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CDS (I) 2020, English question paper

120 questions · 100 marks · 120 minutes · +0.83 per correct answer, -0.28 per wrong one

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  1. Directions: In this section you have a few short passages. After each passage, you will find some items based on the passage. First, read a passage and answer the items based on it. You are required to select your answers based on the contents of the passage and opinion of the author only. Passage – I Not all agricultural societies become civilizations, but no civilization can become one without passing through the stage of agriculture. This is because at some stage in the development of agriculture, as productivity improves, not all people would need to be engaged in producing or procuring food. A significant number of people could be freed up to pursue other activities such as building walls or monuments for new cities; making new tools, weapons and jewellery; organizing long-distance trade; creating new artistic masterpieces; coming up with new inventions; keeping accounts; and perhaps constructing new public infrastructure such as irrigation canals that further improve the productivity of agriculture, thus realizing even more people to do new things. This can happen, of course, only if a society that has transitioned to high-productivity agriculture has also, at some stage in its evolution, found a way to channel the bonanza of free time into other work fruitfully. In the ancient world, this often involved creating new ideologies and new hierarchies or power structures to coerce or otherwise convince large groups of people to devote their time to the new tasks for very little reward. Passage – II When we pick up a newspaper, a book, or an article, we come to our task with certain preconceptions and predispositions. We expect to find a specific piece of information or be presented with an argument or an analysis of something, say, the likelihood of recession in the next six months or the reasons why children can’t read. We probably know a little about the book or article we are reading even before we start. There was, after all, some reason why we chose to read one piece of writing rather than another. Our expectations and predispositions may, however, blind us to what the article and its author is actually saying. If, for example, we are used to disagreeing with the author, we may see only what we expect to see and not what is actually there. Day after day in our routine pattern of life we expose ourselves to the same newspaper, the same magazine, even books by authors with the same perspectives. In order to reflect on our reading habits and improve our skills we need to break out of this routine, step back and look at what we are doing when we read.
    1
    Which one of the following statements is true according to the author?

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  2. 2
    A significant number of people were sent to carry out other work from agriculture because

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  3. 3
    What kind of agriculture based societies would emerge as civilizations?

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  4. 4
    People as groups were convinced to do new work through

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  5. 5
    Which word in the passage means 'changeover'?

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  6. 6
    According to the author, which one of the following statements is not true?

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  7. 7
    Our expectations and predispositions may, however, blind us because

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  8. 8
    One of the ways to improve our reading habits is to

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  9. 9
    Which quality does the author here advocate, to be a good reader?

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  10. 10
    Which word in the passage means 'viewpoints'?

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  11. Directions: find the part with the error or No error
    11
    After mysteriously expanding for decades, Antarctica's sea ice cover starting melting.

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  12. 12
    The auction, conducted by the bank, will be price based using multiple priced method.

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  13. 13
    If the scheme would have been implemented effectively all affected would have benefitted.

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  14. 14
    Government Stock offers safety, liquidity and attractive returned for long duration.

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  15. 15
    Scrolling thorough my social media timeline, I hovered over a video of a minor road traffic accident.

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  16. 16
    The fascination with gold at least seems to be a case were traditional belief and modern finance would point the same way.

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  17. 17
    Evolutionary biology leave us distinctly pessimistic about the possibility that altruism can arise naturally among humans.

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  18. 18
    When everything starts working for you, you will find things are achieve and delivered.

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  19. 19
    If I were you I would not go for change of job.

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  20. 20
    At the beginning of the nineteenth century, female literacy was extremely lowed in comparison to male literacy.

