New Pattern English :Error Detection

Directions (1-10): In each question, there are five sentences or parts of sentences that form a paragraph. Identify the sentence(s) or part(s) of sentence(s) that is/are correct in terms of grammar and usage (including spelling, punctuation and logical consistency). Then, choose the most appropriate option.

Q1. A. In 1849, a poor Bavarian imigrant named Levi Strauss

B. Landed in San Francisco, California,

C. at the invitation of his brother-in-law David Stem

D. owner of dry goods business.

E. This dry goods business would later became known as Levi Strauss & Company.

(a) B only

(b) B and C

(c) A and B

(d) A only

(e) A, B and D

Q2. A. In response to the allegations and condemnation pouring in,

B. Nike implemented comprehensive policy changes in their labour policy.

C. Perhaps sensing the rising tide of labour concerns,

D. from the public would become a prominent media issue,

E. Nike sought to be a industry leader in employee relations.

(a) D and E

(b) D only

(c) A and E

(d) A and D

(e) B, C and E

Q3. A. Charges and counterchanges mean nothing.

B. to the few million who have lost their home.

C. The nightmare is far from over, for the government

D. is still unable to reach hundreds who are marooned.

E. The death count have just begun.

(a) A only

(b) C only

(c) A and C

(d) A, C and D

(e) D only

Q4. A. I did not know what to make of you.

B. Because you’d lived in India, I associate you more with my parents than with me.

C. And yet you were unlike my cousins in Calcutta, who seem so innocent and obedient when I visited them.

D. You were not curious about me in the least.

E. Although you did make effort to meet me.

(a) A only

(b) A and B

(c) A and E

(d) D only

(e) A and D

Q5. A. Relations are improving between the United States and Libya.

B. President Bush telephoned the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi,

C. on Monday, after Libya has paid about $1.5 billion

D. to State Department to clear up terrorism-related claims

E. from bombings and hijackings during the 1980’s.

(a) A only

(b) A and B

(c) A and E

(d) C only

(e) C and D

Q6. A. I’ve had a intense year.

B. Due to the book launch and movie release, I’ve been out there on display,

C. focusing too much on the external world.

D. Its time to look within, get in touch with myself again and create something new.

E. As part of that, I have to stop the blog, interacting with media and other events.

(a) A only

(b) A and B

(c) A and E

(d) C only

(e) B and C

Q7. A. Now setting up Microsoft Project Manager to work with your company’s existing

B. IT infrastructure can be a complicated task.

C. Systems will have to replace to make them compatible, space has to be allocated

D. for new hardware and there are considerable cost in implementing a desirable system.

E. A data center has to be setup and your IT department has to complete all this in addition to their normal duties.

(a) A only

(b) B only

(c) B and E

(d) C only

(e) B and D

Q8. A. We are heading into an age in which jobs are

B. likely to be invented and made obsolete faster and faster.

C. The chances of today’s college kids working in the same jobs for the same companies for their whole careers is about zero.

D. In such a age, the greatest survival skill you can have is the ability to learn how to learn.

E. The best way to learn how to learn is to love to learn, and the best way to love to learn is to have teachers who inspire.

(a) A only

(b) A and B

(c) A, B and E

(d) B and C only

(e) C and D

Q9. A. A New Zealand company called HortResearch is a world renowned fruit science company,

B. and they develop a unique and innovative fruit and food products for sustainability.

C. One of their previous innovative technologies were in developing a bio sensor to measure the hormone levels in saliva.

D. This can be monitored in real time and also adopted to sports.

E. Right now, it is investigating technologies for measuring biochemical indicators of stress and performance in real time.

(a) A only

(b) A and B

(c) A and E

(d) E only

(e) A, C and E

Q10. A. Maragadavalli was running her father’s household ever since her mother had died when she was 13.

B. It took a long time for her family to settle down after that, and she was 26 by the time she had got married.

C. With 13 years of running a household under her belt, she married into a family meticulously run by mother-in-law.

D. She liked the fact that there were servant maids to help with the housework.

E. She had very less to do around the house except cut vegetable and wait for her husband to come back from work.

(a) A only

(b) A and D

(c) A and E

(d) D only

(e) A, C and E

Directions (11-15): In the following, there are sentences or parts of sentence labelled A, B, C, D and E. Choose for your answer the fragment that carries an Error. Ignore punctuation error, if any.

