MIZORAM SUBORDINATE SERVICES SELECTION BOARD

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUITMENT TO THE

POST OF TUTOR UNDER HEALTH & FAMILY WELFARE
DEPARTMENT, GOVERNMENT OF MIZORAM
JUNE - 2023
Question Booklet Series

GENERAL ENGLISH
A
Time Allowed : 3 Hours Maximum Marks : 100

INSTRUCTIONS

1. This paper is divided into two sections. Section A consists of four (4) essay type questions
while Section B consists of fifty (50) multiple-choice type of questions.
2. Immediately after the commencement of the examination, you should check that this
question booklet does not have any unprinted or missing pages or items, etc. If so, get it
replaced by a complete booklet from the invigilator.
3. Please note that it is the candidate’s responsibility to fill in all necessary details such as
Roll Number, etc. and the Question Booklet Series A, B, C or D carefully and without any
ommission or discrepancy at the appropriate places in the OMR Answer Sheet. Any
ommission/discrepancy will render the Answer Sheet liable for rejection.
4. You have to write your answer for Section A only on the separate Answer Sheet provided.
5. Each of the multiple-choice type question under Section B comprises four responses
(answers). You will select the response which you want to mark on the Answer Sheet. In
case you feel that there is more than one correct response, mark the response which you
consider the best. In any case, choose ONLY ONE response for each item.
6. You have to mark your responses for Section B only on the separate OMR Answer Sheet
provided. Read instructions given in the OMR sheet carefully.
7. All questions under Section B carry equal marks.
8. Rough work is to be done in the spaces available in the question booklet.
9. You have to submit your Answer Sheet to the invigilators at the end of the examination
compulsorily and must not carry it with you outside the Examination Hall. You are
permitted to take away with you the question booklet on conclusion of examination.
10. There are no negative marks for incorrect answer.
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SECTION – A
(50 marks)
This Section should be answered only on the Answer Sheet provided.

1. Write an essay on any one of the following topics in not more than 300 words. (20)
(a) Significance of leadership and team spirit in healthcare
(b) Mizoram and its health infrastructure

2. Write a precis of the following passage and give a suitable title. (10)

Trees give shade for the benefit of others, and while they themselves stand in the sun
and endure the scorching heat, they produce the fruit of which others profit. The character of
good men is like that of trees. What is the use of this perishable body if no use is made of it for
the benefit of mankind? Sandalwood, the more it is rubbed, the more scent does it yield.
Sugarcane, the more it is peeled and cut up into pieces, the more juice does it produce. The
men who are noble at heart do not lose their qualities even in losing their lives. What matters
whether men praise them or not? What difference does it make whether they die at this moment
or whether lives are prolonged? Happen what may, those who tread in the right path will not set
foot in any other. Life itself is unprofitable to a man who does not live for others. To live for
the mere sake of living one’s life is to live the life of dog and crows. Those who lay down their
lives for the sake of others will assuredly dwell forever in a world of bliss.

3. Write a complaint letter to the municipal corporation informing about the ruthless
and excessive cutting of trees in your area by the municipality. (10)

4. Expand the given passage in about 100 -150 words. (10)

“You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are
dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.”
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SECTION – B
(50 marks)
This Section should be answered only on the OMR Answer Sheet provided.

Directions (Questions 1-5): Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions
that follow.
Culture is the cultivation of a plant or garden, not the eradication of its roots, it is an
understanding of the roots and seeds, their patient care and instructed nourishment. Culture is
not knowledge, nor it is art, still less is its acquaintance with literature and art. By culture I
mean first of all what the anthropologists mean; the way of life of a particular people living
together in one place. That culture is made visible in their arts, in their social system, in their
habits and customs, in their religion. It is an aggregate of customs, institutions, manners,
standards, tastes, morals and beliefs. Now these are transmitted rather by the family than by
the school, hence when family fails to play its part, we must expect our culture to deteriorate.
It is a delusion to think that the maladies of the modern world can be put right by a
system of instruction. On the contrary, universal education by lowering standards, morals and
tastes to a common denominator, and by sharpening the wits rather than disciplining the character
tends to break down existing checks and balances. Education should be the drawing forth of
potential values; it should not be the destruction of safeguards that tradition places around
young egos naturally inclined to wilful and precarious flights.
1. In the passage, what trait is not included in the word ‘culture’?
(A) The cultivation of plant or garden (B) Literature and art
(C) The way of life of a particular people (D) Potential values

2. According to the passage, the maladies of the modern world can be resolved
(A) by drawing forth of potential values
(B) if the school play its part right
(C) through universal education and inculcating culture
(D) by adopting the modern system of instruction

