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Directions for questions 1 to 10: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some for the questions
King Hutamasan felt he had everything in the world not only due to his riches and his noble knights, but because of his beautiful queen, Rani Matsya. The rays of the sun were put to shame with the iridescent light that Matsya illuminated, with her beauty and brains. At the right hand of the king she was known to sit and aid him in all his judicial probes. You could not escape her deep-set eyes when you committed a crime as she always knew the victim and the culprit. Her generosity preceded her reputation in the kingdom and her hands were always full to give. People in the kingdom revered her because if she passed by, she always gave to the compassionate and poor.
Far away from the kingly palace lived a man named Raman, with only ends to his poverty and no means to rectify it. Raman was wrecked with poverty as he had lost all his land to the landlord. His age enabled him little towards manual labour and so begging was the only alternative to salvage his wife and children. Every morning he went door to door for some work, food and money. The kindness of people always got him enough to take home. But Raman was a little self centered. His world began with him first, followed by his family and the rest. So he would eat and drink to his delight and return home with whatever he found excess. This routine followed and he never let anyone discover his interests as he always put on a long face when he reached home.
One day as he was relishing the bowl of rice he had just received from a humble home, he heard that Rani Matsya was to pass from the very place he was standing. Her generosity had reached his ears and he knew if he pulled a long face and showed how poor he was, she would hand him a bag full of gold coins-enough for the rest of his life, enough to buy food and supplies for his family. He thought he could keep some coins for himself and only reveal a few to his wife, so he can fulfill his own wishes.
He ran to the chariot of the Rani and begged her soldiers to allow him to speak to the queen. Listening to the arguments outside Rani Matsya opened the curtains of her chariot and asked Raman what he wanted. Raman went on his knees and praised the queen, “I have heard you are most generous and most chaste, show this beggar some charity. Rani narrowed her brows and asked Raman what he could give her in return. Surprised by such a question, Raman looked at his bowl full of rice. With spite in him he just picked up a few grains of rice and gave it to her. Rani Matsya counted the five grains and looked at his bowl full of rice and said, you shall be given what is due to you. Saying this, the chariot galloped away.Raman abused her under his breath. This he never thought would happen. How could she ask him for something in return when she had not given him anything? Irritated with anger he stormed home and gave his wife the bowl of rice. Just then he saw a sack at the entrance. His wife said some men had come and kept it there. He opened it to find it full of rice. He put his hand inside and caught hold of a hard metal only to discover it was a gold coin. Elated he upturned the sack to find five gold coins in exact for the five rice grains. If only I had given my entire bowl, thought Raman, I would have had a sack full of gold.
Q. No. : 1. According to the passage, which of the following is definitely true about Rani Matsya?
(A) She was beautiful
(B) She was intelligent
(C) She was kind
(a) Only (A)
(b) Only (B)
(c) Only (C)
(d) Only (A) and (C)
(e) All the three (A), (B) and (C)
Q. No. : 2. What does the phrase ‘pulled a long face’, as used in the passage mean?
(a) Scratched his face
(b) Looked very sorrowful
(c) Disguised himself
(d) Put on makeup
(e) None of these
Q. No. : 3. What can possibly be the moral of the story ?
(a) Do onto others as you would want others to do to you.
(b) Patience is a virtue.
(c) Winning is not everything, it is the journey that counts.
(d) Change is the only constant thing in life.
(e) Teamwork is more we and less me
Q. No. : 4. Why was begging the only option for Raman to get food ?
(a) Raman belonged to a family of beggars.
(b) Begging was the easiest way for him to obtain food.
(c) Raman’s family had forced him to beg.
(d) He had lost all his property and was too old to do manual work.
Q. No. : 5. Which of the following words can be used to describe Raman ?
(A) Deceitful
(B) Selfish
(C) Timid
(c) Only (A) and (B)
(d) Only (B) and (C)
Q. No. : 6. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word given below, as used in the passage.
GALLOPED
(a) hurtled
(b) stumbled
(c) slumbered
(d) jumped
(e) ran
Q. No. : 7. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word given below, as used in the passage.
REVERED
(a) remembered
(b) feared
(c) talked about
(d) embraced
(e) respected
Q. No. : 8. Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word given below, as used in the passage.
HANDS
(a) arm
(b) throw
(c) give
(d) limb
(e) lend
Q. No. : 9. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word given below, as used in the passage.
REVEAL
(a) stop
(b) conceal
(c) present
(d) pending
(e) tell
Q. No. : 10. Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word given below, as used in the passage.
ELATED
(a) afraid
(b) poor
(c) happy
(d) depressed
(e) grounded
Directions (11-20):Find out the error, if any. If there is no error, the answer is (e), i.e. No error. (Ignore the errors of punctuation, if any.)
