English Questions

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 .

Overall the assertions seem to be based on:

Select the word with the correct spelling.

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

Raining cats and dogs

The question below consists of a set of labelled sentences. Out of the four options given, select the most logical order of the sentences to form a coherent paragraph.
 
P: The real purpose underlying this maxim lies in its utility in the worldly sense.
Q: He has within him a spirit which is ever exhorting him to cut down his needs and learn to be happy with what he has.
R: Man is something much greater than an intelligent being using his intellect to make newer inventions from time to time.
S: It tells us to be up and doing, not to be passive in our attitude to life.

In the following items, each passage consists of six sentences. The first and the sixth sentence are given in the beginning as S1 and S6. The middle four sentences in each have been removed and jumbled up. These are labeled P, Q, R and S. You are required to find out the proper sequence of the four sentences and mark your response accordingly on the Answer Sheet.

S1 :Don’t you think that the housefly is a nuisance?
S6:When you see a fly rubbing its legs together, it is just cleaning itself, and scraping off some of the material that has gathered there.
P:For ages that’s what man considered the fly to be –just a nuisance.
Q:It was discovered that these flies carried disease germs that cause the death of millions of people every year.
R:But now we know that the innocent-looking housefly is one of man’s worst enemies.
S:It makes an irritating buzzing sound; it annoys you when it crawls on your skin; and soon.

The proper sequence should be 

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

Officious

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

Making or spreading scandalous claims about someone with the intention of damaging their reputation

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

Calamity