FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION - 2017

FOR RECRUITMENT TO POST IN BS - 17
UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

ENGLISH (PRECIS AND COMPREHENSION)

TIME ALLOWED: THREE HOURS
PART - I (MCQs): MAXIMUM 30 MINUTES
PART - I (MCQs): MAXIMUM MARKS = 20
PART - II MAXIMUM MARKS = 80

NOTE:
(i) Part-II is to be attempted on the separate Answer Book.
(ii) Attempt ALL questions from PART-II.
(iii) All the parts (if any) of each Question must be attempted at one place instead of at
different places.
(iv) Candidate must write Q. No. in the Answer Book in accordance with Q. No. in the
Q.Paper.
(v) No Page/Space be left blank between the answers. All the blank pages of Answer Book
must be crossed.
(vi) Extra attempt of any question or any part of the attempted question will not be
considered.

PART - II

Q.2 Write a precis of the following passage and also suggest a suitable title:

All the evil in this world is brought about by persons who are always up and doing, but do
not know when they ought to be up and nor what they ought to be doing. The devil, I take
it, is still the busiest creature in the universe, and I can quite imagine him denouncing
laziness and becoming angry at the smallest waste of time. In his kingdom, I will bet,
nobody is allowed to do nothing, not even for a single afternoon. The world, we all freely
admit, is in a muddle, but I for one do not think that it is laziness that has brought it to
such a pass. It is not the active virtues that it lacks but the passive ones: it is capable of
anything but kindness and a little steady thought. There is still plenty of energy in the
world(there never were more fussy people about), but most of it is simply misdirected. If
,for example, in July 1914, when there was some capital idling weather, everybody--
emperors, kings, archdukes, statesmen, generals, journalists, had been suddenly struck
with an intense desire to do nothing, just to hang about in the sunshine and consume
tobacco, then we should all have been much better off than we are now. But no, the
doctrine of the strenuous life still went unchallenged; there must be no time wasted,
something must be done. And, as we know, something was done. Again, suppose our
statesmen, instead of rushing off to Versailles with a bundle of ill-digested notions and a
great deal of energy to dissipate, had all taken a fortnight off, away from all correspondence
and interviews and what not, and had simply lounged about on some hill side or other
apparently doing nothing for the first time in their energetic lives, then they might have
gone to their so-called Peace Conference and come away again with their reputations still
unsoiled and the affairs of the world in good trim. Even at the present time, if half the
politicians in Europe would relinquish the notion that laziness is a crime and go away and do
nothing for a little space, we should certainly gain by it. Other examples come crowding into
the mind. Thus, every now and then, certain religious sects hold conferences; but though
there are evils abroad that are mountains high, though the fate of civilization is still
doubtful, the members who attend these conferences spend their time condemning the
length of ladies' skirts and the noisiness of dance bands. They would all be better employed
lying flat on their backs somewhere, staring at the sky and recovering their mental health.

Q.3 Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow:

Education ought to teach us how to be in love always and what to be in love with. The great
things of history have been done by the great lovers, saints, men of science and artists, and
the problem of civilization is to give every man a chance of being a saint, a man of science
or an artist. But this problem cannot be solved unless men desire to be saints, men of
science and artists. And if they are to desire that continuously they must be taught what it
means to be these things. We think of the man of science, or the artist if not of the saint, as
a being with peculiar gifts who exercises more precisely and incessantly perhaps, activities
which we all ought to exercise. It is a commonplace belief that art has ebbed away out of
our ordinary life, out of all the things which we use, and that it is practiced no longer
recognize the aesthetic activity as an activity of the spirit and common to all men. We do
not know that when a man makes anything he ought to make it beautiful for the sake of
doing so, and that when a man buys anything he ought to demand beauty in it for the sake
of that beauty in it for the sake of that beauty. We think of beauty if we think of it at all, as
a mere source of pleasure, and therefore it means to us an ornament added to things for
which we can pay extra as we choose. But neatly is not an ornament to life, or the things
made by man. It is an essential part of both.The aesthetic activity, when it reveals itself in
things made by men, reveals itself in design, just as it reveals itself in the design of all
natural things. It shapes objects as the moral activity shapes actions, and we ought to
recognise it in objects and value it, as we recognise and value the moral activity in actions.
And as actions empty of the moral activity are distasteful to us, so should objects c be that
are empty of the aesthetic activity. But this is not so with most of us. As we do not value
the aesthetic activity in ourselves, so we do not value it; do not even recognise it or the lack
of it, in the work of others. The artist, of whatever kind, is a man so much aware of the
beauty of the universe that he must impart the same beauty to whatever he makes. He has
exercised his aesthetic activity in the discovery of beauty in the universe before he
exercises it in imparting beauty to that which he makes. He has seen things in that relation
which is beauty before he can himself produce that relation in his own work, whatever it
may be. And just as he sees that relation for its own sake, so he produces it for its own
sake and satisfies the desire of his spirit in doing so. And we should value his work, we
should desire that relation in all things made by man if we too had the habit of seeing that
relation in the universe, and if we knew that, when we see it, we are exercising an activity
of the spirit and satisfying a spiritual desire. And we should know also that work without
beauty means unsatisfied spiritual desire in the worker; that it is waste of life and a
common evil and danger, like thought without truth or action without righteousness.