Q. No. : 11. Despite of their best efforts (a)/ they failed to retain (b)/ the contract due to (c)/ unwanted political interference. (d)/ No error (e).
(A) [a]
(B) [b]
(C) [c]
(D) [d]
(E) [e]
Q. No. : 12. We had decided (a)/ to scrap the project (b)/ but the chairman insisted with (c)/ its continuation on the same terms. (d)/ No error (e).
Q. No. : 13. Because of his prolonged illness (a)/ he could not concentrate (b)/ on his studies although (c)/ he was very much desired to do so. (d)/ No error (e).
Q. No. : 14. You must realize (a)/ how importance it is (b)/ to give away to the needy (c)/ whatever you possess in excess. (d)/ No error (e).
Q. No. : 15. Most of the travellers experienced (a)/ a shock when they arrived (b)/ at the museum only to find (c)/ that it had been burgled. (d)/ No error (e).
Q. No. : 16. How people do (a)/ to earn their bread (b)/ is dependent largely on (c)/ the locality where they live. (d)/ No error (e).
Q. No. : 17. He took a sharp knife (a)/ and torn the covering. (b)/ made of cardboard (c)/ but could not open the packet. (d)/ No error (e).
Q. No. : 18. All of us are aware that (a)/ Shankar has been suffering (b)/ from fever since ten days (c)/ and has been resting. (d)/ No error (e)
Q. No. : 19. Both of them genuinely helped (a)/ each other when their (b)/ families were going (c)/ through a bad patch. (d)/ No error (e)
Q. No. : 20. Some people have (a)/ generously contributed to the welfare fund (b)/ but they wanted that therenames (c)/ should not be published. (d)/ No error (e).
Directions (21-30):In the following passage, some of the words have been left out, each of which is indicated by a number. Find the suitable word from the options given against each number and fill up the blanks with appropriate words to make the paragraph meaningfully complete.
Once upon a time there was a prince who wanted to marry a princess; but she would have to be a real princess. He …(21)… all over the world to find one, but nowhere could he get what he wanted. One evening during a terrible storm; there was thunder and lightning, and the rain poured down in torrents. Suddenly a knocking was ..(22).. at the palace door, and the old king went to open it. It was a princess standing out there. But, good gracious ! What a sight the rain and the wind had made her look. The water ran down her hair and clothes; into the toes of her shoes and out again at the heels. And yet she insisted that she was a real princess. Well, we’ll soon …(23)… that out, thought the old queen. But she said nothing, went into the bedroom, took all the bedding off the bedstead, and ..(24)..a pea on the bottom; then she took twenty mattresses and laid them on the pea, and then twenty quilts on …(25)… of the mattresses. On this the princess had to lie all night. In the ..(26).. she was asked how she had slept. “Oh, very badly !” said she. “I scarcely closed my eyes all night. Heaven only knows what was in the bed. But I was lying on something hard, as a…(27)… I am black and blue all over my body. It’s horrible !” Now they knew that she was a real princess because she had ..(28).. the pea right through the twenty mattresses and the twenty quilts. Nobody but a real princess could be as irritable ..(29).. as that. So the prince took her for his wife, for now he…(30)… that he had a real princess.
Q. No. : 21.
(a) called
(b) tour
(c) sent
(d) saw
(e) travelled
Q. No. : 22.
(a) made
(b) felt
(c) heard
(d) seen
(e) sounded
Q. No. : 23.
(a) assure
(b) find
(c) judge
(d) mark
(e) try
Q. No. : 24.
(a) drew
(b) flung
(c) placed
(d) cooked
(e) stitch
Q. No. : 25.
(a) top
(b) head
(c) bottom
(d) between
(e) middle
Q. No. : 26.
(a) morning
(b) dinner
(c) room
(d) fields
(e) dark
Q. No. : 27.
(a) vengeance
(b) price
(c) cause
(d) result
(e) time
Q. No. : 28.
(a) slept
(c) located
(d) carried
(e) found
Q. No. : 29.
(a) worried
(b) rough
(c) irritable
(d) sensitive
(e) pretty
Q. No. : 30.
(a) trust
(b) assured
(c) wanted
(d) think
(e) knew