Chidambaram Pillai College for Women, Mannachanallur

Pre-semester Exams -2023

III BA English
English for Competitive Exams
Time: 3 hours Max. 75 Marks
Section A (10 X 2 = 20)
Answer the following questions.
1. Fill in the blanks with suitable articles.
(a) I love ......... music very much.
(b) Can I have coffee and ....... few biscuits?
2. Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions.
(a) I begin my day ....... cup of milk.
(b) He is aiming ....... completing his work.
3. Fill in the blanks with the suitable forms of the given verbs.
(a) Yesterday I ...... to Chennai to meet my father. (go)
(b) She ........ him tomorrow. (receive)
4. Choose the correct form of the verb given in brackets.
(a) They ........ arrested by the police. (was/were).
(b) Who ...... that telegram? (send/sent)
5. Add suitable question tags.
(a) I am writing a letter, ............
(b) Let us congratulate him, ..........
6. Fill in the blanks with suitable words given in the brackets.
(a) The meeting began with the chief guest lighting the .........(lamp/lamb)
(b) The opposition from several people did not ........ his plans. (affect/effect)
7. Frame two different sentences using the word 'watch'.
8. Make sentences using the following idiomatic expressions.
(a) call a spade a spade
(b) let the cat out of the bag
9. Give one word substitutes for the following:
(a) the life history of a person written by himself
(b) a book or paper written by hand
10. Correct the following sentences.
(a) The furniture are to be delivered today.
(b) I have seen him yesterday.
SECTION B (5 X 5 = 25)
Answer ALL the questions choosing either (a) or (b)
11.(a) Fill in the blanks with suitable articles:
(i) ...... sun rises in the east.
(ii) I will meet you in ....... hour.
Use appropriate prepositions and fill in the blanks:
(iii) I lived there ....... five years.
(iv) I prefer tea ....... coffee.
Add a suitable question tag:
(v) She was dancing joyfully.
Or
(b) Fill in the blanks with suitable verbs:
(i) Kannan ........... from asthma since childhood. (suffer)
(ii) I ......... here until you return. (wait)
(iii) My friend ......... of starting a business. (think)
Choose the correct form of the verb and fill in the blanks.
(iv) We ....... sold a garden. (have/has)
(v) My granddaughter .......a poem. (is writing/are writing)
12. Fill in the blanks with the correct words:
(i) The price of ....... cloth has gone down. (course/coarse)
(ii) The thief tried to ...... the painting. (steel/steal)
Write the homonyms for the following:
(iii) the head of an educational institution.
(iv) a policy followed by the people
(v) Frame a sentence of your own using the phrase 'give away'.
Or
(b) Read the following passage and answer the questions:
An environment is the natural surroundings which help life to grow, nourish and destroy
on this planet called Earth. Natural environment plays a great role in the existence of life on
earth and it helps human beings, animals and other living things to grow and develop
naturally. But owing to some bad and selfish activities of the human beings, our environment
is getting affected. It is the most important topic that everyone must know how to protect our
environment to keep it safe forever as well as ensure Nature's balance on this planet to
continue the existence of life.
(i) How is environment described in the passage?
(ii) What is the role of natural environment?
(iii) How can our environment be protected?
(iv) How is earth called?
(v) Give a suitable title to the passage.
13.(a) Spot the errors and correct them:
(i) Leela gave the beggar an one rupee coin.
(ii) A lot of work have to be done.
(iii) I do not remember where did I leave my keys.
(iv) India has been independent in 1947.
(v) Never I have seen such a leader.
Or
(b) Spot the errors and correct them:
(i) Deva is one of the most intelligent man.
(ii) She said that she will come.
(iii) If you had gone there you would meet him.
(iv) Neither the minister nor his secretary were in the room.
(v) Lata is going to college everyday by bus.
14. (a) You are the secretary of the Fine Arts Association. Write a letter to a leading artist
inviting him to be the chief guest of the inaugural function of your college Fine Arts
Association.
Or
(b) Make notes of the following passage:
Quick reading is extremely important. In most occupations a good deal of reading is
required. Top executives spend around four hours a day in reading. One has to find time to
keep up with the knowledge explosion. Research suggests that the faster you read, the more
you understand, may be because concentration is sharpened. When reading fast, we are
devoting all our attention to the text and squeezing for as much meaning as possible. Fast-
reading can be accomplished with regular practice. Reading can be compared to driving a
motor-car. Driving slowly on a free way invites wandering attention but turn on a freeway
and accelerate and see how speed pushes distraction aside and forces improved concentration.
15. (a) Expand the idea contained in the following proverb in a paragraph:
"All that glitters is not gold"
Or
(b) Write a short essay on the following topic:
"The importance of newspapers"
SECTION C. (3 X 10 = 30)
Answer any THREE of the following.
16. Complete the following sentences by filling in with articles.
(a) A computer is ...... electronic device.
(b) Man is ..... social animal.
Supply the correct prepositions for the following sentences.
(c) Don't prevent him ....... his endeavour.
(d) I shall be ..... leave tomorrow.
Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the verbs:
(e) She ....... now.(dance)
(f) I ................... here since 2000.(live)
Choose the correct form of the verbs given in the brackets:
(g) Meena ......an apple every day. (eat/eats)
(h) Wilson ....... a letter. (write/wrote)
Add suitable question tags.
(i) He has not seen that painting.
(j) We visited many places.
17. Read the following passage and answer the questions:
An earthquake comes like a thief in the night, without warning. It was necessary,
therefore to invent instruments that neither slumbered nor slept. Some devices were quite
simple. One, for instance, consisted of rods of various lengths and thicknesses which would
stand up on end like ninepins. When a shock came it shook the rigid table upon which these
stood. If it were gentle, only the more unstable rods fell. If it were severe, they all fell. Thus,
the rods by falling and by the direction in which they fell, recorded for the slumbering
scientist, the strength of a shock that was too weak to waken him and the direction from
which it came. But, instruments far more delicate than that were needed if any really serious
advance was to be made. The ideal to be aimed at was to devise an instrument that could
record with a pen on paper the movements, of the ground or of the table, as the quake passed
by. While I write my pen moves but the paper keeps still. With practice, no doubt, I could,
in time, learn to write by holding the pen still while the paper moved. That sounds a silly
suggestion, but that was precisely the idea adopted in some of the early instruments
(seismometers) for recording earthquake waves. But when table, pen holder and paper are
all moving how is it possible to write legibly? The key to a solution of that problem lay in an
everyday observation. Why does a person standing in a bus or train tend to fall when a
sudden start is made? It is because his feet move on, but his head stays still.
(a) Why was it necessary to invent instruments to observe an earthquake?
(b) What is the early instrument for measuring earthquake?
(c) Comment on the role of seismometers.
(d) Who is the slumbering scientist in the passage?
(e) Give a suitable title for the passage.
18. Spot the errors and correct them.
(a) Some of the buildings is not fit to live in.
(b) He was accused for ill-treating a child.
(c) London is standing on the banks of the Thames.
(d) I have my dinner an hour ago.
(e) I left school as soon as I find a job.
(f) Raj congratulated me for my success.
(g) The dog remained faithfully to its
master till the end.
(h) I satisfied with your performance.
(i) If he will come I will help him.
(j) My brother is taller to my sister.
19. Write a letter to your friend congratulating him on his success in the IAS examination.
20. Write an essay on the following topic: "Students and social service".