Q11. A. And its equally important to spread the news about companies that treat working parents

B. with fairness and respect, so that we all can try to work at these companies,

C. and send a message to others treating working parents

D. justly is a valuable employee recruitment and retention advantage.

E. No error

(a) A

(b) B

(c) C

(d) D

(e) E

Q12. A. I’ve been in Delhi for four days now

B. and so far the stay had been uneventful,

C. barring a stray incident

D. where I walked into a lamppost and then walked around Connaught Place

E. with a bloody nose.

(a) A

(b) B

(c) C

(d) D

(e) E

Q13. A. To be a citizen is to possess the rights

B. enshrined in our constitution,

C. and equally, the obligation of duty.

D. When one citizen upholds an individual right for another,

E. he enacts his duty to himself.

(a) A

(b) B

(c) C

(d) D

(e) E

Q14. A. This study takes its place alongside earlier research showing

B. that kids who are allowed to serve their own food

C. take smaller portions that they would typically be served

D. and ate 25 percentage less, and that kids tend to eat more

E. when the portions on their plates have been double.

(a) A

(b) B

(c) C

(d) D

(e) E

Q15. A. Sixty years is too small a period to acquire new civilizational traits.

B. and to mould our DNA. When that happens, we will automatically

C. realize the importance of the rule of law, the true meaning of freedom and democracy

D. and then we will behave like citizens who will not allow anyone

E. to sell their votes, and MPs will not be on sold.

(a) A

(b) B

(c) C

(d) D

(e) E

Solutions

S1. Ans.(a)

Sol. B only. The word immigrant is spelt incorrectly in A. B has no errors. C is incorrect because David Stern is parenthetical hence should be surrounded by commas. D is incorrect because dry goods business needs a determiner – ‘owner of a dry goods business’. E is incorrect in tense ‘would later become’ and not ‘would later became’.

S2. Ans.(d)

Sol. A and D. B is incorrect because the plural pronoun ‘their’ is used for Nike (company) C is incorrect because of the comma at the end separating it from the remaining part of the phrase ‘labour concerns from the public’. E has the incorrect article a before industry – an industry is correct.

S3. Ans.(d)

Sol. A, C and D are correct. B is incorrect in the singular use of ‘million’ with few – it should be few millions. E needs to link the singular subject the death count(use singular verb -has). Countercharge as one word is correct like counterchallenge.

S4. Ans.(e)

Sol. A and D are correct. B has a tense error, it should be I associated… C also has a tense error, it should be who seemed so innocent… E is incorrect, although is a conjunction; it is here as an adverb – it is better replaced with however.

S5. Ans.(b)

Sol. A and B. Fragment C has a tense error ‘has paid ‘should be ‘had paid’ because of ‘telephoned’ in the earlier fragment. D should have ‘the’ before State Department. E has an inappropriate apostrophe in the plural of 1980s. A and B are correct. Hence option B.

S6. Ans.(e)

Sol. B and C. A is incorrect – it should be an intense year. In D it’s is needed instead of its. E has a parallelism error. “to stop the blog, media interactions and other events” would be correct with all the items in the series as nouns.

S7. Ans.(b)

Sol. B only. A is incorrect because there should be a comma after introductory adverbs like now. (Now the trouble began is correct – now is not an introductory word.) B is correct. C is incorrect – systems will have to replace should read as to be replaced. D is incorrect. It should there are considerable costs. E is incorrect IT department is singular (the verb has is correct) but the pronoun ‘their’ is incorrect. The pronoun should be its.

S8. Ans.(c)

Sol. A, B and E are correct. ‘head into’ is idiomatically correct. (Motorola is heading into an abyss) C is incorrect because ‘chances’ needs a plural verb – the sentence has is. In such a age is incorrect – it should be “an age”.

