English Language Solved Paper
Directions (1-5) : Rearrange the following sentences to make a
meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions which follow–(B) Many have been crying foul over the entry of organised retail stores expressing concern over their impact on small store owners.
(C) The final winner in the competition, however, is the common man who gets to choose between the most suitable options and. in turn fights with the runaway inflation in prices of essential commodities.
(D) In spite of this potential for expansion, it is doubtless that the small store owners face a decline in profit in initial' years if organised retailers set up stores in the vicnity.
(E) But a study conducted over a period of two years goes a long way towards allaying these fears.
(F) This impact, however, wears off once they learn to take on the competition which in turn enhances efficiency all around.
1. Which of the following sentences should be the FIRST after rearrangement?
(a) A (b) B (c) C (d) D (e) E (Ans : b)
2. Which of the following sentences should be the THIRD after rearrangement?
(a) A (b) E (c) D (d) F (e) C (Ans : a)
3. Which of the following sentences should be the SIXTH after rearrangement?
(a) A (b) B (c) C (d) E (e) F (Ans : c)
4. Which of the following sentences should be the SECOND after rearrangement ?
(a) A (b) B (c) C (d) E (e) F (Ans : d)
5. Which of the following sentences should be the FIFTH after rearrangement?
(a) A (b) B (c) C (d) E (e) F (Ans : e)
Directions (6-10) : Each question below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the best of words for each blank which bets fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.
6. Considering that towns and cities can be …… drivers of economic growth we must review the progress of various urban development programmes and …… at building smart cities.
(a) crucial, invest (b) worthwhile, decide (c) key, aim (d) expensive, advocate (e) safeguard, work (Ans : c)
7. Reports suggest that some people will be able to ……money through social networking sites which is further proof that the boundaries between banking and technology products are fast–
(a) transfer, dissolving (b) send, fade (c) transact, moving (d) authorise, disappeared (e) invest, recovered (Ans : a)
8. The number of people …… with hunger in middle income countries is over 300 million and governments need to reform existing food distribution systems to …… this menace.
(a) dying, fear (b) afflicted, combat (c) suffering, pursue (d) fight, study (e) exploited, destroy (Ans : b)
9. As per …… tax laws, if an employee . without rendering continuous services for five years or more to the employer withdraws the …… balance from provident fund account, the amount in hand is taxable.
(a) existing, left (b) past, entirely (c) current, largest (d) prevailing, accumulated (e) ideal, numerous (Ans : a)
10. …… by the success of a pilot project in a tiger reserve last year, the government has plans to use drones for electronic surveillance of tigers in across the country.
(a) worried, justified (b) reminded, economic (c) encouraged, announced (d) permitted, diverted (e) enhanced, proclaimed (Ans : c)
Directions (11-15) : Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (e) i. e. 'No error' (Ignore errors of punctuation, if any).
11. The city joined a league of seventy other cities from across the globe for a city-to-city collaboration to tackling climate change and increase urban resilience.
(a) The city joined a league of (b) seventy other cities from across the globe (c) for a city-to-city collaboration to tackling
(d) climate change and increase urban resilience. (e) No error (Ans : c)
12. India is set to import eight million barrels of oil to fill its first Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
(a) India is set to (b) import eight million barrels of oil (c) to fill
(d) its first Strategic Petroleum Reserve (e) No error (Ans : e)
13. A uniform policy for regularising and redeveloping illegal and old buildings, is being submit to the government by the end of this month.
(a) A uniform policy for (b) regularising and redeveloping illegal and old buildings, (c) is being submit to the government
(d) by the end of this month. (e) No error (Ans : c)
14. Before paying the developer's sales office a visit, make sure you are aware on the fancy marketing pitches being used by them to lure potential buyers.
(a) Before paying the developer's sales (b) office a visit, make sure you are aware on (c) the fancy marketing pitches being used
(d) by them to lure potential buyers. (e) No error (Ans : b)
15. Thousands of international travelers was stranded at the airport as fifty pilots from Airline A went on strike.
(a) Thousands of international travelers was (b) stranded at (c) the airport as fifty pilots
(d) from Airline A went on strike. (e) No error (Ans : a)
Directions (16-25) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions. India being viewed as a land of contradictions is a fairly common refrain. From bustling metropolises to lightless villages, there is a huge variance in different aspects of life. Nowhere is this variance as amply clear as it is in the insurance sector in India. Consider this, with 52 insurance companies, India's insurance sector is one of the largest in the world in terms of volumes of money involved. And yet, insurance is not as pervasive in India as it should be, as only about 25 percent of the people have general insurance cover. This dichotomy of market-size and market cover is the biggest lacunae in the sector, lacunae that the government hopes to fill through privatisation. Yet the road to FDI is fraught with many roadblocks. Successive governments have failed in opening up the sector, despite numerous attempts, leading to lot of confusion and conundrum. As a result the whole sector is in a flux. Even so, the insurance sector is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 12-15 percent in the next five years.
