UGC NET English Solved Paper II January : 2010

1. The epithet “a comic epic in prose” is best applied to

(A) Richardson’s Pamela

(B) Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey

(C) Fielding’s Tom Jones

(D) Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe

2. Muriel Spark has written a dystopian novel called

(A) Memento Mori

(B) The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie

(C) Robinson

(D) The Ballad of Peckham Rye

3. Samuel Butler’s Erewhon is an example of

(A) Feminist Literature

(B) Utopian Literature

(C) War Literature

(D) Famine Literature

4. The line “moments of unageing intellect” occurs in Yeats’s

(A) Byzantium

(B) Among School Children

(C) Sailing to Byzantium

(D) The Circus Animals’ Desertion

5. In his 1817 review of Coleridge’s Biographia Literaria, Francis Jeffrey grouped the following poets together as the ‘Lake School of Poets’ :

(A) Keats, Wordsworth and Coleridge

(B) Wordsworth, Byron and Coleridge

(C) Blake, Wordsworth and Coleridge

(D) Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey

6. Which of the following novels is not by Patrick White ?

(A) The Vivisector

(B) The Tree of Man

(C) Voss

(D) Oscar and Lucienda

7. The famous line “……. where ignorant armies clash by night” is taken from a poem by

(A) Wilfred Owen

(B) W.H. Auden

(C) Siegfried Sassoon

(D) Matthew Arnold

9. The term ‘theatre of cruelty’ was coined by 
(A) Robert Brustein

(B) Antonin Artaud

(C) Augusto Boal

(D) Luigi Pirandello

10. The verse form of Byron’s Childe Harold was influenced by

(A) Milton

(B) Spenser

(C) Shakespeare

(D) Pope

11. Tennyson’s Ulysses is

(I) a poem expressing the need for going forward and braving the struggles of life

(II) a dramatic monologue

(III) a morbid poem

(IV) a poem making extensive use of satire The right combination for the above statement, according to the code, is

