Sentence Replacement – New Pattern MCQ

Q.1) By the time Edmundo’s brilliant spin and finish was done, three United players lay beaten on the floor as Vasco’s showman peeled away celebrating with his shirt over his head.

a) For 43 minutes, Manchester United had toiled in the sweltering heat of the Maracana, producing one of the worst performances of the Sir Alex Ferguson era. Gary Neville had been especially calamitous, furiously sweeping at the sweat-sodden curtains on his forehead having teed up one of Brazil’s greatest goalscorers, Romario, twice. Vasco da Gama were cruising to half-time when they delivered the goal that encapsulated the European champions’ humiliating jaunt to Brazil. ____________________.
b) Edmundo was supremely talented, a player who combined moments of breathtaking skill with an elbows-out aggressive style that made him horrible to play against. He was a brilliant dribbler with an inventive streak, and would attempt outrageous tricks such as the Pelé runaround for which fans loved him, even if it would infuriate his team-mates. He was affectionately nicknamed O Animal – the beast, a force of nature._____________________.
c) Although he played brilliantly on his return from Rio, it was too late. Milan won the title and Edmundo departed Fiorentina, his relationship with the club’s hierarchy irrevocably damaged. It was one of a string of fall-outs and misdemeanours that had pushed Edmundo from club to club._______________________.
d) Vasco started well but their opener owed plenty to Neville’s intervention. On 24 minutes the right-back played the most casual of backpasses into Edmundo’s path, who flicked the ball sideways for Romario to slot home. It was an uncharacteristic blunder by Neville, yet two minutes later he surpassed it while attempting the rarely seen 20-yard chested backpass. _____________________.
e) Romario’s opening two goals were foolish concessions on United’s part, but this time there was little they could do. Their faces said they had never seen anyone like Edmundo before, and they probably hadn’t; most of the players had never played in Brazil and later admitted theyhad seen no footage of their opponents in preparation. “Only geniuses can do what Edmundo did to me for his goal,” Silvestre later reflected. ________________________.

Q.2) We must trust them and keep that drive alive.

a) Naysayers might argue that demographic differences between Finland and the UK make comparing education policies pointless. The population of Finland is homogeneous; just 5% of the population was born outside the country and don’t speak either Finnish or Swedish. ______________________. The economic homogeneity of the population, and the equity of society that is reflected in its schools, has contributed to Finland’s success.
b) I worked in England for two years as a teacher before moving to Finland eight years ago. My colleagues in the UK were supportive and the headteacher gave me subject leadership in my second year. _____________________. Finland’s education policies have been highly praised and the country has started to export its model around the world.
c) Teachers enter the profession full of drive and enthusiasm. They are in the job for the right reasons. ____________________. To do this, we must give them the tools and time they need to recover after a hard day at work.
d) Teachers in Finland are given a great deal of responsibility and are allowed unfettered flexibility in what and how they teach. Performance isn’t observed and graded. ___________________. Detailed plans are not expected either.
e) While most six-year-olds in the UK are subject to national tests, those in Finland haven’t even started formal schooling yet. When they do, the teacher’s judgment alone is trusted in assessing students. _________________. And no one uses the data to construct league tables or put pressure on schools.

Q.3) On May 2nd the WHO reported 453 suspected cases of the disease there, including some in the capital, Kinshasa.

a) It occupies a strange place on the spectrum of infectious tropical diseases. Not as important as malaria. _____________________. Not as revolting as elephantiasis.
b) Yellow fever is spread by Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that also carries dengue and Zika. Its early symptoms—a high temperature, nausea, vomiting and muscle pain—are reasonably mild and usually last only a few days. ____________________. Patients experience severe abdominal pain, become jaundiced and bleed internally and from their eyes, mouth and nose.
c) Laboratory analyses have linked a few cases in Kenya to the Angolan outbreak. More worrying is the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). _____________________. Less than 30% of the country’s population was thought to have been vaccinated before today’s outbreak.
d) Once yellow fever is established in a tropical country, it is almost impossible to eradicate. Monkeys infected by the virus act as a reservoir for the disease. _____________________. Aegypti lays its eggs in standing water, meaning that even a discarded food tin could be a breeding ground.
e) Production of yellow-fever vaccine has increased in the past five years, but it would be difficult to raise further. It has only four sources: Sanofi Pasteur, a French drug company, and institutes in Brazil, Senegal and Russia. ______________________. If yellow fever did take hold in Asia, he says, then the numbers at immediate risk would rise from tens of millions to 100m or more.