The insurance sector opened up in 2001 with the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit being set to 26 percent. According to various reports this sector has subsequently witnessed two phases, one that saw high growth between 2001 and 2010 and the other a dormant period between 2010 and 2012. However, apart from these periods of rapid and moderate growth the industry has also seen product and operational innovations, given the increase in competition. As of FY 13, the total market-size of this sector was US$ 66. 4 billion and is expected to touch US$ 350-400 billion by 2020. According to experts, while India's insurance industry is no doubt growing and is poised to grow further, it is also facing profitability issues on account of distribution and operating models. It pegs the cumulative losses to private life insurers in the excess of Rs. 187 billion till March 2012. Slow growth, rising costs and stalled reforms are further hindering the steady growth of this industry.
If the announcement made in the Union Budget 2014-15 is anything to go by, the future of this sector looks optimistic. Taking a reformative step, the
Finance Minister had proposed increasing the FDI cap in the insurance to 49 percent. To this effect, in July 2014, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved 49% FDI in insurance, thus green-flagging reforms in the sector. This is a welcome move for the insurance industry which was looking to raise more capital from overseas for quite some time now. The investment starved sector has definitely got a boost. Insurance penetration in India is on a decline in 2010. Insurance Penetration was 4.4 percent, which further dipped to 3.17 percent in 2012-13. For insurance penetration to increase, the sector will need huge amounts of capital investment and the hike in FDI cap will only make this easier. As the sector expands, it will also lead to job creation in the sector. As more capital flows into the insurance sector and the manpower increases, it will be easier for insurance companies to tap under-insured markets. By 2020, India’s insurable population is expected to touch 75 crore. As a result, the importance of life insurance in financial planning is only set to increase. With the new government stress on reforms, steps taken by IRDA to make insurance more consumer-friendly and India’s favourable demographics, the future of Inida’s insurance industry looks good. However, it remains to be seen how this sections of India, in the years to come.
16. Which of the following is most OPPOSITE in meaning of the word given in bold as used in the passage?
WELCOME
(a) Unwanted (b) Receptive (c) Leaving (d) Bidding (e) Distanced (Ans : a)
17. Which of the following is most SAME in meaning of the word given in bold as used in the passage?
DICHOTOMY
(a) Branching (b) Multiplicity (c) Homogeneity (d) Breakage (e) Contrast (Ans : e)
18. According to the passage, which of the following can be said about the present position of insurance sector in India?
A. The efforts made by the Government to boost this sector are being met with a lot of resistance from the public.
B. The amount of money invested in the sector is not in sync with the number of people insured.
C. The number of insurance companies in India is very high.
(a) Only C (b) All A, Band C (c) Only Band C (d) Only A and C (e) Only B (Ans : c)
19. Which of the following can be The most suitable title for the passage?
(a) The Insurance Sector in India-Poised for a Downfall (b) The Road to Growth of the Insurance sector in India
(c) Insurance Sector-The Highest Revenue Generator (d) Underprivileged and Under-Insured Indians
(e) Why the Insurance Sector Will Never Quite Flourish (Ans : b)
20. Which of the following is true according to the passage ?
A. By 2020 the insurance sector is expected to grow at least by around four hundred percent from 2013.
B. The authorities are taking efforts to make insurance products easily understandable and available.
C. Previous efforts of the government to open up the insurance sector have met with failure.
(a) Only A and B (b) Only A (c) All the three A, B and C (d) Only B (e) Only Band C (Ans : c)
21. According to the passage, which of the following is not true?
(a) High cost in insurance sector is one of the sectors restricting the steady growth of the sector. (b) The present distribution models of insurance are not positioned to draw maximum profits.
(c) Until very recently, the insurance sector witnessed a high growth phase. (d) Insurance products have. witnessed changes from when they first came into existence.
