Assam Judicial Service Grade-III 2008 Paper-I

Assam Judicial Service Grade-III 2008 Paper-I Question Paper

Total marks – 100                           Duration – 3 hours

1. Write an essay on any one of the following topics (in about 500 words).
(a) Law, morality and ethics.
(b) Judicial activism is a misnomer.

2. Write a precis of the following passage (approximately 420 words) in not more than 150 words.
The video wave has swept too far. It bears a large responsibility for the declining interest in reading among the young. If we don’t do something to stem the tide, the reading impulse will be soon doomed.
The time-honoured way of improving reading is by ‘reading fiction. Everyone needs stories. Cavemen told them round their fires. Mythologies and folk stories have been passed between generations for centuries. Most of us are literate and in theory, our fictional needs could be satisfied by reading.
But it is not so. Today’s generation of average and below average school children rely on video, television and film. While many of these offerings may be harmless in themselves, they do nothing to build up reading skills. They replace the consolidatory work which turns halting mechanical reading into the rdal thing. If some of the hours children spend watching television are devoted to reading, the population will be better educated.
Watching a story is a totally passive ..pastime. Somebody else has made all the decisions about casting, set, clothing, facial expression, tone and so on. Reading a story is an active partnership between writer and reader. Ideas are sketched and the mind of the reader creates the rest.
Why is the dramatized fiction usurping the written kind? It is because children whose reading is hesitant cannot readily identify and enjoy the plot. Watching something is easier. This is leading to a generation whose mental processes are stultified. The problem is that many children, will ready very slowly. I worry for Instance about the children who carry the same 1000 word book with them for a fortnight. It is hardly surprising that such children declare that they find reading, boring and prefer to waton television. Their difficulty is not reading the words – it is interpreting them. They need to be able to read fast enough for a story.
That means practice. Only by reading daily will a child become strong and independent reader. Parents need to be convinced of the importance of preventing their children from wasting their hours on inert viewing. Without the television, the child is likely to turn to books for entertainment.
I used to think that filmed version of enjoyable books were a spur to reading. I have changed my mind. Visual images drown the imagination. A dramatization, seen once, can spoil your reading forever. Dramatized fiction is literary equivalent to empty calories. It replaces the appetite for real food. Children must have a nutritionally balanced reading diet.

3. Against each of the words given below four meanings are ‘given. Identify the correct meaning and indicate the same in the answer script.

(A) Imbroglio
(a) A kind of monster
(b) A Prehistoric creature
(c) Complicated situation
(d) Savage.

(B) Epigraphy
(a) Antiquity
(b) Study of inscriptions
(c) Geological centre
(d) Brief statement.

(C) Spill the beans
(a) Scatter seeds
(b) Confuse
(c) Overflow
(d) Divulge secret.

(D) Patrimony
(a) Antonym of matrimony
(b) A system of patronage
(c) Study of ancient families
(d) Property from the father’s side.

(E) Dark Horse
(a) Horse with dark colour
(b) Person of dubious integrity.
(c) Extremely capable person
(d) Person with hidden abilities.

(F) Incidence
(a) Event
(b) The number of cases of a disease.
(c) From the beginning
(d) Frequency.

(G) Amphibious
(a) Reckless
(b) Study of the past
(c) Relating to the open air theatre
(d) Connected with land and water

(H) Schizophrenia
(a) Fear of ghosts
(b) Political discussion
(c) A type of serious mental
(d) A musical team illness

(I) Compromise
(a) Commission
(b) Surrender
(c) Disagree
(d) Mutual agreement to solve a problem’.

