
INFOSYS POWER PREPARATION
The passage
given below is followed by questions based
on its content. Read the passage & choose
the best answer 4 the questions
The Death Car
It was cold night in September. The rain
was drumming on the car roof as George &
Marie Winstion drove through the empty country
roads towards the house of their friends,
the Harrissons, where they were going to attend
a party to celebrate the engagement of the
Harrisons daughter, Lisa. As they drove, they
listened to the local radio station, which
was playing classical music. They were about
5 miles from the destination when the music
on the radio was interrupted by a news announcement:
“The Cheshire police have issued a serious
warning after a man escaped from Colford Mental
Hospital earlier this evening. The man, John
Downey, is murderer who killed 6 people before
he was captured 2 years ago. He is described
as large, very strong & extremely dangerous.
People in the Cheshire area are warned to
keep their doors & windows locked, &
to call the police immediately if they se
anyone acting strangely.” Marie shivered,
“A crazy killer. And he’s out there somewhere.
That’s scary.”“Don’t worry about it,” said
her husband. “We’re nearly there now. Anyway,
we have more important things to worry about.
This car is losing power for some reason—it
must be that old problem with the carburetor,
If it gets any worse, we’ll have to stay at
the Harrisons’ tonight & get it fixed
before we travel back tomorrow,” As he spoke,
the car began to slow down, George pressed
the accelerator, but the engine only coughed.
Finally they rolled to a halt, as the engine
died completely, Just as they stopped, George
pulled the car off the road, & it came
to rest under a large tree. “Blast!” said
George angrily. “Now we’ll have to walk in
the rain.” “But that’ll take us an hour at
least,” said Marie. “And I have my high-held
shoes & my nice clothes on. They’ll be
ruined!” “Well, you’ll have to wait while
I run to the nearest house & call the
Harissons. Someone can come out & picks
us up,” said George. “But George! Have you
forgotten what the radio said? There’s a homicidal
maniac out there! You can’t leave me alone
here!” “You’ll have to hide in the back of
the car. Lock all the doors & lie on the
floor in the back, under this blanket. No-one
will see you, when I come back, I’ll knock
3 times on the door. Then you can get up &
open it. Don’t open it unless you here 3 knocks.”
George opened the door & slipped out into
the rain. He quickly disappeared into the
blackness. Marie quickly locked the doors
& settled down under the blanket in the
back for a long wait. She was frightened &
worried, but she was a strong-minded woman.
She had not been waiting long, however, when
she heard a strange scratching noise. It seemed
to be coming from the roof of the car. Marie
was terrified. She listened, holding her breath.
Then she heard 3 slow knocks, one after the
other, also on the roof of the car. Was it
her husband? Should she open the door? Then
she heard another knock, and another. This
was not her husband. It was somebody--or something--else.
She was shaking with fear. But she forced
herself to lie still. The knocking continued--
bump, bump, bump, bump Many hours later, as
the sun rose, she was still lying there. She
had not slept for a moment. The knocking had
never stopped, all night long. She did not
know what to do. Where was George? Why had
he not come for her? Suddenly, she heard the
sound of 3 or 4 vehicles, racing quickly down
the road. All of them pulled up around her,
their tires screeching on the road. At last!
Some one had come! Marie sat up quickly &
looked out the window. The 3 vehicles were
all police cars, & 2 still had their lights
flashing. Several policemen leap out. One
of them rushed towards the car as Marie opened
the door. He took her by the hand. “Get out
of the car & walk with me to the police
vehicle. miss. You’re safe now. Look straight
ahead. Keep looking at police car. Don’t look
back. Just don’t look back.” Something in
the way he spoke filled Marie with cold horror.
