Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our civilization is decadent and our language-so the argument runs-must inevitably share in the general collapse. It follows that any struggle against the abuse of language is a sentimental archaism, like preferring candles to electric light or hansom cabs to aeroplanes. Underneath this lies the half-conscious belief that language is natural growth and not an instrument which we shape for our own purposes. 
Now it is clear that the decline of a language must ultimately have political and economic causes it is not due simply to the bad influence of this or that individual writer. But an effect can become a cause, reinforcing the original cause and producing the same effect in an intensified form, and so on indefinitely. A man may take to drink because he feels himself to be a failure, and then fail all the more completely because he drinks. It is rather the same thing that is happening to the English language. It becomes ugly and inaccurate because our thoughts are foolish, but the slovenliness of our language makes it easier for us to have foolish thoughts. The point is that the process is reversible. Modern English, especially written English, is full of bad habits which spread by imitation and which can be avoided if one is willing to take the necessary trouble. If one gets rid of these habits, one can think more clearly, and to think clearly is a necessary first step towards political regeneration: so that the fight against bad English is not frivolous and is not the exclusive concern of professional writers.. 

The author believes that –

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

He made the children work hard.

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 and mark your answer corresponding to the appropriate letter (A, B, C). If there is no error, mark your answer corresponding to (D) in the Answer Sheet. 

Selling match boxes on the road (A)/ is the only means of earning (B)/ in respect of most of the people (C)/ No error. (D) 

What, one wonders, is the lowest common denominator of Indian culture today? The attractive Hema Malini ? The songs of Vinidh Barati? The attractive Hema Malini? The sons of Vinidh Barati? .
Or the mouth-watering Masala Dosa? Delectable as these may be, each yield pride of place to that false (?) symbol of a new era-the synthetic fibre. In less than twenty years the nylon sari and the terylene shirt have swept the countryside, penetrated to the farthest corners of the land and persuaded every common man, woman and child that the key to success in the present day world lie in artificial fibers: glass nylon, crepe nylon, tery mixes, polyesters and what have you. More than the bicycles, the wristwatch or the transistor radio, synthetic clothes have come to represent the first step away form the village square. The village lass treasures the flashy nylon sari in her trousseau most delay; the village youth gets a great kick out of his cheap terrycot shirt and trousers, the nearest he can approximate to the expensive synthetic sported by his wealthy citybred contemporaries. And the Neo-rich craze for ‘phoren’ is nowhere more apparent than in the price that people will pay for smuggled, stolen, begged borrowed second hand or thrown away synthetics. Alas, even the uniformity of nylon.

The tern ‘Neo-rich’ means –

Directions: In the passage given below there are blanks, each followed by a word given in the brackets. Every blank has five alternative words given in options. Find the word which best suits the respective blank. If the given word suits the blank, mark 'no correction required' as the answer.

The widespread consternation over the rupee hitting a 27-month low against the dollar is unwarranted, for the Indian currency has been among the better (Q11) [hiking] currencies over the last couple of years. While other (Q12) [trickling] market currencies.  such as the Russian rouble and the Brazilian real are down more than 20 per cent this year, the rupee is lower by just 6 per cent. This follows a strong performance in 2014, when the Indian currency lost just 1.2 per cent against the greenback. It is obvious that the rupee is in a sweet spot (Q13) [peculiar] to its emerging market peers, which have been hit hard by the (Q14) [ascent] in commodity prices. India, on the other hand, has benefited from this fall. The crash in crude prices combined with the checks on gold imports have helped (Q15) [recede] the current account deficit to just 1.27 per cent of GDP. Strong foreign inflows — from both portfolio and direct investments — have pushed India’s forex reserves to $351 billion; we are among the few countries that have (Q16) [considered] to increase forex reserves since the middle of last year. These reserves provide the Indian central bank with (Q17) [ammunition] to protect the rupee from short-term volatility that may arise once the Federal Reserve goes through with its long-anticipated rate hike. Since the Fed has given financial markets sufficient time to (Q18) [discern] the move, a 25 basis points move is not likely to cause too much turbulence. True, some short-term money will flow out of the equity markets; foreign portfolio investors have (Q19) [turned] net sellers since November. But long-term investors are likely to stay put due to the better growth (Q20) [contrariety] of Indian companies. The superior real yield, falling inflation and a stable rupee also make a strong case for staying invested in Indian debt instruments.   

