Choose the correct one word - 'A group of three powerful people.'

The synonym of 'grotesque' is

Directions : Read the following passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives. 

For months the old tanker, African Queen , lay turned over on her side, stuck fast in the sands off the coast of Maryland. She had run aground so badly that her owners had decided to leave her to her fate. It was considered impossible to refloat her and the ship began to rust and sink deeper and deeper into the sands. Men frequently came out in small boats and removed any parts that could be sold-until two men decided to attempt the impossible : to float the African Queen once more. Both men were engineers and had no experience of ships so that few people thought they could succeed. 

The men began by studying the exact state of the African Queen and came to the conclusion that she would float again if air was pumped into the tanks which were now full of sea-water. A diver was sent down to examine the underside of the ship. In the cold, dark water he found an enormous hole in her side which had been torn when the ship ran aground. It was plain that nothing could be done until the hole was repaired. As no single sheet of steel would cover it, the men were obliged to order a great number of sheets which had to be joined together. For several weeks divers worked continually to close the hole. At times, the sea was so rough that it was difficult to go down; and on more than one occasion, they had to contend with sharks. 

At last the hole was covered and the men began to pump the sea-water out of the ship’s tanks. It seemed as if they were bound to succeed, for when the tanks were full of air, the African Queen began to stir in the water. The men could not understand why she still would not float until they discovered that her rudder was embedded in mud. Huge cranes were brought to haul the sunken rudder out and the ship was again afloat. By this time, the men were almost exhausted. They had worked ceaselessly for three months to save the African Queen and had succeeded when everyone thought they would fail. Now they stood on the bridge of the ship, tired but proud, as tugs brought the African Queen into the harbour. 

The two men felt proud because  

In the following passage some words have been deleted. Fill in the blanks with the help of the alternatives given. Select the most appropriate option for each blank.

The Ashoka pillars are a series of columns (1)_____ in northern India by King Ashoka (2)______ his reign in the 3rd century BCE. (3)_____ pillars are inscribed with edicts by the Mauryan king. At an average (4)______ 50 feet in height and weighing up to 50 tons each, (5)______19 pillars survive today.

Select the most appropriate option for blank No. 1.

Choose the correctly spelt word.

Select the most appropriate option to substitute the underline segment in the given sentence.

A dishonest employee plays fast with his boss.

In these questions, four words are given out of which only one is right. Find the right word.

In the following passage some words have been deleted. Fill in the blanks with the help of the alternatives given. Select the most appropriate option for each number.

Antarctica is perhaps the one place on Earth no one would have expected (1)______ canyons. And yet, scientists were surprised to (2)______ deep crevices that run for hundreds of kilometres. (3)______ they are not visible at the snowy surface, (4)______ trenches cut deep into Antarctica. The biggest (5)______ canyon is over 350 km long. It’s called ‘Foundation Trough’. Other canyons are not as long, but they are impressive too. These canyons were found with the help of radars after scanning the wide expanse of the frozen continent. They are incredibly important because they help control the flow of the ice.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in the blank No. 5.