Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.
The peacock, which happens to be our national bird, is regarded a good omen. It is also considered to be vain because of its habit to draw attention to itself. Different religions see the peacock as a symbol in varied ways. In Christianity, it represents all -seeing God and is often used as a symbol of immortality. The Chinese believed that a glance from the bird could impregnate a woman. According to Hinduism, Saraswati – the Goddess of knowledge and wisdom – rides a peacock and when God Indra transformed himself into an animal, he chose to be a peacock. In Buddhism, the peacock symbolizes purity, and their feathers are used for purification ceremonies.

The Hindu Goddess used the peacock as

Direction:  In the following passage, there are blanks each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each five groups of words have been suggested, one of which fills the blanks appropriately.

Saudi Arabia has allowed women into the national stadium for the first time as it launched celebrations to mark the 87th anniversary (1) with an unprecedented array of concerts and performances. The events are part of the government’s Vision 2030 reform program launched two years ago to (2) away from oil, create new sectors to employ young citizens and open up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles. However, in a country (3) Wahhabi brand of Sunni Islam, which bans gender mixing, concerts, and cinemas, the plan’s seemingly anodyne goals to empower women, promote sports and invest in entertainment (4). They have stepped up national day celebrations that were previously attacked by clerics as (5), and are promoting heritage sites, such as Nabatean rock temples, once seen as embarrassing in the land of Islam.                                                                                                      

Choose the correct answer from the given options to fill the blank 3.

Identify the segment in the sentence which contains the grammatical error.

She said that it was 4 o’clock on her watch when she entered.

Direction: In the question a sentence has been given in Direct/Indirect. Out of the four alternatives suggested, select the one which best expresses the same sentence in Indirect/Direct and mark your answer in the Answer Sheet.

I asked him where he would stay. 

Read the passage carefully and fill in the blank.
Happy is the man who... (151) ..... the habit of reading when he is young. He has secured a life-long source of.... (152) instruction and inspiration. So long as he has his beloved books he need .... (153).. feel lonely. He always has a pleas- ant .... (154) ... of leisure moments. He is the…(155)… of wealth more precious than gold .... (156).. indeed is the man who does not read and ... (157)... is his life..(158)…gives  the highest kind of pleasure. When we are….(159). …it is a healthy recreation to lose .... (160) .. .in the company of books.

Mark the answer (158).

Directions: In the following questions, some of the sentences have errors and some have none. Find out which part of a sentence has an error. The number of that part is your answer. Your answer is (D) i.e. No error.

 (A) Outright rejection/(B) of my plea /(C) disappointed me/(D) No error.

Direction: In the following questions, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which best expresses the meaning of the given word as your answer.

IMPROVEMENT

Select the most appropriate synonym of the given word.
 Bafflement