Showing posts with label english. Show all posts
Showing posts with label english. Show all posts
Friday, January 16, 2015
Antonyms Practice Exercises for Exams
An antonym is a word that is the opposite meaning of another. It comes from the Greek words “anti” for opposite and “onym” for name. Since language is complex, people may at times, disagree on what words are truly opposite in meaning to other words.
Working with Antonyms
- bad, badly, badness, evil, evilness, ill, malevolent, malicious, poorly, wicked
Here are Practice Question Papers on Antonyms (Vocabulary):
Cloze Test English Practice Exercises
Here are the Practice Question Papers on "Cloze Test":
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-1
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-2
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-3
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-4
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-5
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-6
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-7
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-8
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-9
Cloze Test English Practice Exercise Question Paper-10
Friday, December 26, 2014
Sunday, December 21, 2014
Synonyms Practice Exercises for Exams
Synonyms are words or phrases which have the same or nearly the same meaning as other words or phrases in the same language:
The words 'small' and 'little' are synonyms.
What is a Synonym?
Synonyms are different words with identical or very similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn (“with”) and onoma (“name”). In English, a language known for its enormous vocabulary, most words have synonyms. For example, the word “enormous” has many synonyms: Huge, massive, giant, immense, and the list goes on. The words car and automobile are synonyms. Similarly, if we talk about a long time or an extended time, long and extended become synonyms. In the figurative sense, two words are often said to be synonymous if they have the same connotation:
“a widespread impression that … Hollywood was synonymous with immorality” (Doris Kearns Goodwin)
Synonyms can be any part of speech (e.g. nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs or prepositions), as long as both members of the pair are the same part of speech. More examples of English synonyms are:
| S.No | Word | Synonym | Part Of Speech |
| 1 | Student | Pupil | Noun |
| 2 | Petty crime | Misdemeanor | Noun |
| 3 | Buy | Purchase | Verb |
| 4 | Sick | Ill | Adjective |
| 5 | Quickly | Speedily | Adverb |
| 6 | On | Upon | Preposition |
Note that synonyms are defined with respect to certain senses of words; for instance, pupil as the “aperture in the iris of the eye” is not synonymous with student. Similarly, he expired means the same as he died, yet my passport has expired cannot be replaced by my passport has died.
In English, many synonyms evolved from the parallel use, in the early medieval period, of Norman French (from Latin) and Old English (Anglo-Saxon) words, often with some words being used principally by the Saxon peasantry (“folk”, “freedom”, “bowman”) and their synonyms by the Norman nobility (“people”, “liberty”, “archer”). Some lexicographers claim that no synonyms have exactly the same meaning (in all contexts or social levels of language) because etymology, orthography, phonic qualities, ambiguous meanings, usage, etc. make them unique. Different words that are similar in meaning usually differ for a reason: feline is more formal than cat; long and extended are only synonyms in one usage and not in others (for example, a long arm is not the same as an extended arm). Synonyms are also a source of euphemisms.
If you get stuck, there’s help, thanks to Peter Mark Roget. In 1852, Dr. Roget compiled the first comprehensive classification of synonyms, called a thesaurus. Roget’s Thesaurus is still the world’s premier synonym finder and the source for online synonym finders and word processing thesaurus tools. The purpose of a thesaurus is to offer the user a listing of similar or related words; these are often, but not always, synonyms. Dictionaries also list synonyms for each definition.
Here are Practice tests on Synonyms (Vocabulary):
Synonyms Practice Exercise-1
Synonyms Practice Exercise-2
Synonyms Practice Exercise-3
Friday, December 19, 2014
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Practice Exercises for Exams
Sentence completions are very simple if you have good vocabulary knowledge. Sentence Completion are a great way to expand your vocabulary and improve your skills in logic. This is because sentence completions are very much like puzzles.
Sentence Completion are nothing but just filling the given blanks, number of blanks varies from exam to exam and their standard. Generally these have one or utmost two blanks.
You need to understand the sentence structure and the meaning of the given sentence to answer the question. If you are able to understand the meaning then you will get required "word" (answer to fill the blank) into your mind, then by seeing into the options you can answer the question with no mistake.
What we have for YOU ?
We have worked a lot to give you the Sentence Completion Examples, Practice Questions, Previous Questions and even Tips on How to solve Sentence Completion Questions of high quality.
Here are Practice Tests listed below, try to attempt all the questions by keeping time in mind to answer them in prescribed time.
Here are Practice Exercise Question Papers:
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Practice Exercises Question Paper-1
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Practice Exercises Question Paper-2
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Practice Exercises Question Paper-3
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Practice Exercises Question Paper-4
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Practice Exercises Question Paper-5
Sentence Completion/ Fillers Tips for Exams
Some Sentence Completion/ Fillers TIPS:
Have a look at them and do practice to save the time.Many students who are preparing for competitive exams find sentence completion questions easier than reading comprehension problems because they are so much shorter, but sentence completions can contain difficult vocabulary and confusing meanings. It’s important that we follow an effective strategy to “unpack” all the little signs and signals that lead us to the correct choice.
1. Circle the clues.
As you read the sentence, you will be on the lookout for keywords: words that describe the blank or relate to the overall flow of the sentence (transition words). Even you can notice certain adjectives that provide information about the blank, or punctuation such as commas and semicolons that provide hints. What do these little clues tell you about the blank? What do they say about the meaning of the entire sentence?
