General English MCQs
Topic Notes: General English
MCQs and preparation resources for competitive exams, covering important concepts, past papers, and detailed explanations.
Plato
- Biography: Ancient Greek philosopher (427–347 BCE), student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, founder of the Academy in Athens.
- Important Ideas:
- Theory of Forms
- Philosopher-King
- Ideal State
1261
Her mother advised her not to go too fast while reciting her poem. **Options:**
Answer:
Her mother said, "Don't go too fast while reciting your poem."
advised … not to ↔ direct negative imperative “Don’t …”; your** matches addressee. (a) is a question; (c) changes modality; (d) wrong pronoun “her.”
1262
The Finance Minister said, "The Government will trim the corporate tax gradually to 25 percent for all companies." **Options:**
Answer:
The Finance Minister said that the Government would trim the corporate tax gradually to 25 percent for all companies.
Statement → said that + clause; will → would** (backshift). (b) converts to a question; (c) makes it a command; (d) “told” needs object and misses backshift.
1263
Major Hamza said to aspirants, "Does everyone understand English?" **Options:**
Answer:
Major Hamza asked the aspirants whether everyone understood English.
Yes/No question → asked + whether/if + statement order; present → past (backshift). (a) “informed” is not a question; (c) changes meaning (should**); (d) misses backshift.
1264
I will tell him that I don't want to join the art classes. **Options:**
Answer:
I will tell him, "I don't want to join the art classes."
Reporting verb in future (will tell) → no backshift inside the quoted original; keep present** “don’t want.” (b)/(d) change time/meaning; (c) alters verb choice (“like to” ≠ “want to”).
1265
The RWA members said, “We want to see the audited accounts before we make more payments.”
Answer:
The RWA members said that they wanted to see the audited accounts before they made more payments.
Present simple → past simple (want → wanted, make → made) in indirect speech. Pronoun we → they**.
1266
The teacher suggested that the PTM be postponed to the third Saturday of the month.
Answer:
The teacher said, “Let’s postpone the PTM to the third Saturday of the month.”
Indirect “suggested” → direct Let’s + verb** structure.
1267
The gym instructor exclaimed that her students’ performance was extremely poor.
Answer:
The gym instructor said to her students, “How poor your performance is!”
** Indirect exclamatory → direct “How poor your performance is!” matches.
1268
He said, “The last film I saw was such a violent one that I couldn’t sleep the whole night.”
Answer:
He said that the last film he had seen was such a violent one that he couldn’t sleep the whole night.
Past simple → past perfect (saw → had seen**). Couldn’t remains unchanged.
1269
Rashmi says, “My startup is doing very well.”
Answer:
Rashmi says that her startup is doing very well.
Reporting verb “says” (present) → tense remains same. is doing** stays. Option (b) changes verb incorrectly.
1270
Father hugged me and said, “What a beautiful painting!”
Answer:
Father hugged me and exclaimed that my painting was very beautiful.
Exclamatory → exclaimed that…**. Present simple → past simple.