Indian Institute of Technology Madras
BS Degree Programme · Examination & Study Paper
BSHS1001 · English I
Qualifier · September 2023
Examination Instructions & Guidelines
- Solve on notebook/paper first before checking solutions.
- MCQ: Exactly 1 option is correct. Negative marking applies.
- MSQ: One or more options correct. Select all to score.
- Scientific calculator allowed for all calculations.
- Official answer key is sealed at the end of this sheet.
Read the passage below, then answer Q1–Q5
Read the following passage and answer the given subquestions.
When I first visited Gandhi in 1942 at his ashram in Sevagram, in central India, he said, “I will tell you how it happened that I decided to urge the departure of the British. It was in 1917.”
He had gone to the December 1916 annual convention of the Indian National Congress party in Lucknow. There were 2,301 delegates and many visitors. "During the proceedings," Gandhi recounted, “a peasant came up to me looking like any other peasant in India, poor and emaciated, and said, ‘I am Rajkumar Shukla. I am from Champaran, and I want you to come to my district’!’’ Gandhi had never heard of the place. It was in the foothills of the towering Himalayas, near the kingdom of Nepal.
Under an ancient arrangement, the Champaran peasants were sharecroppers. Rajkumar Shukla was one of them. He was illiterate but resolute. He had come to the Congress session to complain about the injustice of the landlord system in Bihar, and somebody had probably said, “Speak to Gandhi.”
Gandhi told Shukla he had an appointment in Cawnpore and was also committed to go to other parts of India. Shukla accompanied him everywhere. Then Gandhi returned to his ashram near Ahmedabad. Shukla followed him to the ashram. For weeks he never left Gandhi’s side.
“Fix a date,” he begged.
Impressed by the sharecropper’s tenacity and story Gandhi said, ‘‘I have to be in Calcutta on such-and-such a date. Come and meet me and take me from there.” Months passed. Shukla was sitting on his haunches at the appointed spot in Calcutta when Gandhi arrived; he waited till Gandhi was free. Then the two of them boarded a train for the city of Patna in Bihar. There Shukla led him to the house of a lawyer named Rajendra Prasad who later became President of the Congress party and of India. Rajendra Prasad was out of town, but the servants knew Shukla as a poor yeoman who pestered their master to help the indigo sharecroppers. So they let him stay on the grounds with his companion, Gandhi, whom they took to be another peasant. But Gandhi was not permitted to draw water from the well lest some drops from his bucket pollute the entire source; how did they know that he was not an untouchable?
Gandhi decided to go first to Muzzafarpur, which was en route to Champaran, to obtain more complete information about conditions than Shukla was capable of imparting. He accordingly sent a telegram to Professor J.B. Kripalani, of the Arts College in Muzzafarpur, whom he had seen at Tagore’s Shantiniketan school. The train arrived at midnight, 15 April 1917. Kripalani was waiting at the station with a large body of students. Gandhi stayed there for two days in the home of Professor Malkani, a teacher in a government school.
- Indigo - Louis Fischer
Q1MCQ2 Marks·Choose one optionAmong the following words, choose the antonym for the word ‘tenacity’.
- APersistence
- BDetermination
- CFirmness
- DTimidity
- Q2MCQ2 Marks·Choose one option
What is the meaning of ‘yeoman’?
- AA farmer who owned and worked on his own land
- BA person who is the owner of a house
- CA person who lends money as a business
- DA person who fits and repairs the pipes
- Q3MCQ2 Marks·Choose one option
Select true or false for the following statement. Gandhi decided to go first to Muzzafarpur, which was en route to Champaran.
- ATRUE
- BFALSE
- Q4MCQ2 Marks·Choose one option
To whom did Gandhi send a telegram?
- ARajendra Prasad
- BJ.B. Kripalani
- CRomesh Chunder Dutt
- DN. R Malkani
- Q5MCQ2 Marks·Choose one option
At whose house did Gandhi stay for two days?
- AProfessor Dutt
- BProfessor Malkani
- CProfessor Chowdhury
- DProfessor Sharma
Read the passage below, then answer Q6–Q10
Read the following telephonic conversation and fill in the blanks with appropriate responses and answer the given subquestions:
Sister: Hi bro, how are you doing?
Brother: Hey sis, (i)_____________________. How about you?
Sister: (ii)_________________. How is your preparation for exams going on?
Brother: Good, but I am really scared for my exams.
Sister:(iii)_______________
Brother: Because I think I am still lacking somewhere.
Sister: Don’t worry dear. You still have a month. You will do a better job!
Brother: (iv)_______________________. But I think I need more guidance.
Sister: For that, you can take coaching from the best institute which will help and guide you.
Brother: Yeah, this seems like the perfect idea. (v)______________________
Sister: There is a good coaching institute. It is called Genius Plus. Try to contact them.