3. ‘Common denominator’ in the passage means

(A) societies or individuals of all classes and status
(B) a common characteristic or attitude shared by people
(C) common cultural values to be transmitted to the future generation
(D) the equal number of parts something is divided into

4. What would be the penalties if only the ‘wits’ are polished?

(A) Character of individuals will break down
(B) Balance and separation of power will be thwarted
(C) Potential values will be usurped
(D) Obliteration of traditions and customs

5. The passage opines that young minds naturally have the tendency to
(A) be determined to do what their peer wants
(B) withdraw their potential values
(C) precariously control situations
(D) make drastic uncertain decisions
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Directions (Questions 6-15): Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning
of the idioms and phrases given in italics.

6. These precious gems are of the first water and found only in the Congo.
(A) of the best quality (B) found in the purest water
(C) found only in a certain place (D) difficult to procure

7. For his alleged involvement in espionage, he is under a cloud these days.

(A) experiencing cloudy weather (B) enjoying favourable luck
(C) under stress (D) under suspicion

8. We shouldn’t look down upon the wretched of the earth.

(A) sympathise with (B) hate intensely
(C) be indifferent to (D) regard with contempt

9. The working of the factory was disrupted on account of a token strike by the workers.
(A) total strike (B) carefully planned strike
(C) short strike held as a warning (D) sudden call or strike

10. Those who work by fits and starts seldom show good results.
(A) rarely (B) disinterestedly
(C) irregularly (D) regularly

11. The sisters packed their belongings to leave for the port ready to batten down the
hatches.
(A) leave without anyone’s notice (B) prepare to travel far and wide
(C) prepare for a difficult situation (D) to start a new job in a far-off place

12. I’ve learnt that Jeffrey’s actions were as daft as a bush.

(A) extremely sinister (B) extremely silly
(C) extremely hilarious (D) extremely tricky

13. Fuel these days costs an arm and a leg.

(A) something hard to get (B) something expensive
(C) something precious (D) something rare

14. I’m really feeling under the weather today; I have a terrible cold.
(A) feeling nauseous (B) feeling lonely
(C) feeling unwell (D) feeling nostalgic

15. Nora has been in the garden since morning buried in a brown study.
(A) desolation (B) reverie
(C) slumber (D) nostalgia
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Directions (Questions 16-18): Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blanks.

16. _________ nations have an obligation to help their neighbours as they are rich.
(A) Affective (B) Affluent
(C) Affray (D) Assertive

17. Will you take my previous service into ________ while fixing my salary.
(A) mind (B) account
(C) importance (D) quantity

18. The passengers were afraid but the captain ________ them that there was no danger.
(A) promised (B) advised
(C) assured (D) counselled

Directions (Questions 19-21): Complete the conversation with the correct forms of the
verbs given in brackets.

Stella : How is the painting going? (19) _______? (you/finish)

Luke : No, I haven’t. Painting the ceiling is very difficult, you know. (20) ______ (I/not/do)
very much. And it looks just the same as before. This new paint (21) ______ (not/make) any
difference.

19. (A) Have you finished? (B) Has you finished?

(C) Did you finished? (D) Having finished yet?

20. (A) I haven’t did (B) I haven’t done

(C) I did not do (D) I didn’t do

21. (A) hadn’t made (B) have not made

(C) didn’t make (D) hasn’t made

Directions (Questions 22-27): Choose the correct meaning of the given idioms and
phrases.

22. Wear the green willow

(A) grief for lost or unrequited love (B) a tragic or a heart-breaking situation
(C) immeasurable gloom (D) catastrophic or calamitous event

23. To be out of sorts

(A) to be intoxicated (B) to be happy
(C) to be unwell (D) to be confused

24. Right and left

(A) both left and right (B) to go left and then right
(C) in all directions (D) to right and then left
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25. Queer fish
(A) a weird looking fish
(B) a person whose behaviour is strange
(C) a person who is a failure
(D) a person who quarrels all the time

26. Milk and water

(A) lacking the will or ability to act effectively
(B) feeling lazy to do anything
(C) lacking the will or ability to think
(D) contented with a meagre salary

27. see eye to eye

(A) to unintentionally meet eye to eye
(B) signalling someone not to do some thing
(C) agreeing with someone
(D) to gaze at someone

Directions (Questions 28-32): Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions
that follow.
All her work, her life, everything is about survival. Angelou’s works seem to say ‘You
must encounter many defeats, but you must never be defeated’. In fact, the encountering might
be the very experience which creates the vitality and the power to endure. Focusing on
connection rather than separation, transforming silence into speech, giving back power to the
culturally disenfranchised, African-American women like Angelou and other writers affirmed
the wholeness and endurance of a vision that, once articulated, can be shared. The need to
‘move on’ is essential, so as to have both voiced identity rooted in a strong sense of the past,
and to use it in the context of the world in which there are still many changes to be made. As
Catherine Clinton had written, ‘the power of memory must draw us out of the novel and other
cultural forms and into the archives. Erasure and silence would not defeat us if we
remember- this is a story to pass on’.