(A) I & IV

(B) II and III

(C) III and IV

(D) I and II

12. Which post-war British poet was involved in a disastrous marriage with Sylvia Plath ?

(A) Philip Larkin

(B) Ted Hughes

(C) Stevie Smith

(D) Geoffrey Hill

13. Chaucer’s Parliament of Fowles is in part
(I) a puzzle

(II) a debate

(III) a threnody

(IV) a beast fable

The correct combination for the above statement, according to the code, is

(A) I, II & IV

(B) II, III & IV

(C) I & IV

(D) II & IV

14. Who among the following wrote a book with the title The Age of Reason ?

(A) William Godwin

(B) Edmund Burke

(C) Thomas Paine

(D) Edward Gibbon

15. The Restoration comedy has been criticized mainly for its

(A) excessive wit and humour

(B) bitter satire and cynicism

(C) indecency and permissiveness

(D) superficial reflection of society

16. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses is an essay by

(A) Terry Eagleton

(B) Karl Marx

(C) Raymond Williams

(D) Louis Althusser

17. Sexual possessiveness is a theme of Shakespeare’s

(A) Coriolanus

(B) Julius Caesar

(C) Henry IV Part – I

(D) A Midsummer Night’s Dream

18. The term ‘Cultural Materialism’ is associated with

(A) Stephen Greenblatt

(B) Raymond Williams

(C) Matthew Arnold

(D) Richard Hoggart

19. Which of the following author book pair is correctly matched ?

(A) Muriel Spark – Under the Net

(B) William – Girls of Golding Slender Means

(C) Angus Wilson – Lucky Jim

(D) Doris Lessing – The Grass is Singing

20. Who among the following is a Canadian critic ?

(A) I.A. Richards

(B) F.R. Leavis

(C) Cleanth Brooks

(D) Northrop Frye

21. Sethe is a character in

(A) The Colour Purple

(B) The Women of Brewster Place

(C) Beloved

(D) Lucy

22. Imagined Communities is a book by

(A) Aijaz Ahmad

(B) Edward Said

(C) Perry Anderson

(D) Benedict Anderson

23. Who among the following is a Cavalier poet ?

(A) Henry Vaughan

(B) Richard Crashaw

(C) John Suckling

(D) Anne Finch

24. Which play of Wilde has the subtitle, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People ?

(A) A Woman of No Importance

(B) Lady Windermere’s Fan

(C) The Importance of Being Earnest

(D) An Ideal Husband

25. Which of the following plays is not written by Wole Soyinka ?

(A) The Lion and the Jewel

(B) The Dance of the Forests

(C) Master Harold and the Boys

(D) Kongi’s Harvest

26. Which of the following plays by William Wycherley is in part an adaptation of Moliere’s The Misanthrope ?

(A) The Plain Dealer

(B) The Country Wife

(C) Love in a Wood

(D) The Gentleman Dancing Master

27. ‘Inversion’ is the change in the word order for creating rhetorical effect, e.g. this book I like. Another term for inversion is 
(A) Hypallage

(B) Hubris

(C) Haiku

(D) Hyperbaton

28. The phrase ‘the willing suspension of disbelief ’ occurs in 
(A) Biographia Literaria

(B) Preface to Lyrical Ballads

(C) In Defence of Poetry

(D) Poetics

29. The religious movement Methodism in the 18th century England was founded by

(A) John Tillotson

(B) Bishop Butler

(C) Bernard Mandeville

(D) John Welsey

30. My First Acquaintance with Poets, an unforgettable account of meeting with literary heroes, is written by

(A) Charles Lamb

(B) Thomas de Quincey

(C) Leigh Hunt

(D) William Hazlitt

31. The figure of the Warrior Virgin in Spenser’s Faerie Queene is represented by the character

(A) Britomart

(B) Gloriana

(C) Cynthia

(D) Duessa

32. The book Speech Acts is written by

(A) John Austin

(B) John Searle

(C) Jacques Derrida

(D) Ferdinand de Saussure

33. Which among the following is not a sonnet sequence ?

(A) Philip Sydney – Astrophel

and Stella

(B) Samuel Daniel – Delia

(C) Derek Walcott – Omeroos

(D) D.G. Rossetti – The House

of Life

34. ‘Incunabula’ refers to 
(A) books censured by the Roman Emperor

(B) books published before the year 1501

(C) books containing an account of myths and rituals

(D) books wrongly attributed to an author

35. The most notable achievement in Jacobean prose was

(A) Bacon’s Essays

(B) King James’ translation of the Bible

(C) Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy

(D) None of the above

36. The Court of Chancery is a setting in Dickens’

(A) Little Dorrit

(B) Hard Times

(C) Dombey and Son

(D) Bleak House

37. Which romantic poet coined the famous phrase ‘spots of time’ ?

(A) John Keats

(B) William Wordsworth

(C) S.T. Coleridge

(D) Lord Byron

38. The statement ‘I think, therefore, I am’ is by

(A) Schopenhauer

(B) Plato

(C) Descartes

(D) Sartre

39. Verse that has no set theme – no regular meter, rhyme or stanzaic pattern is

(I) open form

(II) flexible form

(III) free verse

(IV) blank verse

The correct combination for the statement, according to the code, is

(A) I, II and III are correct

(B) III and IV are correct

(C) II, III and IV are correct

(D) I and III are correct

40. Which is the correct sequence of publication of Pinter’s plays ?

(A) The Room, One for theRoad, No Man’s Land, The Homecoming

(B) The Homecoming, NoMan’s Land, The Room,One for the Road

(C) The Room, The Homecoming, No Man’s Land, One for the Road

(D) One for the Road, TheRoom, The Homecoming,No Man’s Land

41. Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language was published in the year