Brother: Thank you, I will contact them immediately.
Q6MCQ1 Mark·Choose one optionFill in the blank (i) with an appropriate response?
- AMy friend is playing a video game with children
- BMy wife is cooking in the kitchen
- CI am cool
- DMy father is working in the corporate sector
- Q7MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Fill in the blank (ii) with an appropriate response?
- AI am perfectly fine
- BThe dog is playing in the room
- CThe cats are alright
- DMom is out for shopping
- Q8MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Fill in the blank (iii) with an appropriate response?
- AWhen is your exam?
- BWhy so?
- CWhen are you coming home?
- DWhy are you going to Chennai?
- Q9MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Fill in the blank (iv) with an appropriate response?
- AGood Morning sis
- BBye sis
- CThank you, sis, for your support.
- DGood night sis
- Q10MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Fill in the blank (v) with an appropriate response?
- AHow long will you go to the coaching institute?
- BDo you have any good coaching institutes in mind?
- CHow long will you stay there in Chennai?
- DWhen will you come home?
Read the passage below, then answer Q11–Q15
Match Column A with suitable options in Column B. (Hint: Word collocation)
Column A: 1. Sports · 2. Library · 3. Garden · 4. Job · 5. Fishing
Column B: a. Card · b. Offer · c. Equipment · d. Rod · e. Hose
Q11MCQ1 Mark·Choose one optionSports___________
- ACard
- BOffer
- CEquipment
- DRod
- EHose
- Q12MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Library __________
- ACard
- BOffer
- CEquipment
- DRod
- EHose
- Q13MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Garden ___________
- ACard
- BOffer
- CEquipment
- DRod
- EHose
- Q14MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Job __________
- ACard
- BOffer
- CEquipment
- DRod
- EHose
- Q15MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Fishing
- ACard
- BOffer
- CEquipment
- DRod
- EHose
- Q16MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Identify the type of noun that is highlighted in the sentence. The swimming pool is drained and cleaned every winter.
- ACollective
- BAbstract
- CProper
- DCompound
- Q17MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Select the correct pronoun. This is my letter and that is ________.
- AYour
- BYours
- COur
- DOurs
- Q18MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Which one of the following words is a verb?
- AUsually
- BSlowly
- CPoorly
- DSolve
- Q19MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Choose the correct option. My new bike is __________ than my old one.
- AFaster
- BFast
- Q20MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Identify the part of speech of the underlined word. Amy bought ripe tomatoes at the store.
- ANoun
- BAdjective
- CPronoun
- DVerb
- Q21MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Choose the appropriate option. ________ my opinion, she is a very clever girl.
- AFor
- BOf
- CIn
- DWith
- Q22MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Choose the appropriate option. Tomorrow will be ________ cold day.
- AThe
- BAn
- CA
- DNo article
- Q23MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Choose the appropriate option. She behaves _______she was the captain of the team.
- AAs
- BAs if
- CThat
- DNo word needed
- Q24MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
They usually spend their holidays in _____mountains.
- AA
- BThe
- CNo article
- DAn
- Q25MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Select true or false for the following statement. The phrasal verb ‘lay off (something)’ means to ‘to stop doing something.’
- ATrue
- BFalse
- Q26MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Consider the following sentence: The party was a little slow at first but Kate broke the ice by offering everyone wine and beer. The phrase ‘broke the ice’ means ___.
- ATo remove the tension at a first meeting
- BTo tell the truth about something that was kept a secret
- Q27MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
The phrase ‘to get out of hand’ means ___________.
- ATo become difficult to control
- BTo calm down
- Q28MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
He told me that he will stay for a ___.
- AWeak
- BWeek
- CWick
- DWake
- Q29MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
The ___ was unsold in the auction.
- AWhether
- BWether
- CWeather
- DWither
- Q30MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Choose the word with an “aa” sound from the following.
- AHoard
- BBoard
- CHard
- DTeeth
- Q31MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Pick the odd one out on the basis of the similarity of sounds: knit, pit, kit, neat
- AKnit
- BPit
- CKit
- DNeat
- Q32MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Which semi-vowel occurs in the transition between the words “go” and “out” in the sentence “go out”?
- A/w/
- B/y/
- Q33MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Which among the following is a word without a diphthong?
- ASnout
- BStout
- CSport
- DShout
- Q34MCQ1 Mark·Choose one option
Which among the following is the correct way to read the following phone number: 8637681134?
- A8637/6811/34
- B863/768/113/4
- C86/37/68/11/34
- DAll of these
- Q35MSQ1 Mark·Choose all correct options
‘Rinku reads quite clearly’. In this sentence which of the following is an adverb?
- AReads
- BQuite
- CClearly
- DRinku