Antonyms Questions and Answers

Direction for [ Question No: 1 To 1 ] :

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

The popular saying is, ‘Learn to accept the things you cannot change.’ Or, ignore. Imagine you find yourself in the middle of a ferocious argument between two colleagues. What would you do – take sides and incur the wrath of the other? Demand that they pipe down and join in the confusion? Or simply walk away, ignoring them?

The safest is perhaps to ignore, but that could be mistaken for indifference, disinterest or even apathy. Yet the answer to a lot of sticky situations in life could possibly be to ignore it for the moment; to let things settle down and find their own level. That way, the heat and the dust settle down, and better sense would prevail.

To ignore something is not the same as not caring; it could even mean that you care so much that you have decided to ignore it so that it does not get worse. That is to say, to ignore responsibly – but it does not mean that you can ignore your responsibility when you are required to be responsible. Is there a way to ignore someone or something without causing offence?

To ignore is a passive response (rather, a nonresponse); there is little chance of sparking a conflict. Sometimes, silence is truly golden, for it creates the space for reflection and for calming down. Agitation only fuels further agitation and misunderstanding, whereas remaining silent could have the opposite effect, of easing tension and bringing in the much-needed calm. A lot of tricky situations in life tend to sort themselves out if only we had held our tongue and kept the peace.

Direction for [ Question No: 2 To 2 ] :

Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow.

While there is no denying that the world loves a winner, it is important that you recognise the signs of stress in your behaviour and be healthy enough to enjoy your success. Stress can strike anytime, in a fashion that may leave you unaware of its presence in your life. While a certain amount of pressure is necessary for performance, it is important to be able to recognise your individual limit. For instance, there are some individuals who accept competition in a healthy fashion. There are others who collapse into weeping wrecks before an exam or on comparing marks sheets and finding that their friend has scored better. Stress is a body reaction to any demands or changes in its internal and external environment. Whenever there is a change in the external environment such as temperature, pollutants, humidity and working conditions, it leads to stress. In these days of competition when a person makes up his mind to surpass what has been achieved by others, leading to an imbalance between demands and resources, it causes psychosocial stress. It is a part and parcel of everyday life. Stress has a different meaning, depending on the stage of life you are in. The loss of a toy or a reprimand from the parents might create a stress shock in a child. An adolescent who fails an examination may feel as if everything has been lost and life has no further meaning. In an adult the loss of his or her companion, job or professional failure may appear as if there is nothing more to be achieved. Such signs appear in the attitude and behaviour of the individual, such as muscle tension in various parts of the body, palpitation and high blood pressure, indigestion and hyperacidity. Ultimately the result is self-destructive behaviour such as eating and drinking too much, smoking excessively, relying on tranquilisers. There are other signs of stress such as trembling, shaking, nervous blinking, dryness of throat and mouth and difficulty in swallowing. The professional under stress behaves as if he is a perfectionist. It leads to depression, lethargy and weakness. Periodic mood shifts also indicate the stress status of the students, executives and professionals. In a study sponsored by the World Health Organization and carried out by Harvard School of Public Health, the global burden of diseases and injury indicated that stress diseases and accidents are going to be the major killers in 2020. Heart disease and depression, both stress diseases, are going to rank first and second in 2020. Road traffic accidents are going to be the third-largest killers. These accidents are also an indicator of psychosocial stress in a fast-moving society. Other stress diseases like ulcers, hypertension and sleeplessness have assumed epidemic proportions in modern societies. A person under stress reacts in different ways and the common ones are flight, fight and flee depending upon the nature of the stress and capabilities of the person. The three responses can be elegantly chosen to cope with the stress so that stress does not damage the system and become distressed. When stress crosses the limit, peculiar to an individual, it lowers his performance capacity. Frequent crossing of the limit may result in chronic fatigue in which a person feels lethargic, disinterested and is not easily motivated to achieve anything. This may make the person mentally undecided, confused and accident-prone as well. Sudden exposure of unnerving stress may also result in a loss of memory. Diet, massage, food supplements, herbal medicines, hobbies, relaxation techniques and dance movements are excellent stress busters

Direction for [ Question No: 3 To 3 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

1. On 15 January 2009, several interesting things happened. A plane crash landed into the Hudson River, right in the middle of New York City. The pilot, crew and 155 passengers escaped safely. But then, something else happened... Jim was nearby and watched the event happen. He immediately tweeted that he had just seen a plane crash in the Hudson. From there the news spread quickly. People contacted him immediately and asked him what was happening, and other people on the street took photos and videos with their phones and posted them online. Ordinary people suddenly became journalists. It was 15 minutes before the news broke on official news channels.

2. Photos, videos and tweets from ordinary people at the scene of dramatic events now provide the words and images that describe events in the news. When a meteor exploded over a Russian city in 2013, millions of people around the world watched videos and photos of the event on Facebook and YouTube. Social media can also save lives. In January 2010, an earthquake hit the Caribbean island of Haiti. The government said that there had been an earthquake, but they didn't give many details at first. Meanwhile, people living in the disaster area were posting photos and eye witness accounts on Twitter and Facebook and telling the world that it was an emergency and houses were collapsing. A local radio presenter used this information to help people find family members, and people even phoned his program to ask if their relatives were safe.

