Saint-Gobain Sample Verbal Questions

DIRECTIONS for question 1-5 : Read the following passage carefully and choose the best option from the choices given.

We go to school through lanes and back streets so that we won't meet the respectable boys who go to the Christian Brothers' school or the rich ones who go the Jesuit school, Crescent College. The Christian Brothers' boys were tweed jackets, warm woolen sweaters, shirts, ties, and shiny new boots. We know they're the ones who will get jobs in the civil service and help the people who fun the world. The Crescent College boys wear blazers and school scarves tossed around their necks and over their shoulders to show they're cock o' the walk.

They have long hair which falls across their foreheads and over their eyes so that they can toss their quaffs like Englishmen. We know they're the ones who will go to university, take over the family business, run the government and run the world. We'll be the messenger boys on bicycles who deliver their groceries or we'll go to England to work on the building sites. Our sisters will mind their children-and scrub their floors unless they go off to England, too. We know that. We're ashamed of the way we look and if boys from, the rich schools pass remarks we'll get into a fight and wind up with bloody noses or torn clothes. Our masters will have no patience with us and our fights because their sons go to the rich schools and, ye have no right to raise your hands to a better class of people so ye don't.

  1. The "we" the author uses throughout the passage refers to
    1. his family
    2. the poor children in his neighborhood.
    3. the children who attend rich schools
    4. the author and his brother
    Answer: Option B.
    Since the passage is not about one family, option B is the answer
  2. The passage suggests that the author goes to school.
    1. in shabby clothing
    2. in a taxi cab
    3. in warm sweaters and shorts
    4. on a bicycle
    Answer: Option A.
    The passage hints at the hardships of the author. In accordance with that option A is the most appropriate.
  1. The word pass as used in the passage means to
    1. move ahead of
    2. go by without stopping
    3. be approved or adopted
    4. utter
    Answer: Option D.
    In the light of the passage, option D is the most suitable.
  2. The author quotes his school masters saying ye have no right to raise your hands to a better class or people so ye don't (last sentence) in order to
    1. demonstrate how strict his school masters were.
    2. contrast his school to the Christian Brothers' School and Crescent College.
    3. Show the reinforcing of discrimination by his teachers.
    4. prove that the author was meant for greater things.
    Answer: Option C.
    In the context, option C is the answer.
  3. The passage implies that
    1. the author was determined to go to England.
    2. the author was determined to be someone who will run the world.
    3. the author often got into fights.
    4. one's class determined one's future.
    Answer: Option D.
    The passage suggests that future is determined by class, hence the answer is option D.
    DIRECTIONS for the question 6 to 8: Fill in the blanks with the most appropriate word.
  4. A strike, like a war, should be resorted to only when less _______ measures have failed.
    1. Drastic
    2. Important
    3. Derogatory
    4. Objective
    Answer: Option A.
    Drastic means extreme, thus in the sentence it fits in the most appropriately. The key word here is 'less'.
  5. Hannibal's efforts came to _______ when he was defeated by Scipio, principally because he was too hot-headed to agree with those who counseled ______ while he hastened to engage in battle.
    1. wisdom—defeat
    2. victory—speed
    3. discretion—nothing
    4. naught—circumspection
    Answer: Option D.
    Naught and circumspection complete the sentence. Hannibal's efforts would have been for nothing as he was defeated by Scipio so, 'naught' is the appropriate choice.
  6. He believed that while there is serious unemployment in our auto industry, we should not _______ foreign cars.
    1. Discuss
    2. Regulate
    3. Research
    4. Import
    Answer: Option D.
    Option 4 is the correct choice in the context.
    DIRECTIONS for the questions 9-10: Part, or all, of each sentence is quoted. Following the sentence, four versions of the quoted portions are presented. Choice (A) repeats the original; the other choices are different. If you think a better sentence can be found in Choices (B), (C), (D), then choose one of them. If the sentence is correct as stated, your answer will be Choice (A).
  7. Dieters are beginning to take notice of carbohydrate counting because it seems to be a successful method of weight loss for many people "finding it a less painful-way of losing weight."
    1. finding it a less painful way of losing weight.
    2. find it less painful to lose weight.
    3. to finding losing weight a less painful process.
    4. who find it a less painful way of losing weight.
    Answer: Option D.
    While using find as a verb, it is advisable to avoid the use of "ing" if possible.
    Further, option 4 is the most correct of the given choices.
  8. Some people believe that the custom of "paying large salaries to cricket players and other athletes have gotten out of hand."
    1. of paying large salaries to cricket players and other athletes have gotten out of hand.
    2. of large salaries and other athletes have gotten out of hand.
    3. of paying large salaries to cricket players and other athletes has gotten out of hand.
    4. of cricket players and other athletes receiving large salaries that have gotten out of hand.
    Answer: Option C.
    Since the subject is singular (custom) 'has gotten out of hands' should be used. The answer therefore, is option C.
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