Questions:
What has been lamented in the text? (4)
What is the difference between ordinary man and an artist? (4)
How can we make our lives beautiful and charming? (4)
What does the writer actually mean when he says, "Beauty is not an ornament to life?" (4)
Do art and beauty affect out practical life and morals? Justify whether you agree or
disagree. (4)

Q.4 (a) Correct only FIVE of the following:

(i) In the accident one of my arms was broken and my legs bruised.
(ii) The people who had been raising slogans against the government for many hours they
wanted increase in their salaries.
(iii) You have been working very hard for the last two years Isn't it?
(iv) John could hardly do not better than to have caught a bass of such dimension.
(v) I who have no chance to meet him would rather go with you instead of sitting at home
(vi) He not only comes there for swimming but also for coaching new swimmers.
(vii) When he visited the fair last time, he bought not less than twenty school bags.
(viii) Ten cattles were grazing in the field.

(b) Re-write the following sentences (Only FIVE) after filling in the blanks
appropriately.

(i) I cannot buy this car _____ this price.

(a) for
(b) in
(c) at
(d) on

(ii) Send these books ______ my home address

(a) on
(b) at
(c) in
(d) to

(iii) Monkeys live ______ trees.

(a) in
(b) at
(c) upon
(d) on

(iv) I said it _______ his face.

(a) at
(b) on
(c) to
(d) upon

(v) The manager ______ the receipt of my letter promptly.

(a) accepted
(b) realized
(c) recognized
(d) acknowledged

(vi) Most foreign students don't like American coffee, and ______

(a) I don't too

(b) either don't
(c) neither don't I
(d) neither do I
(vii) We ______ take care of our parents when they are old.

(a) could
(b) would
(c) might
(d) ought to

(viii) Yousaf ______ in the garden the whole of yesterday.

(a) has dug

(b) was digging
(c) dug
(d) had dug

Q.5 (a) Choose the ANALOGY of words written in capital letters. Attempt any FIVE.

(i) LION : ROAR

(a) Snake : Slither

(b) Goat : Bleat
(c) Lizard : Crawl
(d) Elephant : Tusk

(II) SHADOW : LIGHT

(a) Flood : Rain

(b) Image : Object
(c) Reaction : Action
(d) House : Bricks

(iii) CLOT : BLOOD

(a) Ink : Water

(b) Curdle : Milk
(c) Vaporize : Camphor
(d) Brew : Coffee

(iv) FEARFUL : COWER

(a) Humble : Boast

(b) Weak : Exercise
(c) Arrogant : Strut
(d) Wise : Dispute

(v) EXPEDITE : HASTEN

(a) Conscript : Write down

(b) Diver : Make harder
(c) Facilitate : Make easiest
(d) Satirize : Praise
(vi) WOOD : FURNITURE

