Writing and Communication Skills

What is the underlying message of the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the given question.

As compared to a few years ago, these days, the students are giving much more importance to their academic performance. This rising trend has resulted in a cut throat competition at the higher education level. With each mark carrying huge weightage, a high scoring activity such as making the projects for their degrees is the best way to assure a positive and impressive result for the students. This is a good enough reason for the students to give due importance to high quality writing. A stand out performance in assignments can ensure a worthy final grade for the students. With so much at stake, the students can ignore the significance of writing their assignments at their own peril.

Why does the author think that only a few people take up a career in journalism?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the given question. 

Writing is the premium example of innate skill and talent. Everybody can write but not everybody can be a writer. Only a few are skilled at clear communication and succinct expression and a majority of those few take up the very challenging career of journalism. The art of expression combined with fearless voice and the ability to research for the truth are the premium ingredients in the making of a journalist. And as the charm of this glorious career multiplies, gamut of opportunities is opening up.
Many who take the course do realise the challenges it poses and how competitive a field it is but very few know that there are a world of opportunities available to carve your own niche, says a professor at a top journalism college in India.

The phrase ‘gamut of opportunities is opening up’ in the passage means that

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the given question. 

Writing is the premium example of innate skill and talent. Everybody can write but not everybody can be a writer. Only a few are skilled at clear communication and succinct expression and a majority of those few take up the very challenging career of journalism. The art of expression combined with fearless voice and the ability to research for the truth are the premium ingredients in the making of a journalist. And as the charm of this glorious career multiplies, gamut of opportunities is opening up.
Many who take the course do realise the challenges it poses and how competitive a field it is but very few know that there are a world of opportunities available to carve your own niche, says a professor at a top journalism college in India.

Which of the following statements best explains the underlying tone of the passage?

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the given question. 

Writing is the premium example of innate skill and talent. Everybody can write but not everybody can be a writer. Only a few are skilled at clear communication and succinct expression and a majority of those few take up the very challenging career of journalism. The art of expression combined with fearless voice and the ability to research for the truth are the premium ingredients in the making of a journalist. And as the charm of this glorious career multiplies, gamut of opportunities is opening up.
Many who take the course do realise the challenges it poses and how competitive a field it is but very few know that there are a world of opportunities available to carve your own niche, says a professor at a top journalism college in India.

Which of the following is the best way to revise sentence 10? (Reproduced below) The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular?

Directions: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc. [6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites. [10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence? [12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

Which of the following sentences can be removed from the essay, without affecting the flow of the argument?

Directions: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc. [6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites. [10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence? [12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

Which of the following will most strengthen the author's argument in paragraph 3?

Directions: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] There are two principal methods of treating disease. [2] One is the combative, the other the preventive. [3] The trend of medical research henceforth has almost entirely been along combative lines, although the progressive physician learns to work more and more along preventive lines. [4] The slogan of medical science has been, "Kill the germ and cure the disease." [5] The usual procedure is to wait until acute or chronic diseases have fully developed, and then, if possible, to subdue them by means of drugs, surgical operations, and by means of the morbid products of disease, in the form of serums, antitoxins, vaccines, etc. [6] The combative methods fight disease with disease, poison with poison, and germs with germs and germ products. [7] In the language of the Good Book, it is "Beelzebub against the Devil." [8] The preventive method does not wait until diseases have fully developed and gained the ascendancy in the body, but concentrates its best endeavors on preventing, by hygienic living and by natural methods of treatment, the development of diseases. [9] By these put the human body in a normal and healthy condition which is practically proof against infection or contagion by disease taints and miasmas, and against the inroads of germs, bacteria and parasites. [10] The question is, which method is the most practical, the most successful and most popular? [11] Which will stand the test in the great struggle for existence? [12] The medical profession has good reason to be alarmed by the inroads made in its work by irregular, unorthodox systems, schools and cults of treating human ailments. [13] But instead of raging at the audacious presumption of these interlopers, would it not be better to inquire if there is not some reason for the astonishing spread and popularity of these therapeutic innovations?

What is the best way to deal with sentence 13?

Directions: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Towards the ending of the summer of 1917 it was being very hot in New York, and hotter still aboard the transatlantic liner. [2] One glance at our cabins, at the crowded decks and the dining-room, sufficed to bring home to us that the days of luxurious sea travel, of a la carte restaurants, and Louis Seize bedrooms were gone - at least for a period. [3] The prospect of a voyage of nearly two weeks was not enticing. [4] The ship, to be sure, was far from being the best of those still running on a line which had gained a magic reputation of immunity from submarines; three years ago she carried only second and third class passengers! [5] But most of us were in a hurry to get to the countries where war had already become a grim and terrible reality. [6] In one way or another we had all enrolled. [7] The first welcome discovery among the crowd wandering aimlessly and somewhat disconsolately about the decks was the cheerful face of a friend whom at first I did not recognize because of his amazing disguise in uniform. [8] He had been associated in my mind with dinner parties and clubs. [9] That life was past. [10] He had laid up his yacht and joined the Red Cross and, henceforth, for an indeterminable period, he was to abide amidst the discomforts and dangers of the Western Front. [11] The likewise cheerful members of a group whom I found gathered by the after rail were similarly attired. [12] Two well-known specialists from the Gens General Hospital made significant contributions to serve the people of France which was almost doctorless. [13] When I reached France it seemed to me that I met all the celebrated medical men I ever heard of. [14] A third in the group was a business man from the Middle West who had wound up his affairs and left a startled family in charge of a trust company. [15] Though his physical activities had hitherto consisted of an occasional mild game of golf, he wore his khaki like an old campaigner; and he seemed undaunted by the prospect - still somewhat remotely ahead of him - of a journey across the Atlantic to the active war zone.

What is the best way to deal with sentence 12?

Directions: The following passage is an early draft of an essay. Some parts of the passage need to be rewritten. Read the passage and select the best answer for the question that follows. Keep in mind that some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask to consider organization and development. In choosing the answer, follow the requirements of standard written English.

[1] Towards the ending of the summer of 1917 it was being very hot in New York, and hotter still aboard the transatlantic liner. [2] One glance at our cabins, at the crowded decks and the dining-room, sufficed to bring home to us that the days of luxurious sea travel, of a la carte restaurants, and Louis Seize bedrooms were gone - at least for a period. [3] The prospect of a voyage of nearly two weeks was not enticing. [4] The ship, to be sure, was far from being the best of those still running on a line which had gained a magic reputation of immunity from submarines; three years ago she carried only second and third class passengers! [5] But most of us were in a hurry to get to the countries where war had already become a grim and terrible reality. [6] In one way or another we had all enrolled. [7] The first welcome discovery among the crowd wandering aimlessly and somewhat disconsolately about the decks was the cheerful face of a friend whom at first I did not recognize because of his amazing disguise in uniform. [8] He had been associated in my mind with dinner parties and clubs. [9] That life was past. [10] He had laid up his yacht and joined the Red Cross and, henceforth, for an indeterminable period, he was to abide amidst the discomforts and dangers of the Western Front. [11] The likewise cheerful members of a group whom I found gathered by the after rail were similarly attired. [12] Two well-known specialists from the Gens General Hospital made significant contributions to serve the people of France which was almost doctorless. [13] When I reached France it seemed to me that I met all the celebrated medical men I ever heard of. [14] A third in the group was a business man from the Middle West who had wound up his affairs and left a startled family in charge of a trust company. [15] Though his physical activities had hitherto consisted of an occasional mild game of golf, he wore his khaki like an old campaigner; and he seemed undaunted by the prospect - still somewhat remotely ahead of him - of a journey across the Atlantic to the active war zone.