FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUITMENT TO POSTS IN BPS-17, UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 2007
ENGLISH (PRÉCIS & COMPOSITION)
- Choose the word that is nearly similar in meaning to the word in capital letters.
1. | LACUNAE | |||
(a) Tiny marine life | (b) Shallow water | (c) Local dialect | (d) Missing parts | |
2. | PAROXYSMS | |||
(a) Moral lesson | (b) Sudden outburst | (c) Contradiction | (d) Pallid imitation | |
3. | GROTTO | |||
(a) Statue | (b) Cavern | (c) Neighbourhood | (d) Type of moth | |
4. | FETTER | |||
(a) Rot | (b) To restrain | (c) Make better | (d) Enable to fly | |
5. | STOICISM | |||
(a) Indifference | (b) Boldness | (c) Deep affection | (d) Patient endurance | |
6. | SUCCULENT | |||
(a) Edible | (b) Parched | (c) Generous | (d) Mature | |
7. | MALEDICTION | |||
(a) Compliment | (b) Summary | (c) Perfume | (d) Awkwardness |
- Pick the most nearly opposite in meaning to the capitalized words.
1. | TWINE | |||
(a) Straighten | (b) Continue | (c) Unravel | (d) Detach | |
2. | FRUGAL | |||
(a) Prodigal | (b) Intemperate | (c) Extravagant | (d) Profuse | |
3. | GAWKY | |||
(a) Neat | (b) Handy | (c) Graceful | (d) Handsome | |
4. | CAPRICIOUS | |||
(a) Firm | (b) Decided | (c) Inflexible | (d) Constant | |
5. | CONGEAL | |||
(a) Liquefy | (b) Mollify | (c) Harden | (d) Solidify |
- Correct the following sentences:
- Either of these three umbrellas will suit me.
- Shall you not take my word in this matter?
- This poor man was suffering much for a long time past.
- If he had not died, he would grow up to be a murderer.
- Neither he nor I are in the wrong.
- It is high time they mend this road.
- I heard him went down the stairs.
- Paper is made of wood.
Solution:
- Any of these three umbrellas will suit me.
- Should you not have my word in this matter?
- This poor man had been suffering much for a long time past.
- If he had not died, he would have grown up to be a murderer.
- Neither he nor I am in the wrong.
(I) It is high time they mended this road.
- I heard him going down the stairs.
- Paper is made from wood.
U Use the following idioms in sentences to make their meaning clear:
1. | To put the lid on | 2. | Flavour of the month |
3. | Zero hours | 4. | Gloom and doom |
5. | To pig out | 6. | Bag people |
7. | Compassion fatigue | 8. | No to mince matters |
- To put the lid on / keep the lid on —
Meaning: to keep something secret to, to keep something under control
Use in sentence: I don’t know how but we’ll have to put the lid on that rumour about her. Use in sentence: The government is keeping the lid on inflation.
- Flavour in the month —
Meaning: temporarily popular
Use in sentence: This rap artist is pop music’s current flavour of the month.
- Zero hour —
Meaning: the time when something important is to start
Use in sentence: The air force planes waited until zero hour in order to begin their bombing mission.
- Gloom and doom –
Meaning: the feeling that a situation is bad and is not likely to improve
Use in sentence: Come on, it’s not all doom and gloom, if we make a real effort, we could still win.
- To pig out
Meaning: eat ravenously, gorge oneself
Use in sentence: We went to the store and pigged out on soft ice cream.
- Bag people —
Meaning: homeless people
Use in sentence: Bag people always.wander here and there in search of shelter.
- Compassion fatigue —
Meaning: a weariness of and diminishing public response to frequent requests for charity
Use in sentence: More people are hungry today than ever before. Many social workers have compassion fatigue – tired out with all the repeated calls to do good.
- Not mince matters —
Meaning: moderate or restrain one’s language to be polite Use in sentence: Not mince matters, I feel he should resign.
❑ Use five of the following pairs of words in sentences: (i) affluence, effluence (ii) wretch, retch
(iii) euphemistic, euphuistic (iv) amoral, immoral
(v) imperial, imperious (vi) degrade, denigrate
(vii) temporal, temporary (viii) precipitate, precipitous
- Affluence:
Meaning: having a lot of money or owning a lot of things
Use in sentence: When the economy crashed, many people of affluence became poor.
Effluence:
Meaning: a thing that flows out or forth
Use in sentence: Its manifestation in time is not a creation; it is an effluence from the eternal fount of spirit.
- Wretch:
Meaning: a person who experiences something unpleasant
Use in sentence: A gentleman said that a week ago he was the wretch in the county, but now saved.
Retch:
Meaning: to react in a way as if you are vomiting Use in sentence: The sight of blood makes him retch.
- Euphemistic:
Meaning: a word or phrase used to avoid saying an unpleasant or offensive word Use in sentence: ‘Senior citizen’ is a euphemism for ‘old person’.
Euphuistic:
Meaning: affected elegance of language
Use in sentence: Euphuistic style has been used in many of his writings.
- Amoral:
Meaning: without moral principles
Use in sentence: During battle, many soldiers become amoral and forget the difference between wrong and right while fighting for their lives.
Immoral:
Meaning: morally wrong
Use in sentence: It’s an immoral tax, because the poor will pay relatively more.
- Imperial:
Meaning: belonging or relating to an empire or the person or country that rules it
Use in sentence: Although the imperial child was so young, he still became the next king.
Imperious:
Meaning: unpleasantly proud and expecting obedience
Use in sentence: He sent them away with an imperious wave of the hand.
- Degrade:
Meaning: to lower in rank or status
Use in sentence: He likes to degrade people by calling them embarrassing names.
Denigrate:
Meaning: to say that someone or something is not good or important
Use in sentence: You shouldn’t denigrate people just because they have different beliefs from you.
- Temporal:
Meaning: relating to practical matters or physical things, rather than spiritual ones
Use in sentence: Her starting point: ‘The future is the only temporal area over which people have power’.
Temporary:
Meaning: not lasting or needed for very long
Use in sentence: The ceasefire will only provide a temporary solution to the crisis.
- Precipitate:
Meaning: to make something happen suddenly or sooner than expected Use in sentence: Fear of losing her job precipitated her into action.
Precipitous:
Meaning: very steep, perpendicular
Use in sentence: People were shocked by his precipitous fall from political power.