(A) 1710

(B) 1755

(C) 1739

(D) 1759

42. The literary prize, Booker of Bookers, was awarded to

(A) J.M. Coetzee

(B) Nadine Gordimer

(C) Martin Amis

(D) Salman Rushdie

43. In Keats’ poetic career, the most productive year was

(A) 1816

(B) 1817

(C) 1820

(D) 1819

44. Pope’s The Rape of the Lock was published in 1712 in

(A) three cantos

(B) four cantos

(C) five cantos

(D) two cantos

45. Stephen Dedalus is a fictional character associated with

 I. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

II. Sons and Lovers

III. Ulysses

IV. The Heart of Darkness

The correct combination for the above statement according to the code is

(A) I & II

(B) I, II & III

(C) III & IV

(D) I & III

46. In Moby Dick Captain Ahab falls for his

(A) ignorance

(B) pride

(C) courage

(D) drunkenness

47. The first complete printed English Bible was produced by

(A) William Tyndale

(B) William Caxton

(C) Miles Coverdale

(D) Roger Ascham

48. Elizabeth Gaskell’s novel Mary Barton is sub-titled

(A) The Two Nations

(B) A Tale of Manchester Life

(C) A Story of Provincial Life

(D) The Factory Girl

 49. Some of the Jacobean playwrights were prolific. One of them claimed to have written 200 plays. The playwright is

(A) John Ford

(B) Thomas Dekker

(C) Philip Massinger

(D) Thomas Heywood

50. The concept of “Star-equilibrium” in connection with man-woman relationship appears in

(A) Women in Love

(B) Maurice

(C) Mrs. Dalloway

(D) The Old Wives’ Tales

UGC NET ENGLISH PREVIOUS SOLVED PAPER

Directions—(Q. 1-4): In these questions some of the sentences have errors and some have none. Find out which part of a sentence has an error and indicate it corresponding to the appropriate letter (A. B. C). If there is no error indicate corresponding to letter (D).
1. Good heavens! / (A)How has she /(B)grown / (C)No error/ (D)
Ans. (B)
2. Neither of the two children /(A)said their prayer / (B)before going to bed / (C)No error/ (D)
Ans. (B)
3. I sat down opposite him / (A)and produced / (B)the packet of cigarettes / (C)No error/ (D)
Ans. (D)
3. The doctor advised Mr. Murugan that / (A)because of his severe cramps / (B)he should lay in the bed for a few days / (C)No error/ (D)
Ans. (A)
4. The table’s legs / (A)have been / (B)elaborately carved / (C)No error/ (D)
Ans. (A)
Directions—(Q. 5—9): In these questions, choose the word opposite in meaning to the given bold/capital word and indicate the correct alternative.
5. EXCEPTIONAL
(A) Great
(B) Occasional
(C) Common
(D) Absorbing
Ans. (C)
6. SHIMMERING
(A) Gloomy
(B) Glimmering
(C) Refreshing
(D) Repining
Ans. (A)
7. TAKES OFF
(A) Travels
(B) Falls
(C) Explodes
(D) Lands
Ans. (D)
8. NIGGARDLY
(A) Hastily
(B) Lavishly
(C) Likely
(D) Gorgeously
Ans. (B)
9. N’IELODIOUS
(A) Harmonious
(B) Tuneless
(C) Odious
(D) Mellifluous
Ans. (B)
Directions—(Q. 10-14): In the following questions, four words are given in each question out of which only one word is wrongly spelt. Find the word and indicate the correct response.
10. (A) Embankment
(B) Deliberately
(C) Preceding
(D) Proleferous
Ans. (D)
11.
(A) Representation
(C) Amplification
(B) Verification
(D) Liberalisetion
Ans. (D)
12. (A) Postar
(B) Pastor
(C) Posture
(D) Pasture
Ans. (A)
13. (A) Agreeablly
(B) Cruelly
(C) Doubtfully
(D) Fatally
Ans. (A)
14. (A) Nomenclature
(B) Non-interfereance
(C) Nonchalant
(D) Non-commissioned
Ans. (B)
Directions—(Q. 15—19): In the following questions, four alternatives are given for the bold or given idiom/phrase. Choose the alternative which best expresses the meaning of the bold or given idiom/phrase and indicate the correct sequence.
15. We wanted to give Rita a surprise party but John let the cat out of the bag.
(A) spoilt the party with a cat
(B) gave her a party himself
(C) told her about it unintentionally
(D) prevented her from attending it
Ans. (C)
16. The carefully worked-out plan fell through because of an unexpected even
(A) came out successfully
(B) had a step fall
(C) was shattered
(D) failed
Ans. (D)
17. He has too many irons in the fire.
(A) is engaged in too many enterprises at the same time
(B) has several problems
(C) has many ideas in his head
(D) has a fire burning constantly in his house
Ans. (A)
18. The Earl of Leicester threw down the glove.
(A) accepted defeat
(B) rejected the prize
(C) resorted to wrong tactics
(D) gave a challenge
Ans. (D)
19. Ravi fought to the bitter end.
