FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR RECRUITMENT TO POSTS IN BPS-17 UNDER THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 2005 ENGLISH (Précis and Composition)
Time allowed: 3 hours Maximum marks: 100
Q.1. Make a précis of the given passage and suggest a suitable heading (20 +5)
Basically, psychoses and neuroses represent man’s inability to maintain a balanced or equated polarity in conducting his life. The ego becomes exclusively or decidedly one sided. In psychoses there is a complete collapse of the ego back into the inner recesses of the personal and collective unconsciouses. When he is repressed toward fulfilling some life goal and where he is further unable to sublimate himself toward another goal, man regresses into goal structures not actually acceptable to himself or to the society. Strong emotional sickness of the psychotic type is like having the shadow run wild. The entire psyche regresses to archaic, animal forms of behaviors. In less severe forms of emotional sickness there may be an accentuated and overpowering use of one of the four mental functions at the expense of the other three. Either thinking, feeling, intuiting or seeing may assume such a superior role as to render the other three inoperative. The persona may become so dominant as to create a totally one-sided ego, as in some forms of neurotic behavior. All in all, whatever the type of severity of the emotional disorder, it can be taken as a failure of the psyche to maintain a proper balance between the polarities of life. Essentially, psychoses and neuroses are an alienation of the self from its true goal of self actualization. In this sense the culture is of no consequence. Emotional disorder is not a question of being out of tune with one’s culture so much as it is of being out of tune with one’s self. Consequently, neurosis is more than bizarre behavior, especially as it may be interpreted by contemporaries in the culture. This interpretation avoids the sociological question of what is a mental disorder, since form of behavior which is acceptable in one culture may be considered neurotic in other culture. To Jung, the deviation from cultural norms is not the point. The inability to balance out personal polarities is.
Q 2. Here is an excerpt from the autobiography of a short story writer. Read it carefully and answer the questions that follow.
My father loved all instruments that would instruct and fascinate. His place to keep things was the drawer in the ‘library table’ where lying on top of his folder map was a telescope with brass extensions, to find the moon and the Big Dripper after supper in our front yard, and to keep appointments with eclipses. In the back of the drawer you could find a magnifying glass, a kaleidoscope and a gyroscope kept in black buckram box, which he would set dancing for us on a string pulled tight. He had also supplied himself with an assortment of puzzles composed of metal rings and intersecting links and keys chained together, impossible for the rest of us, however, patiently shown, to take apart, he had an almost childlike love of the ingenious. In time, a barometer was added to our dining room wall, but we didn’t really need it. My father had the country boy’s accurate knowledge of the weather and its skies. He went out and stood on our front steps first thing in the morning an took a good look at it and a sniff. He was a pretty good weather prophet. He told us children what to do if we were lost in a strange country. ‘Look for where the sky is brightest along the horizon,’ he said. ‘That reflects the nearest river. Strike out for a rive and you will find habitation’. Eventualities were much on his mind. In his care for us children he cautioned us to take measures against such things as being struck by lightening. He drew us all away from the windows during the severe electrical storms that are common where we live. My mother stood apart, scoffing at caution as a character failing. So I developed a strong meteorological sensibility. In years ahead when I wrote stories, atmosphere took its influential role from the start. Commotion in the weather and the inner feelings aroused by such a hovering disturbance emerged connected in dramatic form.
a. why did the writer’s father spend time studying the skies ? (3) b. why the writer thinks that there was no need of a barometer? (3) c. what does the bright horizon meant for the writer’s father ? (3) d. How did her father influence the writer in her later years ? (3) e. explain the underlined words and phrases in the passage. (8)
Q3. Write a comprehensive note (250-300) words ) on any one of the following . (20)
a. each man is the architect of his own destiny
b. ignorance is bliss, knowledge worry
c. democracy fosters mediocrity
d. unhappiness is best defined as the difference between our talent and our expectations
e. they know enough who know how to learn.
Q4. (A) choose the word that is nearly similar in meaning to the word in capital letters
1). ANATHEMA a) curse b) cure c) anemia d) asthma
2). TORPOR a) fever b) lethargy c) taciturn d) torrid
3). TOUCHSTONE a) criterion b) gold c) character d) characteristics
4). SEQUESTER a) eliminate b) finalize c) sedate d) isolate
5). DENOUEMENT a) denunciation b) dormancy c) termination d) explanation
Q4. (B) pick the most nearly opposite in meaning to the capitalized letters
1). DELETERIOUS a) nourishing b) injurious c) vital d) fatal
2). VALEDICTORY a) farewell b) final c) hopeful d) parting 3).
SEDENTARY a) afraid b) loyal c) active d) torpid
4). TURBID a) muddy b) clear c) invariable d) improbable
5). PHLEGMATIC a) dull b) active c) lymphatic d) frigid
Q5.(A) change the narration from direct to indirect or indirect to direct speech (do any five)
1). Our sociology professor said , ‘I expect you to be in class every day. Unexcused absences may affect your grades.’
2). My father often told me , ‘every obstacle is a steppingstone to success. You should view problems in your life as opportunities to prove yourself.’
3). When tom asked Jack why he could’nt go to the game, Jack said he didn’t have enough money for a ticket.
4). When I asked the ticked seller if the concert was going to be rescheduled, she told me that she didn’t know and said that she just worked there.
5). Ali said, ‘I must go to Lahore next week to visit my ailing mother.’
6). The policeman told the pedestrian, ‘you mustn’t cross the road against the red light’
7). Ahmed asked if what I said was really true.
8). Sarah wanted to know where they would be tomorrow around three O’clock.
Q5 (B) Make corrections in any five of the following where necessary ?
1). What does a patient tell a doctor it is confidential ?
2). It is a fact that I almost drowned makes me very careful about water safety whenever I go swimming
3). Did they not consider this as quiet convincing
4). St Peter’s at Rome is the largest of all other churches
5). The amount they receive in wages is greater than twenty years ago
6). They succeeded with hardly making any effort
7). Whatever have you done ! 8). The officers were given places according to their respective ranks
Q6.(A) use any five of the following in your own sentences to bring out their meaning
1). Keep ones nose to the grindstone 2). Throw someone for a loop 3). Letter perfect 4). Off the wall 5). Out to lunch 6). Salt something away 7). Take someone to the cleaners 8). Wear the pants in the family
Q6 (B) use five of the following pairs of words in your own sentences so as to bring out their meanings
1). Council, counsel 2). Distinct, distinctive 3). Apposite, opposite 4). Deprecate, depreciate 5). Punctual, punctilious 6). Judicial, judicious 7). Salutary, salubrious 8). Canvas, canvass