SSC CGL (Tier - 1) Previous Year Solved Paper - 2013

Subject: English Language

Direction: In question nos. 1 and 2, there are four different words out of which one is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [] in the Answer Sheet.

1.

(a) humorous
(b) humourous
(c) humorus
(d) humourus

2.

(a) narcisism
(b) narcissism
(c) narcisim
(d) narsisism

Directions: In question nos. 3 to 12, you have two brief passages with 5 questions in each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and mark it by blackening the appropriate oval [] in the Answer Sheet.

Passage 1: (Question Nos. 3 – 7)
Pidgins are languages they are not, acquired as mother tongues and that are used for a restricted set of communicative functions. They are formed from a mixture of languages and have a limited vocabulary and a simplified grammar. Pidgins serve as a means of communication between speakers of mutually unintelligible languages and may become essential, in multilingual areas? A Creole develop from a pidgin when the pidgin becomes the mother tongue of the community. To cope with the consequent expansion of communicative functions the vocabulary is increased and the grammar becomes more compilex. Where a creole and standard variety of English coexist, as in the Caribbean, there is a continuum from the most extreme form of creole to the form that is closest to the standard language. Linguists mark off the relative position on the creole continuum as the ‘basilect’ (the furthest from the standard language), the ‘mesolect’, and the ‘acrolet’. In such situations, most creole speakers can vary their speech along the continuum and many are also competent in the standard English of their country.

3. A pidgin develops in a situation when

(a) Different and mutually unintelligible languages exist side by side
(b) A creole becomes the mother tongue of a linguistic community
(c) A language with restricted vocabulary undergoes an expansion in grammar and vocabulary
(d) Two similar languages are mixed to create a new language

4. According to the given passage a pidgin becomes a creole when

(a) It ceases to be a means of communication
(b) It becomes the mother tongue for a new generation of speakers
(c) Its vocabulary undergoes some kind of change
(d) Two or more languages are mixed with an existing pidgin

5. According to the passage a creole continuum is

(a) A linguistic term for the mixture of more than two languages
(b) A scale which measures the linguistic competence of the speaker
(c) A scale in which the proximity of the creole to the standard language is measured
(d) A record of the continuous history of a creole

6. According to the passage ‘basilect’ means

(a) An impure from of a creole
(b) A form of creole which is furthest from the standard language
(c) A form of creole which has an extended vocabulary
(d) A form of creole which is very close to the standard language

7. Find out a word in the passage which is opposite in meaning to the word – ‘Simplified’

(a) Complex
(b) Expansion
(c) Restricted
(d) Consequent

Passage II: (Question Nos. 8 – 12)
There were four of us – George, and William Samual Harris, and myself, and Montomorency. We were sitting in my room, smoking and talking about how bad we were – bad from a medical point of view I mean, of course.
We were all feeling seedy, and we were getting quite nervous about it. Harris said he felt such extraordinary fits of giddiness come over him at times, that he hardly knew what he was doing; and then George said that he had fits of giddiness too, and hardly knew what he was doing. With me, it was my liver that was out of order. I knew it was my liver that was out of order, because I had just been reading a patent liver-pill circular, in which were detailed the various symptoms by which a man could tell when his liver was out of order. I had them all.
It is a most extraordinary thing, but I never read a patent medicine advertisement without being impelled to the conclusion that I am suffering from the particular disease therein dealt with in its most virulent form. The diagnosis seems in every case to correspond exactly with all the sensations that I have ever felt.

8. The four felt down and out because

(a) the room was too smoky
(b) they could never read a patent medicine advertisement
(c) they thought they were ill
(d) they had experienced a most extraordinary thing

9. Whenever the speaker read a liver pill circular

(a) he suffered from an extraordinary surge of giddiness
(b) he felt sure that he had a liver disorder
(c) he felt the urge to smoke
(d) All of the above

10. The author of the above passage seems to be suffering from

(a) fits of morbid depression without real cause
(b) an abnormal anxiety about his health
(c) melancholia
(d) an unnecessarily dark, gloomy and pessimistic attitude to life

11. Harris was troubled by

(a) a symptom of vertigo
(b) garrulity
(c) tribulation
(d) frailty

12. The word which is closet in meaning to virulent is

(a) fantastic
(b) vital
(c) viral
(d) hostile

Directions: In question nos. 13 to 17, some parts of the sentence have errors and some have none. Find out which part of a sentence has an error and blacken the oval [] corresponding to the appropriate letter (A, B, C). If a sentence is free from error, blacken the oval corresponding to (D) in the Answer Sheet.

13. I whistled thrice (a) will full might and raise my arms (b) towards the sky (c). No error. (d)

14. Science and religion (a) are both necessary for man and for their (b) outer and inner self respectively. (c) No error (d)

15. At certain season (a) some areas on Mars (b) is subject to strong winds. (c) No error (d)

16. As an artist (a) Raju is as good (b) if not better than Ramesh. (c) No error (d)

17. The scientists (a) could not hardly (b) complete all the experiments. (c) No error (d)

Directions: In question nos. 18 to 22, sentence are given with blanks to be filled in with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [] in the Answer Sheet.

18. Google is one of the most popular search engines, it is ________ by the interest users.

(a) utilized
(b) effected
(c) examined
(d) flabbergasted

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19. Raj was tired of Puja’s ________ approach, so he asked her to make her final decision by that evening.

