Directions: Below, a passage is given with five blanks labelled (A)- (E). Below the passage, five options are given for each blank. Choose the word that fits each blank most appropriately in the context of the passage, and mark the corresponding answer.

Tiny plastic particles washed off products like synthetic clothing and car tyres account for up to a third of the plastic polluting oceans, __ (A) __ eco-systems and human health, a top conservationist body warned. Unlike the __ (B) __ images of country-sized garbage patches floating in the oceans, the micro plastic particles that wash off textiles and roadways leave the waterways looking __ (C) __.

But they constitute a significant part of the “plastic soup” clogging our waters — accounting for between 15% and 31% of the estimated 9.5 million tones of plastic released into the oceans each year, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

In its report “Primary Micro plastics in the Oceans”, the IUCN found that in many developed countries in North America and Europe, which have __ (D) __ waste management, tiny plastic particles are in fact a bigger source of marine plastic pollution than plastic waste.

In addition to car tyres and synthetic textiles, such particles stem from everything from marine coatings and road markings, to city dust and the micro beads in cosmetics. “Plastic waste is not all there is to ocean plastics,” IUCN chief Inger Andersen said in a statement, insisting that “we must look far beyond waste management if we are to __ (E) __ ocean pollution in its entirety”.

Which of the following words most appropriately fits the blank labelled (A)?

Comprehension: 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. The modern-day student is extremely 1____ with technology. They do read quite a bit because of social media. While their writing skills may not be top notch, they do write, courtesy 2___ affinity to various platforms on the internet. However, one skill that has been 3______ affected is listening skills. They are extremely poor 4______ listeners. If this issue is not addressed, what we may be heading to in the future is a huge chunk of people across the globe, with poor skills of listening, and a huge number of passive listeners. Researchers say that listening is the prime ingredient for empathy and the world will be in extreme poverty in terms of number of 5_____ on the planet.

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

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 effects of plastic bags on the environment are really (1)______ devastating because there is no disposal method that will really help eliminate the problem. The biggest problem with them is that once they have been (2)______, they end up In the trash, which then ends up in the landfill or is burned. The indefinite period of time that it takes for the average plastic bag to break (3)______ can be literally hundreds of years. Throughout the world, plastic bags are responsible for suffocation and deaths of woodland animals as well as (4)______ soil nutrients. The land litter that is made up of plastic bags has the potential to kill over and over again. It has been estimated that one bag has the potential to inadvertently kill one animal per every three months due to unintentional digestion or inhalation. There are always alternatives to plastic bags and the search for more alternatives continues.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

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 raptor’s day begins soon after dawn. They (1)______ their wings for a quick warm-up and are ready for the hunt. Nature (2)______ these birds so well that they do not need to hunt every day. By (3)______ a good kill on a particular day, the larger raptor can go without hunting (4)______ two or three weeks. These predators can do without regular meals. This helps them to (5)______ if there is bad weather or lack of food.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

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.

Tourism is one (1)______ the biggest businesses in the world, generating (2)______ 200 million jobs. It is vital for the economies of (3)______ countries. The downside is that tourism is a major (4)______ of climate change through the carbon (5)______ it causes.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number (2).

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 first human beings to control fire gradually learned (1)______ many uses. Not only did they (2)______ fire to keep warm and cook their food; they (3)______ learned to use it in hunting or warfare, to kill insects, to (4)______ berries, and to clear forests of underbrush so that game (5)______ be better seen and hunted. Eventually they learned that the burning of brush produced better grasslands and therefore more game.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.

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 raptor’s day begins soon after dawn. They (1)______ their wings for a quick warm-up and are ready for the hunt. Nature (2)______ these birds so well that they do not need to hunt every day. By (3)______ a good kill on a particular day, the larger raptor can go without hunting (4)______ two or three weeks. These predators can do without regular meals. This helps them to (5)______ if there is bad weather or lack of food.

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

Comprehension: In the following passage, some words have been deleted. Read the passage carefully and select the most appropriate option to fill in each blank.
 Novelists when they write novels tend to take an almost god-like attitude (1) ___________ their subject, pretending to a total comprehension of the story, a man's life, (2) __________ they can therefore recount as God Himself might, nothing standing between them and the naked truth, the entire story meaningful in (3) ___________ detail. I am as little able to do this as the novelist is, even though my story is more important to me than any novelist's is to him – for this is my story; it is the story of a man, not of an invented, or possible, or idealised or otherwise (4) __________ figure, but of a unique (5) ___________ of flesh and blood.

Select the most appropriate option to fill in blank number 2.