Direction: In questions four alternatives are given for the Idiom/Phrase underlined in the sentence. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase and mark it is the Answer Sheet.

To strain every nerve 

Directions: In question four alternatives are given for the Idiom/Phrase underlined in the sentences. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the Idiom/Phrase and mark it is the Answer Sheet.

Vanish into thin air

Directions : In these questions , a part of the sentence is given in bold . Below are given alternatives to the bold part at (A) , (B) and (C) which may improve the sentence . Choose the correct alternative . In case no improvement is needed you answer is (D ) .

When the vegetation is altered, the animal life also changed.

In the following passage, some of the words have been left out. First, read the passage over and try to understand what is about. Then fill in the blanks with the help of the alternatives given. Mark your answer in the Answer-sheet.

The library, if used properly, is invaluable in helping you develop discernment. It is rich………..(1)……….information that goes far beyond the……….(2)……….of any one text book or course…..(3)…….your text book authors does not make a particular……….(4)…………clear and you feel the need……..(5)………another description in greater detail………..(6)………in  other words, go to the library and ………7)….other books on the subject. By calling……(8)……..two or three writers dealing with the ……..(9)…….topic, you will find some…..(10)……of certain facts. In seeking additional sources, you will have gained immeasurably, for you will have seen what several experts perceive as being particularly important on common subject.
(Mark your answer 3)

Directions : In the following question, a grammatically correct and meaningful sentence is given which is divided into five parts, (A),(B),(C),(D) and (E). Part (E) is fixed and highlighted in BOLD. You have to arrange the other four parts to make a contextually and grammatically meaningful sentence (the meaning can be different from the one given in the question). If no such rearrangement is possible mark (e) as your answer i.e. 'No rearrangement is possible'.

of formal and informal rules, assure (A)/according to some norms that enable as well as (B) / institutions, as the embodiment (C )/ citizens that the government exercises power (D) /regulate state capacity (E).

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

In the second week of August 1998, just a few days after the incidents of bombing the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, a high-powered, brain-storming session was held near Washington D.C., to discuss various aspects of terrorism. The meeting was attended by ten of America’s leading experts in various fields such as germ and chemical warfare, public health, disease control and also by the doctors and the law-enforcing officers. Being asked to describe the horror of possible bio-attack, one of the experts narrated the following gloomy scenario. A culprit in a crowded business centre or in a busy shopping mall of a town empties a test tube containing some fluid, which in turn creates an unseen cloud of germ of a dreaded disease like anthrax capable of inflicting a horrible death within 5 days on any one who inhales it. At first 500, or so victims feel that they have mild influenza which may recede after a day or two. Then the symptoms return again and their lungs start filling with fluid. They rush to local hospitals for treatment, but the panic-stricken people may find that the Medicare services run quickly out of drugs due to excessive demand. But no one would be able to realise that a terrorist attack has occurred. One cannot deny the possibility that the germ involved would be of contagious variety capable of causing an epidemic. The meeting concluded that such attacks, apart from causing immediate human tragedy, would have dire long-term effects on the political and social fabric of a country by way of ending people’s trust on the competence of the government. The experts also said that the bombs used in Kenya and Tanzania were of the old-fashion variety and involved quantities of high explosives, but new terrorism will prove to be more deadly and probably more elusive than hijacking an aeroplane or a gelignite of previous decades.
According to Bruce Hoffman, an American specialist on political violence, old terrorism generally had a specific manifesto - to overthrow a colonial power or the capitalist system and so on. These terrorists were not shy about planting a bomb or hijacking an aircraft and they set some limit to their brutality. Killing so many innocent people might turn their natural supporters off. Political terrorists want a lot of people watching but not a lot of people dead. “Old terrorism sought to change the world while the new sort is often practised by those who believe that the world has gone beyond redemption”, he added. Hoffman says, “New terrorism has no long-term agenda but is ruthless in its short-term intentions. It is often just a cacophonous cry of protest or an outburst of religious intolerance or a protest against the West in general and the US in particular. Its perpetrators may be religious fanatics or diehard opponent of a government and see no reason to show restraint. They are simply intent on inflicting the maximum amount of pain on the victim.”

What was the immediate provocation for the meeting held in August 1998 ?

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.

The boy said, “Bravo ! You have done well.”

In these questions read each sentence to find out whether there is any error in it. If there is no error, the answer is (D).

A technical view of new weapons (a)/ sometimes differ (b)/ from an economic perspective. (c)/ No error. (d)