S9. Ans.(c)

Sol. A and E only. B is incorrect – the pronoun “they” is inconsistent with HortResearch which is singular, also, “a unique and innovative fruit and food products” should be corrected to “unique and innovative fruit and food products”. C is incorrect “one of their” is inconsistent with HortResearch, and one of previous innovative technologies is singular, hence the verb should be was and not were. D is incorrect because adopt is confused with adapt. A and E are correct.

S10. Ans.(d)

Sol. D only. A has a tense error – when since is used as conjunction to show the time the perfect tense is a must. The sentence should read “Maragadavalli had been running her father’s household ever since …”. Also there is ambiguity in “ … mother had died when she was 13.” B also has a tense error. “By the time she got married” rather than “she had got married” – the unnecessary shift in tense makes the sentence meaningless. E is incorrect. The intensifier ‘very’ is used incorrectly with the comparative less, it should read very little rather than very less.

S11. Ans.(a)

Sol. It’s should be used instead of its in the first part of the sentence.

S12. Ans.(d)

Sol. D should read as ‘in which I walked into …’ or ‘when I walked into …’

S13. Ans.(d)

Sol. the preposition ‘for’ should be corrected to ‘of’ – ‘right of another’, rather than ‘right for another’

S14. Ans.(d)

Sol. 25 percentage less is erroneous – 25 percent less is correct usage. Use the word “percent” with number; use “percentage” without using a number.

For example: 50 percent children, and a considerable percentage of children.

S15. Ans.(e)

Sol. We will not allow anyone to sell their votes has a problem in pronoun agreement, anyone is singular hence he or she should be used rather than the plural their. Sixty years as period is singular, hence the singular verb is correct.

New Pattern English Questions

Directions (1-15): In each of the following sentences, parts of the sentence are left blank. Beneath each sentence, five different ways of completing the sentence are indicated. Choose the best alternative from among the five options.

Q1. If the more articulate members of a community formed a coherent and __________ class with a common interest, democracy would probably be __________ into the rule of that intelligent, educated __________; even as it is, the democracies of the modern world are much closer to this fate than they are to the much-canvassed __________ of mob rule.

(a) united, overthrown, minority, benefits

(b) separate, overthrown, majority, problems

(c) united, replaced, minority, dangers

(d) separate, replaced, minority, benefits

(e) united, replaced, majority, dangers

Q2. I think it is the duty of science – I do not say of every individual man of science – to study the means by which we can __________ ourselves to the new world. There are certain things that the world quite obviously needs: __________, as opposed to dogmatism in our beliefs; an expectation of co-operation, rather than __________, in social relations; a lessening of envy and collective __________. These are things which __________ could produce without much difficulty.

(a) adapt, fanaticism, competition, malice, philosophy

(b) adopt, fanaticism, affection, malice, science

(c) reorient, tentativeness, war, consciousness, science

(d) adapt, tentativeness, competition, hatred, education

(e) orient, diffidence, competition, malice, education

Q3. As man’s tool of survival, reason has two basic functions: cognition and evaluation. The process of cognition consists of discovering--- A---, of identifying their nature, their ----B-----. The process of evaluation consists of man discovering the relationship of things to himself, of identifying ---C-- to him and ---D----, what should be sought and what should be avoided.

(a) A – what is beneficial, B – what is harmful, C – attributes and properties, D – what things are

(b) A – what things are, B – what is beneficial, C – attributes and properties, D – what is harmful

(c) A – what is beneficial, B – what things are, C – what is harmful, D – attributes and properties

(d) A – attributes and properties, B – what is beneficial, C – what things are, D – what is harmful

(e) A – what things are, B – attributes and properties, C – what is beneficial, D – what is harmful

Q4. When you first arrive in a new culture, there is a period of __________ that comes from the new situation and from a lack of information. It leaves you quite __________ and in of help in the form of information and more. The second stage begins as you start to __________ with the new culture. It is called the stage of small victories. Each new __________ with the culture is fraught with peril. It is __________ by anxiety and information collection and rehearsal. Then the event occurs and you return home either __________ or defeated.

