English Language

Writing and Communication Skills

1,464 Questions

This hub tests writing techniques, essay structuring, and effective communication skills. It includes practical exercises on vocabulary replacement, drafting passages, and formatting reports. These English language questions appear in most competitive exams.

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Writing and Communication Skills Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the best sentence to follow sentence 4?

PASSAGE-III

Direction for questions 13 to 18: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

Narrative–My Foolish Faith

(1) Life without hope in a dull, frustrating world congeals the stuff of human existence...almost. (2) Born-lived-died, being the plot of too many bad novels dooms some more, chaining their lives to a Maslowian fate. (3) Others drown the raw truth in unrelenting labor, raucous revelry, sunlit spring breezes, cigarettes at noontime, or the bottle. (4) Yet some find hope in this droll, frustrating world, but they will not agree and cannot be sure of that hope.

(5) Once I could not find hope. (6) I still can't. (7)That's why I leaped for joy when it found me instead. (8) Somehow, by the Grace of God, I find myself with the only, one single true hope, a nonsensical faith, and a belief - I cannot prove with immortal things, a book that turns a hopeless, droll, frustrating world into a beautiful, hopeful world where smallest intricacies and biggest setbacks bring joy alike.

(9) Did I say my faith makes no sense? (10) I was right. No sane person in his wrong mind would agree to a divine Creator, Revealer, Saviour, Lord, and Friend. (11) Human depravity ensures sane human wrong-mindedness.

(12) Once one obtains this hope, the difficulty of Christianity shifts from the foolishness of believing myths to the stupidity of doing what they say. (13)This is my challenge, for God has revealed His will plainly and has promised to help His adopted children understand His Word, the Bible. (14) Once a person agrees to accept the entire Bible as God presents it in the Bible, the test of faith (or mere hope) comes. (15) A mere hoper won’t bother (or dare) to keep exactly what God says to a person with true faith when he tries and succeeds when he does.

This hope would dwarf any of their other life influences.
I belong to the second category.
My goal is simply to exercise Faith in God with my mind and feet.
As according to them, the riches of Christ are greater than anything this world has to offer.
Or can they?

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

In context, which of the following is the best way to revise the underlined portion of sentence 9(reproduced below)?

The narrative describes the effort to resolve the torment suffered by Hester and her co-adulterer, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, in many years of their affair.

PASSAGE-I
Direction for questions 1 to 6: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Scarlet Letter

(1)Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is famous for presenting some of the greatest interpretive difficulties in all of American literature. (2) The novel is regarded as Hawthorne’s greatest accomplishment, which he tends to deny. (3) But frequently as the greatest novel in American literary history. (4) After it was published in 1980, critics hailed it as initiating a distinctive American literary tradition. (5) It is a novel in which, in terms of action, almost nothing happens. (6) Hawthorne’s emotional, psychological drama revolves around Hester Prynne. (7) The civil and Puritan authorities in colonial Boston convicted her as she was indulged in adultery. (8) She is condemned to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin. (9) The narrative describes the effort to resolve the torment suffered by Hester and her co-adulterer, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, in many years of their affair. (10) In fact, the story excludes even the representation of the passionate moment which enables the entire novel. (11) It begins at the close of Hester’s imprisonment many months after her affair and proceeds through many years to her final acceptance of her place in the community as the wearer of the scarlet letter. (12) Hawthorne was masterful in the use of symbolism, and the scarlet letter “A” stands as his most potent symbol, around which interpretations of the novel revolve. (13) At one interpretive pole the “A” stands for adultery and sin, and the novel is the story of individual punishment and reconciliation. (14) At another pole it stands for America and allegory, and the story suggests national sin and its human cost. (15) The most convincing reading, taking account of all others, sees the “A” as a symbol of ambiguity, the very fact of multiple interpretations and the difficulty of achieving consensus.

Leave it as it is
in these years since their affair.
in the last years of their affair.
in the years after their affair.
in those years of their affair.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

In context, which of the following should be inserted at the beginning of sentence 5 ?

The Scarlet Letter

Metaphorically,
Ironically,
Precariously,
Ethereally,
Sternly

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

Which of the following phrases is the best to add before sentence 11?

