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 Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest and northernmost state in the United States, ending at a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to operate. The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily. Resting on H-shaped steel racks called "bents", long sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's up-and-down route is determined by the often harsh demands of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground. The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon the type of terrain and the properties of the soil. One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive construction project ever undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so 8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline-construction fund according to the size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous problems of climate, supply shortage, equipment breakdowns, labour disagreements, treacherous terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating.

Which of the following were not problems faced while constructing the pipeline?

The sentences given with blanks are to be filled with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. For each question, choose the correct alternative and click the button corresponding to it.

I hope you know that, once you have signed the contract, you will not be able to _______ .

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.

The Trikonasana, or triangle pose, stimulates the function of the entire body and _____________ a lateral (side) stretch to the spine. It helps reduce blood pressure, stress, and anxiety. Practise this asana every day and you'll _________ strength in the ankles, thighs, knees, hips, calves and hamstrings. All standing poses __________the cardiovascular system, so the more you do it, the ________ your stamina will become. The aim is never to overdo it, but to engage regularly, __________ that you get stronger and more stable over time.

function of the entire body and _____________ a lateral (side) stretch

In the following question, the sentence given with blank to be filled in with an appropriate word. Select the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by selecting the appropriate option.

___________ being an intangible idea, the nation is quite real because it is a shared idea. _______________ of nationhood are important for this sharing to be reliably reproduced, which is why we have familiar _____________ to memory like maps, flags, or the figure of Mother India. National symbols are extremely powerful ________________ they connect to compressed reservoirs of intense _________________.

they connect to compressed reservoirs of intense _________________.

Read the following passage carefully and choose the most appropriate answer to the question out of the four alternatives.

Riparian vegetation [the green band of vegetation along a watercourse] can help stabilize stream banks; filter sediment from surface runoff; and provide wildlife habitat, livestock forage,and scenic value. Well-developed vegetation also allows bank soils to absorb extra water during spring runoff, releasing it later during drier months, thus improving late-summer stream flows.

In many parts of the arid West, trees and shrubs are found only in riparian areas. Woody plants are very important as winter cover for many wildlife species, including upland game birds such as pheasants and turkeys. Often this winter cover is the greatest single factor limiting game bird populations. Woody vegetation also provides hiding cover and browse for many other species of birds and mammals, both game and nongame.

Dead trees ("snags") are an integral part of streamside habitats and should be left standing whenever possible. Woodpeckers, nuthatches, brown creepers, and other birds eat the insects that decompose the wood. These insects usually pose no threat to nearby living trees. Occasionally a disease organism or misuse of pesticides will weaken or kill a stand of trees. If several trees in a small area begin to die, contact your local extension agent immediately .

What is discussed in the second paragraph of this passage?

In the following question, some part of the sentence may have errors. Find out which part of the sentence has an error and select the appropriate option. If a sentence is free from error, select 'No Error'.

They did nothing (1)/ that was down the (2)/ dignity of princes. (3)/No Error (4)

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

Zenab said to me, “My father is a dentist.”

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.

___________ it became difficult to empirically prove that children __________ better in private schools, the attack __________ a new weapon: per unit cost of learning outcomes. Most of the learning outcome researches almost _______________ fail to understand the entire ______________ of education in any depth and reduces it to learning of so­called 3Rs for economic purposes.

the attack __________ a new weapon