English Language for CTET & State TET Exams Exams

Question 1

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

The main purpose of the author in the above passage is to

Question 2

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

The first piece of the development puzzle, according to the author, is

Question 3

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

Mahatma Gandhi proved that only leadership by example can

Question 4

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

The expression ‘walking the talk’ means

Question 5

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

The colonial mindset of ‘dark elite in white masks’ with reference to the passage is

Question 6

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

Extolling ‘the virtues of poverty while living in luxury’ is an instance of

Question 7

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

‘I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.’
The underlined part of this sentence is a/an

Question 8

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

Pick out a word or phrase from the second paragraph of the passage that means the same as ‘to make (something) go slower’.

Question 9

Directions : Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
1) Max Weber laid the foundation for my belief that decent and hard-working people with high aspirations make great nations, no matter what the odds are. This was the first piece of the development puzzle for me. Mahatma Gandhi opened my eyes to the importance of good leadership in raising the aspirations of people, making them accept sacrifices to achieve a grand vision, and most importantly, in converting that vision into reality. He unleashed the most powerful instrument for gaining trust –leadership by example. He ate, dressed, travelled and lived like the poor. Walking the talk was extremely important to the Mahatma who understood the pulse of our people like no other Indian leader. The biggest lesson for me from Gandhi’s book and life is the importance of leading by example. I realized fairly early that this was the second piece of the development puzzle.
2) Frantz Fanon’s book on the colonizer mindset of elites in a post-colonial society opened my eyes to the role of the bureaucracy and the elite in decelerating the progress of the poor and the disenfranchised. The colonial mindset of the ‘dark elite in white masks’ in a post-colonial society – the mindset that the ruled and the ruler shave different sets of rights and responsibilities with a huge asymmetry in favour of the rulers — was indeed the third piece of the development puzzle. I see this attitude of the Indian elite every day in how they send their children to English medium schools while forcing the children of the poor into vernacular schools, extol the virtues of poverty while living in luxury, and glorify the rural life while they sit comfortably in cities.
Source : ‘A Better India, A Better World’ –
N.R. Narayana Murthy (Adapted)

‘Development’ is a noun with ‘-ment’ as a suffix. Which of the following will become a noun if we add the suffix ‘-ment’ to it ?

Question 10

Direction: Read the poem given below and answer the question that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

On A Tired Housewife
Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired:
Her last words on earth were: ‘Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never,
I am going to do nothing forever and ever.’
Anonymous

The woman described in the poem

Question 11

Direction: Read the poem given below and answer the question that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

On A Tired Housewife
Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired:
Her last words on earth were: ‘Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never,
I am going to do nothing forever and ever.’
Anonymous

The woman was always tired because

Question 12

Direction: Read the poem given below and answer the question that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

On A Tired Housewife
Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired:
Her last words on earth were: ‘Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never,
I am going to do nothing forever and ever.’
Anonymous

The woman wanted to go to a place where

Question 13

Direction: Read the poem given below and answer the question that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

On A Tired Housewife
Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired:
Her last words on earth were: ‘Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never,
I am going to do nothing forever and ever.’
Anonymous

The woman’s account in the poem shows

Question 14

Direction: Read the poem given below and answer the question that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

On A Tired Housewife
Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired:
Her last words on earth were: ‘Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never,
I am going to do nothing forever and ever.’
Anonymous

‘For everything there is exact to my wishes,’ In this line, the word ‘exact’ can be interpreted to mean

Question 15

Direction: Read the poem given below and answer the question that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.

On A Tired Housewife
Here lies a poor woman who was always tired,
She lived in a house where help wasn’t hired:
Her last words on earth were: ‘Dear friends, I am going
To where there’s no cooking, or washing, or sewing,
For everything there is exact to my wishes,
For where they don’t eat there’s no washing of dishes.
I’ll be where loud anthems will always be ringing,
But having no voice I’ll be quit of the singing.
Don’t mourn for me now, don’t mourn for me never,
I am going to do nothing forever and ever.’
Anonymous

