NTSE STAGE II (2016-17)

LANGUAGE (ENGLISH)
Held on: May 14, 2017

Directions (1 5): Read the following passage and answer the questions based on it. Choose the
most appropriate answer.

It is taken for granted by the advocates of oriental learning that no native of this country can possibly
attain more than a mere smattering of English. They do not attempt to prove this. But they
perpetually insinuate it. They designate the education which their opponents recommend as a mere
spelling-book education. They assume it as undeniable that the question is between a profound
knowledge if Indian and Arabic literature ad science on the one side, and superficial knowledge of
the rudiments of English on the other. This is not merely an assumption, but an assumption contrary
to all reason and experience. We know that foreigners of all nations do learn our language
sufficiently to have access to all the most abstruse knowledge which it contains sufficiently to relish
even the more delicate graces of our most idiomatic writers. There are, in this very tow, natives who
are quite competent to discuss political or scientific questions with fluency and precision in the
English language. I have heard the very question on which I am now writing discussed by native
gentlemen with a liberality and an intelligence which would do credit to any member of he
Committee of Public Instruction. Indeed it is unusual to find, even in the literary circles of the
Continent, any foreigner who can express herself/himself in English with so much facility and
correctness as we find in many Indians. Nobody, I suppose, will contend that English is so difficult to
an Indian as Greek to an Englishman. Yet an intelligent English youth, in a much smaller number of
years than our unfortunate pupils pass at the Sanskrit College, becomes able to read, to enjoy, and
even to initate not unhappily the compositions of the best Greek authors. Less than half the time
which enables and English youth to read Herodotus and Sophocles ought to enable an Indian to
read Hume and Milton.

1. The writer feels that the advocates of oriental learning are

(A) cautiously open to the idea of English education
(B) aware of the tyranny of English education
(C) irrational in their views about English education
(D) aware of the politics of English education

2. Which of the following ideas does the writer have a problem with?
(A) Some natives are proficient in discussing complex topics
(B) Knowledge of English is pitched against that of Indian and Arabic literature
(C) Foreigners can read and enjoy some of the difficult English writings
(D) Learning English for an Indian can be easier than learning Greek for an Englishman.

3. The foreigner discussed in the passage is

(A) an Arab (B) a Greek
(C) an Indian (D) an Englishman

4. Which of the following sentences best captures the main argument of the writer?
(A) Many Indians are capable of using English like any Englishman
(B) Learning English is as difficult as learning any other foreign language
(C) The importance of English education needs to be recognized by the supporters of
oriental learning
(D) An Indian can learn English in half the time taken by an Englishman to learn Greek

5. According to the author, it is easier for

(A) Indians to have a profound knowledge of Arabic literature and science than learn English
(B) Indians to learn Sanskrit than for Englishman to appreciate Greek literature
(C) foreigners to learn Indian language than for Indians to learn foreign languages

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 (D) Indians to appreciate English literature than for Englishmen to appreciate Greek
literature

Directions (6 10): Everyday new careers and professional opportunities emerge. No matter how
much each career option excites you, will have to prioritize and choose the best option for yourself.
Your personality, interests, abilities, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses will help you to decide
the most viable option for you. The following exercises are important for career planning, and
following these will ensure that you are on the right track.

Self-assessment: The entire process of career planning should be ideally done in conjunction with
your career counselor, so that you have professional help at every step. A trained career counselor
can help you identify a variety of professions in which you can excel. Remember to keep your list of
possible professions long, so that your confidence in yourself does not wane.

When I took my test, the long list of professions included being a florist, teacher, counselor, doctor
and sales executive. The very idea that I have an aptitude for several professions and not just to
be a doctor was very comforting. I thought to myself, When patients get tired of me I can always
be a salesman! Do not let anyone ever tell you that you are good for nothing. Each one of use has
several talents, and it is important to first identify them, and then work hard to develop them.

Self-analysis: Another important aspect of self-assessment is self-analysis or soul searching. We

are the best judge of our abilities, strengths and weaknesses. If you concentrate and decide to be
honest with yourself, self-analysis can help you understand your career options better.

Need for planning: If you ask adults around you whether they actually became what they had
wanted to become when they were young, chances are that very few of them actually became what
they had aspired towards in childhood. This may not essentially be a reflection of their failure but
an indication of change. Circumstances change, ideas change, and so do people. By the time you
grow up, you may end up working in professions that neither you nor your parents know about today.
Of course some of you may get to work in traditional professions and move along a well-planned
path. Whatever the consequence of your planning, the truth about making a plan is that it may not
work. But in the words of Henry C. Link, if you do make a plan, the chances of getting what you
want significantly increase.

