SOLVED PAPER 2023 (CDS) (II) (English)

Total Questions: 120

71. (Questions 71-80) Each item in this section consists of sentences with an underlined word followed by four words or group of words. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

American Independence was a great blow to the invincible image of Great Britain.

Correct Answer: (a) vulnerable
Solution:The underlined word 'invincible' means 'too powerful to be defeated.' From the given options, 'vulnerable' meaning 'exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally' is its antonym.

72. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

The first step in precipitation is condensation.

Correct Answer: (d) evaporation
Solution:The underlined word 'condensation' means 'water which collects as droplets on a cold surface when humid air is in contact with it.' From the given options, 'evaporation' meaning 'the process of turning from liquid into vapour' is its antonym.

73. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

The ushered in a large-scale social, economic, and political transformation.

Correct Answer: (c) obstructed
Solution:The underlined phrase 'ushered someone'. From the given options, 'obstructed' meaning 'stopped' is its antonym.

74. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

The writer obfuscated the real issue with small details.

Correct Answer: (c) illuminated
Solution:The underlined word 'obfuscated' means 'to be unclear and confusing'. From the given options, 'illuminated' meaning 'to explain or make it clear' is its antonym.

75. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

The horror and abomination of the system of Sati in India was condemned thoroughly.

Correct Answer: (c) adoration
Solution:The underlined word 'abomination' means 'a thing that causes disgust'. From the given options, 'adoration' meaning 'admiration or praise' is its antonym.

76. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

He was rebuked for his infraction of the discipline.

Correct Answer: (b) observance
Solution:The underlined word 'infraction' means 'violation or breaking of law'. From the given options, 'observance' meaning 'following laws' is its antonym.

77. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

It is the general reaction of some people to denounce any new proposal by enthusiastic professionals.

Correct Answer: (d) appreciate
Solution:The underlined word 'denounce' means 'to criticise or declare as wrong'. From the given options, 'appreciate' is its antonym.

78. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

The emperor as a centralised entity indisputably went beyond regional conflicts and fostered a certain mode of elite culture.

Correct Answer: (c) suppressed
Solution:The underlined word 'fostered' means 'encourage or motivated'. From the given options, 'suppressed' is its antonym.

79. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

For the aspiring East India Company that looked at every opportunity for expansion and self-aggrandisement, the century had to be projected as one of instability.

Correct Answer: (a) humility
Solution:The underlined word 'self-aggrandisement' means 'to do certain things in order to make themselves more powerful, wealthy or important. From the given options, 'humility' meaning 'attaching less importance to one's own self' is its antonym.

80. Select the option that is opposite in meaning to the underlined word and mark your response on the answer sheet accordingly.

There was a combination of agrarian colonising tendencies with the assertion of local landlord power that was able to assimilate pioneer peasants.

Correct Answer: (d) denial
Solution:The underlined word 'assertion' means 'to accept something'. From the given options, 'denial' meaning 'to refuse' is its antonym.