She could not help herself. After 10 yards
from the police car, she stopped, turned &
looked back at the empty vehicle. George was
hanging from the tree above the car, a rope
tied around his neck. As the wind blew his
body back & forth, his feet were bumping
gently on the roof of the car-- bump, bump,
bump, bump
1) What was the reason for the news announcement
on the radio?
a) 6 people. Including John Downey, had
been murdered?
b) A dangerous prisoner had escaped
c) The police were warning of accidents
on the roads in the bad weather
d) Some people had bens en acting strangely
in the Cheshire area
2) What did George think was causing trouble
with the car?
a) The carburetor
b) The rain drumming on the roof
c) The accelerator
d) He had no idea
3) Why did he pull the car off the road?
a) To have a rest
b) To go for a walk
c) To walk to the nearest house
d) It broke down
4) Why did Marie stay in the car when George
left?
a) She was afraid to go out in the dark
b) So no one could steel the car
c) Her clothes weren’t suitable for the
rain
d) She wanted to get some sleep
5) Where did George set off to walk?
a) The mental hospital
b) The nearest house
c) The Harrison ’s house
d) The police station
6) What made Marie so frightened as she
waited in the car?
a) There was a strange sound coming from
the roof
b) She could see a man strangely outside
the car
c) Some police cars came racing down the
road
d) She was afraid of the rain and the dark
Exercise 2:
Each sentence below has 1 or 2 blanks –
each blank indicating that something has been
omitted. Beneath the sentence are some words.
Choose the word for each blank that best fits
the meaning of the sentence as a whole
7) Athletes have so perfected their techniques
in track and field events that the _________
becomes _________ before record books
a) Announcement …………public
b) Meet…………………….official
c) Time…………………….authentic
d) Fantastic………………...common place
8) A________ child, she was soon bored in
class; she already knew more mathematics than
her junior school teachers
a) Obdurate
b) Precocious
c) Recalcitrant
d) Contemporary
9) The subtle shades of meaning, & still
subtler echoes of association, make language
an instrument which scarcely anything short
of genius can wield with ____________ &
________________
a) Confidence----------aloofness
b) Definiteness---------certainty
c) Sincerity--------------hope
d) Eloquence------------ruthlessness
10) Unwilling to admit that they had been
in error, the researchers tried to_______
tried case with more data obtained from dubious
sources
a) Ascertain
b) Buttress
c) Refute
d) Dispute
11) His one vice was gluttony & so it
is not surprising that as he aged he became
increasingly_______________
a) Despondent
b) Corpulent
c) Carping
d) Lithe
Exercise 3:
Please read all the questions in the table
below (12-21) as one continuous passage. Tick
the varb with right tense or the correct word
to fill in the gaps in each of the sentences.
Statement
Options
12) A famous singer had been contracted to
sign at a Paris opera house & ticket sales_______________
booming.
a) is
b) are
c) were
d) have been
13) In fact, the night of the concert, the
house was packed; every ticket ________________
a) is selling
b) was selling
c) sold
d) had been sold
14) The feeling of anticipation & excitement
was in the air as the house manager__________
the stage & said, “Ladies & gentlemen,
thank you for your enthusiastic support!
a) took
b) takes
c) had taken
d) was taking
15) I am afraid that due to illness, the man
whom you’ve all come to hear________________
performing tonight
a) will not be
b) has not been
c) had not been
d) was not
16) However, we _________ a suitable substitute
who, we hope, will provide you with comparable
entertainment.”
a) are finding
b) were finding
c) had found
d) have found
17) The crowd____________ in disappointment
& failed to hear the announcer mention
the stand-in’s name
a) groans
b) groaned
c) had groaned
d) were groaning
18) The environment turned from excitement
to frustration
The stand-in performer__________ the performance
everything he had.
a) will give
b) had given
c) gave
d) gives
19) When he had finished, there was nothing
but an uncomfortable silence. No one _____________
a) Applauded
b) Applauds
c) Was applauding
d) Has applauded
20) Suddenly, from the balcony, a little boy
stood up and____________, “Daddy, I think
you’re wonderful!”
a)shouts
b) was shouting
c) had shouted
d) shouted
21) The crowd_________________ into thunderous
applause
a) breaks
b) broke
c) had broken
d) was breaking
Exercise 4:
From each group of sentences given below,
indicate the sentence that contains the error:
22) Group 1
a) Driving long distances causes sleepiness,
& sleepiness causes serious accidents.