(A) fought to the last point of enemy’s position
(B) died fighting
(C) carried on a contest regardless of the consequences
(D) fought a losing battle
Ans. (C)
Directions—(Q 20-24): In the following questions, out of the four alternatives, choose the one which can be substituted for the given words/sentence indicate the correct sequence.
20. That which cannot be captured—
(A) Untakable
(B) Ungrippable
(C) Impregnable
(D) Slippery
Ans. (D)
21. One who breaks the law —
(A) Aggressor
(B) Politician
(C) Transgressor
(D) Pedestrian
Ans. (C)
22. Study of insects is—
(A) Etymology
(B) Entomology
(C) Ecology
(D) Embryology
Ans. (B)
23. Careful in the spending of money, time etc.—
(A) Punctual
(B) Economical
(C) Miserly
(D) Calculative
Ans. (B)
24. Reproducing or memorizing word for word—
(A) Verbatim
(B) Verbose
(C) Verbiage
(D) Verbalism
Ans. (A)
Directions—(Q. 25—29) In the following questions, a sentence has been given in Active/ Passive Voice. Out of the four alternatives suggested below, select the one which BEST EXPRESSES the same sentence in Passive/Active Voice and indicate the correct sequence.
25. Smoke and flames engulfed the area and made rescue operations difficult.
(A) The area was engulfed in smoke and flames and made rescue operations difficult
(B) The area was engulfed in smoke and flames making rescue operations difficult
(C) The area had been engulfed in smoke and flames and made rescue operations difficult
(D) The area was engulfed in smoke and flames and rescue operations were made difficult
Ans. (D)
26. He asked me to finish the work in time.
(A) I was asked that I should finish the work in time
(B) He asked me that I should finish the work in time
(C) I was asked to finish the work in time
(D) I was asked to finish the work in time by him
Ans. (D)
27. Quinine tastes bitter.
(A) Quinine is bitter when it is tasted
(B) Quinine is bitter tasted
(C) The taste of quinine is bitter
(D) Quinine is tasted bitter
Ans. (B)
28. The vintage cars hold a special place in the hearts of their owners.
(A) A special place in the hearts of the vintage car owners is held by them
(B) A special place was held by the vintage cars in the hearts of their owners
(C) A special place is held by the vintage cars in the hearts of their owners
(D) A special place is being held by the vintage cars in the hearts of their owners
Ans. (C)
29. What amused you?
(A) What you are made to amuse by?
(B) By what are you being amused?
(C) By what were you amused?
(D) By what have you been amused?
Ans. (C)
Directions— (Q. 30?34) In the following questions a part of the sentence is bold. Below are given alternatives to the bold part of A, B and C which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed, your answer is ‘D’. Choose the correct alternative.
30. She left the room feeling contrite.
(A) sorry for what she had done
(B) rather ill
(C) extremely irritated
(D) No improvement
Ans. (A)
31. The transport workers have organised a strike asking for more salary.
(A) demanding
(B) begging
(C) requesting
(D) No improvement
Ans. (A)
32. The only way to solve the racial problem is by education.
(A) because of
(B) thanks to
(C) on account of
(D) No improvement
Ans. (D)
33. He may be poor now but he appears to be rich.
(A) to seem rich
(B) rich to be
(C) to have been rich
(D) No improvement
Ans. (C)
34. The suspected couple was taken away from the airport through a side entrance to the police station for interrogation.
(A) whisked
(B) rushed
(C) guided
(D) No improvement
Ans. (A)
Directions—(Q. 35—39): In the following questions the first and the last parts of the sentence are numbered 1 and 6. The rest of the sentence is split into four parts and named P, Q, R and S. These four parts are not given in their proper order. Read the parts and find out which of the four combinations is correct. Then find the correct answer and indicate the correct response.
35. 1. I think the essence of wisdom is emancipation as far as possible from the tyranny of the here and the now.
P. If any one could, he would hardly he able to remain alive
Q. But it is possible to make continual approach towards impartiality
R. No one can view the world with complete impartiality.
S. This is of course a matter of degree.
6. It is this approach towards impartiality that constitutes growth in wisdom.
(A) QRSP
(B) RQPS
(C) SRPQ
(D) PRSQ
Ans. (C)
36. 1. There are many roads into the world of books, but the way of fiction is probably the most common.
