General English #50 Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ) : Assam Jobs Guide

GENERAL ENGLISH #50

MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

Directions (1-10): You have two brief passages with five questions following each passage. Read the passages carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives.

Passage-I

He waited a moment in surprise, wondering why she did not come nearer, and then, maddened by hunger, he dived at the fish. With a loud scream he fell outwards and downwards into space. His mother had soared upwards. As he passed beneath her, he heard the swish of her wings. Then a monstrous terror seized him and his heart stood still. He could hear nothing. But it only lasted a moment. The next moment, he felt his wings spread outwards. The wind rushed against his breast feathers, then under his stomach and against his wings. He could feel the tips of his wings cutting through the air. He was not falling headlong now. He was soaring gradually downwards and outwards.

He was no longer afraid. He just felt a bit dizzy. Then, he flapped his wings once and he soared upwards. he uttered a joyous scream and flapped them again. He soared higher. He raised his breast and banked against the wind. His mother swooped past him, her wings making a loud noise. He answered her with another scream.

1. The young seagull dived at the fish …………

(a) maddened by anger

(b) maddened by want

(c) out of spite

(d) out of loneliness

Answer: (b)

2. His heart stood still because he was seized by …………

(a) a monstrous fury

(b) courage

(c) a monstrous terror

(d) joy

Answer: (c)

3. He was not falling headlong but …………

(a) he was afraid

(b) he was soaring downwards and outwards

(c) his stomach was full

(d) he was joining his father

Answer: (b)

4. The seagull just felt dizzy …………

(a) and was filled with fear

(b) and was no longer afraid

(c) and did not flap his wings anymore

(d) and dived lower

Answer: (b)

5. What did the young seagull do when his mother swooped past him?

(a) Let out a joyous scream

(b) Screamed at her in anger

(c) Made a loud noise

(d) Flapped anxiously

Answer: (a)

Passage-II

The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest and northernmost state in the United States, ending at a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to operate. The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily. Resting on H-shaped steel racks called "bents", long sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline's up-and-down route is determined by the often harsh demands of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground. The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon the type of terrain and the properties of the soil. One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive construction project ever undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so 8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline-construction fund according to the size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous problems of climate, supply shortage, equipment breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating.

6. The Alaskan pipeline ends …………

(a) north of Alaska

(b) at a seaport village

(c) after passing through canyons and rivers

(d) at a tundra covered village

Answer: (b)

7. What is the capacity of the Alaskan pipeline?

(a) 2 million gallons of crude oil

(b) 4 million gallons of crude oil

(c) 84 million gallons of crude oil

(d) 84 billion gallons of crude oil

Answer: (c)

8. What are "bents"?

(a) Zigzag shape of pipeline

(b) Pipeline's up and down route

(c) The section of the pipeline that drops out of sight

(d) The H-shaped steel racks

Answer: (d)

9. How was the fund for pipeline - construction generated?

(a) 8 major oil companies joined hands to share the cost

(b) 8 major oil companies borrowed $8 billion

(c) A single private company raised $8 billion

(d) Oil rights were sold to 8 major oil companies

Answer: (a)

10. Which of the following were not problems faced while constructing the pipeline?

(a) Supply shortages

(b) Treacherous terrain

(c) Lack of funds

(d) Equipment breakdown

Answer: (c)