Questions

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

When I think of my family's history on the land. I experience a pang of regret. Unlike much of the arid West, where the land has gone virtually unchanged for centuries, my place of origin, western Kansas, has been torn up by agriculture. The flat plains, excellent soil, and sparse but just adequate rainfall permitted farming; therefore farming prevailed, and a good 90% of the original sod prairie is gone. The consequence, in human terms, is that our relationship to our place has always felt primarily mercantile. We used the land and denied, or held at bay, its effect on us. Yet from my earliest childhood, when the most of the Kansas prairie was still intact, I 've known that the land also had a romantic quality. I've felt moved by the expanse of it , enthralled by size. I take pride in my identity as a plains daughter.

What factor changed the entire landscape of Kansas?

Read the passage carefully and select the best answer to each question out of the given four alternatives.

One should consciously engage in activities that will nourish your soul. Just as we nourish the body, we need to nurture the soul to connect to the creative power of the universe and to manifest joy in our lives. Often, we forget to address the soul, lost as we are in a jungle of material and sensual pleasures. But the more you embrace what feeds your soul, the happier you become. So if you want to enjoy the abundance of life, engage in what enriches your soul. Nurturing the soul is all about finding calm amidst chaos. There are a number of practices that empower people towards this end including silent contemplation, various forms of meditation, yoga and tai chi However, the rigor and discipline involved in the pursuit of such practices often seems to discourage people. Add to this, the temptations of the material world that leave little time and motivation for anyone to pursue the spiritual path. Poet Walt Whitman declared: “Whatever satisfies the soul is truth”. The good news is that simple, everyday activities can also nutrify the soul — like spending time in the midst of nature, dancing in the rain or just putting thoughts on paper. Do whatever is calming and pleases you. Creative pursuits are particularly appealing as inside each one of us, there is an artist craving for release and awaiting an opportunity for expression. One of the ways to indulge the artist within is to get started with the practice of any one or more of the creative art forms such as music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction or essay writing.

When you engage in such soul nourishing activities, all thought and energy gets focused toward goal accomplishment. At this point, you will find that even unknown forces of the universe are conniving to assist you in your amateurish but sincere attempts. As you progress, you are motivated to do better. You touch and access a faculty, a part of you that you never knew existed. Your inner artist is unleashed, baring the beauty of your soul that has found a fond medium of expression. For instance, a sculptor’s soul is seen in his artwork; a musician’s in his compositions; an actor’s in his acting, a painter’s in his paintings and so on. It is immaterial whether your effort is an immaculate artwork or just a clumsy attempt by a layperson. The idea is to try, be inspired and to create giving free rein to the mind. As Michelangelo remarked: “I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free”!

According to the passage, what makes us really happy?

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.

His behaviour embarrasses me.

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.

But representatives have cynically chosen to look the other _________________ when matters of justice are involved. They seem to have only a will to power; to be part of a new ___________________ elite. _________________ they forget that the history of struggle is the future of struggle. Maoism is one extreme ____________________ struggle ___________________ corrupt appropriative and greedy elites; there are others.

_________________ they forget that the history of struggle is the future of struggle.

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 committee _____________ criminal justice reforms recommended a threefold strategy to arrest the drift and to prevent total disaster. First, the law, substantive and procedural, requires a fresh _______________ look based on changes in society and economy _____________ priorities in governance. The guiding ____________ in the reform process should be decriminalisation wherever ______________ and diversion, reserving the criminal justice system mainly to deal with real “hard" crimes.

economy _____________ priorities in governance.

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

The nation has been _____as a relatively extensive, territorial relation of nativity. We have further formulated the_____of the nation as a territorially_____, yet bounded, social relation for the generation, transmission, and ____of life. When the nation is a national state, it is also a_____for the protection of life. The nation is often ______by the metaphor of familial relations and, indeed, has sometimes been considered as some kind of_____family. This is understandable because both the nation and the family are relations of_____. Nonetheless, there is an important difference, and to understand this will _____a more detailed examination of the_____ between territory and bonding.

When the nation is a national state, it is also a ______ for the protection of life.

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 phrase consists usually of a few words which denote a single idea that __________ a separate part of a sentence. In this respect it differs from the clause, ___________ is a short sentence that forms a distinct part __________ a composition, paragraph, or discourse. Correct phrasing is_______________ by rests, such rests do not break the ______________ of a thought or the progress of the sense.

idea that __________ a separate part

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.

For a moment I was _____________ blinded by the camera's bright flash.