P. Then too the appeal of the story, whether told as poem, play, history, biography, or novel is primitive and strong.
Q. The reason is plain.
R. They are to us what epic poetry was to the Greeks and Romans, what the stage was to the Elizabethans.
S. The novel and the short story come closer to the experience of the modern reader than any other form of contemporary writing.
6. Mankind’s delight in stories is as timeless and universal as the art of the story teller.
(A) QSRP
(B) SRPQ
(C) RSQP
(D) PRSQ
Ans. (A)
37. 1. But at that moment I glanced round at the crowd that had followed me.
P. It was an immense crowd, two thousand at the least and growing every minute.
Q. They were watching me as they would watch a conjurer about to perform a trick.
R. I looked at the sea of yellow faces above the garish clothes — faces all happy and excited over his bit of fun, all certain that the elephant was going to he shot.
S. It blocked the road for a long distance on either side.
6. They did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands, I was momentarily worth watching.
(A) RPQS
(B) QSRP
(C) SRPQ
(D) PSRQ
Ans. (D)
38. 1. Venice is a strange and beautiful city in the north of Italy.
P. There are about four hundred old stone bridges joining the islands of Venice.
Q. In this city there are no motor-cars, no horses and no buses.
R. These small islands are near one another.
S. It is not one island but a hundred and seventeen islands.
6. This is because Venice has no streets.
(A) PQRS
(B) RSPQ
(C) SRPQ
(D) PSQR
Ans. (C)
39. I. Nehru spent most part of his childhood in studies.
P. He rushed back to India and led an active political life joining hands with Gandhi.
Q. His studies went on uninterrupted abroad until he received a call from India.
R. He went to Cambridge to study.
S. But now and then, he could not help listening to political discussions in his house.
6. Till the end of his career, he made Gandhi his political master.
(A) RSQP
(B) SRQP
(C) PQRS
(D) SRPQ
Ans. (B)
Directions—(Q. 40—43): In the following questions, sentences are given with blanks to be filled in with an appropriate and suitable word. Four alternatives are suggested for each question. Choose the correct alternative out of the four and choose the correct alternative.
40. The streets are lighted …… electricity.
(A) with
(B) by
(C) on
(D) in
Ans. (A)
41. The chairman, as well as the members, ….. to blame for this misfortune.
(A) are
(B) were
(C) is
(D) has
Ans. (C)
42. My friends fail to see why I should ride the ….. horse just because I have won a prize.
(A) great
(B) good
(C) big
(D) high
Ans. (B)
43. She feared that she ……
(A) will fail
(B) may fail
(C) might have fail
(D) would fail
Ans. (B)
Directions—(Q. 44—480): Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each question out of the four alternatives and indicate the correct answer.
‘The beauty of the Japanese landscape is that it conveys philosophical messages through each feature. The use of curving pathways rather than straight lines, for instance. This feature springs from the belief that only evil travels in straight lines, good forces tend to wander. Then, odd numbers of plants and trees are used in these gardens because these numbers are considered auspicious. Even the plants used are symbolic. For example, the cyprus represents longevity and the bamboo symbolises abundance,’ says Sadhana Roy Choudhary.
The Japan, nature is said to be so closely intertwined with human life that parents actually plant a sapling in their garden when a child is born in the family, letting the growth of the child coincide with the growth of the plant.
44. The Japanese pathways tend to be—
(A) symbolic
(B) beautiful
(C) curved
(D) straight
Ans. (C)
45. They prefer curving pathways because—
(A) they are inauspicious
(B) they can walk easily
(C) they stumble over straight ones
(D) good spirits walk on them
Ans. (D)
46. ‘Abundance’ means—
(A) long life
(B) happiness
(C) plenty
(D) permanent
Ans. (C)
47. The Japanese parents plant a sapling at the time of birth of a child because—
(A) it is auspicious to plant a sapling
(B) it is closely associated with the growth of the child
(C) it gives longevity to the child
(D) it gives happiness to the child
Ans. (B)
48. According to the passage the Japanese are—
(A) superstitious
(B) philosophical
(C) lovers of nature
(D) loves of numerology
Ans. (B)