Choose the correct answer from the given options to fill the blanks which are numbered.

We waste much time on trifles. 

Directions: Which of the phrases (A), (B), (C) and (D) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold type to make the sentence grammatically correct. If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (E), i.e., 'No correction required' as the answer.    

We went to the famous restaurant to eat and were served piped hot food.

Direction: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words / phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions

Princess Chandravati was very beautiful. She loved all kinds of ornaments and always wanted to wear the most precious and lovely jewels. Once, a jeweler came to the palace and gifted the King a wonderful diamond necklace. It glittered with big and small diamonds. It was certainly a very expensive necklace. The princess fell in love with it as soon as she saw it. So, the king presented it to her.
 From that day on, the princess always wore that necklace, wherever she went. One day before, going for a swim in the pond, she took the necklace off and put in the hands of her oldest and the most trustworthy servant. "Hold this and be careful. This is the most precious necklace in the whole world, " she said. The Servant was an old woman. She sat under tree, holding the ornament tightly and waited for the princess. It was a hot afternoon and the servant was very tired so she dozed off under the tree. Suddenly the servant felt that someone was tugging at the necklace and she woke up with a start. She looked around but it no one was there and the necklace was gone. Scared out of her wits, the old servant started screaming. On hearing her scream the royal guards rushed to her. She pointed towards the direction in which the thief may have gone and the guards ran off that way.
 There was a poor and dim-witted farmer walking on the same road. As soon as he saw the royal guards running towards him, he thought that they wanted to catch him and started running. But he was not a strong man and could not outrun the hefty guards. The royal guards caught him in no time. “Where is it? " they demanded. shaking him. “Where is what? " the poor farmer stammered back. The necklace you stole!" thundered one of the royal guards. The farmer had no idea what they were talking about. He only understood that some precious necklace was lost and he was supposed to have it. He quickly replied, " I don't know where it is now. I gave it to my landlord.”

The guards ran towards the landlord 's house. "Give us the necklace right now ! " the guards demanded of the at landlord. "Necklace? I don’t have any!" the stunned landlord replied. Then tell us quickly who “does demanded the soldiers. In order to get the royal guards off his back, the landlord pointed towards a priest who was walking by his house and said, "He does." The guards now caught hold of the priest who was walking towards the temple and thinking about the lunch he had just eaten. The priest was stunned when one of the burly guards jumped on him and asked about the necklace. He remembered that the minister, Bhupathi, was at the temple. He took the guards to the temple and pointed towards the praying minister, “I gave it to him, "he said. Bhupati too was caught and all four men were thrown in jail. The Chief Minister of the kingdom knew Bhupati well and was sure that Bhupati would never steal. He decided to find out who the culprit was. He hid near the jail where all four men were put and heard them talking First, Bhupati asked the priest, “Panditji, why did you say that you gave the necklace to me? I was quietly praying at the temple and now you have landed me in jail for no fault of mine.” The priest looked apologetic. He pointed towards the landlord and said, " I didn’t know what to say. He set the " guards on me. I was simply passing by his house and was on my way to the temple." The landlord looked at the priest sheepishly. Then he turned towards the poor farmer and yelled. “You lazy good-for-nothing man! Why did you say that I had the necklace? " The farmer, trembling under the angry gaze of all three men, said, " I was just walking home. The guards caught me and I did not know what to say." On hearing, this conversation, he Chief Minister understood that all the four men were innocent. He immediately ordered the royal guards to search thoroughly, near the pond. The guards searched high and low till they saw something clinging the tree. On the tree sat a monkey with the princess’ favorite necklace around his neck. It took a lot of coxing and bananas before the monkey threw the necklace on the ground. The’ king apologized to at the four men and gave them gold coins as compensation. He requested his daughter to wear the necklace only indoors.

Directions :  Choose the of words which is most similar in the meaning to the word / group of words printed in bold is used in the passage.
Tugging