FEDERAL PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
COMPETITIVE EXAMINATION FOR
RECRUITMENT TO POSTS IN BPS-17 UNDER
THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, 2005
ENGLISH (Précis & Composition)
TIME ALLOWED: 3 HOURS…………………..Maximum Marks: 100
Q1. 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.
Q2. 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.
Questions
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
