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FEDERAL
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FORRECRUITMENT TO POSTS IN BPS-17 UNDERTHE 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 I
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
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
(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
(i)
Plaintiff, plaintive
(ii) Valet, varlet
(iii) Monitor, mentor
(iv) Complacent, complaisant
(v)
Penitence, penance
(vi) Crevice, crevasse
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.
