UPSC CDS (I) Exam 2016: English Question Paper & Answer Key

For the benefit of UPSC CDS Exam aspirants, we are providing the CDS (I) 2016 English Question Paper and the Official Answer Key.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) conducted the Combined Defence Services (CDS) (I) Exam on 12 February 2016. The exam consisted of three papers – General Knowledge, English and Elementary Mathematics.

upsc cds I 2016 english question paper official answer key solution

For the benefit of CDS Exam aspirants, we are providing the CDS (I) 2016 English Question Paper (Series A) and the Official Answer Key as given by the UPSC. It is as given below.

1. The police accused him for theft.

(a) with

(b) in

(c) of

(d) No improvement

Ans. (c) of

2. He wanted that I left immediately.

(a) I may leave

(b) me to leave

(c) I leave

(d) No improvement

Ans. (b) me to leave

3. This is to certify that I know Mr. J. Mathews since 1970.

(a) am knowing

(b) had known

(c) have known

(d) No improvement

Ans. (c) have known

4. They took away everything that belonged to him.

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(a) that had been belonging

(b) that belong

(c) that has been belonging

(d) No improvement

Ans. (d) No improvement

5. It was the mother of the girl of whose voice I had recognised.

(a) whose voice

(b) the voice of who

(c) voice whose

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) whose voice

6. The Executive Council is consisted of ten members.

(a) consists of

(b) comprises of

(c) constituted of

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) consists of

7. The maid was laying the table for dinner.

(a) setting up

(b) lying

(c) sorting out

(d) No improvement

Ans. (d) No improvement

8. We have so arranged the matters and one of us is always on duty.

(a) that one of us

(b) so that one of us

(c) such that one of us

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) that one of us

9. Hardly have we got into the forest when it began to rain.

(a) Hardly we got

(b) We had hardly got

(c) We had got hard

(d) No improvement

Ans. (b) We had hardly got

10. Each time he felt tired he lied down.

(a) lies

(b) lays

(c) lay

(d) No improvement

Ans. (c) lay

11. Though it was raining, but I went out.

(a) but yet I

(b) I

(c) however I

(d) No improvement

Ans. (b) I

12. There is no chance of success unless you do not work hard.

(a) unless you work

(b) until your working

(c) until you do not work

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) unless you work

13. She has grown too old to do little work.

(a) some

(b) any

(c) a little

(d) No improvement

Ans. (b) any

14. No one enjoys to deceive his family.

(a) deceiving

(b) for deceiving

(c) deceive

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) deceiving

15. Have you ever saw the flower of a pumpkin plant?

(a) see

(b) seeing

(c) seen

(d) No improvement

Ans. (c) seen

16. It is an ancient, historical place and it once belongs to the Pandavas.

(a) belonged

(b) belonging

(c) belong

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) belonged

17. Since we were knowing the correct route, we did not worry at all.

(a) knew

(b) have known

(c) know

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) knew

18. Our country can progress when only people work hard.

(a) when people only work hard

(b) when people work hard only

(c) only when people work hard

(d) No improvement.

Ans. (c) only when people work hard

19. Wake me up when father will come.

(a) comes

(b) will have come

(c) came

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) comes

20. Do take an umbrella with you lest you do not get wet.

(a) lest you should get wet

(b) lest you should not get wet

(c) lest you might not get wet

(d) No improvement

Ans. (a) lest you should get wet

ORDERING OF WORDS IN A SENTENCE

Directions for the following 15 (fifteen) items: Each of the following items in this section consists of a sentence the parts of which have been jumbled. These parts have been labelled P, Q, R and S. Given below each sentence are four sequences namely (a), (b), (c) and (d). You are required to re-arrange the jumbled parts of the sentence and mark your response accordingly.

ORDERING OF SENTENCES

Directions for the following 10 (ten) items:

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 labelled 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.

36. S1 : Once upon a time there was a king who had a wonderfully nice garden.

S6: In the trees lived a nightingale that sang so sweetly that all who passed by stood still and listened.

P : In the middle of the garden there was a lovely forest with tall trees and deep lakes.

Q: In this garden were to be seen the most wonderful flowers with silver bells tied to them.

R: The garden was so large that even the gardener himself did not know where it began and where it ended.

S: These bells always sounded so that nobody should pass by without noticing the flowers.