PASSAGE-III

Narrative–My Foolish Faith

Nonetheless,
Metaphorically,
Expectedly,
Unfortunately,
Supposingly,

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

Which of the following would be the best way to conclude the passage?

The Scarlet Letter

(As it is now)
Add the phrase, 'Yet possibly' at the beginning of the sentence 15.
Delete 'taking account of all others'.
Change 'of achieving' to 'to achieve'.
Add the sentence, 'Hawthorne has used symbols in his other works also', after sentence 15.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

In context, which of the following revisions is necessary in sentence 10?

PASSAGE-III

Narrative–My Foolish Faith

Leave it as it is
Insert 'Beyond the fact that' at the beginning of the sentence.
Change 'contemporary' to 'coeval'.
Change 'who' to which'.
Change 'has' to 'would'

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

In context, which of the following is the best way to revise and combine the underlined portions of sentences 6 and 7 (reproduced below)?

Hawthorne's emotional, psychological drama revolves around Hester Prynne. The civil and Puritan authorities in colonial Boston convicted her as she was indulged in adultery.

The Scarlet Letter

Prynne; the civil and Puritan authorities in colonial Boston convicted her as she was indulged in adultery.
Prynne in colonial Boston, who has been convicted of adultery by the civil and Puritan authorities.
Prynne; convicted by the civil and Puritan authorities of adultery in colonial Boston.
Prynne, who is convicted of adultery in colonial Boston by the civil and Puritan authorities.
Prynne, who was indulged in adultery and therefore convicted by the civil and Puritan authorities.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

In context, which of the following is the best way to revise and combine the underlined portions of sentences 1 & 2 (reproduced below)?

Mark Twain's publication in 1876 of his popular novel 'The Adventures of Tom Sawyer' followed the publication of his previous novel. The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success.

PASSAGE-II

Direction for questions 7 to 12: 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 answers for the questions that follow. Some questions are about particular sentences or parts of sentences and ask you to improve sentence structure or word choice. Other questions ask you to consider organization and development. In choosing answers, follow the requirements of standard written English.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer

(1) Mark Twain’s publication is 1876 of his popular novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer followed the publication of his previous novel. (2) The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success. (3) Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer while he and his family were living in Hartford, Connecticut, and Twain was enjoying his fame. (4) The escapades of a young boy and his friends in St. Petersburg as told in the novel, Missouri, a village near the Mississippi River, recalls Twain’s own childhood in a small Missouri town. (5) The friendship of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn is one of the most celebrated in,American literature, built on imaginative adventures, shared superstitions, and loyalty that had risen above social convention. (6) Twain’s American reading audience loved this novel and its young hero, and the novel remains one of the most popular and famous work of American literature.

(7) Scenes such as Tom Sawyer tricking his friends into whitewashing Aunt Polly’s fence for him, Injun Joe leaping through the window of courthouse after Tom names him as Dr. Robinson’s murderer, and Tom and Becky lost in the cave have become so familiar to American readers that one almost doesn’t have to read the book to know about them. (8) But the pleasure of reading The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has kept readers coming back to the novel for over a century. (9) The novel and its characters have achieved folk hero status in the American popular imagination.

(10) The Adventures of Tom Sawyer is fun to read, there is another reason for the novel’s contemporary popularity: It introduces the character of Huckleberry Finn, who, with the publication of Twain’s 1884 novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, has become one of the greatest characters in American literature.

followed the publication of his previous novel; The Gilded Age reversed a brief downturn in his success.
after the publication of The Gilded Age, his earlier work, has reversed a brief downturn in his success.
reversed a brief downturn in his success following the publication of his previous novel, The Gilded Age.
was a success that reversed a brief downturn of his previous novel, The Gilded Age.
negated the brief downturn of his previous novel, The Gilded Age that followed this publication in his successful career life.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

What are ‘fillers’ according to the passage?

