Questions

Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and click the button corresponding to it.

The first working steam­ powered vehicle was designed and most likely built by Ferdinand Verbies, a Flemish member of a Jesuit mission in China around 1672. It was a 65 cm long scale­ model toy for the Chinese Emperor, that was unable to carry a driver or a passenger. It is not known if Verbiest's model was ever built. Nicolas- Joseph Cugnot is widely credited with building the first full­ scale, self ­propelled mechanical vehicle or automobile in about 1769; he also created a steam­ powered tricycle. He constructed two steam tractors for the French Army, one of which is preserved in the French National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts. His inventions were however handicapped by problems of water supply and maintaining steam pressure. In 1801, Richard Trevithick built and demonstrated his Puffing Devil road locomotive, believed by many to be the first demonstration of a steam ­powered road vehicle. It was unable to maintain sufficient steam pressure for long periods. Sentiment against steam ­powered road vehicles led to the Locomotive Acts of 1865. In 1807 Nicephore Niepce and his brother Claude probably created the world's first internal combustion engine which they called Pyreolophore.

The problem with Trevithick's Puffing Devil was:

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the idiom/phrase.

To bite the bullet

In the following question, a sentence has been given in Active/Passive voice. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Passive/Active voice.

The organisers will give you a certificate.

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

Irony. __________________word captures our response to the ongoing nationwide drought in more ways than one. We have woken _________ the reality of drought a full six months after the end of monsoon. After waking up, we focus ____________ the drinking water __________ in urban centres and not the multidimensional crisis of life and livelihood in _______________ hinterland.

Irony. __________________word captures our response to the ongoing nationwide drought

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which is the best substitute of the words/sentence.

Criticize unfairly

In the following question, out of the given four alternatives, select the one which is opposite in meaning of the given word.

Ostracise

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

All of us have admired some writers, ______________ their work over that of others for their writing style as much as for the content of their work. ____________ writer who has, for more than half a century, _______________ for his searing honesty is George Orwell. He is recondite, but he is never ________________. He says it as it is and yet says it as it has not been said ____________.

He says it as it is and yet says it as it has not been said ____________.

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. Read the passage carefully and select the correct answer for the given blank out of the four alternatives.

Anti­apartheid activist Desmond Tutu is even more hard­headed when he says, "In almost ____________ language, the most difficult words are 'I am sorry’." Mr. Tutu adds that ______________ reconciliations can only lead to spurious healing. _____________ him forgiveness is a wager, an ethical wager on the future of ______________ relationship. This is why the few events of apology which stand up to _____________ scrutiny deserve to be treasured.

"In almost ____________ language, the most difficult words are 'I am sorry'."