The proper sequence should be

(a) QPRS

(b) SPQR

(c) QSRP

(d) QPSR

Ans. (c) QSRP

37. S1: One of the first things the learning of a new language teaches you is that language comes from the region of the unconscious.

S6: The test of how much you know is: how much can you say without having to think how you are going to say it?

P: What is often meant by "thinking in a language" is really the ability to use it without thinking about it.

Q: We grown-up people have to filter it through our minds — a much more laborious process.

R: That is why children learn a new language so effortlessly: it comes straight from their instincts.

S: But we cannot say that we know a language, or know what we have studied of it, until we can use it instinctively.

The proper sequence should be

(a) SQRP

(b) RPSQ

(c) PQSR

(d) RQSP

Ans. (d) RQSP

38. S1: For seventeen years she led a sheltered life in the convent.

S6: Two years later she left the Loreto Convent where she had spent many happy and useful years.

P: Her heart went out to the people living there.

Q: In 1946 she asked for permission to work in the slums.

R: Then one day, while she was returning from an errand, she saw the slums of Calcutta.

S: She felt she had found her second vocation, her real calling.

The proper sequence should be

(a) PRSQ

(b) RPSQ

(c) RPQS

(d) QRPS

Ans. (b) RPSQ

39. S1 : Good memory is so common that we regard a man who does not possess it as eccentric.

S6: She wheeled away the perambulator, picturing to herself his terror when he would come out and find the baby gone.

P : I have heard of a father who, having offered to take the baby out in a perambulator, was tempted by the sunny morning to pause on his journey and slip into a public house for a glass of beer.

Q : A little later, his wife had to do some shopping which took her past the public house where to her horror, she discovered her sleeping baby.

R : Leaving the perambulator outside, he disappeared into the drink shop.

S : Indignant at her husband's behaviour, she decided to teach him a lesson.

The proper sequence should be

(a) PQRS

(b) PRQS

(c) PSQR

(d) PQSR

Ans. (b) PRQS

40. S1 : Human ways of life have steadily changed.

S6: Even if we try to do nothing, we cannot prevent change.

P : Ancient Egypt — Greece — the Roman Empire — the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages — the Renaissance — the age of modem science and of modem nations one has succeeded the other; the history has never stood still.

Q : About ten thousand years ago, man lived entirely by hunting.

R : A settled civilized life only began when agriculture was discovered.

S : From that time to this, civilization has always been changing.

The proper sequence should be

(a) QRSP

(b) QPSR

(c) QSRP

(d) PRSQ

Ans. (a) QRSP

41. S1 : In our youth we are apt to think that applause and publicity constitute success.

S6: So let us be initiated into the mysteries of maturity and be taught how to resist and spurn the lure of hollow shows.

P : The man who values the applause more than his own effort has not outgrown his youth.

Q : It is our achievement or work which wins lasting rewards.

R : But these are only the trappings, the ephemeral illusions.

S : One should concentrate on one's work knowing that applause will come unsought. The proper sequence should be

(a) SRQP

(b) PSRQ

(c) QPSR

(d) RQPS

Ans. (d) RQPS

42. S1 : My office sent an urgent email asking me to return.

S6 : It was evening, before I could sit and write to my parents that I would be joining them soon.

P : I immediately replied requesting a few days of grace as I had to book the return passage, pack and attend sundry matters before winding up my establishment here.

Q : On the way, I went to the laundry and made sure I would get my clothes in time.

R : Then I rushed to the bank, collected all my money and made reservations for my return journey.

S : From the shop next to it, I bought a couple of trunks to dump my books and other odd articles so that I could send them away in advance.

The proper sequence should be

(a) PQRS

(b) PRQS

(c) PRSQ

(d) PSRQ

Ans. (b) PRQS

43. S1 : Wordsworth knew the behaviour of owls in the night better than most of us know the ways of black birds in day time.

S6: His great poetry owes much to the night.

P : Out of school there were no restrictions on the hours he kept.

Q : No poet ever had happier school-days.

R : He would skate by the light of the stars, snare woodcocks at dead of night, watch the sunrise after a long ramble.

S : Throughout life he was an in-veterate walker by night.

The proper sequence should be

(a) QPRS

(b) PSQR

(c) QRPS

(d) SQPR

Ans. (a) QPRS

44. S1 : Science has already conferred an immense boon on mankind by the growth of medicine.

S6 : The general death rate in 1948 (10.8) was the lowest ever recorded up to that date.