3. News travels fast on social media, but false stories spread just as quickly as the truth. Some of these "facts" are erroneous, others are deliberate hoaxes. Hoaxes remind us that not everything people post and publish is reliable. But social media can change our lives for the better.

Direction for [ Question No: 4 To 4 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

My home town in the mid-1970s was a laid-back place, resembling a remote rural area, except in having some amenities. Our house was almost at one end of the town. About 15 km away, there was a small village where a fair was held for a week every year during the harvest season. The village deity was worshipped by many from the places in the vicinity.

Devotees thronged the fair not only for divine blessings but also for watching street-shows and other entertainment events. Only a mud track led to the village and everyone reached there by walking or on bullock carts.

My father, an advocate by profession, was popular among the villagers. His clients from the place used to arrange bullock carts for us and a few family friends and relatives to attend the fair.

The journey would start early in the morning. We children will be in a separate cart. I used to eagerly look forward to this occasion every year as though it was a journey of a life-time and worth enjoying every minute of it. Money saved for this fair would be tucked firmly in my pockets during the journey. Whenever the cart jerked or sped away, I would hold my pockets tightly so that coins would not spill out.

The crowd at the temple in the foothill used to be highly unorganised, especially the food counter where prasadam was served. Hot and spicy puffed rice and tea made of jaggery were the delectable combination of food and beverage every devotee craved for.

Going to the temple used to be the last priority of us children. Fearing elders' wrath, we would hurriedly finish the formality of darshan.

Direction for [ Question No: 5 To 5 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow :

He must have seen us coming from some distance. By the time he loomed up in front of my headlights, the arms in the snow-caked overcoat were flailing desperately like windmills.

Pat gave a little gasp and I braked at once, though gently, or I might have followed his car into the ditch. But immediately I had second thoughts; there had been one or two nasty cases of hold-up in the papers recently. I wasn't going to take any chance with Pat, my sister, there. I changed down the gear and made to drive round him.

Pat was horrified. 'Aren't you stopping, Bill ?' I shook my head. 'Too risky'.

It was then that I saw the car. It had skidded right across the road and was hanging nose down in the deep ditch. I braked again and brought the Mini-Moris gradually to a stop.

I slid back my window as he looked in and then I saw that he was bleeding from a cut in his cheek.

'Anybody else in the car ?'

'No, on my own. If you could give me a lift'.

I nodded and he got into the back and slammed the door.

'Sorry about this, folks. I was beginning to think I was stuck there for the night. Not that you would call it a busy road, is it ?'

'Not at twelve o'clock at night', Pat said, turning round to smile at him. 'We have been to a dance in Boling ford. Bill didn't want to go, but I was keen. He isn't a bad brother, really'.

Direction for [ Question No: 6 To 6 ] :

Directions : Read the passage given below and answer the questions by selecting the correct/most appropriate options :

With more then 3,000 languages currently spoken, English undoubtedly is amongst the richest of all languages. The Oxford English Dictionary lists about half a million words of which only 2,00,000 are frequently used. This is because, the balance 3,00,000 words are technical and not found in ordinary dictionaries. The only language that can come near English is Chinese.

Apart from being the richest language, English also boasts of being one of the most widely spoken, second only to Mandarin Chinese. This remarkable achievement is only because of the one thing that we all love to do - copy ! 'Siesta' for example is of Spanish origin. 'Sputnik' as you must be aware of, has a Russian origin. 'Restaurant' is from France and 'Super' from Germany. Even before the birth of the 'genius' of 'drama', William Shakespeare, the words 'genius' and 'drama' were adapted from Greek. Now, you must be wondering if English has anything original about it. Well, find it out ! Did you ever try to find out how many different words of English we use in our daily life ? Try to guess and then read on. A modern novelist has a vocabulary of anywhere between ten to fifteen thousand words.

William Shakespeare used thirty thousand words and the only writer to come close to him was James Joyce in 'Ulysses'. We normally have a vocabulary of about ten thousand words of which only five thousand are used in everyday conversation. This leads to a limited variety of words. This is because we repeat a lot of words. In conversation and in writing, it is 'the'. (Try counting it in this article and you will have proof of it.)

Direction for [ Question No: 7 To 7 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Yet as soon as she saw him, she did not look as Alfred thought she would look : she smiled, her blue eyes never wavered, and with a calmness and dignity that made them forget that her clothes seemed to have been thrown on her, she put out her hand to Mr. Carr and said politely, "I'm Mrs. Higgins. I'm Alfred's mother."

Mr. Carr was a bit embarrassed by her lack of terror and her simplicity and he hardly knew what to say to her, so she asked, "Is Alfred in trouble ?"