The rhyme pattern in the poem is

Question 16

Directions: Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Mother Nature
Our world is always changing,
Constantly re-arranging.
From ocean depths to mountain peaks,
Mother Nature moves and speaks.
While telling stories of our past
She tries to teach us how to last.
Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind
Leaves common sense far behind.
We're moving fast and living large,
Forgetting she's the one in charge.
Amazed when she rings our bell,
Sending us through living hell.
She can twist our steel, shake any city,
If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
Yet some who speak on her behalf,
I fear just seek the golden calf.
It's true, we must treat her right.
Or we will incur a deadly plight.
Treat her with distinction
Or surely face extinction !
Edith A. Phinazee

'If her wrath you feel'. Here 'wrath' means

Question 17

Directions: Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Mother Nature
Our world is always changing,
Constantly re-arranging.
From ocean depths to mountain peaks,
Mother Nature moves and speaks.
While telling stories of our past
She tries to teach us how to last.
Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind
Leaves common sense far behind.
We're moving fast and living large,
Forgetting she's the one in charge.
Amazed when she rings our bell,
Sending us through living hell.
She can twist our steel, shake any city,
If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
Yet some who speak on her behalf,
I fear just seek the golden calf.
It's true, we must treat her right.
Or we will incur a deadly plight.
Treat her with distinction
Or surely face extinction !
Edith A. Phinazee

When she 'rings our bell' it is nature's way of

Question 18

Directions: Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Mother Nature
Our world is always changing,
Constantly re-arranging.
From ocean depths to mountain peaks,
Mother Nature moves and speaks.
While telling stories of our past
She tries to teach us how to last.
Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind
Leaves common sense far behind.
We're moving fast and living large,
Forgetting she's the one in charge.
Amazed when she rings our bell,
Sending us through living hell.
She can twist our steel, shake any city,
If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
Yet some who speak on her behalf,
I fear just seek the golden calf.
It's true, we must treat her right.
Or we will incur a deadly plight.
Treat her with distinction
Or surely face extinction !
Edith A. Phinazee

'I fear just seek the golden calf means Mankind's

Question 19

Directions: Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Mother Nature
Our world is always changing,
Constantly re-arranging.
From ocean depths to mountain peaks,
Mother Nature moves and speaks.
While telling stories of our past
She tries to teach us how to last.
Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind
Leaves common sense far behind.
We're moving fast and living large,
Forgetting she's the one in charge.
Amazed when she rings our bell,
Sending us through living hell.
She can twist our steel, shake any city,
If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
Yet some who speak on her behalf,
I fear just seek the golden calf.
It's true, we must treat her right.
Or we will incur a deadly plight.
Treat her with distinction
Or surely face extinction !
Edith A. Phinazee

'Rhyme-Time Riddles' where the question is a riddle and the answer is a rhyme, is an activity where students practice and study the

Question 20

Directions: Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Mother Nature
Our world is always changing,
Constantly re-arranging.
From ocean depths to mountain peaks,
Mother Nature moves and speaks.
While telling stories of our past
She tries to teach us how to last.
Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind
Leaves common sense far behind.
We're moving fast and living large,
Forgetting she's the one in charge.
Amazed when she rings our bell,
Sending us through living hell.
She can twist our steel, shake any city,
If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
Yet some who speak on her behalf,
I fear just seek the golden calf.
It's true, we must treat her right.
Or we will incur a deadly plight.
Treat her with distinction
Or surely face extinction !
Edith A. Phinazee

The poetic device used in the line 'Mother Nature moves and speaks' is

Question 21

Directions: Read the given poem and answer the questions that follow by selecting the most appropriate option.
Mother Nature
Our world is always changing,
Constantly re-arranging.
From ocean depths to mountain peaks,
Mother Nature moves and speaks.
While telling stories of our past
She tries to teach us how to last.
Mankind, so smart, sometimes blind
Leaves common sense far behind.
We're moving fast and living large,
Forgetting she's the one in charge.
Amazed when she rings our bell,
Sending us through living hell.
She can twist our steel, shake any city,
If her wrath you feel, we shall pity.
Yet some who speak on her behalf,
I fear just seek the golden calf.
It's true, we must treat her right.
Or we will incur a deadly plight.
Treat her with distinction
Or surely face extinction !
Edith A. Phinazee

The line 'Moving fast and living large' means that

Question 22

'To live a life half-dead, a living death' is a statement using a literary device called

Question 23