(a) confusion, vulnerable, interact, observation, preceded, jubilant

(b) excitement, vulnerable, observe, observation, followed, victorious

(c) confusion, dependent, interact, encounter, preceded, triumphant

(d) excitement, dependent, interact, encounter, followed, victorious

(e) confusion, dependent, observe, observation, preceded, triumphant

Q5. The core of modern doctoring is diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. Western doctors have been __________ the wheezes and pains of their patients since the 17^th century to identify the __________ disease of the cause of complaints. They did it well and good __________ became the hallmark of a good physician. They were less strong on treatment. But when sulphonamides were __________ in 1935 to treat certain bacterial infections, doctors found themselves with powerful new tools. The area of modern medicine was born. Today there is a __________ array of complex diagnostic tests, and of pharmaceutical and surgical methods of treatment.

(a) analyzing, deep rooted, diagnosis, conceived, burgeoning

(b) curing, deep-rooted, medicines, invented, dwindling

(c) diagnosing, widespread, prescriptions, conceived, escalating

(d) analyzing, underlying, diagnosis, discovered, burgeoning

(e) curing, widespread, prescriptions, discovered, dwindling

Q6. Today, Adam Smith is widely seen as the intellectual champion of self-interest. This is a __________. Smith saw no moral virtue in selfishness; on the contrary he saw its __________. Still less was he a __________ of capital over labour, of the rising __________ over the common folk. His __________ of self-interest and his regard for the people as a whole come through clearly in his writings.

(a) delusion, benefits, critic, middle class, mistrust

(b) misconception, dangers, defender, bourgeoisie, suspicion

(c) fallacy, risks, detractor, bourgeoisie, distrust

(d) misconception, risks, critic, bourgeoisie, mistrust

(e) delusion, benefits, defender, middle class, suspicion

Q7. A conservation problem as important as that of soil erosion is the __________ of soil fertility. Most agriculture was originally supported by the __________ fertility of the soil; and, in areas in which soils were deep and rich in minerals, __________ could be carried on for many years without the return of any __________ to the soil other than those supplied through the natural __________ of plant and animal wastes.

(a) loss, normal, cultivation, fertilizers, compost

(b) lack, usual, agriculture, nutriments, downfall

(c) loss, natural, farming, nutrient, breakdown

(d) lack, natural, farming, fertilizers, decay

(e) loss, usual, cultivation, crops, cultivation

Q8. Charles Darwin may have been __________ when he argued that competition was the major driving force of evolution. He imagined a world in which __________ battled for __________ and only the fittest __________. But new research identifies the availability of “living space,” rather than competition, as being of key __________ for evolution. Findings question the old adage of “nature red in tooth and claw”.

(a) right, animals, survival, lived, reason

(b) erroneous, organisms, survival, lived, consequence

(c) mistaken, creatures, control, survived, importance

(d) wrong, creatures, power, survived, significance

(e) wrong, organisms, supremacy, survived, importance

Q9. Approximately 17% of all global greenhouse gas emissions come from the __________ of tropical forests. So __________ and restoring these forests must form part of a __________ climate change deal; reducing __________ from the developed world is __________, but is not enough.

(a) burning, conservation, complete, forests, sine qua non

(b) elimination, preserving, broad, temperature, essential,

(c) destruction, conserving, comprehensive, emissions, essential

(d) trees, conserving, comprehensive, emissions, vital

(e) destruction, management, wide ranging, emissions, critical

Q10. A die-hard loyalist of Jayalalithaa, and by extension of his one-time ----- Ms. Sasikala, Mr. Panneerselvam, who was perceived as the archetypal ------ supplicant, chose his moment to strike back at the ------- in the party.

(a) benefactor, feudal, patricians

(b) beneficial, few, patrimony

(c) beneficent, refusal, patriarchal  

(d) bonhomie, feudal, patricians

(e) feudal, patricians, benefactor,

Q11. The __________ nature of the food inflation over the last year has brought the acuteness of food __________ in India into political focus.

(a) truculent, scarcity

(b) persistent, insecurity

(c) hostile, shortage

(d) unrelenting, surplus

(e) repugnant, conference

Q12. The food procurement policy of the government had two objectives: __________ regional distribution of food grains at __________ prices and the provision of a fair price to farmers.