"He is. He's been taking things from the store. I caught him red-handed. Little things like compacts and toothpaste and lipsticks. Stuff he can sell easily," the proprietor said.

Mrs. Higgins put out her hand and touched Sam Carr's arm with an understanding gentleness, and speaking as though afraid of disturbing him, she said, "If you would only listen to me before doing anything". Her simple earnestness made her shy; her humility made her falter and look away, but in a moment she was smiling gravely again and she said with a kind of patient dignity, "What do you intend to do, Mr. Carr ?"

"I am going to get a cop. That's what I ought to do."

"Yes, I suppose so. It's not for me to say, because he's my son. Yet I sometimes think a little good advice is the best thing for a boy when he is at a certain period in his life," she said.

Alfred couldn't understand his mother's quiet composure, for if they had been at home and someone had suggested that he was going to be arrested, he knew she would be in a rage and would cry out against him.

Direction for [ Question No: 8 To 8 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow by choosing the correct/most appropriate options :

1. The study of handwriting is known as graphology and it has been practised for hundreds of years. Professional forensic graphologists have worked on many court cases to use handwriting to link suspects with crimes.

2. Handwriting is particularly important legally in the case of signatures and proving whether signatures are real or forged can be pivotal. Graphologists also work to verify whether autographs are real or fake.

3. Some handwriting analysts also study writing samples to determine personality types and some businesses commission this analysis before hiring new employees. The method is even sometimes used to help couples see if they are compatible. According to graphologists, there is very little you can't tell from a persons' handwriting.

4. From psychological conditions like high blood pressure and schizophrenia to personality traits like dominance and aggression : if you write by hand, graphologists can analyse you.

5. Everything from the size of your letters to how closely you space words can reveal intricate details of your personality. In general, the size of your letters can reveal whether you are shy or outgoing. Compared to a standard lined sheet of paper, if you write with tiny letters that do not reach the top line, you are likely to have a timid and introverted personality. If you write with large letters that go over the topline, you are likely to be the opposite : outgoing, confident and attention seeking.

6. Studies suggest that people who space words widely like freedom and independence, whereas those choosing to write with small spaces prefer to be among others and do not like to be alone.

Which one of the following words is opposite in meaning to the word as used in the passage ?

Direction for [ Question No: 9 To 9 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow, by selecting the correct/most appropriate options :

1. Each drop represents a little bit of creation and of life itself. When the monsoon brings to northern India the first rains of summer, the parched earth opens its pores and quenches its thirst with a hiss of ecstasy. After baking in the sun for the last few months, the land looks cracked, dusty and tired. Now, almost overnight, new grass springs up, there is renewal everywhere, and the damp earth releases a fragrance sweeter than any devised by man.

2. Water brings joy to earth, grass, leaf-bud, blossom, insect, bird, animal and the pounding heart of man. Small children run out of their homes to romp naked in the rain. Buffaloes, which have spent the summer listlessly around lakes gone dry, now plunge into a heaven of muddy water. Soon the lakes and rivers will overflow with the monsoon's generosity. Trekking in the Himalayan foothills, I recently walked for kilometres without encountering habitation. I was just scolding myself for not having brought along a water-bottle, when I came across a patch of green on a rock face. I parted a curtain of tender maiden hair fern and discovered a tiny spring issuing from the rock-nectar for the thirsty traveller.

3. I stayed there for hours, watching the water descend, drop by drop, into a tiny casement in the rocks. Each drop reflected creation. That same spring, I later discovered, joined other springs to form a swift, tumbling stream, which went cascading down the hill into other streams until, in the plains, it became part of a river. And that river flowed into another mightier river that kilometres later emptied into the ocean. Be like water, taught Laotzu, philosopher and founder of Taoism. Soft and limpid, it finds its way through, over or under any obstacle. It does not quarrel; it simply moves on.

Direction for [ Question No: 10 To 10 ] :

Read the passage given below and answer the questions that follow.

Lack of self-control has brought grief to more people than any other shortcoming known to the human race. Every successful person must have some sort of a balance wheel for his or her emotions. When a person becomes extremely angry, certain glands triggered by negative emotions begin to empty their contents into the blood and if this is kept up for more time, it will result in serious damage to the entire system, sometimes leading to death. The blood coagulates at that time. Nature created this system for the protection of the young human race during the savage stage of development, when anger usually preceding a fight might mean opening of the veins and loss of blood.

There is a reason of developing self-control. One who lacks self-control may be easily mastered by one who has such control. Success in life is very largely a matter of harmonious negotiation with other people and this requires self-control in abundance.

The author of the 'Law of Success Philosophy' once observed a long line of angry woman in front of the 'Complaint Desk' of a large Chicago department store. The young woman who was hearing the complaints, kept cool and smiled all the time not withstanding the fact that some of the women were very abusive. One by one, this young woman directed the women to the right department and she did it with such poise that it caused the author to walk up closer where he could see just what was happening.