Q.4) An office with a dozen staff who had previously spent much of their time overseeing contract workers assisting the Greek asylum service expanded rapidly.

a) The reshuffle brought Ioannis Mouzalas into the role of junior minister. An obstetrician with lengthy service at the medical charity Doctors of the World, he appeared a strong choice for the role. But those hoping for a step change would be disappointed. _____________________.
b) Some critics see an even more cynical quid pro quo. The bigger the mess in Greece, the harsher the conditions, the greater the deterrent for other refugees and migrants who see the country as a route into the EU, they argue. _________________________. A spokesperson for the Commission denied that there was a deterrence strategy, insisting that it was “committed to improving conditions in Greece”.
c) The situation exploded in February when Greek asylum service workers on the islands went on strike. An asylum service email on 25 January had informed the workers that “timely payments of wages was postponed indefinitely”. _____________________. Seven months after law 4375/2016 passed there was still no clear plan for what it should look like.
d) Instead of signing off and allowing work to begin, the ministry returned with its own proposal costed at $8m. ______________________. In a letter dated 7 July, the ministry wrote to ASB “that for Softex camp our plans will not change”. The proposal was rejected.
e) The decision by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to classify the situation in Greece as an emergency turned what had been a backwater posting into a major placement almost overnight. ________________________. The UNHCR team in Greece expanded to 600 people across 12 offices. Roughly one-third of the workforce were international staff.

Q.5) Suketu Mehta’s compendious narrative of Bombay low-life, Maximum City, had been a critical and commercial success.

a) I was in Berlin at the end of 2005 when my agent called and asked me if I’d write a book on Calcutta. It was a work of non-fiction he wanted: Indian non-fiction was going to be the new Indian fiction. I declined, saying, “I’d rather write about Berlin”; but I saw where he was coming from. ____________________.
b) A new universe was at hand, comprising an impatient aspirational class._________________________. One could partake of this creation-myth by writing of Bombay, because it embodied its ambitions so vibrantly, and of New Delhi, which had benefited even more tangibly than Bombay in terms of political power from the new dispensation. Bangalore, too, and even Chennai and smaller cities could be part of the new epic.
c) Left rule in Bengal was, in one sense at least, akin to a colonial presence, in that it thrived, as British rule had, on the splintering of the opposition, and on the political void outside itself. But it had two great achievements. The first took place early, and was almost undone later: Operation Barga, by which land was “redistributed” from landlords to sharecroppers and peasants in rural Bengal. ______________________.
d) As a child, I escaped Bombay and school, during my summer and winter holidays, into Calcutta. It was like a journey towards the pastoral. _____________________. It wasn’t exactly tranquility and nature, but I was electrified by it, as Wordsworth claimed his younger, unthinking self had been by rocks and trees.
e) As I began to feel, for the first time, that a new book about Calcutta was possible, precipitous political changes were taking place. _______________________. The signs for the Left Front were worrying; it had emphatically lost seats in the general elections in 2009 to TK party. Everyone knew this had to do with its panicky mishandling of industrialisation.

Q.6) If Indigenous Peoples’ rights are not secured and protected, it will be impossible for the world to deliver on the promises of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.

a) In the 1970s Indigenous Peoples had brought to the UN’s attention the problems and issues they were facing, which led the UN to establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in 1982. This was mandated to listen to the developments in indigenous territories and to draft a declaration on their rights. The drafting started in 1985 and Indigenous Peoples took an active part. _______________________.
b) I was very glad to hear the Pope’s comments on the right to free, prior and informed consent and his recognition that our lands are vital to our identities, values and spirituality. His words inspire hope for Indigenous Peoples facing an uphill struggle. ______________________. Studies show that where Indigenous Peoples have secure rights to their lands, carbon storage is higher and deforestation is lower.
c) I think that there has been an increase in media coverage over the years. I’m glad to see less coverage that portrays us as primitive, but sometimes the media fails to capture the fact that we are not anti-development. We are also seeing more media coverage – but still not enough – on the contributions of Indigenous Peoples to global goals on climate, poverty and peace. ____________________.
d) Finally, Indigenous Peoples often live in areas at increased risk of climate change-related disasters. I have already heard from Indigenous Peoples in Kiribati whose homes have been lost to rising seas. _______________________. Where Indigenous Peoples’ rights are ignored, they face the loss of their lands, livelihoods, sacred sites and self-governance.
e) I think the Indigenous Peoples’ movement surpasses other social movements. They have struggled against colonisation for more than 500 years and continue against forms of colonisation and racism. __________________. Many still fight to protect their territories, which makes their movement different from others.

