A level-playing field means? Model Questions in English Language

Directions (Q.No. 1-5): Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical mistake/ error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. Mark the number of that part with error as your answer. If there is 'No error', mark (5) as your answer

1. Increase in penalties and effective awareness programs (1)/ would ameliorate the growth pollution levels (2)/ and there by global warming (3)/ it may have generated. (4)/ No error (5)

2. She never cared for abstract thinking (1)/ and preferred the pragmatic world of business, (2)/ in
which every action, ideally, (3)/ has an intention consequence. (4)/ No error (5)

3. Upon receiving his first Wall Street paycheck, (1)/he was so magnanimous (2)/ he not only bought a car his Mom, (3)/ he bought his Dad one too. (4)/ No error (5)

4. The movie celebrity is not having good day (1)/ because he got another ticket for speeding (2)/ only two over and driving ostentatiously (3)/ in his new, cherryred sports car. (4)/ No error (5)

5. Even though the advertisement claim the energy drink is benign, (1)/ customers may experience (2)/ some unwanted side effects (3)/ after consuming. (4)/ No error (5)

Directions (Q.No. 6-10): Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) in a proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions given below.

A) Lincoln was the first American president to be assassinated, though an unsuccessful attempt had been made on Andrew Jackson 30 years before in 1835.

B) Lincoln was shot once in the back of his head while watching the play Our American Cousin with his wife Mary Todd Lincoln at Ford's Theatrein Washington, D.C. at around 10:15 pm on the night of April 14, 1865.

C) The assassination occurred five days after the commanding General of the Army of Northern Virginia, Robert E. Lee, surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant and the Army of the Potomac.

D) Booth and a group of co-conspirators originally plotted to kidnap Lincoln, but later planned to kill him, Vice President Andrew Johnson, and Secretary of State William H. Seward in a bid to help the Confederacy's cause.

E) The assassination of Abraham Lincoln took place on Good Friday, on April 14, 1865, as the American Civil War was drawing to a close.

F) The assassination of Lincoln was planned and carried out by the well-known stage actor John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate sympathizer, vehement in his denunciation of Lincoln, and a strong opponent of the abolition of slavery in the United States.

6. What is the FIRST sentence after rearrangement?
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) D
5) E

7. What is the SECOND sentence after rearrangement?
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) E
5) F

8. What is the FOURTH sentence after rearrangement?
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) E
5) F

9. What is the FIFTH sentence after rearrangement?
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) D
5) F

10. What is the LAST sentence after rearrangement?
1) A
2) B
3) C
4) D
5) F

Directions (Q.No. 11-15): Each question below has a blank/ two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the word/ set of words from the five options for each blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

11. The ____ violence this week hardly ____ well for smooth or peaceful change.

1) changed, predict

2) converted, promised

3) improved, promises

4) renewed, augurs

5) transformed, foretell

12. A tidal wave caused by the earthquake ____ the coast causing ____ damage.

1) caught, terrible

2) made, shattering

3) put, appalling

4) strike, terrible

5) hit, catastrophic

13. If the case succeeds, it is ____ that other ____ will follow.

1) expected, suite

2) usual, files

3) Inevitable, trials

4) predictable, case

5) customary, records

14. It seemed to some ____ that the English had a ____ for travelling.

1) witness, liking

2) viewer, fashion

3) onlooker, fancy

4) observers, mania

5) spectator, desire

15. A maverick group of scientists, who ____ the prevailing medical opinion on the disease, came forward to donate large sums.

1) suppose
2) oppose

3) propose
4) offer

5) provide

Directions (Q.No. 16-20): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has come out in favour of net neutrality in its recommendation paper released on Tuesday. The regulator has mandated that ISPs (Internet Service Providers) should not deploy any discriminatory practices such as blocking, degrading or slowing down of certain web traffic while giving preferential treatment to any specific content at the same time. The decision was made after a series of consultations with stakeholders between 30 May 2016 and 4 January 2017. The TRAI paper also suggests the formation of a regulatory body to monitor and deal with any such violation of net neutrality. To understand how this would affect ISPs and consumers, one needs to understand what the net neutrality debate is all about. When users pay an ISP for an internet plan, they are entitled to be able to access all online content, be it videos, games, news or social media sites, at the same broadband speed they have signed up for. This has been the basic principle guiding internet and ISP since the beginning.

In 2007, US-based ISP Comcast Corp. was reportedly found to be delaying upload of files on Bitorrent. Delay in uploads affected the download speed as Bitorrent is a peer-topeer service. FCC (Federal Communication Commission), an agency of US government, ordered Comcast in August 2008 to stop the discriminatory practice. The issue of net neutrality gathered momentum in 2015 when then US president Barack Obama pledged support for it and urged the agency to come with a strong rule on it. FCC ruled in favour of net neutrality, prohibiting any ISP from blocking, throttling, or giving special treatment in terms of speed to a content provider who has paid more than others. The FCC's position on net neutrality has changed under the new regime. The agency plans to repeal the net neutrality rules to regulate ISPs passed under the Obama administration through a vote on 14 December 2017. In India, the debate on net neutrality picked speed after Facebook launched the Free Basics program in December 2015, earlier known as internet.org. Free Basics gives free access to basic internet services to users who could not afford 4G data plans and were still using slower 2G networks. Though, Facebook wasn't charging users anything extra, the notion of favouring access to certain content went against the basic principle of net neutrality. TRAI banned Free Basics and other similar services such as Airtel Zero in February 2016.

An ISP could make it harder for users to access parts of the internet to drive more traffic on its own contentsharing platform. A lot of ISPs have their own video and music streaming service. Without net neutrality regulation, they can try to throttle access to services of a rival. In August 2014, Netflix accused Comcast of interfering with buffering speed and visual quality on the video streaming platform. The issue was resolved after Netflix agreed to pay for access to CDN networks. In various countries with no regulation on net neutrality, ISPs are already clubbing content into packages, compelling users to pay for apps and websites which were previously free. Another concern with lack of net neutrality is of different speed lanes and the effect it will have on startups that do not have the resource to pay for faster lanes. A study, published in September 2016, by Double Click, a Google subsidiary which develops and provides Internet ad serving services, found that slow loading websites frustrate users and this had a negative impact on the content provider. The study showed that websites which load in 5 seconds against 19 seconds witnessed 25% higher ad views, 70% longer average sessions and 35% lower bounce rates. So content providers who are on slower lanes will miss out to rivals who can afford to pay for the faster lanes. Net neutrality provides a level-playing field to content providers and startups.

16. Which of the following statements is true?

a) The formation of a regulatory body to deal with the violation of net neutrality is suggested by TRAI

b) The ISPs can use their discretionary powers to specific content

1) Only a
2) Only b

3) Both a & b

4) Neither a nor b

5) Either a or b

17. Which statement is true as per the passage?

1) A series of discussions with stakeholders led TRAI to come out in support of net neutrality

2) Comcast accused Netflix of interfering with buffering speed

3) Slow loading websites encourage users to spend time on content

4) ISPs are unconvincing users to pay for apps and websites which were previously free

5) In India, the debate on net neutrality plummet after Facebook launched the Free Basics program

18. The antonym of deploy is:

1) Organize

2) Position

3) Take charge
4) Resist

5) Uninstall

19. The synonym of throttle is:

1) Percolate
2) Infiltrate

3) Suffocate
4) Perforate

5) Garrulous

20. A level-playing field means:

1) A situation which is tricky

2) A situation in which everyone has a fair and equal chance of succeeding

3) A situation in which favours are not done to egalitarian class

4) A situation in which pros and cons will be weighed

5) A situation in which the chances of failures are higher than success