b) On a table at the rear of the room was
a notebook, a pair of scissors, & a biology
textbook
c) Finally, there seems to be a growing
interest in vegetarianism in this country
d) Either the local chief of police or his
officers are guilty of violating the rights
of prisoners
23) Group 2
a) Simple cookbooks for inexperienced cooks
have become quite popular in recent years
they are available at many bookstores
b) Some cookbooks, such as The Joy of cooking,
have been classics for generations
c) One popular cookbook is The Art of French
Cooking, by Julia Child, a colorful character
who charmed television audiences for many
years
d) The Art of French Cooking blends classic
recipes with meticulous explanation; ordinary
cooks find the recipes manageable
24) Group 3
a) Around 50% of the forest are destroyed
every year
b) The bus leaves tomorrow morning
c) A tiger is a dangerous animal
d) Can you please the sugar?
25) Group 4
a) There must be some mistake. I should
have scored more marks
b) The number of trainees are hundred
c) 50% of the houses need repairs
d) The Commissioner, along with his family
members was seen the party
26) Group 5
a) The scissors is very sharp
b) Congratulations are in order
c) One of the cases is open
d) She plays tennis well but she’ll never
be a Steffi Graf
Exercise 5:
Please mark the correct statement from the
pairs given below:
27) Pair 1
a) Repeated occurrences cannot be ignored
b) Repeated occurences cannot be ignored
28) Pair 2
a) We need to get a consensus on the decision
b) We need to get a concensus on the decision
29) Pair 3
a) Only authority personnel are allowed
in this area
b) Only authorized personnel are allowed
in this area
30) Pair 4
a) The actress decided to sue the sleazy
tabloid for deformation of her character
b) The actress decided to sue the sleazy
tabloid for defamation of her character
31) Pair 5
a) Everyone knows that Hogwarts in the Harry
Potter series is a mythical school
b) Everyone knows that Hogwarts in the Harry
Potter series is a legendary school
32) Pair 6
a) Most people think caffeine is not good
for health
b) Most people think caffiene is not good
for health
Exercise 6:
Select the best word/phrase/line to complete
each sentence in the most appropriate manner
33) ‘Reema’s bad-mouthing Peter only because
she is jealous of him.’ Means______________
a) Peter really is a nice person
b) Peter really is a mean person
c) Peter really is a difficult person
d) Peter really is a tough person
34) If some one is “gung ho”, they are_______
a) stupid
b) Childish
c) Enthusiastic
d) Loud
35) Mr. Hughes has been asked to___________
this difficult project because of his experience
working for many years in Iran
a) undergo
b) understand
c) undervalue
d) undertake
36) ‘Stop talking to those angry men, you
are just adding fuel to the fire’ is the same
as________
a) Stop talking to those angry men, you
are just coming in the way
b) Stop talking to those angry men, you
are just making it worse
c) Stop talking to those angry men, you
are just adding to the noise
d) Stop talking to those angry men, you
are just talking too much
37) ‘Sudhir’s work is behind schedule – I
think he bit more than he could chew’ is the
same as________
a) Sudhir has taken too much of work
b) Sudhir takes very long breaks
c) Sudhir does not know how to do the work
d) Sudhir is a lazy person
38) There are many__________ to our rules,
and I do not think that’s fair.
a) examples
b) exceptions
c) instances
d) provisions
Exercise 7:
Choose the correct / most appropriate word/s
to fill in the gap in the sentences given
below.
39) I didn’t set _________ to do this but
I’m pleased with the result.
a) in
b) out
c) on
d) down
40) This looks too heavy,______________ pick
it up?
a) Can I
b) may I
c) need I
d) would I
41) I am glad so many people have passed
the test. In fact, there were_________ who
haven’t.
a) little
b) a little
c) few
d) a few
42) Pope John Paul II ___________ more than
90 countries.
a) has visited
b) was visited
c) visits
d) has been visiting
43) I _____________ Carl since I ______________
a little child.
a) have known, have been
b) have known, was
c) knew, have been
d) knew, was
44) I wonder if _____________ will show up
at the meeting?
a) someone
b) anyone
c) one
d) everyone
45) Have you given up______________.
a) to smoke
b) smoke
c) some smoking
d) smoking