P : It has continued ever since and is still continuing.

Q : In the eighteenth century people expected most of their children to die before they were grown up.

R : In 1920 the infant mortality rate in England and Wales was 80 per thousand; in 1948 it was 34 per thousand.

S : Improvement began at the start of the nineteenth century, chiefly owing to vaccination.

The proper sequence should be

(a) RPQS

(b) QSPR

(c) SQRP

(d) PQSR

Ans. (b) QSPR

45. S1 : The young traveller gazed out into the dismal country with a face of mingled repulsion and interest.

S6: He quickly restored it to his secret pocket.

P : At intervals he drew from his pocket a bulky letter to which he referred, and on the margins of which he scribbled some notes.

Q : It was a navy revolver of the largest size.

R : From the back of his waist he produced something which one would hardly have expected to find in the possession of so mild-mannered a man.

S : As he turned it slantwise to the light, the glint upon the rims of the copper shells within the drum showed that it was fully loaded.

The proper sequence should be

(a) PQRS

(b) RPQS 

(c) QPRS

(d) PRQS

Ans. (d) PRQS

FILL IN THE BLANK

Directions for the following 10 (ten) items:

Each of the following sentences in this section has a blank space and four words are given after each sentence. Select whichever word you consider most appropriate for the blank space and indicate your response on the Answer Sheet accordingly.

46. The mounting pressure was so over-whelming that he ultimately _________  to her wish.

(a) yielded in

(b) gave in

(c) cowed in

(d) agreed in

Ans. (b) gave in

47. Authority _______  when it is not supported by the moral purity of its user.

(a) prevails

(b) entails

(c) crumbles

(d) waits

Ans. (c) crumbles

48. In a developing country like India some industries will have to be brought within public _______  and control, for other-wise rapid growth of the economy may be impossible.

(a) perspective

(b) hegemony

(c) observation

(d) ownership

Ans. (d) ownership

49. Gandhiji conceived of the idea of channelizing the powerful currents of the united mass movement so as to give the utmost impetus to the national ________  for independence.

(a) struggle

(b) conflict

(c) onslaught

(d) march

Ans. (a) struggle

50. Because of his _______ habits, he could not save much money.

(a) extravagant

(b) frugal

(c) unsavoury

(d) bad

Ans. (a) extravagant

51. Socrates was _______  of spreading discontent among young men of Athens and of trying to destroy their faith in the old gods.

(a) rebuked

(b) disparaged

(c) accused

(d) demonised

Ans. (c) accused

52. The robbers fell ______  amongst themselves over the sharing of the loot.

(a) out

(b) through

(c) off

(d) across

Ans. (a) out

53. A really sophisticated person would never be _______  enough to think that he is always right.

(a) reverent

(b) naive

(c) articulate

(d) humble

Ans. (b) naive

54. Speeding and blocking are traffic offences which lead to ________ accidents.

(a) troublesome

(b) final

(c) great

(d) gruesome

Ans. (d) gruesome

55. Creative people are often ________ with their own uniqueness.

(a) obsessed

(b) deranged

(c) unbalanced

(d) dissatisfied

Ans. (a) obsessed

SELECTING WORDS

Directions for the following 20 (twenty) items:

In the following passage at certain points you are given a choice of three words marked (a), (b) and (c), one of which fits the meaning of the passage. Choose the best word out of the three. Mark the letter, viz., (a), (b) or (c), relating to this word on your Answer Sheet. Examples K and L have been solved for you.

      K                                                L

The (a) boy was in the school in Simla. (a) She was home sick.

      (b) horse                                     (b) It

      (c) dog                                        (c) He

Explanation : Out of the list given in item K, only, 'boy' is the correct answer because usually, a boy, and not a horse or a dog, attends school. So '(a)' is to be marked on the Answer Sheet for item K. A boy is usually referred to as 'he', so for item L, `(c)' is the correct answer. Notice that to solve the first item K you have to read the rest of the sentence and then see what fits best.

Answer Key

56.

 (b)

66.

 (b)

57.

 (a)

67.

 (a)

58.

 (c)

68.

 (c)

59.

 (b)

69.

 (b)

60.

 (c)

70.

 (c)

61.

 (a)

71.

 (b)

62.

 (c)

72.

 (a)

63.

 (b)

73.

 (c)

64.

 (c)

74.

 (b)

65.

 (b)

75.