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  21. Directions: rearrange jumbled parts P,Q,R,S of a sentence
    21
    P: for long and Q: the backbone of India R: will continue to be the same S: agriculture has been

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  22. 22
    P: the cry of general public Q: agenda in any country R: public policy making S: is generally driven by

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  23. 23
    P: before it starts Q: of the government is R: the essential power S: the power to manage conflict

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  24. 24
    P: a majority of the vote Q: the party that received R: of the government S: must take control

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  25. 25
    P: can express a view on Q: in which the electorate R: a particular issue of public policy S: a referendum is a vote

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  26. 26
    P: in modern societies Q: or merely suppressed R: has class conflict S: been resolved

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  27. 27
    P: several of our food Q: are being extensively cultivated R: and vegetable crops S: hybrid varieties of

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  28. 28
    P: against the officer Q: reason for the accusation R: there should have been S: who was in-charge at that time

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  29. 29
    P: poetry is Q: and ideas R: powerful feelings S: the spontaneous overflow of

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  30. 30
    P: historical identity and a common descent Q: a group of people R: is called an ethnic group S: who share a common culture,

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  31. Directions: choose the correct meaning of the idiom
    31
    A paper tiger

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  32. 32
    Lily-livered

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  33. 33
    Eat like a bird

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  34. 34
    The dog days

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  35. 35
    A banana republic

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  36. 36
    The pros and cons

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  37. 37
    Prime the pump

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  38. 38
    The green-eyed monster

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  39. 39
    Rise to the occasion

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  40. 40
    Call it a day

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  41. Directions: order middle sentences P,Q,R,S between S1 and S6
    41
    S1: Chinua Achebe was born in 1930 and educated at the Government College in Umuahia, Nigeria. S6: Chinua Achebe has written over twenty books, including novels, stories, essays and collections of poetry, and won the Nobel Prize for literature. P: During the Civil War in Nigeria, he worked for the Biafran government service. Q: After the War, he was appointed Senior Research Fellow at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. R: He joined the Nigerian Broadcasting Company in Lagos in 1954, later becoming its Director of External Broadcasting. S: He received a BA from London University in 1953 and in 1956 he studied broadcasting in London at the BBC.

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  42. 42
    S1: "Every person carries in his head a mental model of the world — a subjective representation of external reality," writes Alvin Toffler in Future Shock. S6: When we begin to think we can do so only because our mind is already filled with all sorts of ideas with which to think. P: It organizes our knowledge and gives us a place from which to argue. Q: This mental model is, he says, like a giant filing cabinet. R: It contains a slot for every item of information coming to us. S: As E.F. Schumacher says, "When we think, we do not just think; we think ideas."

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  43. 43
    S1: Biology is the study of life in its entirety. S6: Classical descriptive and clueless biology found a theoretical framework in the evolutionary theory of Darwin. P: In later years, the focus was physiology and internal morphology or anatomy. Q: Darwinian ideas of evolution by natural selection changed the perception completely. R: The growth of biology as a natural science during the last 1000 years is interesting from many points of view. S: One feature of this growth is changing emphasis from mere description of life forms to identification and classification of all recorded living forms.

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  44. 44
    S1: Biology is the youngest of the formalized disciplines of natural science. S6: Life expectancy of human beings has dramatically changed over the years. P: However, the twentieth century and certainly the twenty-first century has demonstrated the utility of biological knowledge in furthering human welfare, be it in health sector or agriculture. Q: The discovery of antibiotics, and synthetic plant-derived drugs, anaesthetics have changed medical practice on one hand and human health on the other hand. R: Applications of physics and chemistry in our daily life also have a higher visibility than those of biology. S: Progress in physics and chemistry proceeded much faster than in biology.

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  45. 45
    S1: People in society need many goods and services in their everyday life including food, clothing, shelter, transport, etc. S6: The teacher in the local school has the skills required to impart education to the students. P: A weaver may have some yarn, some cotton and other instruments required for weaving cloth. Q: A family farm may own a plot of land, some grains, farming implements, maybe a pair of bullocks and also the labour services of the family members. R: Every individual has some amount of the goods and services that one would like to use. S: In fact, the list of goods and services that any individual needs is so large that no individual in society, to begin with, has all the things one needs.

