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.

A no-examination policy would kill the competitive spirit among the students. It is important to encourage healthy competition in today’s times where all admissions and job recruitments are based on elimination. Also, in the total absence of examinations, (1)______ who truly deserve may not get fair (2)______, while those who need to (3)______ may not get the right (4)______. Moreover, examinations help to assess the (5)______ of teaching.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 5.

Select the correctly spelt word.

Select the most appropriate meaning of the given idiom.

Get one’s dander up

In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.

The phrase non-governmental or non-profit is commonly used to refer to the various organisations that (1)______ civil society. In general, such organisations are distinguished by the (2)______ that they operate for reasons other than financial gain. Surveys indicate that NGOs have a high degree of public (3)______, which can make them a useful proxy for the concerns of society and stakeholders. NGOs range from small pressure groups on specific environmental concerns or human rights (4)______, to educational charities, women's refuges, cultural associations, religious organisations, legal foundations, humanitarian assistance programmes – and the list could go on – to large international organisations with hundreds or even thousands of branches or members around the world.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3.

Comprehension: Read the following passage and answer the questions given after it.

Since September, at least 25 people have died and thousands have been made homeless. Every state and territory in Australia has experienced fires this summer. But the biggest fires burn along stretches of the eastern and southern coast, where most of the population lives. This includes areas around Sydney and Adelaide. More than 6.3 million hectares (63,000 sq km or 15.6 million acres) have been burned so far – one hectare is roughly the size of a sports field. To put that in perspective, around 800,000 hectares were engulfed in a bush fire in 2018 in California. Australia has always experienced bushfires – it has a "fire season". But this year they are a lot worse than normal.

Fires are usually caused by lightning strikes or accidentally by a spark – but some fires are also started deliberately. This year, a natural weather phenomenon known as the ‘Indian Ocean Dipole’ has meant a hot, dry spell across the country. This year, Australia twice set a new temperature record: an average maximum of 41.9°C was recorded on 18 December. That comes on top of a long period of drought.

Scientists have long warned that this hotter, drier climate will contribute to fires becoming more frequent and more intense. The more extreme weather patterns and higher temperatures increase the risk of bushfires and allow them to spread faster and wider. Fire fighters are spraying water and fire retardant from planes and helicopters as well as from the ground. But fighting bush fires is extremely difficult and often authorities have to focus on just stopping the spread, rather than putting the fire out. The spread can for instance be best contained by digging earth boundaries to stop the flames from spreading. The priority is saving lives.

Professional fire fighters are the first in line to battle the flames, but they are outnumbered by the thousands of volunteers. Three of them have died. There's also help coming from abroad: the US, Canada and New Zealand have sent fire fighters to help. Australia's police, military and navy are involved in rescue and evacuation efforts. While people can flee the fires and are being evacuated if need be, the flames are devastating wildlife in the affected areas. One study estimated that half a billion animals have died in New South Wales alone.

Zookeepers take animals home to save them from fire, but the fires don't only kill animals directly, they also destroy the habitat, leaving the survivors vulnerable even when the fires have gone. So the true scale of loss isn't yet clear. Experts say more than 100,000 cows and sheep may also have been lost, which is devastating for farmers.

Each state runs its own emergency operation, but Prime Minister Scott Morrison has promised better funding for fire-fighting and payouts for volunteer fire fighters, and an additional A$2billion ($1.4billion; £1billion) for the recovery. But the national government has come under strong criticism from its opponents that it has not been doing enough against climate change. The country is one of the world's biggest per capita greenhouse gas emitters but under international agreements it has committed itself to reduction targets

“Authorities have to focus on just stopping the spread, rather than putting the fire out.” This means that the authorities:

Select the correct active form of the given sentence.

He was given another chance by his employer.

The following sentence has been divided into parts. One of them may contain an error. Select the part that contains the error from the given options. If you don’t find any error, mark ‘No error’ as your answer.
I was at a party / with some off my / friends in Mumbai.

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.

(1) _________ areas are also known as the ’countryside’ or a ‘village’ in India. It has a very low population (2) _________. In rural areas, agriculture is the chief source of livelihood along with fishing, cottage (3) ___________, pottery etc. The (4) ___________ to discover the real rural India still continues in great earnest. Almost (5) ___________ economic agency today has a definition of rural India.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 3