 (a)

Directions for the following 15 (fifteen) items:

Each question in this section has a sentence with three underlined parts labelled. (a), (b) and (c). Read each sentence to find out whether there is any error in any underlined part and indicate your response in the Answer Sheet against the corresponding letter i.e., (a) or (b) or (c). If you find no error, your response should be indicated as (d).

76. This hardly won freedom         should not be lost         so soon.       No error. 

                      (a)                                                  (b)                         (c)                (d)

Ans. (a) This hardly won freedom

77. I tried to meet the person         whom you said          was looking for me.         No error.

                           (a)                                          (b)                                   (c)                                (d)

Ans. (b) whom you said

78. We looked after the thief,         but he was nowhere        to be found.              No error.

                        (a)                                                  (b)                                (c)                               (d)

Ans. (a) We looked after the thief,

79. I hoped that the train            will arrive on time,           but it did not.           No error.

                  (a)                                                       (b)                                   (c)                         (d)

Ans. (b) will arrive on time,

80. Their all belongings           were lost         in the fire.           No error. 

                    (a)                                        (b)                     (c)                      (d)

Ans. (a) Their all belongings

81. He was in the temper        and refused         to discuss the matter again.          No error.

                        (a)                                     (b)                                   (c)                                      (d)

Ans. (a) He was in the temper

82. The decorations in your house        are similar          to his house.           No error.

                              (a)                                          (b)                           (c)                        (d)

Ans. (c) to his house.

83. Despite of the increase in air fares,      most people still prefer       to travel by plane.     No error.

                              (a)                                                    (b)                                  (c)                           (d)

Ans. (a) Despite of the increase in air fares,

84. He told the boys that         if they worked hard,          they will surely pass.          No error.

                    (a)                                          (b)                                             (c)                              (d)

Ans. (c) they will surely pass.

85. I shall write         to you           when I shall reach Chennai.        No error.

            (a)                         (b)                                        (c)                            (d)

Ans. (c) when I shall reach Chennai.

86. Neither of these two documents       support your claim      on the property.       No error.

                             (a)                                               (b)                                  (c)                      (d)

Ans. (b) support your claim

87. He is school teacher,         but all his sons          are doctors.       No error.

         (a)                                             (b)                                    (c)                   (d)

Ans. (a) He is school teacher,

88. His grandfather          had told him to smoke        was a bad habit.       No error.

              (a)                                     (b)                                          (c)                        (d)

Ans. (b) had told him to smoke

89. My book, which         I gave it to you yesterday,        is very interesting.          No error.

                 (a)                                     (b)                                              (c)                             (d)

Ans. (b) I gave it to you yesterday,

90. I am entirely agreeing with you,         but I regret           I can't help you.          No error.

                            (a)                                                  (b)                                (c)                         (d)

Ans. (a) I am entirely agreeing with you,

COMPREHENSION

Directions for the 21 (twenty one) items which follow:

In this section you have six short passages. After each passage, you will find some questions based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the questions based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only.

Passage 1

To avoid the various foolish opinions to which mankind is prone, no superhuman brain is required. A few simple rules will keep you, not from all errors, but from silly errors. If the matter is one that can be settled by observation, make the observation yourself. Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men, by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted. Thinking that you know, when in fact you do not, is a bad mistake to which we are all prone. I believe myself that hedgehogs eat black beetles, because I have been told that they do; but if I were writing a book on the habits of hedgehogs, I should not commit myself until I had seen one enjoying this diet. Aristotle, however, was less cautious. Ancient and medieval writers knew all about unicorns and salamanders; not one of them thought it necessary to avoid dogmatic statements about them because he had never seen one of them.

91. The writer believes that

(a) most people could avoid making foolish mistakes if they were clever

(b) through observation we could avoid making many mistakes

(c) Aristotle made many mistakes because he was not observant

(d) All errors are caused by our own error in thinking

Ans. (b) through observation we could avoid making many mistakes

92. With reference to the passage, which one of the following is the correct statement?

(a) Aristotle was able to avoid the mistake of thinking that women have fewer teeth than men

(b) Aristotle thought women have fewer teeth than men

(c) Aristotle proved that women have fewer teeth by counting his wife's teeth

(d) Aristotle may have thought that women have fewer teeth because he never had a wife