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  46. 46
    S1: Farming is the main production activity in the village. S6: The new ways of farming need less land, but much more capital. P: These have allowed the farmers to produce more crops from the same amount of land. Q: Over the years there have been many important changes in the way farming is practised. R: But in raising production, a great deal of pressure has been put on land and other natural resources. S: This is an important achievement, since land is fixed and scarce.

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  47. 47
    S1: Britain was the first country to experience modern industrialization. S6: This gave people a wider choice for ways to spend their earnings and expanded the market for the sale of goods. P: This meant that the kingdom had common laws, a single currency and a market that was not fragmented by local authorities and uneven taxation. Q: It had been politically stable since the seventeenth century, with England, Wales and Scotland unified under a monarchy. R: By then a large section of the people received their income in the form of wages and salaries than in goods. S: By the end of the seventeenth century, money was widely used as the medium of exchange.

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  48. 48
    S1: For several million years, humans lived by hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants. S6: As a result, conditions were favourable for the growth of grasses such as wild barley and wheat. P: This led to the development of farming and pastoralism as a way of life. Q: This change took place because the last ice age came to an end about 13,000 years ago and with that warmer, wetter conditions prevailed. R: Then, between 10,000 and 4,500 years ago, people in different parts of the world learnt to domesticate certain plants and animals. S: The shift from foraging to farming was a major turning point in the human history.

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  49. 49
    S1: All governments claim eternal consistency and success. S6: Diplomacy offers choices, and those choices must be negotiated with other sovereign actors. P: Choices involved uncertainty, risk and immediacy; those who must take the choices operate in the contemporary political milieu. Q: And yet the essence of governance is choice. R: Nowhere is this more true than in foreign policy decision-making. S: Some even claim omniscience.

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  50. 50
    S1: Buddhism continued to spread into many lands of Asia during the period of 5th and 6th century. S6: He translated several scriptural commentaries into Pali and wrote a work called the Visuddhimagga, which soon attained the status of a classic work on Theravada doctrine and meditation. P: While this can be understood as a part of larger processes of cultural interaction, especially trade, a key role was played by monks. Q: We know a little bit about some of them, but there must have been countless men whose commitment to the Buddhist path gave them the courage and determination to persevere in the face of the long, hard journey to India and back. R: Buddhism had made its way to Sri Lanka many centuries earlier, during the time of Ashoka, and a thriving Buddhist community soon took root. S: In the 5th century, the monk Buddhaghosha travelled to Sri Lanka.

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  51. Directions: select the word or group for the blank
    51
    On his way to the capital, the minister _______ the eminent social worker at his residence.

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  52. 52
    The fire brigade fought for four hours to _______ the fire in the building.

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  53. 53
    Ravi has proved that he can _______ on his promise by winning the match.

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  54. 54
    It is best to _______ politics when in the classroom.

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  55. 55
    It shows that she has _______ many years of service.

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  56. 56
    The chairperson said that the group was _______ of time.

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  57. 57
    If I _______ an angel, I would solve the problems of people.

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  58. 58
    Where there is a _______, there is a way.

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  59. 59
    The police could not establish how the accident _______.

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  60. 60
    I _______ my old friend after twenty years.

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  61. Directions: nearest in meaning to the underlined word
    61
    All the developments that took place in the 20th century have had implications for the next century.

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  62. 62
    He is such a leader that his actions are contagious.

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  63. 63
    The budget incorporated a number of tax reforms which included higher taxes for the very rich.

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  64. 64
    His thesis makes all generic statements which have already been proved.

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  65. 65
    The captain produced yet another stellar show to make her team enter the semi-finals.

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  66. 66
    A new show is trying to change the clichéd depictions of women in animation.

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  67. 67
    Not everyone finds a vocation which suits one's aptitude.

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  68. 68
    Uninterrupted rain had fatigued the commuters from the outskirts to the city and work suffered.