28. ‘her’ in the passage refers to

(A) Catherine Clinton (B) African-American women
(C) Angelou (D) Culturally disfranchised women

29. What is meant by ‘the encountering’ in the passage?

(A) The people who make life difficult for the author
(B) The hurdles and discrimination faced by the author
(C) The poverty and destitution of the author
(D) The socio-political environment of the author

30. What is meant by ‘other cultural forms’?

(A) traditions, paintings, written works, music, poetry and other form of art
(B) memoirs, autobiographical and biographical form of art involving memory
(C) different cultural and ethnicity of the various tribes of African origin
(D) blending of both African and American culture and traditions
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31. What is meant by ‘voiced identity’ in the passage?
(A) The author felt the African-Americans need to rally against their oppressors
(B) The author felt the African-Americans need to voice their opinion to co-exist
in the ethno-racial society
(C) The author felt the African-Americans need to preserve their experiences
through various forms
(D) The author felt the African-Americans need to endure, resurgent and retaliate
to survive

32. The passage is about

(A) the wholeness and endurance of the African-American vision represented in
the written form
(B) an attempt for reformation of the world where many changes need to be made
(C) survival and moving on in a world where the African-Americans are silenced
(D) reconstructing memory in various cultural forms to strengthen and connect
the African-Americans

Directions (Questions 33-34): Choose the correct figure of speech from the alternatives.

33. She accepted it as the kind cruelty of the surgeon’s knife.

(A) Litotes (B) Euphemism
(C) Pun (D) Oxymoron

34. The man is no fool.

(A) Litotes (B) Transferred Epithet
(C) Pun (D) Oxymoron

Directions (Questions 35-39): Choose the correct meaning.

35. Stratocracy
(A) Government by a few powerful people
(B) Government by military class
(C) Government by the nobles
(D) Government by two agencies

36. Grandiloquent
(A) Few words packed with meaning
(B) Expressive in the use of words
(C) High sounding pompous speech or writing
(D) An ostentatious speech to oneself

37. Biennial
(A) That which happens every year
(B) That which happens every three years
(C) That which happens every two months
(D) That which happens after every two years
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38. Misnomer
(A) Using a word that is inappropriate (B) An inappropriate behaviour
(C) Luring to misguide (D) Misadvising someone

39. Oneirophile
(A) Obsession of power (B) Obsession of gold
(C) Obsession of gifts (D) Obsession of dreams

Directions (Questions 40-44): Fill in the blanks with the correct preposition.

40. He pushed me _______ the swimming pool.

(A) into (B) onto
(C) inside (D) under

41. I went _______ the chemist’s just now, but I didn’t notice if it was open.
(A) past (B) through
(C) in (D) over

42. David hurt himself. He fell _______ his bike.

(A) from (B) off
(C) over (D) on

43. Pompeii is quite _______ Sorrento. It’s only a short train ride.
(A) near (B) far
(C) close (D) far off

44. There’s such a crowd. You won’t find your friend _______ all these people.
(A) amongst (B) among
(C) from (D) near

Directions (Questions 45-50): Identify the part of speech of the underlined words.

45. Little is known about Kima’s early life and works.

(A) Distributive pronoun (B) Absolute adjective
(C) Apposite adjective (D) Indefinite pronoun

46. The elephant has great strength.

(A) Common noun (B) Collective noun
(C) Proper noun (D) Indefinite noun

47. He claimed his half share of the family land.

(A) Adjective of numbers (B) Absolute adjective
(C) Apposite adjective (D) Adjective of quantity
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48. There was no choice but to unwillingly give up.
(A) Adverb of reason (B) Adverb of affirmation
(C) Adverb of manner (D) Adverb of quantity

49. The class is studying Zorami’s theatrical play.

(A) Common noun (B) Collective noun
(C) Proper noun (D) Indefinite noun

50. Zuala will go whether his friend comes to pick him up or not
(A) Correlative Conjunction (B) Sub-ordinate conjunction
(C) Co-ordinate conjunction (D) Conjunctive adverb