TOEFL Questions

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

Most economists in the United States seem captivated by the spell of the free market. Consequently, nothing seems good or normal that does not accord with the requirements of the free market. A price that is determined by the seller or, for that matter (for that matter: so far as that is concerned), established by anyone other than the aggregate of consumers seems pernicious. Accordingly, it requires a major act of will to think of price-fixing (the determination of prices by the seller) as both "normal" and having a valuable economic function. In fact, price-fixing is normal in all industrialized societies because the industrial system itself provides, as an effortless consequence of its own development, the price-fixing that it requires. Modern industrial planning requires and rewards great size. Hence, a comparatively small number of large firms will be competing for the same group of consumers. That each large firm will act with consideration of its own needs and thus avoid selling its products for more than its competitors charge is commonly recognized by advocates of free-market economic theories. But each large firm will also act with full consideration of the needs that it has in common with the other large firms competing for the same customers.

Price-fixing is a phenomenon that is normal in -

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.

We get sleepy and wake up, become hungry and thirsty at certain hours, ____________ force of habit. We form the habit of liking a certain chair, or nook, or corner, or path, or desk, and __________ seek this to the exclusion of all others. We ______________ use a particular pitch of voice and type of enunciation in speaking, and this becomes one of our characteristic marks; or we _________ the habit of using barbarisms or solecisms of language in __________, and these cling to us and become an inseparable part of us later in life.

at certain hours, ____________ force of habit.

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.

From the passage, it may be determined that the word "mercantile" has something to do with

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.

I have never solved ______ equation before.

In the following question, out of the four alternatives, select the alternative which will improve the bracketed part of the sentence. In case no improvement is needed, select "no improvement".

We, all of us, (are compromise) the moment we’re living in.

In the following question, out of the given four alternatives, select the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word.

Repugnance

In the question given below, three paragraphs are given, which are jumbled. Find the correct sequence of these paragraphs so that they form a meaningful passage.
A. The power of compounding works the way it does because you are reinvesting the interest that you earn back into the instrument, besides giving it time to grow. Let’s simplify it further. Say in the first year you invest ₹100 and you get 10% annual return of ₹10. Next year, along with ₹110 (the first year principal amount and the interest amount), you will put another ₹100. The ₹10 you earned as interest gets reinvested, helping you grow your money faster.

B. To get a perspective, let’s turn to some numbers. Say you started investing ₹3,000 a month when you were 25, and go on till you are 60. At an average annual rate of 7% returns, your corpus will grow to ₹53.24 lakh. If you decide to start investing at the age of 35 years, even if you put aside double the amount— ₹6,000 per month — till the age of 60, the value of your corpus will be only ₹48.72 lakh. The example shows that you would need half the amount to get more in returns if you start investing early.
C. Adulting can’t wait when it comes to savings and investing. Why you may ask? If you delay your investments, how will you see the magic of compounding? When it comes to investing, you need to start early. In fact, you should start saving and investing as soon as you start earning. Compounding allows you to build a bigger corpus with a smaller amount.

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'.

I was shocked (A)/ to see how much my grand mother had aged (B)/ since the last time we visited her. (C)/ No Error (D)