(e) All the options are true according to the passage. (Ans : e)
22. Which of the following is most SAME in meaning of the word given in bold as used in the passage?
POISED
(a) Dignified (b) Set (c) Posed (d) Composed (e) Alerted (Ans : b)
23. According to the passage, which of the following will be the result of increased FDI in the insurance sector?
A. Inclusion of insurance in financial planning of individuals as well as the country.
B. Making insurance products available in areas previously under insured.
C. Creation of more jobs in the sector.
(a) Only B (b) Only B and C (c) Only A and B (d) All the three A, Band C (e) Only A and C (Ans : d)
24. Which of the following is most OPPOSITE in meaning of the word given in bold as used in the passage?
FLUX
(a) Stability (b) Mixture (c) Plainness (d) Paucity (e) Simplicity (Ans : a)
25. As mentioned in the passage, which of the following will help in providing a boost to the insurance sector in India ?
(a) Running several awareness campaigns about general insurance for the general public.(b) Increased investment by foreign companies in the sector.
(c) Integrating technology into the insurance sector. (d) Force-selling a select number of insurance products to the public. thereby making it popular.
(e) Allocating a greater percentage of the country's budget for the insurance sector. (Ans : b)
Directions (26-30) : Which of the phrases (a), (b), (c) and (d) given below each sentence should replace the word/phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct. If the sentence is correct as it is given and no correction is required. mark (e) as the answer.
26. Portability is applicability only to health insurance policies issued by non-life insurance companies.
(a) are applicable only (b) is applicability just (c) is applicable lonely (d) is applicable only (e) No correction required (Ans : d)
27. The fast-food industry has long being under fire for the selling huge high-fat. high-calorie meals that have been linked to weight gain and diabetes.
(a) have long been (b) has long been (c) is being long (d) is long been (e) No correction required (Ans : b)
28. Breathing fresh air in this city may be easier that in three other major cities in the state that are battling increasing air pollution.
(a) easy than (b) easiest than (c) easier than (d) easiest then (e) No correction required (Ans : c)
29. The whole idea behind providing higher education is to ensuring that students gain a respectable position in the society.
(a) is to ensure (b) is for ensuring (c) are to be ensured (d) is for ensured (e) No correction required (Ans : a)
30. She is one of the most famous comedians in the country and does not need any introduction.
(a) do not need (b) needs no (c) does no need (d) does need no (e) No correction required (Ans : e)
Directions (31-40) : In the given passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case. Pull a spring, let it go and it will snap back into shape. Pull it further and yet further and it will go on springing back …(71)… quite suddenly it won't. What was once a spring has become a …(72)… piece of curly wire. And that in a nutshell is what many scientists …(73)… may happen to the Earth if its systems are stretched like those of an abused spring …(74)… of this concern, in the autumn of 2009, was the …(75)… of planetary boundaries. In the run up to that year's climate conference in Copenhagen a …(76)… of scientists defined what they thought of as a safe operating space for human …(77)… – a set of nine limits beyond which people should not push their planet. The nine areas of concern …(78)… climate change, ocean acidification, the thinning of the ozone layer, intervention in the nitrogen and phosphate cycles (crucial to planet growth). …(79)… of wilderness to farms and cities extinctions, the build-up of chemical pollutants and the …(80)… of particulate pollutants in the atmosphere. For seven of these areas the scientists felt confident enough to put numbers to these boundaries and since then this concept has taken root.
31. (a) after (b) because (c) to (d) until (e) forth (Ans : e)
32. (a) plenty (b) simply (c) breaking (d) valuable (e) useless (Ans : e)
33. (a) knowing (b) worry (c) study (e) assuming (e) guesses (Ans : b)
34. (a) These (b) What (c) One (d) Any (e) Perhaps (Ans : e)
35. (a) value (b) conflict (c) supply (d) set (e) idea (Ans : b)
36. (a) group (b) part (c) summit (d) drawback (e) unity (Ans : a)
37. (a) suffering (b) view (c) catastrophe (d) victims (e) development (Ans : a)
38. (a) being (b) is (c) combined (d) were (e) given (Ans : d)
39. (a) problem (b) conversion (c) hope (d) effects (e) consequence (Ans : d)
40. (a) data (b) level (c) change (d) way (e) raise (Ans : b)