Ans. (b) Aristotle thought women have fewer teeth than men

93. The writer says that if he was writing a book on hedgehogs

(a) he would maintain that they eat black beetles because he had been told so

(b) he would first observe their eating habits

(c) he would think it unnecessary to verify that they ate black beetles

(d) he would make the statement that they ate black beetles and later verify it

Ans. (b) he would first observe their eating habits

94. The writer is of the opinion that

(a) unicorns and salamanders were observed by ancient and medieval writers but were unknown to modern writers

(b) ancient and medieval writers wrote authoritatively about unicorns and salamanders though they had never seen them

(c) unicorns and salamanders do not exist

(d) only those who had observed the habits of unicorns and salamanders wrote about them

Ans. (b) ancient and medieval writers wrote authoritatively about unicorns and salamanders though they had never seen them

95. A 'dogmatic statement' in the context means a statement which is

(a) convincing

(b) proved

(c) unquestionable

(d) doubtful

Ans. (c) unquestionable

Passage 2

Since I had nothing better to do, I decided to go to the market to buy a few handkerchiefs, the old ones had done vanishing-trick. On the way I met an old friend of mine and I took him to a nearby restaurant for tea and snacks. Afterwards I went to the shop and selected a dozen handkerchiefs. I pulled out my purse to make the payment, and discovered that it was empty; I then realized that it was not my purse, it was a different purse altogether. How that happened is still a source of wonder to me and I refuse to believe that it was the work of my good old friend, for it was his purse that I held in my hand.

96. The man could not buy the handkerchiefs because

(a) he did not like the handkerchiefs

(b) his friend did not allow him to buy them

(c) the shop did not have any handkerchiefs

(d) he had no money in the purse

Ans. (d) he had no money in the purse

97. When he tried to take out the purse, he discovered that

(a) it was not there

(b) it was lost

(c) it was a new purse

(d) it was his friend's purse

Ans. (d) it was his friend's purse

Passage 3

A profound terror, increased still by the darkness, the silence and his waking images, froze his heart within him. He almost felt his hair stand on end, when by straining his eyes to their utmost, he perceived through the shadows two faint yellow lights. At first he attributed these lights to the reflection of his own pupils, but soon the vivid brilliance of the night aided him gradually to distinguish the objects around him in the cave, and he beheld a huge animal lying but two steps from him.

98. The opening of the passage suggests that

(a) darkness, silence and waking images added to his already being in pro-found terror

(b) a profound terror increased the waking images in his frozen heart

(c) the person was frightened by darkness and silence

(d) a profound terror was caused in him by the silence and darkness of the night

Ans. (a) darkness, silence and waking images added to his already being in pro-found terror

99. When he perceived through the shadows two faint lights,

(a) he experienced a great strain

(b) he felt his hair stand upright

(c) his eyes felt strained to their utmost

(d) his pupils dilated

Ans. (b) he felt his hair stand upright

100. The person in the story

(a) imagined that he saw an animal

(b) could not recognize the animal

(c) saw the animal by chance

(d) expected to see the animal

Ans. (c) saw the animal by chance

Passage 4

We are tempted to assume that technological progress is real progress and that material success is the criterion of civilization. If the Eastern people become fascinated by machines and techniques and use them, as Western nations do, to build huge industrial organizations and large military establishments, they will get involved in power politics and drift into the danger of death. Scientific and technological civilization brings great opportunities and great rewards but also great risks and temptations. Science and technology are neither good nor bad. They are not to be tabooed but tamed and assigned their proper place. They become dangerous only if they become idols.

101. According to the author, people think that real progress lies in

(a) material success and technological growth

(b) imitating Western nations

(c) having large industries and political power

(d) taking risks and facing temptations

Ans. (a) material success and technological growth

102. According to the author, science and technology should be

(a) tabooed and eliminated from life

(b) used in a controlled and careful manner

(c) encouraged and liberally used

(d) made compulsory in education

Ans. (b) used in a controlled and careful manner

103. From the passage one gathers that the Eastern people must

(a) appreciate scientific achievements

(b) build huge industrial organizations

(c) avoid being controlled by machines and techniques of industrial production

(d) be fascinated by machines

Ans. (c) avoid being controlled by machines and techniques of industrial production

104. According to the author, science and technology are

(a) totally harmless

(b) extremely dangerous

(c) to be treated as idols

(d) useful, if they are not worshipped blindly

Ans. (d) useful, if they are not worshipped blindly

Passage 5

It is not luck but labour that makes men. Luck, says an American writer, is ever waiting for something to turn up; labour with keen eyes and strong will always turns up something. Luck lies in bed and wishes the postman would bring him news of a legacy; labour turns out at six and with busy pen and ringing hammer lays the foundation of competence. Luck whines, labour watches. Luck relies on chance; labour on character. Luck slips downwards to self-indulgence; labour strides upwards and aspires to independence. The conviction, therefore, is extending that diligence is the mother of good luck; in other words, that a man's success in life will be proportionate to his efforts, to his industry, to his attention to small things.