But one thing is quite certain: only those of you who work hard at your studies, acquire new skills as
you move along in life, involve yourself in cultural/sports activities and attempt to plan your life will
be successful.

6. Career planning is an activity that requires

(A) analyzing ones personality, interests, abilities, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses
(B) working hard at your studies, acquiring new skills as you move along in life and involving
yourself in culture/sports activities
(C) following three important steps in consultation with ones career counselor, and making a
plan that may work.
(D) understanding and being aware of the fact that whatever the consequences of ones
planning the truth about asking a plan is that it may not work

7. This passage may be summarized as

(A) In career planning, it is important to involve oneself in cultural/sports activities as much
as working hard or acquiring new skills.
(B) Before making a career choice, one should learn to prioritize career options and use
ones personality, interests, abilities, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses to plan and
decide the most viable option.
(C) In choosing a career, it is important not to allow anyone to tell us that we are good for
nothing, because our personality, interests, abilities, aspirations, strengths and
weaknesses will help us decide the most viable career options for ourselves.

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 (D) A good career choice results when you follow traditional professions and move along a
well-planned path.

8. Selfanalysis is considered an important part of self-assessment because

(A) soul searching helps us to judge our abilities, honestly and helps us understand our
career options better.
(B) we are the best judge of our abilities, strengths and weaknesses and self-analysis will
enable others to analyze our abilities accurately.
(C) by the time we grow up, we may end up working in professions that neither we nor our
parents know about today.
(D) each one of us has career options, and it is important to first identify them, and then work
hard to attain them.

9. A trained career counselor can help us

(A) do self-analysis, so that we are honest with ourselves.
(B) decide whether to be a florist, teacher, counselor, doctor or sales executive, so that we
can be a salesman if we cannot be a doctor.
(C) identify our talents, because each one of us has several talents, and it is important to first
identify them, and then work hard to develop them.
(D) identify different professions that will help us use our abilities, because a trained
professional can help us prioritize an choose the option that is most viable for us.

10. An important point highlighted in the passage is that

(A) only a trained counselor can help you make the right career choice
(B) it is our abilities, strengths and weaknesses that help us succeed in our career.
(C) there is not much use of making a plan very few people get their plans fulfilled.
(D) many people do not get to pursue the career of their choice because circumstances,
ideas and people change.

Directions (11 15): If the fact of the fire did not immediately penetrate my consciousness, the
heat of the blast did and soon propelled me from my seat. All around me, there was a confusion of
upended tables, overturned chairs, bodies pitched toward the door of the dining room, and the
sounds of broken glass and crockery. Fortunately, the windows toward open by an enterprising
diner. I remember that I rolled sideways through one of these window frames and fell onto the snow
and was immediately aware that I should move aside to allow others to land as I had and it was in
that moment that my altruism was finally triggered.

I rose to my feet and began to assist those who had sustained cuts and bruises and broken bones,
or who had been mildly crushed in the chaos. The blaze lit up the escaped diners with a light greater
than any other that could be produced in the night, so that I was able to see clearly the dazed
expressions of those near to me. Many people were coughing and some were crying, and all looked
as though they had been struck by a blow to the head. A few men attempted heroes and tried to go
back into the hotel to save those who remained behind, and I think one student did actually rescue
an elderly woman who had succumbed to paralysis beside the buffet table; but generally there was
no thought of reentering the burning building once one had escaped. Indeed, so great was the heat
that we in the crowd had to move father and farther across the street until we all stood in the college
quadrangle, surrounded by bare oaks and elms and stately sycamores.

11. The passage describes

(A) the heat and smoke that was generated by the sudden fire.
(B) the effect of the blast on unsuspecting hotel guests
(C) the loss of crockery, glass and bodies in the accident
(D) the layout of the college quadrangle, surrounded by bare oaks ad elms and sycamores

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12. The dazed expression on peoples faces was caused by
(A) the blow to their heads
(B) the heat generated by the blast
(C) the suddenness and extent of damage caused by the impact of the blast
(D) the impact of broken glass and crockery being hurled around in the confusion

13. The words in the passage that suggest there was a blast include
(A) fire, heat, confusion, overturned and chaos
(B) blazed, dazed, heroic, succumbed and paralysis
(C) broken glass, cuts, bruises and sycamores
(D) rescue, quadrangle, altruism, triggered and heat

14. The blaze lit up the escaped diners with a light greater than any other that could be
produced in the night can be paraphrased as
(A) The fire set all the escaped diners ablaze.
(B) The light that set the escaped diners on fire was from a divine night fire.
(C) The night sky was lit by such brightness that one could see the blaze clearly.
(D) The fire burned in such a way that the writer could see the escaped diners clearly.