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  69. 69
    The leader said, "I am aghast with the developments so far. I will take time to understand this."

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  70. 70
    The cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, but police officials suspect the driver of the vehicle allegedly fell asleep.

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  71. Directions: opposite in meaning to the underlined word
    71
    Early medieval period was not a combination of urban and rural civilization. It was not a period of urban decay as claimed by some.

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  72. 72
    He speaks eloquently and can pull crowds.

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  73. 73
    Everyone has to fight the inertia in the system.

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  74. 74
    There is a need to promote philanthropy in education.

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  75. 75
    What we lack in the current times is compassion.

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  76. 76
    Tempestuous behaviour would not yield much in any place.

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  77. 77
    Wooing everyone over an issue for support will not serve much purpose.

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  78. 78
    The highest award was bestowed upon her for her yeoman service.

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  79. 79
    One feels elated when someone praises one's work.

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  80. 80
    All business activities need not result in profit-making. There is a need to be charitable.

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  81. Directions: part of speech of the underlined word
    81
    He has been working in the Department of Foreign Affairs since 2002.

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  82. 82
    The man in dark blue is the one who made us win the match.

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  83. 83
    The most beautiful actor of the industry was awarded today.

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  84. 84
    "What is the latest news?" asked the Captain.

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  85. 85
    Noticing the change in the behaviour of the officer, the cadets returned to their position.

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  86. 86
    When he reached the department, the officials had left for the meeting.

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  87. 87
    He has offered her another chance.

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  88. 88
    The building is very ancient.

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  89. 89
    Hurrah! What a scintillating beauty the landscape is!

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  90. 90
    Ravi was declared as the winner in the tie because he had hit the most number of fours and sixes.

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  91. Directions: choose the correctly spelt alternative
    91
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  92. 92
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  93. 93
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  94. 94
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  95. 95
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  96. 96
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  97. 97
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  98. 98
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  99. 99
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  100. 100
    Which one of the following alternatives has the correct spelling?

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  101. Directions: choose sentence correctly combining the two
    101
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences? The officer will return from China on Monday. You can meet him.

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  102. 102
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences? He is hard-working. He is honest too.

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  103. 103
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences? Parents have been waiting since morning. They want to meet the counsellor.

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  104. 104
    Which is the correct combination of the given two simple sentences using 'If' clause? Minchi should have worked hard. She would have cleared the test.

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  105. 105
    Which one of the following is the correct statement combining the two statements using 'though'? He has been trying his level best to win. He could not succeed.

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  106. 106
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences using 'relative clause'? Gandhiji preached peace. He is an apostle of peace.

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  107. 107
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences? Priya reached the station. The bus left before her.

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  108. 108
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences? He is too tired. He could not stand.

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  109. 109
    Which is the correct combination of the given two sentences? The teacher entered the classroom. All students stopped talking.

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  110. 110
    Which one of the following is the correct statement of the combination of the two sentences given below using 'whereas'? Kavya is interested in reading books. Her sister shows interest in outdoor games.

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  111. Directions: choose correct indirect-speech version
    111
    Rahul said to his teacher, "Madam, what is the way to solve the question?"

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  112. 112
    He said to his friend, "Could you please close the door?"

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  113. 113
    Raj said to Sheela, "The Sun rises in the east."

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  114. 114
    Navanitha said to her friends, "What a scintillating beauty it is!"

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  115. 115
    The Captain said to the soldiers, "March forward and aim at the peak of the hill today."

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  116. 116
    "Where were you last evening?" said the lady to her maid.

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  117. 117
    "Those who sowed the seeds last season will reap the harvest this season," said the leader to her followers.

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  118. 118
    He said to his manager, "Could you please pass the bill this week?"

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  119. 119
    The village chief said to the villagers, "All of us need to adopt new regulations. We will protect our Earth forever."

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  120. 120
    The grandfather said to the baby, "May you live long with all good things of life."

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