SSC CGL (Pre.) Previous Year Solved Paper - 2013

Subject: General English

Directions (Q. Nos. 1-5) In these questions some parts of the sentences have errors and some are correct. Find out which part of a sentence has an error. If a sentence is free from error, your answer is (d).

1. We have been knowing (a)/ each other (b)/ since we were children. (c)/ No error (d)

2. Neither of the teams (a)/ are sensible enough (b)/ to do this task. (c)/ No error (d)

3. If I was he (a)/ I wouldn’t accept (b)/ this project. (c)/ No error (d)

4. The teacher advised to (a)/ the student to borrow (b)/ a book from the library within three days. (c)/ No error (d)

5. I insisted (a)/ on his going (b)/ there immediately. (c)/ No error (d)

Directions (Q. Nos. 6-10) In these questions sentences are given with blanks to be filled with an appropriate word(s). Four alternatives are suggested for each question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four.

6. The Information and Communication Technology has _____ age and employes very highly paid technocrats.

(a) come of
(b) come upon
(c) come out of
(d) come through

7. They reached the railway station before the train __________ .

(a) had left
(b) had been left
(c) left
(d) was leaving

8. He slipped _______ his old ways and started drinking again.

(a) into
(b) off
(c) by
(d) in

9. All is not well _______ the automobile sector.

(a) of
(b) down
(c) in
(d) to

10. Many premier educational institutions come forward to have a _______ with flourshing industries.

(a) tie-down
(b) tie-up
(c) tie-in
(d) tie-on

Directions (Q. Nos. 11-13) In these questions out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word.

11. Stern

(a) Lenient
(b) Young
(c) Stem
(d) Strict

12. Citadel

(a) Metropolis
(b) Mansion
(c) Fortress
(d) Palace

13. Aberration

(a) Justification
(b) Intensification
(c) Deviation
(d) Rationality

Directions (Q. Nos. 14-16) In these questions choose the word opposite in meaning to the given word and mark it.

14. Dormant

(a) Active
(b) Inactive
(c) Dorsal
(d) Domestic

15. Tranquility

(a) Disturbance
(b) Quiet
(c) Serenity
(d) Peace

16. Dwindle

(a) Decrease
(b) Diminish
(c) Shrink
(d) Increase

Directions (Q. Nos. 17-21) In these questions four alternatives are given for the Idiom/ Phrase bold in the sentence. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase.

17. Acquiring a job a cakewalk for a student who has good academic performance coupled with the good attitude.

(a) walk away with a cake
(b) a difficult achievement
(c) a walkway made with cakes
(d) an easy achievement

18. Let sleeping dogs lie.

(a) Do not bring up an old controversial issue
(b) Dogs can raise tempers
(c) Do not allow dogs to stand
(d) Prevent dog mobility

19. To get admission in present day educational institutions, all children should be be born with a silver spoon in the mouth.

(a) be born to silver spoon manufacturer
(b) always hold a silver spoon
(c) be born with silver spoon
(d) be born in a rich family

20. A man of straw means

(a) a worthy fellow
(b) an unreasonable person
(c) a man of no substance
(d) a very active person

21. Children complain about their parents’ gifts. They should learn not to look gift horse in the mouth.

(a) not to look at a horse’s mouth
(b) not to find fault with the gifts received
(c) not to ask for more gift
(d) not to find goodness in the gifts

Directions (Q. Nos. 22-31) In these questions a sentence/ part of the sentence is bold. Below are given alternatives to the bold sentence/ part of the sentence at (a), (b) and (c) which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternatives. In case no improvement is needed, your answer is (d).

22. If I had the money I would have bought the house.

(a) If I had had the money I would have bought the house
(b) If I have the money I would have bought the house
(c) If I have had the money I would have bought the house
(d) No improvement

23. I wish I knew what is wrong with my car.

(a) I wish I had known what is wrong with my car
(b) I wish I know what is wrong with my car
(c) I wish I knew what was wrong with my car
(d) No improvement

24. Just before he died, Amar, who is a poet, wrote this poem.

(a) Just before he died, Amar, who was a poet, wrote this poem
(b) Amar, who is a poet, wrote this poem just before he died
(c) Amar wrote this poem, who is poet, just before he died
(d) No improvement

25. The flag will be risen on the 15th of August.

(a) The flag will be roused on the 15th of August
(b) The flag will be rising on the 15th August
(c) The flag will be raised on the 15th of August
(d) No improvement

26. Sushma has wisdom, charm and she has a good sense of humour.

(a) Sushma had a good sense of humour
(b) a good sense of humour
(c) has a good sense of humour
(d) No improvement

