
Idioms and Phrases · hard
Q20. Choose the best replacement for the bracketed part of the sentence. Choose 'No improvement' if it is already correct. Having worked night shifts for years, he [is used to work] late at night.
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Answer: C. is used to working
In 'be used to' (meaning accustomed to), 'to' is a preposition and is followed by a noun or gerund: 'is used to working'.
Sentence Improvement · hard
Q21. Choose the synonym of 'TRUCULENT'.
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Answer: B. Aggressive
'Truculent' means eager or quick to argue or fight, i.e. aggressive and defiant. 'Meek', 'amenable' and 'placid' describe gentle, compliant or calm temperaments.
Synonyms · hard
Q22. Choose the correctly spelt word meaning 'done secretly, so as not to be noticed'.
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Answer: B. Surreptitious
The correct spelling is 'Surreptitious' (sur-rep-ti-tious).
Spelling · hard
Q23. Choose the synonym of 'INNOCUOUS'.
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Answer: D. Harmless
'Innocuous' means not harmful or offensive. 'Noxious', 'virulent' and 'baneful' all mean harmful or poisonous, the opposite.
Synonyms · medium
Q24. Choose the synonym of 'EXTIRPATE'.
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Answer: A. Eradicate
'Extirpate' means to root out or destroy completely, i.e. eradicate. 'Nurture', 'implant' and 'cultivate' mean to foster or establish, the opposite.
Synonyms · medium
Q25. A person or authority that is incapable of making mistakes is described as:
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Answer: C. Infallible
'Infallible' means incapable of making mistakes. 'Invincible' means unconquerable, 'indelible' means impossible to erase, and 'inevitable' means certain to happen.