(a) Father : Child

(b) Tree : Seedling
(c) Soil : Clay
(d) Stone : Sculpture

(vii) SURGEON : DEXTEROUS

(a) Clown : Fat

(b) Actress : Beautiful
(c) Athlete : Tall
(d) Acrobat : Agile

(viii) LECHER : LUST

(a) Pith : Herb

(b) Glutton : Greed
(c) Business : Profit
(d) Showbiz : Fame

(b) Punctuate the following text, where necessary.

a quaker was one day walking on a country road he was suddenly met by a highwayman
pointing a pistol the robber exclaimed your money or your life my friend said the quaker i
cannot deliver my money for i should be helping thee in evildoing however exchange is
lawful and i will give thee my purse for the pistol the robber agreed on receiving the purse
the quaker at once held the pistol at the robbers head and said now friend give me back my
purse back or the weapon may go off fire said the robber there is no powder in the pistol

Q.6 (a) Explain the difference between the following word pairs (Any FIVE) by
using each word in your own sentences:

(i) Wrath, Worth

(ii) Veracity, Voracity
(iii) Subtler, Sutler
(iv) Retenue, Retinue
(v) Minute, Minuet
(vi) Furor, Furore
(vii) Dinghy, Dingy
(viii) Bony, Bonny

(b) Use ONLY FIVE of the following in sentences which illustrate their meaning:

(i) Spirit away

(ii) Plough back
(iii) Eager beaver
(iv) Ring a bell
(v) Be left holding the baby
(vi) Cap in hand
(vii) Hold out a carrot
‫‪(viii) Over the moon‬‬

‫‪Q.7 Translate the following into English by keeping in view figurative / idiomatic‬‬
‫‪expression.‬‬

‫اپنے پوشیده عیبوں کو معلوم کرنے کے لیے یہ دیکھنا ضروری یے کہ ہمارے دشمن ہم کو کیا کہتے ہیں۔‬
‫ہمارے دوست اکثر ہمارے دل کے موافق ہماری تعریف کرتے ہیں۔ اول ہمارے عیب ان کو عیب ہی نہیں‬
‫لگتے یا پھر ہماری خاطر کو ایسا عزیز رکھتے ہیں کہ اس کو رنجیده نہ کرنے کے خیال سے اِن کو‬
‫چھپاتے ہیں۔ یا پھر ان سے چشم پوشی کرتے ہیں۔ برخالف اس کے ہمارا دشمن ہم کو خوب ٹٹولتا ہے اور‬
‫کونے کونے سے ڈھونڈ کر ہمارے عیب نکالتا ہے۔ گو دشمنی سے چھوٹی بات کو بڑا بنا دیتا ہے۔ دوست‬
‫ہمیشہ اپنے دوست کی نیکیوں کو بڑھاتا ہے اور دشمن عیبوں کو۔ اس لیے ہمیں اپنے دشمن کا زیاده احسان‬
‫مند ہونا چاہیئے کہ وه ہمیں ہمارے عیبوں سے مطلع کرتا ہے۔ اس تناظر میں دیکھا جائے تو دشمن دوست‬

‫سے بہتر ثابت ہوتا ہے‬

 FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION

COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR

RECRUITMENT TO POSTS IN BPS-17 UNDER

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 2015

ENGLISH (Précis and Composition)

TIME ALLOWED:

(PART-I MCQs) 30 MINUTES____________ MAX. MARKS:20

(PART-II) 2 HOURS & 30 MINUTES______MAX.MARKS:80

PART II

Q.2. Make précis of the following text and suggest a suitable title. (20)

In studding the breakdowns of civilizations, the writer has subscribed to the conclusion – no new
discovery! – that war has proved to have been the proximate cause of the breakdown of every
civilization which is known for certain to have broken down, in so far as it has been possible to analyze
the nature of these breakdowns and to account for their occurrence. Like other evils war has no
insidious way of appearing not intolerable until it has secured such a stranglehold upon the lives of its
addicts that they no longer have the power to escape from its grip when its deadlines has become
manifest. In the early stages of civilization’s growth, the cost of wars in suffering and destruction might
seem to be exceeded by the benefits occurring from the wining of wealth and power and the cultivation
of the “military virtues” ; and, in this phase of history, states have often found themselves able to
indulge in war with one another with something like impunity even for the defeated party. War does not
begin to reveal its malignity till the war making society has begun to increase its economic ability to
exploit physical nature and its political ability to organize manpower; but, as soon as this happens, the
god of war to which the growing society has long since been dedicated proves himself a Moloch by
devouring an ever larger share of the increasing fruits of man’s industry and intelligence in the process
of taking an ever larger toll of life and happiness; and, when the society’s growth in efficiency reaches a
point at which it becomes capable of mobilizing a lethal quantum of its energies and resources for
military use then war reveals itself as being a cancer which is bound to prove fatal to its victim unless he
can cut it out and cast it from him, since its malignant tissues have now learnt to grow faster that the
healthy tissues on which they feed.

