CTS - Verbal - 1

CTS – Verbal -1

Directions for Questions 1-5: Read the passage and answer the questions that follow on the basis of the information provided in the passage.

Outside, the rain continued to run down the screened windows of Mrs. Sennett's little Cape Cod cottage. The long weeds and grass that composed the front yard dripped against the blurred background of the bay, where the water was almost the color of the grass. Mrs. Sennett's five charges were vigorously playing house in the dining room. (In the wintertime, Mrs. Sennett was housekeeper for a Mr. Curley, in Boston, and during the summers the Curley children boarded with her on the Cape.) My expression must have changed. "Are those children making too much noise?" Mrs. Sennett demanded, a sort of wave going over her that might mark the beginning of her getting up out of her chair. I shook my head no, and gave her a little push on the shoulder to keep her seated. Mrs. Sennett was almost stone-deaf and had been for a long time, but she could read lips. You could talk to her without making any sound yourself, if you wanted to, and she more than kept up her side of the conversation in a loud, rusty voice that dropped weirdly every now and then into a whisper. She adored talking.

To look at Mrs. Sennett made me think of eighteenth-century England and its literary figures. Her hair must have been sadly thin, because she always wore, indoors and out, either a hat or a sort of turban, and sometimes she wore both. The rims of her eyes were dark; she looked very ill. Mrs. Sennett and I continued talking. She said she really didn't think she'd stay with the children another winter. Their father wanted her to, but it was too much for her. She wanted to stay right here in the cottage. The afternoon was getting along, and I finally left because I knew that at four o'clock Mrs. Sennett's "sit down" was over and she started to get supper.

At six o'clock, from my nearby cottage, I saw Theresa coming through the rain with a shawl over her head. She was bringing me a six-inch-square piece of spice cake , still hot from the oven and kept warm between two soup plates. A few days later I learned from the twins, who brought over gifts of firewood and blackberries, that their father was coming the next morning, bringing their aunt and her husband and their cousin. Mrs. Sennett had promised to take them all on a picnic at the pond some pleasant day. On the fourth day of their visit, Xavier arrived with a note. It was from Mrs. Sennett, written in blue ink, in a large, serene, ornamented hand, on linen-finish paper:. . . Tomorrow is the last day Mr. Curley has and the Children all wanted the Picnic so much. The Men can walk to the Pond but it is too far for the Children. I see your Friend has a car and I hate to ask this but could you possibly drive us to the Pond tomorrow morning? . . .Very sincerely yours, Carmen Sennett.

 

After the picnic, Mrs. Sennett's presents to me were numberless. It was almost time for the children to go back to school in South Boston. Mrs. Sennett insisted that she was not going; their father was coming down again to get them and she was just going to stay. He would have to get another housekeeper. She said this over and over to me, loudly, and her turbans and kerchiefs grew more and more distrait. One evening, Mary came to call on me and we sat on an old table in the back yard to watch the sunset. "Papa came today," she said, "and we've got to go back day after tomorrow. ""Is Mrs. Sennett going to stay here? ""She said at supper she was. She said this time she really was, because she'd said that last year and came back, but now she means it ."I said, "Oh dear," scarcely knowing which side I was on. "It was awful at supper. I cried and cried."

"Did Theresa cry?"

"Oh, we all cried. Papa cried, too. We always do."

"But don't you think Mrs. Sennett needs a rest?"

"Yes, but I think she'll come, though. Papa told her he'd cry every single night at supper if she didn't,

and then we all did." The next day I heard that Mrs. Sennett was going back with them just to "help settle."

She came over the following morning to say goodbye, supported by all five children. She was wearing her traveling hat of black satin and black straw, with sequins. High and somber, above her ravaged face, it had quite a Spanish grandee air. "This isn't really goodbye," she said. "I'll be back as soon as I get these bad, noisy children off my hands. "But the children hung on to her skirt and tugged at her sleeves, shaking their heads frantically, silently saying, "No! No! No!"  To her with their puckered-up mouths.

Following are some questions on this passage:

1.       According to the narrator, Mrs. Sennett wears a hat because she:

A.      is often outside.

B.      wants to look like a literary figure.

C.      has thin hair.

D.      has unique taste in clothing.

Answer: C

2. Considering the events of the entire passage, it is most reasonable to infer that Mrs. Sennett calls the children bad because she:

A. is bothered by the noise they are making.

B. doesn't like them hanging on her skirt.

C. doesn't want to reveal her affection for them.

D. is angry that they never do what she tells them.

Answer: C

3. What is the main insight suggested by the conversation in lines 39--45?

A. The Curley family cries to manipulate Mrs. Sennett into doing what they want.

B. The narrator regrets that she is not going to Boston and is a little jealous of Mrs. Sennett.

C. Mrs. Sennett is happy to leave the Curley family because they are always whining and crying.

D. Mrs. Sennett intends to return to the Cape soon because she has discovered that they have been manipulating and taking advantage of her.

