English Quiz for BOM PO 2016 – Set 5

Directions (Q. 1-10) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.

A long time ago, on a big tree in the lap of the mountain, lived a bird named Sindhuka. It was a rather special bird because its droppings turned into gold as soon as they hit the ground. One day, a hunter came to the tree in search of prey and he saw Sindhuka’s droppings hit the ground and turn into gold. The hunter was struck with wonder. He though, “I have been hunting birds and small animals since I was a boy, but in all my 80 years, I have never seen such a miraculous creature. He decided that he had to catch the bird somehow. He climbed the tree and skillfully set a trap for the bird. The bird, quite unaware of the danger it was in, stayed on the tree and sang merrily. But it was soon caught in the hunter’s trap. The hunter immediately seized it and shoved it into a cage. The hunter took the bird home joyfully. But as he had time to think over his good fortune later, he suddenly realised, “If the king comes to know of this wonder, he will certainly take away the bird from me and he might even punish me for keeping such a rare treasure all to myself. So it would be safer and more honourable if I were to go to the king and present the unique bird to him,” The next day, the hunter took the bird to the king and presented it to him in court with great reverence. The king was delighted to receive such an unusual and rare gift. He told his courtiers to keep the bird safe and feed it with the best bird food available. The king’s prime minister though, was reluctant to accept the bird. He said “O Rajah, how can you believe the word of a foolish hunter accept this bird? Has anyone in our kingdom ever seen abird dropping gold? The hunter must be either crazy or telling lies. I think it is best that you release the bird from the cage.” After a little thought, the king felt that his prime minister’s words were correct. So he ordered the bird to be released. But as soon as the door of the cage was thrown open, the bird flew out, perched itself on a nearby doorway and defecated. To everyone’s surprise, the dropping immediately turned into gold. The king mourned his loss.

1. Which of the following is possible the most appropriate title for the story?

a) The Skilled Hunter

b) The King’s Prime Minister

c) The King’s Defeat

d) The Bird with the Gold Dropping

e) The Trials and Tribulations of the Foolish Bird Sindhuka

2. Which of the following emotions made the hunter gift the bird to the king?

a) Respect b) Joy c) Pride

d) Fear e) Awe

3. Which of the following is true according to the story?

a) Birds like Sindhuka were very common in the area near the mountain

b) Sindhuka remained caged for the rest of its life

c) Sindhuka was unaware of the trap laid by the hunter

d) The King, when told to not accept the bird, did not listen to his Prime Minister

e) All are true

4. Why was the king’s Prime Minister reluctant to accept the bird?

a) He believed that the bird would die if caged

b) He know about the hunter’s habit of lying

c) He believed that the bird would bring bad luck to the king

d) His sources had informed him that the hunter was crazy

e) None of these

5. How did the hunter find Sindhuka?

a) He had read stories about the bird and had set traps at various locations in the city

b) He followed the bird’s droppings

c) He was on the lookout for a prey when he chanced upon it

d) People from the city had informed him about the bird’s whereabouts

e) He was attracted by the birds calls

Directions (Q. 6-8) Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

6. Rather

a) Regular b) Quite c) Instead

d) But e) Known

7. Release

a) Free b) Vacate c) Vent

d) Let expire e) Make public

8. Reverence

a) Respect b) Detail c) Astonishment

d) Hope e) Remembrance

Directions (Q. 9-10) Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

9. Reluctant

a) True b) Clever c) Averse

d) Hesitant e) Keen

10. Skilfully

a) Angrily b) Haphazardly c) Highly

d) Cheaply e) Deftly