(a) silly-willy
(b) dilly-dally
(c) wasting
(d) tilly-nally

20. Ria is ________ at speaking languages. It is difficult to ______ only one puppy for animal shelter.

(a) adept, adapt
(b) adapt, adapt
(c) adept, adopt
(d) adapt, adopt

21. School days are considered to be the best years of your life. When my ______ year in school began. I began to think of those past enjoyable days and of my future also.

(a) penultimate
(b) absolute
(c) integral
(d) termination

22. Begin ______, the judge gave a favourable verdict.

(a) sagacious
(b) pugnacious
(c) malicious
(d) tenacious

Directions: In question nos. 23 to 25, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet.

23. Garrulous

(a) talkative
(b) sedative
(c) vocative
(d) positive

24. Tinsel

(a) tinkle
(b) decoration
(c) tin
(d) colourful

25. Labyrinth

(a) meandering
(b) rotating
(c) pacing
(d) wriggling

Directions: In question nos. 26 to 28, choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word and mark it in the Answer Sheet.

26. Cordial

(a) fast
(b) heartfelt
(c) friendly
(d) hostile

27. Instinctive

(a) innate
(b) rational
(c) inherent
(d) inborn

28. Venial

(a) minor
(b) pardonable
(c) unpardonable
(d) clean

Directions: In question nos. 29 to 33, four alternatives are given for the Idiom/Phrase underlined in the sentence. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase and mark in the Answer Sheet.

29. Hard work pays in the long run.

(a) always
(b) over a period of time
(c) indefinitely
(d) never

30. I felt a fish out of water among the lawyers.

(a) special
(b) happy
(c) uncomfortable
(d) proud

31. The Cauvery water issue led to apple of discord between the two Governments.

(a) cause of anger
(b) cause of hatred
(c) cause of quarrel
(d) cause of animosity

32. The construction remains unfinished and the workers have let the grass grow under their feet.

(a) grown grass all over the lawn
(b) gone on a luxury tour
(c) delayed doing the work
(d) demanded more benefits

33. The police smelt the rat behind the death of the girl.

(a) got very much confused
(b) identified the cause of death
(c) suspected that something is fishy
(d) jumped to the conclusion

Directions: In question nos. 34 to 43, a sentence/part of the sentence is underlined. Below are given alternatives to the underlined sentence/part of the sentence at (A), (B) and (C) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no. improvement is needed, your answer is (D).

34. The disparity of the GDP between the rich and the poor has broadened in the last some decades.

(a) have widened in the last some decades
(b) has widened in the last few decades
(c) have broadened in the last few decades
(d) No improvement

35. How is beyond my understanding, the boy could fail into the ditch.

(a) How the boy could fall into the ditch is beyond my understanding
(b) Beyond my understanding is how the boy could fall into the ditch
(c) How could the boy fall into the ditch is beyond my understanding
(d) No improvement

36. The pioneer spacecraft went beyond Pluto.

(a) made its way past
(b) went across
(c) went after
(d) No improvement

37. The firms buys frozen seafood in bulk, packs it into smaller pouches and then they sell them to the local grocery stores.

(a) it sells them
(b) sell them
(c) they sell the pouches
(d) No improvement

38. The learners are intended to read the sources at home.

(a) are meant
(b) are suggested
(c) are expected
(d) No improvement

39. Fuji’s invention of supercomputer will be enable to make Japan supersede America in computer technology.

(a) will make Japan
(b) will enable Japan
(c) can make Japan
(d) No improvement

40. I could never repay the debt I owe to my place of study.

(a) Alma Mater
(b) Motherland
(c) Place of worship
(d) No Improvement

41. She cries all the time.

(a) mostly everytime
(b) Day in and day out
(c) pretty frequently
(d) No improvement

42. For a week last month, the team’s 20 players were standard because the Government-issued passport is not up to international standards.

(a) Government-issued passport were not up to international standards
(b) Government-issued passport are not up to international standards
(c) The passports issued by the government were not up to international standards
(d) No improvement

43. Since July 2008, our customer will be able to use the ATM network of BBY Bank, the bank that was acquired by us during that year.

(a) have been able to use
(b) were using
(c) will have been able to use
(d) No improvement

Directions: In question 44 to 50 out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/sentence and indicate it by blackening the appropriate oval [ ] in the Answer Sheet.

44. One who is unaffected or indifferent to joy pain, pleasure or grief

(a) tolerant
(b) resigned
(c) passive
(d) stoic

45. A person who is greatly respected because of wisdom\

(a) veracious
(b) vulnerable
(c) venerable
(d) verger

46. An excessively morbid desire to steal

(a) stealomania
(b) kleptomania
(c) cleftomania
(d) keptomania

47. Prohibited by law or treaty from being imported or exported

(a) contraband
(b) smuggled
(c) counterfeit
(d) forged

48. Intentional destruction of racial groups

(a) regicide
(b) genocide
(c) homicide
(d) fratricide

49. A person is a vehicle or on horseback escorting another vehicle

(a) Navigator
(b) Escort
(c) Outrider
(d) Security

50. A person specially interested in the study of coins and medals.

(a) medalist
(b) coinist
(c) numismatist
(d) numerist

Answer Key

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