27. They knocked down ten houses when they built the new road.

(a) ruptured
(b) removed
(c) pulled down
(d) No improvement

28. Don’t sit in the grass. It’s wet.

(a) by the side of
(b) on
(c) beside
(d) No improvement

29. The game is more important than the winning of the prize.

(a) The gaming is more important than the winning of the prize
(b) The game is more important than winning of the prize
(c) Gaming is more important than winning of the prize
(d) No imporovement

30. The actor is out of jail, and not exactly a free man, since he will be under house arrest for an additional 90 days.

(a) but not exactly a free man
(b) though exactly a free man
(c) if not exactly a free man
(d) No improvement

Click Here to Join SSC CGL (Tier -1) Online Crash Course

Click Here to Buy SSC CGL (Tier -1) Study Kit in Print Copy

31. Some players on the team suffer from chronic knee problems and will not play in the next playoff.

(a) Some player on the team suffered
(b) Some player on the team suffer
(c) Some players on the team suffers
(d) No improvement

Directions (Q. Nos. 32-38) In these questions out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/ sentence.

32. To reduce to nothing

(a) Cull
(b) Lull
(c) Null
(d) Annul

33. An obviously true or hackneyed statement

(a) Truism
(b) Syllogism
(c) Iconic
(d) Imagism

34. Words inscribed on a tomb

(a) Epilogue
(b) Epitaph
(c) Epitome
(d) Epistle

35. The act of producing beautiful handwriting using a brush or a special pen

(a) Hieroglyphics
(b) Calligraphy
(c) Stencilling
(d) Graphics

36. A word composed of the first letters of the words in a phrase.

(a) Acronym
(b) Abridgement
(c) Almanac
(d) Anachronism

37. A person of obscure position who has gained wealth.

(a) Extrabagant
(b) Promiscuous
(c) Parvenu
(d) Sumptuary

38. A study of sounds is known as

(a) semantics
(b) sylistics
(c) linguistics
(d) phonetics

Directions (Q. Nos. 39-40) In these questions, four words are given in each question, out of which only one word is correctly spelt. Find the correctly spelt word.

39.

(a) Busyness
(b) Bussyness
(c) Business
(d) Bussiness

40.

(a) Questionnaire
(b) Questionnair
(c) Questionaire
(d) Questionnare

Directions (Q. Nos. 41-50) In these questions you have a passage with 10 questions. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four.

The postmaster first took up his duties in the village of Ulapur. Though the village was a small one, there was an indigo factory nearby and the propritor, an Englishman, had managed to get a post office established.
Our postmaster belonged to Calcutta. He felt like a fish out of water in this remove village. His office and living-room were in a dark thatched shed, not far from a green, silmy pond, surrounded on all sides by a dense growth.
The men employed in the indigo factory had no leisure, moreover they were hardly desirable companions for decent folk. Nor is a Calcutta boy an adept in the art of associating with others. Among strangers he appears either proud or ill at ease. At any rate the postmaster had but little company, nor had he much to do.
At times he tried his hand at writing a verse or two. That the movement of the leaves and clouds of the sky were enough to fill life with joy - such were the sentiments to which he sought to give expression. But God knows that the poor fellow would have felt it as the gift of a new life, if some genie of the Arabian Nights had in one night swept away the trees, leaves and all, and replaced them with a macadamised road, hiding the clouds from view with rows of tall houses.

41. What does the idiom ‘fish out of water’ suggest?

(a) In unfamiliar surroundings
(b) can die any moment
(c) grasping for breath
(d) amphibious creature

42. Find a word in the passage which is the opposite of ‘near’.

(a) Convenient
(b) Unknown
(c) Close
(d) Remote

43. Find a word in the passage which means ‘the owner of a business’.

(a) Constructor
(b) Businessman
(c) Entrepreneur
(d) Proprietor

44. The adjective used to describe the postmaster’s living-room is

(a) bright
(b) dark
(c) light
(d) deep

45. What does the phrase ‘ill at ease’ in the passage mean?

(a) Forward
(b) Disease
(c) Comfortable
(d) Uneasy

46. What does the phrase ‘little company’ in the passage mean?

(a) Bad friendship
(b) Hardly any friends
(c) Small business
(d) Business-like

47. At times, the postmaster wrote

(a) poems
(b) novels
(c) short stories
(d) dramas

48. The postmaster wrote on the

(a) beauty of nature
(b) beauty of himself
(c) beauty of the weather
(d) beauty of the village

49. The word ‘genie’ means

(a) monster
(b) spirit
(c) ghost
(d) soul

50. Which factory was situated near the village Ulapur?

(a) Chemical
(b) Rubber
(c) Clothes
(d) Dyes

Answer Key

Click Here to Join SSC CGL (Tier -1) Online Crash Course

Click Here to Buy SSC CGL (Tier -1) Study Kit in Print Copy

<< Go Back to Main Page