(a) restricted, low

(b) limited, fair

(c) just, low

(d) equal, reasonable

(e) equitable, reasonable

Q13. The situation in Kashmir has always been __________, but policymaking in New Delhi, which has remained “one track”, has only helped to __________ it further.

(a) sensitive, alleviate

(b) confounded, exacerbate

(c) fragile, aggravate

(d) violent, assuage

(e) peaceful, spoil

Q14. Being unsure of itself, reform is pursued __________ by a coalition government constantly __________ of voters’ reactions.

(a) vigorously, hopeful

(b) slowly, chary

(c) hesitantly, wary

(d) nervously, circumspect

(e) reluctantly, eager

Q15. Palestinian officials say that there is no use holding talks with Israeli leaders that are nothing more than a photo opportunity intended to create the __________ of a peace process while avoiding any substantive __________.

(a) impression, conflicts

(b) blueprint, problems

(c) proposal, arrangements

(d) impression, commitments

(e) conception, implementation

Solutions

S1. Ans.(c)

Sol. “common interest” and united will go together. Mob rule eliminates benefits vs. dangers.

S2. Ans.(d)

Sol. Adopt is incorrect. Dogmatism as opposed to fanaticism does not make sense; we need its opposite, hence tentativeness in the second blank. War and consciousness will eliminate option C.

S3. Ans.(e)

Sol. Immediately after blank A, it is said identifying their nature which means A and B are related to the nature of things – hence option (E). After C and D we have “what should be sought and what should be avoided,” hence beneficial and harmful combination in option(E).

S4. Ans.(c)

Sol. From a “new situation and lack of information,” there cannot be excitement. Observe eliminates option (E). Observation eliminates option (A). Hence (C).

S5. Ans.(d)

Sol. If the doctors were doing this to “to identify…” something it has to be “analyzing.” Diseases are not deep rooted but underlying, hence option (A) can be eliminated in favor of option (D).

S6. Ans.(b)

Sol. The first blank is a contradiction of the first sentence. In comparison misconception and fallacy score over delusion, besides benefits eliminates both the options with delusion. Suspicion and defender fits in the context correctly. hence option B is correct choice.

S7. Ans.(c)

Sol. It is easier to choose between lack and loss because of the paragraph is talking about conservation. Usual can be easily eliminated in favor of natural and normal. Option (E) is eliminated for the last two words and option (A) is also eliminated for the last two words.

S8. Ans.(e)

Sol. “Animals” eliminates option (A) – this would exclude plants and other organisms. Consequence eliminates option (B). Creatures, control eliminate option (C). Creatures, power eliminate option (D). Option (E) is the best choice.

S9. Ans.(c)

Sol. Options (A) and (D) can be easily eliminated as the cause of the emissions from these sources can be ruled out – burning is too specific. Conserving vs. preserving vs. management – it is easy to see that conserving is the best. Hence option (C).

S10. Ans.(a)

Sol. benefactor, feudal, patricians fits in the context of the sentence correctly. 

benefactor-a person who gives money or other help to a person or cause.

feudal-according to, resembling, or denoting the system of feudalism. "the feudal system"

patrician-a member of a long-established wealthy family.

S11. Ans.(b)

Sol. persistent, insecurity fits in the context of the sentence correctly. the continuous increase in the food price has brought the scarcity and political attention.

S12. Ans.(e)

Sol. equitable, reasonable fits in the context of the sentence correctly. the main objective of the food procurement policy of the government is to distribute equally and have reasonable price.  

S13. Ans.(c)

Sol. fragile- (of a person) not strong or sturdy; delicate and vulnerable. the situation in Kashmir has been weak for long and the idleness of policy makers in New Delhi is only deteriorating the situation. 

S14. Ans.(c)

Sol. The coalition government is not willing to apply the reform because govt. is cautious of voters. Hence, hesitantly, wary fits in the context of the sentence correctly.

S15. Ans.(d)

Sol. impression, commitments fits in the context of the sentence correctly.