1.

Fill in the blanks to complete the following passages:

Amitabh Bachchan is (1) _________ of the greatest actors this country has produced. His
fluency, his gift of timing, his command (2) __________ the language is unparalleled. (3)
_________ his histrionic talents too are among the (4) _________ this country (5) ________
produced. Even now he (6) _________ the most popular actor of the country.

2. Complete the paragraph given below by filling in the blanks with the help of options that
follow:
Spiders are one of the (1) ______ fascinating of creatures. Several hundred species are (2)
________ in India. They are quick to get (3) ________ when we come too close to them. They
(4)________ don’t sting. Nor is their bite severe. In fact some ant bites hurt (5) ______ than a
spider bite. Many species of spiders inhabit (6) ______ environment. The females of only two
species are dangerous.

3. Fill in the blanks by choosing the most appropriate options from the ones given below.
Two friends were walking (1) __________ a desert. During some point of the journey, they had
an argument and one friend slapped the (2) _________ one on the face. The one who got
slapped was hurt, but without saying any thing (3) _________ in the sand.

4. Complete the paragraph given below with the help of the options that follow.
A doctor had the habit of talking to the trees (1) ______ the roadside as he took (2) _______
walks in the evening. He would (3) _________ to kiss the trees lovingly and whisper kind words
to (4) ________. This was an odd (5) _________ beautiful sight. It was indeed (6) ______ noble
act in this wicked world. One day he was very upset to see one of his trees cut down.
The nature lover was so upset that he (7) ___________ on the road.

5. Complete the paragraph given below with the help of the options that follow.
A strong desire to (1) ______ beyond the blue, to fly (2)_________ the heavens and touch the
stars was what Kalpana dreamt (3) _______ . Determined to the core, she finally (4) _________
in making her vision (5) ________ reality. For this first India-born female astronaut, (6)
_________ castles in the air had their foundation firmly embedded in reality.

6. Complete the paragraph given below with the help of the options that follow.
Asaf Khan who (1) ___________ the expedition against the city, (2) _______________ that the
little country which (3) ______________ by a woman would (4) ______________ very easily
without (5) _____________ even a blow. It was to his surprise when he (6) ___________ that
the city (7) _____________ to offer a strong resistance. He (8) __________ with him only a
small force to fight the battle.

7. Complete the paragraph given below with the help of the options that follow.
You (1)_______ live without food and water for some time but you (2)______ not live without
air. The air (3) _______ sometimes cause infection in the nose. If it persists you (4) ________
see the doctor. A chronic cold (5) _________ cause a great deal of discomfort. So you
(6)________ be careful about it.
8. Complete the following passage by filling in the blanks with suitable words.
Subjecting clothes or mattresses infested (1) ______ bedbugs to freezing temperatures is a
commonly used method (2) ____ remove the bug. But bedbugs are not as susceptible to low
temperatures as thought. The bug (3) ______ lower the freezing point of its body fluids to save
itself. Researchers say that to ensure all bugs (4) ______ killed, bug-infested items (5) _____
be exposed to -16 degrees centigrade for 80 hours. Hundred per cent mortality can also be
achieved by subjecting bedbugs to -20 degrees centigrade (6) _________ 40 hours.

9. Complete the following passage by filling in the blanks with suitable words.
A meteorite streaked across (1) _____ sky and exploded over Central Russia (2) _____
February 15, raining fireballs (3) _______ a vast area and causing shock – waves (4) ______
smashed windows and damaged buildings.

10. Complete the following passage by filling in the blanks with suitable words.
Dear Shaan
Allow me (1) ______ congratulate you on passing your final Board Exams. You (2) ____be
really very happy (3) ______your success. I must say that you worked (4) ______ hard
throughout the year. It is really very satisfying (5) ______ one gets the reward of (6) _____ hard
work. Please write to me (7) ______ you plan to do next. I (8) _____ love to hear from you.
Yours
Abhi

11. The following passage is an extract from an article on ‘Do Memory Pills Enhance Memory’
but some of the words have to be filled in the blanks.
How (1) _________ are memory pills that (2) ___________ to turn your mind (3) ______ an
information powerhouse? Pretty (4) _____, say experts but students (5) _____ buy these in the
hope of doing (6) ____ in their examination don’t know better. “There’s (7) ______ evidence that
memory enhancing supplements help boost memory”, says Dr. Pushpendra Renjen, senior
consultant of neurology (8) _______ the Apollo Hospital.