In the past when this danger-point in the history of the relations between war and civilization has been
reached and recognized, serious efforts have sometimes been made to get rid of war in time to save
society, and these endeavours have been apt to take one or other of two alternative directions.
Salvation cannot, of course, be sought anywhere except in the working of the consciences of individual
human beings; but individuals have a choice between trying to achieve their aims through direct action
as private citizens and trying to achieve then through indirect action as citizen of states. Personal refusal
to lend himself in any way to any war waged by his state for any purpose and in any circumstances is a
line of attack against the institution of war that is likely to appeal to an ardent and self-sacrificing
nature; by comparison, the alternative peace strategy of seeking to persuade and accustom
governments to combine in jointly resisting aggression when it comes and in trying to remove its stimuli
before hand may seem a circuitous and unheroic line of attack on the problem. Yet experience up to
date indicates unmistakably, in the present writer’s opinion, that the second of these two hard roads is
by far the more promising.

Q.3. Read the following text carefully and answer the questions below: (20)

Experience has quite definitely shown that some reasons for holding a belief are much more likely to be
justified by the event then others. It might naturally be supposed, for instance, that the best of all
reasons for a belief was a strong conviction of certainty accompanying the belief. Experience, however,
shows that this is not so, and that as a matter of fact, conviction by itself is more likely to mislead than it
is to guarantee truth. On the other hand, lack of assurance and persistent hesitation to come to any
belief whatever are an equally poor guarantee that the few beliefs which are arrived at are sound.
Experience also shows that assertion, however long continued, although it is unfortunately with many
people an effective enough means of inducing belief, is not an any way a ground for holding it.

The method which has proved effective, as a matter of actual fact, in providing of firm foundation for
belief wherever it has been capable of application, is what is usually called the scientific method. I firmly
believe that the scientific method, although slow and never claiming to lead to complete truth, is the
only method which in the long run will give satisfactory foundations for beliefs. It consists in demanding
facts as the only basis for conclusions, and inconsistently and continuously testing any conclusions which
may have been reached, against the test of new facts and, wherever possible, by the crucial test of
experiment. It consists also in full publication of the evidence on which conclusions are based, so that
other workers may be assisted in new researchers, or enabled to develop their own interpretations and
arrive at possibly very different conclusions.

There are, however, all sorts of occasions on which the scientific method is not applicable. That method
involves slow testing, frequent suspension of judgment, restricted conclusions. The exigencies of
everyday life, on the other hand, often make it necessary to act on a hasty balancing of admittedly
incomplete evidence, to take immediate action, and to draw conclusions in advance of evidence. It is
also true that such action will always be necessary, and necessary in respect of ever larger issues; and
this inspite of the fact that one of the most important trends of civilization is to remove sphere after
sphere of life out of the domain of such intuitive judgment into the domain of rigid calculation based on
science. It is here that belief pays its most important role. When we cannot be certain, we must proceed
in part by faith-faith not only in the validity of our own capacity of making judgments, but also in the
existence of certain other realities, pre-eminently moral and spiritual realities. It has been said that faith
consists in acting always on the nobler hypothesis; and though this definition is a trifle rhetorical, it
embodies a seed of real truth.
Answer briefly in your own words the following questions:

1. Give the meaning of the underlined phrases as they are used in the passage. (04)

2. What justification does the author claim for his belief in the scientific method? (04)

3. Do you gather from the passage that conclusions reached by the scientific method should we
considered final? Give reasons for your answer. (04)

4. In what circumstances, according to the author, is it necessary to abandon the scientific

method? (04)