Answer: A

 

4. Given the evidence provided throughout the passage, the children probably silently mouth the word "no" because:

A. Mrs. Sennett has just called them bad, noisy children, and they are defending themselves.

B. they do not want to leave the Cape before the summer is over and are protesting.

C. they are letting the narrator know that Mrs. Sennett is thinking about returning to the Cape.

D. they are continuing their battle against Mrs. Sennett's intention to return to the Cape.

Answer: D

5. At what point does Mr. Curley cry at the supper table?

A. Before Mary and the narrator sit and watch the sunset

B. Before Mrs. Sennett tells the narrator she doubts she will stay another winter with the children

C. Before the children spend a rainy afternoon playing house in the dining room

D. After the narrator learns that Mrs. Sennett will return to Boston

Answer: A

Directions for Questions 6-7:

Read the passage and answer the questions that follow on the basis of the information provided in the passage.

 

From the 197 million square miles, which make up the surface of the globe, 71 per cent is covered by the interconnecting bodies of marine water; the Pacific Ocean alone covers half the Earth and averages near 14,000 feet in depth. The portions which rise above sea level are the continents-Eurasia, Africa; North America, South America, Australia, and Antarctica. The submerged borders of the continental masses are the continental shelves, beyond which lie the deep-sea basins.

The ocean are deepest not in the center but in some elongated furrows, or long narrow troughs, called deeps. These profound troughs have a peripheral arrangement, notably around the borders of the pacific and Indian oceans. The position of the deeps, like the highest mountains, is of recent origin, since otherwise they would have been filled with waste from the lands. This is further strengthened by the observation that the deeps are quite often, where world-shaking earthquakes occur. To cite an example, the "tidal wave" that in April, 1946, caused widespread destruction along Pacific coasts resulted from a strong earthquake on the floor of the Aleutian Deep.

 

The topography of the ocean floors is none too well known, since in great areas the available soundings are hundreds or even thousands of miles apart. However, the floor of the Atlantic is through the use of the recently perfected method of submarine topography becoming fairly well known as a result of special surveys since 1920. A broad, well-defined ridge-the Mid-Atlantic ridge-

runs north and south between Africa and the two Americas and numerous other major irregularities diversify the Atlantic floor. Closely spaced soundings show that many parts of the oceanic floors are as rugged as mountainous regions of the continents.

During World War II great strides were made in mapping submarine surfaces, particularly in many parts of the vast Pacific basin. Most of the continents stand on an average of 2870 feet above sea level. North America averages 2300 feet; Europe averages only 1150 feet; and Asia, the highest of the larger continental subdivisions, averages 3200 feet. Mount Everest, which is the highest point in the globe, is 29,000 feet above the sea; and as the greatest known depth in the sea is over 35,000 feet, the maximum relief (that is, the difference in altitude between the lowest and highest points) exceeds 64,000 feet, or exceeds 12 miles. The continental masses and the deep-sea basins are relief features of the first order; the deeps, ridges, and volcanic cones that diversify the sea floor, as well as the plains, plateaus, and mountains of the continents, are relief features of the second order. The lands are unendingly subject to a complex of activities summarized in the term erosion, which first sculptures them in great detail and then tends to reduce them ultimately to sea level. The modeling of the landscape by weather, running water, and other agents is apparent to the keenly observant eye and causes thinking people to speculate on what must be the final result of the ceaseless wearing down of the lands. Much before there was any recognizable science as geology, Shakespeare wrote "the revolution of the times makes mountains level."

6. The peripheral furrows or deeps are found

A. only in the pacific and Indian oceans

B. near earthquakes

C. near the shore in the center of the ocean

D. to be 14,000 feet in depth in the pacific.

Ans : C

7. We may conclude from this passage that earth quakes

A. occur more frequently in newly formed land or sea formations

B. Are caused by the weight of the water

C. Cause erosion occur in the deeps

D. Will ultimately "make mountains level".

Ans : A

Directions for Questions 8-12:

Read each sentence to find if there is any grammatical error in it. If there is any error, it will be only one part of the sentence. The number or alphabet of that part is your answer.( Disregard punctuation errors if any)

8. The firm show / began / when we arrived / in the hall/no error

               A                   B                       C                         D                E

Ans: B   (begun)

9. No sooner the news appeared in the paper/ than / there was a rush / in the counter/ no error

                               A                                                     B                    C                            D                      E

Ans: A   (As soon as)

10. Unlike the other/ rich men of his community/ he does not look/ down upon the poor/ no error

                     A                                   B                                          C                                  D                           E

Ans: E

11. His supporters are / not as enthusiastic / and co-operative as / that of his opponent's/ no error

                        A                              B                                    C                                      D                               E

Ans: D (those)

12. Our company can / no longer afford/ over-manned unit as/ our profit has lower/ no error

                       A                           B                                   C                                     D                            E

 Ans: D (is)