105. Which one of the following statements sums up the meaning of the passage?

(a) Luck waits without exertion but labour exerts without waiting

(b) Luck waits and complains without working while labour achieves success although it complains

(c) Luck often ends in defeat but labour produces luck

(d) Luck is self-indulgent but labour is selfless

Ans. (a) Luck waits without exertion but labour exerts without waiting

106. Which one of the following statements is true about the passage?

(a) Luck is necessary for success

(b) Success depends on hard work and attention to details

(c) Expectation of good luck always meets with disappointment

(d) Success is exactly proportionate to hard work only

Ans. (b) Success depends on hard work and attention to details

107. “_________ labour turns out at six and with busy pen and ringing hammer lays the foundation of competence.” This statement means

(a) hard work of all kinds makes people efficient and skilled

(b) the labour lays the foundation of the building

(c) the writer and the labourer are the true eyes of the society

(d) there is no worker who works so hard as the labourer who begins his day at six in the morning

Ans. (a) hard work of all kinds makes people efficient and skilled

Passage 6

The avowed purpose of the exact sciences is to establish complete intellectual control over experience in terms of precise rules which can be formally set out and empirically tested. Could that ideal be fully achieved, all truth and all error could henceforth be ascribed to an exact theory of the universe, while we who accept this theory would be relieved of any occasion for exercising our personal judgement. We should only have to follow the rules -faithfully. Classical mechanics approaches this ideal so closely that it is often thought to have achieved it. But this leaves out of account the element of personal judgement involved in applying the formulae of mechanics to the facts of experience.

108. The purpose of the exact sciences is to

(a) form opinions about our experience

(b) formulate principles which will help us to exercise our personal judgement

(c) assert our intellectual superiority

(d) make formal and testable rules which can help verify experience

Ans. (d) make formal and testable rules which can help verify experience

109. An exact theory of the universe is

(a) not desirable

(b) improbable

(c) possible

(d) yet to be made

Ans. (d) yet to be made

110. In exact sciences

(a) personal judgements are set aside in favour of a mechanical theory

(b) one does not find answers to all questions and problems

(c) one reposes faith in actual experience 

(d) one interprets the universe according to one's wish

Ans. (a) personal judgements are set aside in favour of a mechanical theory

111. Classical mechanics

(a) has formulated precise rules based on experience

(b) has gained intellectual control over the world

(c) has formulated an exact theory of the universe

(d) just falls short of achieving intel-lectual control over experience

Ans. (d) just falls short of achieving intel-lectual control over experience

SYNONYMS

Directions for the following 9 (nine) items:

Each item in this section consists of a word in capital letters followed by four words or groups of words. Select the word or groups of words that is most similar in meaning to the word in capital letters.

112. AMBIGUOUS

(a) contrasting

(b) connivance

(c) vague

(d) wilful

Ans. (c) vague

113. ELUCIDATE

(a) clarify

(b) calculate

(c) summarise

(d) update

Ans. (a) clarify

114. MONOTONOUS

(a) dreary

(b) dreadful

(c) single-minded

(d) monologue

Ans. (a) dreary

115. KINDLE

(a) make fun of

(b) excite

(c) very kind

(d) kind-hearted

Ans. (b) excite

116. PALATIAL

(a) very clean

(b) very special

(c) sense of taste

(d) magnificent

Ans. (d) magnificent

117. TACTFUL

(a) diplomatic

(b) indifferent

(c) intelligent

(d) deceitful

Ans. (a) diplomatic

118. VORACIOUS

(a) very bad

(b) insatiable

(c) stingy

(d) malicious

Ans. (b) insatiable

119. STRICTURE

(a) strictness

(b) stinging

(c) discipline

(d) censure

Ans. (d) censure

120. OBEISANCE

(a) homage

(b) pilgrimage

(c) subjugation

(d) obligation

Ans. (a) homage

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