12. Choose the best word from the options given to complete the following passage.
Our tongue (1) ________ a lot of things. The (2) ________ bumps on it called taste buds can
differentiate (3) ________ salty food like potato chips and sweet food like chocolate or ice
cream. The tongue is (4) _______ in chewing the food by moving to where our teeth (5) _____
bite it. (6) ________our food is all chewed up, our tongue helps us in pushing it down through
the throat to (7) ________ stomach. And the (8) ________ interesting thing about this organ of
taste, is that it helps in talking.

13. Choose the best word from the options given to complete the following passage.
Originally (1)_______ the island of Sumatra in South China Sea, Titan Arum (Amorphophallus
titanium) was discovered in 1878 and (2) _____ cuttings were shipped to the Kew Gardens in
London. The Titan Arum plant (3) __________ at the rate of 10 cm a day to a height of about
two meters. (4) _________ in full bloom the flower’s diameter is about. 1.1 meter. It flowers very
rarely and it first (5) ________so in 1889. The giant plant emits a sickening smell and (6)
________ attracts insects to pollinate it. It is said that when (7) _____ flower first bloomed in
London, people (8) _______ because of the smell.

14. Choose the best word from the options given to complete the following passage.
(1) ______ Diwali night, children (2) ____ in the government (3) ____ BC Roy children’s hospital
were exposed to deafening sounds (4) ________ residents of nearby multistorey buildings burst
crackers. The decibel (dB) level of crackers exceeded 90 dB. It was the (5) _______Diwali in
Kolkata’s recent memory. “The sounds were (6) ____ loud that needles for giving saline drip to
children (7) _______ displaced,” complained Tapan Halder whose daughter was admitted in the
hospital (8) ______ jaundice.

15. Fill in the blanks of choosing the correct options for ANY FOUR of the twenty sentences
given below.
(1) 1950 is _______ year in which India became a republic.
a) an
b) the
c) a
d) these

(2) You may have ____ of the four watches.

a) either
b) some
c) any
d) many

(3) She always _____ excuses for coming late.

a) makes
b) make
c) making
d) have made

(4) Travelling by bus is ________ expensive than by train.

a) less
b) least
c) many
d) few

5) The climate is getting ____ every year.

a) hot
b) hottest
c) hotter
d) less hot

(6) I like short stories best because they _____ much time to read.
a) doesn’t
b) didn’t take
c) don’t take
d) hasn’t taken

(7) He drove with ______ care and hence was fined by _____ police.
a) the; the
b) little; the
c) much; a
d) much; an

(8) The Prime Minister ______ for Russia tomorrow on a five day visit.
a) should leave
b) has left
c) will leave
d) had left

(9) I didn’t know Jim ____ to the United States.

a) migrates
b) will migrate
c) migrated
d) migrate

(10) This news ____ broadcast from All India Radio.

a) were
b) was
c) are
d) is

(11) Hillary was the first man _______ Mt. Everest.

a) who climb
b) who climbed
c) that climb
d) that climbed

(12) He went on a diet, hoping ______ slim and attractive.

a) to become
b) to became
c) becomes
d) became

(13) I have been to ____ doctor whose name appeared in ____ New York Times.
a) the; the
b) a; the
c) the; a
d) a; a

(14) We ___ to go out for a picnic tomorrow?

a) will plan
b) planing
c) are planning
d) plan

(15) Yippy! I ______ for the school dance competition.

a) have selected
b) have been selected
c) was selected
d) had been select

(16) Why don’t you ____ it with a hammer?

a) try hitting
b) tried hitting
c) try hit
d) trying hit

(17) Mathematics ______ a compulsory subject for under graduation in most of the streams.
a) has
b) will
c) is
d) are

(18) This is the best movie that I have ____

a) ever saw
b) ever seen
c) ever see
d) ever seas

(19) That well built boy _____ I met at the sports meet is a famous hockey player.
a) who
b) whom
c) where
d) whose

(20) Suspecting every stranger you ____ across is wrong.

a) came
b) comes
c) come
d) coming