Q.7) According to Grant Bigg, professor of Earth systems at Sheffield University and author of the 2015 book Icebergs, there is a long list of technical hurdles that must be overcome.

a) A firm in Abu Dhabi has floated plans to tow icebergs from Antarctica to the United Arab Emirates to solve the country’s fresh water shortage. ___________________. In a promotional animation released by the firm, a giant, flat-topped iceberg is towed into the Persian Gulf bearing penguins and polar bears, which double as a tourist attraction. There are no polar bears in Antarctica.
b) The pace of development in UAE is such that groundwater supplies are predicted to run dry in the next 15 years. A typical Emirati uses 500 litres of water per day, about 80% more than the global average. _________________________. Globally, the UN warns that within two decades, 600 million children will live in regions enduring extreme water scarcity.
c) No one has towed icebergs from Antarctica to provide water to parched nations, but the idea is far from new. In the early 19th century, proposals to tow icebergs into the Southern Ocean to balance out the temperature of the Earth were already considered old hat. But enthusiasm for the challenge persisted _______________________.
d) A single iceberg-towing vessel can cost around $75,000 a day, and to tow a massive iceberg might need several ships for months at a time. ________________________.“Is it more practical to take a tanker to Antarctica and capture some fresh water melting off a glacier?” In Canada, shops already sell bottled water made from chunks of frozen water that are chipped off icebergs. King has a chunk in his freezer.
e) Synthetic fibre ropes, which are stronger than steel, can be slung around icebergs at the waterline, but when tugging begins the rope can slip off or make the iceberg roll over. Another reason the towing must be done slowly and carefully is that dragging an iceberg through the ocean can make it break apart. The industry has come up with nets for capturing unstable icebergs, but they don’t work in every case.

Q.8) There are probably hundreds more hidden under trees in that scorched Arizona desert alone.

a) It’s relatively easy to spot bones in the desert. _______________________. Once you start looking it seems they’re everywhere. Mostly it’ll be a rabbit’s skull or the hip bone of a small mammal.
b) Last year, there were officially 322 deaths along the US border with Mexico. Human remains were found in the deserts and remote ranchland in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and California. In the past decade there have been 4,205. It’s an estimation because these are just those they have recovered. ______________________.
c) Filadelfo was just 22 in June 2015 when he left his home in San Antonio de Cortez in Honduras. He’d always talked about leaving, but when he finally did he didn’t tell his parents he was going. His sister Olga knew; he asked her to make corn tortillas for his trip. ___________________________.
d) On 18 June 2016, he called home to say he was about to walk into the desert. “I told him not to go; that he was doing fine in Mexico,” Olga said. “But he said one of his friends was going and he had decided to help him.” Olga choked back tears. _______________________.
e) For Ely, sending his team to search this particular route brings back painful memories. _____________________. Rigoberto, an undocumented immigrant, was deported from the US, forced to leave his wife and children behind in Oceanside, California. The summer he lost his life he was trying to return to them.

Q.9) Their house across the way from the Lawrences, is the first they have ever owned.

a) “It doesn’t affect me,” Mrs Dvir said, cradling the youngest of her three children. “I came here because the place appealed to me, the beach, the absence of traffic, the chance of a contented life. I felt strangled in Holon after seven years in a rented flat.”
b) Itamar and Yaffa Dvir prefer to talk about “founders” rather than “pioneers.” They wanted to be among the first. ____________________. Before they came to Yamit, they rented a flat in Holon, an industrial satellite of Tel Aviv.
c) Mrs Carol Lawrence is an all-American Jewish girl, born in New York, raised in Miami, married, four children. Her husband, who used to he a building contractor, is developing a business as a carpenter. He travels daily to a nearby village, where he has a workshop. __________________.
d) The Israeli Government plans to settle 350 families here by next spring. Yamit is the first urban settlement established in territory occupied during the 1967 war. ____________________. Yamit straddles the old international border between Egypt and mandatory Palestine.
e) Housewives are busy making their concrete shells feel like home. Water and electricity do not always work. ______________________. The sand is coming through the tiles.

Q.10) One weekend he went absent without leave for 24 hours, and probably walked home to see his family.

a) Today we wander through Milkham’s pines in an atmosphere of autumnal tranquillity. During the first world war the scene would have been very different. ___________________. A few mother trees were spared to provide seedlings for regeneration.
b) Work across the forest was not plentiful in the run-up to the Great War and assisted passages to Australia were attractive. Two sons of the Fordingbridge Morgan family emigrated just before the war. They settled in Eumundi, a small outback community north of Brisbane where, with their agricultural and forestry skills, they found plenty of work.
c) Milkham today reveals nothing of its past to evoke such trains of thought, unless seeds have already been sown in the mind. But research in Fording bridge is bringing to life the stories behind local names on memorials here and in Australia. As they emerge they are akin to the seedlings that grew from the mother trees left when the axe-men’s work was done. __________________.
d) Bert was wounded in bayonet fighting and captured in April 1917. Frank was killed the following October. Just a month before, he was getting bombing training at Lyndhurst in the heart of the New Forest. ___________________.
e) One hundred years ago last week, after appalling cost, the Third Battle of Ypres, Passchendaele, ended. _________________. They could have been treading on planks cut from pines that once grew in Milkham. A sombre thought.

ANSWER KEY:

1) a
2) c
3) c
4) e
5) a
6) c
7) e
8) b
9) b
10) d

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Sentence Replacement – New Pattern MCQ