15. The word altruism here means

(A) the act of rolling across a window.
(B) a sudden movement triggered by a blast.
(C) selfless concern for the well being of others.
(D) the dazed feeling generated by an accident.

Directions (16 17): The following five sentences come from a paragraph. The first and the last
sentences are given. Choose the right order in which the three sentences (PQR) should appear to
complete the paragraph.

16. S1- A man who possesses a strong will and firm determination finds all difficulties solved.
S2-
S3-
S4-
S5- It is therefore, the man who labuors hard with a strong resolution and an unshaken will,
who achieves success and makes his fortune.
P. Such a man goes on working hard and even if he fails he is never downcast.
Q. In turn failures make him all the more determined and resolute and he persists in his task
till he attains the desired success.
R. To him there are a thousand ways open to steer clear of all dangers and difficulties.
Choose from the options given below:
(A) RPQ (B) PRQ
(C) QRP (D) PQR

17. S1 Film theory is an academic discipline that aims to explore the essence of cinema and
provides conceptual frameworks for understanding a films relationship to reality, other arts,
individual viewers, and society at large.
S2
S3
S4
S5 Film review, on the other hand, is the way in which critics assess a films overall quality
and determine whether or not they think the film is work recommending to viewers.
P Film theory incorporates various aspects of filmmaking, including analysis and review.
Q One way of analyzing films is by the shot-by-shot analysis, though that is typically used
only for small clips or scenes.
R Film analysis is the process of analyzing a film in terms of mise-en-scene,
cinematography, sound and editing.

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 Choose from the options given below:
(1) PQR (2) QRP
(3) PRQ (4) RQP

Directions (18-19): The following questions have the second sentence missing. Choose the
appropriate sentence from the given options to complete it

18. A. A few months ago I went to Princeton University to see what the young people who are
going to be running our country in a few decades are like.
B. ______________________________________________________________________
C. I went to sleep in my hotel room around midnight, and when I awoke, my mailbox was
full of replies sent at 1:15 a.m., 2:59 a.m., 3:23 a.m.

1. One senior told me that she went to bed around two and woke up each morning at
seven; she could afford that much rest because she had learned to supplement her full
day of work by studying in her sleep.
2. As she was falling asleep she would recite a math problem or a paper topic to herself;
she would then sometimes dream about it, and when she woke up, the problem might be
solved.
3. Faculty members gave me the names of a few dozen articulate students, and I sent them
e-mails, inviting them out to lunch or dinner in small groups.
4. Young people say up late replying to their emails and indulging in social networking.

19. A. We are usually inclined to look upon bad temper as a very harmless weakness.
B. ______________________________________________________________________
C. And yet all religious texts condemn it as one of the most destructive elements in human
nature.
(A) This shows that we lack judgement
(B) Often work pressure creates bad temper
(C) Bad temper harms human relationship
(D) We speak of it as mere infirmity of nature, perhaps a family failing

Directions (20-29): Fill in the blank with the most appropriate option from the given alternatives.

20. We are trying to _______ correct information and dispel wrong information that is being
circulated.
(A) raise (B) foster
(C) cultivate (D) disseminate

21. When we decided to move, my mother wanted a place with a _______ outside every window
to keep potted plants.
(A) balcony (B) ledge
(C) curtain (D) stained glass

22. While Dinesh can never acquire a choir boyish innocence, he has _______ and seems to
know that an entire nations sporting image stands on the teams sportsmanship.
(A) mellowed (B) discarded
(C) plummeted (D) flipped

23. The construction of identity (for both men and women) is _______ by culture, nationality,
class and historical differences.
(A) inferred (B) interlocked
(C) influenced (D) instigated

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24. While we believe that BMI is a standard in measuring the fat in our body, there is a growing
_______ among scientists that it may not be the best tool to do so.
(A) concord (B) consensus
(C) congruous (D) confluence