5. How does the basis of “intuitive judgment” differ from the scientific decision? (04)

Q.4. Write a comprehensive note (250 – 300 words) on any ONE of the following topics: (20)

(i) Education should be for life, not for livelihood

(ii) The art of being tactful

(iii) Human nature is seen at its best adversity

(iv) Spare the rod and spoil the child

Q.5. (a) Use only Five of the following in sentences which illustrate their meaning (Extra attempt shall
not be considered). (05)

(i) Itching palm

(ii) The primrose path

(iii) Break one’s fall

(iv) Wash one’s hands of

(v) To become reconcile to

(vi) To militate against

(vii) To be cognizant of

(viii) Wages of sin

(b) Explain the difference between the following word pairs by defining each word. (Do only five) (05)

(i) Plaintiff, plaintive

(ii) Valet, varlet

(iii) Monitor, mentor

(iv) Complacent, complaisant

(v) Penitence, penance

(vi) Crevice, crevasse

(vii) Beneficent, beneficial

Q.6. (a) Correct only Five of the following sentences: (05)

(i) Have either of you seen my pen?

(ii) On attempting to restore the picture to its original condition, almost irreparable change was
discovered.

(iii) The child is the prettiest of the two.

(iv) I was annoyed arriving late, also his rather insolent manner put me out of temper.

(v) He is anxious not only to acquire knowledge, but also eager to display it.

(vi) If he was here now, we should have no difficulty.

(vii) Due to unforeseen environments, we shall have to leave early.

(viii) People have and still do disagree on this matter.

(b) Rewrite One of the following passages, converting what is in direct speech into indirect, and what is
in indirect speech into direct. (05)

(i) Just as we came inside of the valley Jamil met us,--“yes, the valley is all very fine, but do you
know there is nothing to eat?”

“Nonsense; we can eat anything here.”

“Well, the brown bread’s two months old, and there’s nothing else but potatoes.”

“There must be milk anyhow.”

“Yes, there was milk, he supposed.”

(ii) Miss Andleeb said she thought English food was lovely, and that she was preparing a
questionnaire to be circulated to the students of the university, with the view to finding out their eating
preferences.
“But the students won’t fill a questionnaire,” said Miriam.

“Won’t fill up questionnaire?” cried Miss Andleeb, taken aback.

“No”, said Miriam, “they won’t. As a nation we are not, questionnaire-conscious.”

“Well, that’s too bad,” said Miss Andaleeb.

Q1(a) - Synonyms

(1) Flagrant

a. Expensive b. Common c. Clerical d. Glaring

(2) Imminent

a.Important b. Historical c. Impending d. Inopportune

(3) Astute

a. Tedious b. Illogical c. Aggressive d. Shrewd

(4) Averse

a.Eager b. Reluctant c. Willing d. Unresponsive

(5) Prognosis

a. Offering b. Prediction c. Warning d. Advance

(6) Pungent

a. Sharp b. Disagreeable c. Smoky d. Anesthetizing

(7) Fiduciary

a. Trustee b. Assistant c. Notary d. Attorney

(8) Philandering

a. Spending b. Exaggerating c. Wandering d. None

(9) Poignant

a. Precious b. Tender c. Intense d. Sorrowful

(10) Contingent

a. Conditional b. Questionable c. Argued d. Rejected

Q1(b) - Antonyms

(1) Veteran

a. Novice b. Pious c. Intellectual d. Debutante

(2) Important

a. Trivial b. Clear c. Turning d. Wavy

(3) Irregular

a. Erratic b. Prevailing c. Difficult d. Enticing

(4) Spending

a. Sober b. Mute c. Revenue d. Spendthrift

(5) Clumsy

a. Foolish b. Inept c. Infer d. Dexterous

(6)Lauded

a. Disparage b. Applaud c. Settle d. Hesitate

(7)Cowardly

a. Bravely b. Poor c. Master d. Ignorant

(8) Praise

a. Censure b. Tickle c. Acclaim d. Skip

(9)Confuse

a. Lucid b. Extraordinary c. Dirty d. Muddle

(10) Neglect

a. Omit b. Destroy c. Mistake d. Nourish