Competitive English General Competitive English 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Choose the word that is most nearly OPPOSITE in meaning to 'BENEVOLENT'.
- Generous
- Malevolent (Correct answer)
- Indifferent
- Tolerant
Correct answer: Malevolent
Malevolent means wishing evil or harm to others, which is the opposite of benevolent (well-meaning and kindly).
Question 2: Identify the figure of speech in: 'The wind whispered through the trees.'
- Simile
- Metaphor
- Personification (Correct answer)
- Hyperbole
Correct answer: Personification
Personification attributes a human action (whispering) to a non-human entity (the wind).
Question 3: Select the correctly punctuated sentence.
- Its a nice day, isn't it?
- It's a nice day, isn't it? (Correct answer)
- Its' a nice day isn't it?
- It's a nice day isn't it?
Correct answer: It's a nice day, isn't it?
"It's" is the contraction of 'it is', and a comma is needed before the tag question 'isn't it?'.
Question 4: Which word correctly fills the blank? 'The committee _____ yet to reach a decision.'
- are
- is (Correct answer)
- were
- have
Correct answer: is
In American English, collective nouns like 'committee' take a singular verb, so 'is' is correct.
Question 5: The word 'EPHEMERAL' most nearly means:
- Eternal
- Short-lived (Correct answer)
- Colorful
- Spiritual
Correct answer: Short-lived
Ephemeral means lasting for a very short time, as in ephemeral pleasures.
Question 6: Choose the sentence with correct subject-verb agreement.
- Neither of the boys are ready.
- Neither of the boys is ready. (Correct answer)
- Neither of the boys were ready.
- Neither of the boys have been ready.
Correct answer: Neither of the boys is ready.
With 'neither of,' the verb agrees with the singular subject 'neither,' so 'is' is correct.
Question 7: Which option correctly identifies the error? 'She is one of those students who works hard.'
- 'She' should be 'Her'
- 'works' should be 'work' (Correct answer)
- 'hard' should be 'hardly'
- No error
Correct answer: 'works' should be 'work'
The relative clause 'who works hard' modifies 'students' (plural), so the verb should be 'work.'
Competitive English General Competitive English 2
Choose the word that is most nearly OPPOSITE in meaning to 'BENEVOLENT'.