25. Under the new rule, the civic body can take _______ action against the violators by imposing
a fine.
(A) punitive (B) vindictive
(C) pejorative (D) diminutive

26. The SC has cautioned HCs against reversing the acquittal of an accused by the trial court
unless the judgement was _______ wrong.
(A) ostensibly (B) tangibly
(C) palpably (D) allegedly

27. From the rim of the excavation site, the archaeologist was unable to surmise exactly what
the _______ chamber might hold.
(A) terra firm (B) subterranean
(C) ground level (D) beneath

28. The heat was becoming unbearable as the temperature was rising. _______, the rains had
been delayed.
(A) However (B) Therefore
(C) Moreover (D) Nonetheless

29. Miles Davis, the jazz player, _______ supremely expressive, didnt have the range or
technique to play convincingly in the bebop style.
(A) moreover (B) though
(C) nevertheless (D) on the one hand

Directions (30 35): Select the meaning of the underlined phrases/idioms.

30. Its easy for you to splurge when you have your moms credit card, but remember after the
feast comes the reckoning.
(A) Trust is easy to break (B) Truth cant be hidden forever
(C) Every action has a consequence (D) Dont take your parents for granted

31. The distance between the towns is only 30 kms as the crow flies.
(A) when measured in a straight line
(B) when measured in a random manner
(C) when measured between the two highest points
(D) when the curves of the road are included in the measurement

32. I didnt want to go to the exhibition but Leena twisted my arm.

(A) forced me (B) teased me
(C) fought with me (D) discouraged me

33. In this age of super specialization, industrial engineers are in demand because they are the
only ones who can see the big picture.
(A) realistic view of something (B) complete view of something
(C) narrow view of something (D) accurate view of something

34. What is the matter with him? He is falling foul of his friends.
(A) betraying (B) quarrelling with
(C) losing touch with (D) being badly hurt by

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35. She gave me a cold shoulder when I went to see her.
(A) abused me (B) insulted me
(C) ignored me (D) scolded me

Directions (36 43): In the following passage there are some numbered blanks. Fill in the blanks
by selecting the most appropriate word for each blank from the given options.

Carnatic vocalist, playback singer and composer Mangalampalli Balamurali Krishna, who burst into
the music world as a child (36) _______, passed away on 22 November 2016. The (37) _______ of
Balamurali Krishna include a musical (38) _______ which showed up as his ability to (39) _______
and reproduce music heard just once, his ability to (40) _______ more than one musical instrument,
his ability to compose from the age of 15 and finally, his (41) _______ voice manifested as his ability
to utter clearly, pronounce faithfully and accent correctly the lyrical phrases along with the (42)
_______ of the underlying musical (43) _______ and microtones.

36. (A) spectacle (B) prodigy

(C) paragon (D) demigod

37. (A) talents (B) potentials

(C) capacities (D) advantages

38. (A) perception (B) smartness

(C) denseness (D) acumen

39. (A) recite (B) retain

(C) realize (D) repeat

40. (A) handle (B) work

(C) create (D) manoeuvre

41. (A) abled (B) gifted

(C) stunned (D) staggered

42. (A) signs (B) slots

(C) tokens (D) nuances

43. (A) notes (B) marks

(C) records (D) remarks

Directions (44 47): Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks from the given
alternatives.

44. Worries _______ all kinds of illness, from high blood pressure to stomachache.
(A) believe to have caused (B) are believed to be caused
(C) are believed to cause (D) believed to be caused

45. I _______ all the books on the reading list before I attended the lecture.
(A) had read (B) have read
(C) would have read (D) would read

46. Bala Chandra _______ school before. The desire to become a famous movelist led him to
attend the adult literacy classes.
(A) never attends (B) was never attentive
(C) had never attended (D) will be attending

47. I set the alarm for 6.30 in the morning _______ I wouldnt miss the train.

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 (A) in case (B) unless
(C) until (D) so that

Directions (48 50): Select the word which means the opposite of the underlined word.

48. The activities of the cine club will conclude early next year owing to the volume of work that
has kept its members occupied.
(A) continue (B) commence
(C) comprehend (D) conduct

49. The town is unique in its appearance.

(A) picturesque (B) singular
(C) drab (D) typical

50. Mr. Prakash was candid at a history TV promotional in Mumbai recently.

(A) fickle (B) forthright
(C) unapologetic (D) guarded

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