2. Write down a personal answer.
Once you’ve analyzed the keywords and punctuation of a sentence, you can come up with a prediction for the blank. It doesn’t have to be brilliant, but you do have to write something down. If you are at a loss for words, even a simple prediction such as “a positive word” or “something like selfish” is fine. Don’t let yourself read the answer choices without a written-down prediction. If you don’t write it down, you will probably forget it as you read the answer choices. Be on the lookout for instances where you can reuse the exact words from the question-stem to fill in the blanks.
The final exam was truncated and _____ due to the teacher’s abrupt illness, cutting short class by thirty minutes.
For this sentence, a prediction like “cut short” or “truncated” would be ideal—use what you’re given.
3. Eliminate incorrect choices.
Instead of scanning the answers quickly looking for the correct one, carefully move through the choices from A to E, eliminating the answer choices that could not possibly match your prediction. If you have more than one answer choice left after eliminating, plug them into the sentence to see which one is correct. Let’s try our strategy out:
The _______ candidate met many challenges during her arduous campaign, but she did not _______ and ultimately attained the office she had so passionately sought.
(A) reluctant…..concede
(B) dogged…..falter
(C) pugnacious…..persevere
(D) tireless…..defame
(E) reticent…..acquiesce
Here, the clues “attained” and “arduous” lead us to look for a word with a meaning like “give up” for the second blank. The first word should also be something that would describe someone who did not shy away from the “many challenges” because of the clue “but,” so a prediction like “steadfast” works for the first blank. “Dogged” means stubborn, and “falter” means to waver. The correct answer is (B).
It may seem as if this method of clues and predictions will slow you down, but your speed will increase with practice and this sentence completion strategy will increase your accuracy by forcing your brain to do the necessary critical thinking—after all, isn’t that what the exam is really testing?
Spotting Errors Tips for Exams
- ►If the essay contains narrative, check all uses of then.
Sometimes then is used incorrectly to join two sentences (independent clauses) as if it were a conjunction like and or but.
- ►Check all sentences beginning with words like when, after, as, before, once, since, until, while, where, wherever, because, if, though, or unless. A comma should come at the end of a clause beginning with these words. If these words appear in the middle of a sentence, they are usually not preceded by a comma.
- ►Commas are needed before who, whom, whose or short phrases identifying a noun (appositives) when they limit (restrict) the noun. Commas are never used before that, or which when it can be replaced by that. Commas always come before which when it can't be replaced by that. When in doubt, leave the commas out. (That almost never takes a comma. Which usually does.)
Wrong: We hiked seven miles, then we pitched camp.
Right: We hiked seven miles then pitched camp.
Right: We hiked seven miles, and then we pitched camp.
►A comma should only come before then if a clause beginning with the word if comes first.
Right: If a sentence begins with the word if, then a comma comes before then.
Right: When I was seven, we moved to Missouri.
Right: We moved to Missouri when I was seven.
Right: A car that has a dead battery can't be driven.
Right: My new car, which has a dead battery, is causing me nothing but trouble.
Right: The man who is standing next to you is crazy.
Right: The man standing next to you is crazy.
Right: Charles, my brother, is crazy.
- ►Semicolons are rarely used.
The most common uses are to join a short sentence to another sentence and to join items in a series which use internal commas.
- ►If the subject of the sentence ends in s, the verb should not and vice versa. Don't be confused by words that come between the subject and verb.
Right: Red Bank, TN; Marietta, GA; Red Lion, PA; and Hancock, MD are small towns.
Right: The latest study of marriages and divorces shows the divorce rate is decreasing.
Right: The books about the man who invented the luxury car Porche are fascinating.
By following the above tips you can avoid some silly mistakes while finding out the errors in the given sentence. So that you wont loose the marks in the Spotting Errors Questions of the competitive exams.
Spotting Errors (in usage) Practice Exercises for Exams
►Like fill in the blank questions, these are individual questions. They require very good grammar check skills along with a good reading habit. You may need to find one or more errors in the given sentences.
►Some of the common ways in which these questions are asked are:
Types of Questions asked in Spotting Errors:
Type 1:
A sentence is divided into four underlined parts and the incorrect part is to be identified. If there is no error in the sentence, you need to select the underlined part called “No Error”. This is the most common type asked in bank exams. A feature of these questions is that the entire underlined part of the sentence may not be incorrect. There may be a single incorrect word in the entire underlined part. Also, while a part of the sentence may seem correct in isolation, it may be incorrect when seen in context of the entire sentence.
Type 2:
The sentence has four to five underlined parts but it is not divided like earlier. You simple need to identify the underlined part that is incorrect. The difference with the earlier question type is that here the entire underlined part is incorrect unlike the earlier case. So, you need to focus only on the specific underlined word/phrase.
Type 3:
Four or five sentences may be given. You may either need to identify the incorrect sentences or the correct ones. Also, the number of correct or incorrect sentences may exceed one. In that case, you can save time by eliminating answer options.
►You need to revise parts of speech, tenses, clause and phrases, prepositions, word usage and spelling to attempt these questions with good accuracy.
►Like all other questions in this section, good reading habits can help you eliminate incorrect/inappropriate options.
Here are Practice questions on Spotting Errors:
Spotting Errors Practice Exercise Paper-1
Spotting Errors Practice Exercise Paper-2
Spotting Errors Practice Exercise Paper-3
Spotting Errors Practice Exercise Paper-4
Spotting Errors Practice Exercise Paper-5
Spotting Errors Practice Exercise Paper-6
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