Directions: Read the passage and answer the question that follows:

Just as a chef is attuned to the subtleties of flavour and trends in the culinary arts, a presentation coach is attuned to the subtleties of language and trends in the communication art. One trend I’ve noted recently is the expression, “Does that make sense?” often used by a speaker during a conversation — or a presenter during a presentation — to check whether the listener or audience has understood or appreciated what the speaker has just said. Unfortunately, the expression has two negative implications:
- Uncertainty on the part of the speaker about the accuracy or credibility of the content
- Doubt about the ability of the audience to comprehend or appreciate the content.
“Does that make sense?” has become so pervasive, it joins the ranks of fillers, empty words that surround and diminish meaningful words, just as weeds diminish the beauty of roses in a garden. Most speakers are unaware that they are using fillers, and most audiences don’t bother to think of their implications.

Words that are used for understanding complete sentences.
Sentences that fill up a conversation with jargons.
A word or phrase that is used by a speaker, which does not have much relevance to the entire conversation, but lessens the importance of the actual conversation.
Author’s fear of using wrong words at the wrong time so as to create a confusion in the entire conversation.

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

Directions: Choose the appropriate number (1 - 4) according to the information given in the passage.From a psychological point of view, training in the organization of subject-matter is urged because

Reading Passage

Read the passage and answer the given question.

DEVELOPING THE ABILITY TO ORGANIZE

1. The importance of organization. It has been pointed out in the preceding chapters that the silent reading period should be used to develop speed and thought getting, if pupils are to learn how to study effectively. The superior student is one who has acquired a third important skill, namely, the ability quickly and effectively to organize the subject-matter read. The term organization, as here used, includes making outlines and summaries and having pupils prepare lists of questions which they consider leading ones. The importance of developing the ability of pupils to organize can scarcely be overemphasized.

2. Psychologists have done much valuable research in the field of the higher mental processes. The results of their investigations include the establishment of many basic principles in the science and art of organization. The psychological point of view. From a psychological point of view, training in the organization of subject-matter is urged because it requires the pupil to analyze, select, and synthesize. ! It requires much concentration, judgment, evaluation, and association and is considered one good test of general intelligence. Organization is a great aid to memory or retention. To the degree that a lesson or discussion is well organized, to that degree each minor point is seen in its proper relation to the major idea, and each major thought in its relation to the whole.

3. The love of rhythm is said to be instinctive, and for that reason applied psychology urges the organization of a lecture or lesson in the most logical manner so that the preferred paths may function. The sociological point of view. Nor is the ability to organize of secondary importance when considered from the sociological point of view. How many men and women are failing in their several vocations every day, not so much because of some defect in personality, but because organization is sadly lacking in every proposition which they set forth? The fundamental principle in public speaking is organization. Because organization is of great consequence in life, both in and out of school, one feels justified in testing pupils to see how much organizing ability they have, and how that ability may be developed.

4. Present lack of ability to organize. The inability of many grade pupils to organize the main points of a lesson under headings and subheadings is very noticeable in many schools. Teachers do not seem to realize that training pupils and developing in them an appreciation of the worth of organization is one effective method of building up good study habits. Too often pupils are not made to feel that they are expected to organize, weigh, and discriminate in their reading. Making a problem assignment stimulates the child to see for himself what sentences in the lesson are most worthwhile.

5. Some teachers make a specific assignment of three or four questions. These questions act as guides to the pupil's reading; they form the topics for discussion in the next recitation period. Pupils thus learn to discriminate between points having little or much bearing on the question before them. After a few weeks of such training, summaries can be made at the close of a recitation period. The teacher and pupils together sum up the main points in the lesson that were brought out or that should be discussed. Having one section of a class prepare the questions for another section to evaluate is an effective device.

there is requirement to analyze, select, and synthesize the people
more concentration as compared with evaluation and judgment
it brings success in the organization
it provides great aid to memory or retention

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice

How can you avoid plagiarism?

Eat a sandwich
Copy someone else's work
Cite your sources
Apologize

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

Multiple choice article writing english

Which option is the least likely to be included in a newspaper article?

Heading
Byline
All W questions
Thesis statement

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Multiple choice article writing english

Which of the following is least important to consider before writing an article?

The target reader
The medium in which the article will appear
Previous articles on the same topic
The purpose of the article

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Multiple choice article writing english

What is the purpose of a newspaper article?
Select the best option.

to compare and contrast two ideas/situations
to inform readers of an event or situation
to explore a story or event in depth
to entertain the reader

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Multiple choice article writing english

The most important part of an article is which of the following?

heading
subheadings
body
All the above

Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself

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