(J) Onus
(a) Bad News
(b) Complaint
(c) Responsibility
(d) One sided

(K) Escalate
(a) Compute
(b) Refuse
(c) Increase
(d) Overlook

(L) Composure
(b) Manure
(c) Affection
(d) A piece of composition
(e) Calmness

(M) Via media
(a) By the way
(b) On the way
(c) Middle path
(d) Through a medium

(N) Patriarch
(a) Patron
(b) Property
(c) Male head of a tribe or
(d) Relating to the past family

(O) Emulate
(a) Inspire
(b) Follow
(c) Encourage
(d) Rejoice

(P) Disinterested
(a) Easygoing
(b) Impartial
(c) Indifferent
(d) Lack of interest

(Q) Credo
(a) System
(b) Merit
(c) Credit
(d) Belief

(R) Salutary
(a) Adjective of salute
(b) Saltish
(c) Healthy
(d) Respectful

(S) Innocuous
(a) Dangerous
(b) Harmless
(c) Vaccination
(d) Poor

(T) Ex gratia
(a) Very grateful
(b) Payment made out of generosity
(c) Extraordinary
(d) Relating to the past.

4. In each sentence given below, a word/group of words has been underlined. Below each sentence, four choices are given. Identify the correct choice which can substitute the underlined word/group of words without changing the meaning of the sentence and indicate the same in the Answer sheet provided. If the sentence is correct as it is and no correction is required, you may choose (d) as your answer and indicate the same.

(A) Had I realized how close I was to the edge of the valley, I would not have carried the bags there.
(a) If I would have realized
(b) When I realized
(c) If I had realized
(d) No corrections required

(B) By such time you finish that chapter, I will write a letter.
(a) The time when
(b) By the time
(c) By that time
(d) No corrections required.

(C) Anyone interested in the use of computers can learn much if you have access to a personal computer.
(a) he or she has access
(b) they have access
(c) one of them have access
(d) No corrections required.

(D) She cooks, washes, dishes, does her homework and then is relaxing,
(a) then relaxes
(b) then relaxing
(c) relaxing then
(d) No corrections required

(E) The chemist hadn’t hardly any of those kind of medicines.
(a) had hardly any of those kinds
(b) had hardly not any of those kinds
(c) had scarcely any of those kind
(d) No corrections required.

5. From among the options given, choose the word that correctly and meaningfully completes each of the following sentences and indicate the same in the separate Answer sheet provided.

(A) All of us must endeavour to……….. the miseries of poor.
(a) augment
(b) mitigate
(c) exhibit
(d) discourage

(B) I like to talk to him. He is……… to reason.
(a) accessible
(b) conducive
(c) congenial
(d) amenable

(C) The ship waited till the storm………… before sailing out to sea.
(a) abated
(b) normalized
(c) disappeared
(d) blew over

(D) All the respondents should express their ……… views in the questionnaire.
(a) confident
(b) favourable
(c) candid
(d) convenience

(E) The chief guest came into the room………… by the Chairman of the company.
(a) watched
(b) joined
(c) preceded
(d) allowed.

6. Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
………… Lincoln’s revulsion for slavery left him without any moral indignation or passion against the slave-owners. The guilt of slave-owners, he felt, should be shared by the whole country, the North and the South, for it seemed to him that everyone in the nation was an accomplice in perpetuating that system. To have whipped up any hatred against slave owners would, to him, have been an act of malice.
‘I shall do nothing in malice1, he wrote, ‘what I deal with is too vast for malicious dealing’. As the Civil War was coming to a successful conclusion, a Northerner demanded of Lincoln : ‘Mr. President, how are you going to treat the Southerners when the was is over?’ Lincoln replied : ‘As if they never went to war?’

(A) The incidents in the passage prove that Lincoln was
(a) not a firm administrator
(b) afraid of the majority of slaves
(c) sympathetic and kind hearted statesman
(d) unreasonable in favour of slaves

(B) According to Lincoln, the culprits of the system of slavery were
(a) the salve-owners alone
(b) the slaves alone
(c) both the slaves and the slave-owners
(d) all the people in the country

(C) Lincoln’s reply to the Northerners’ question regarding the Southerners proves that
(a) the Southerners were wicked in their dealings
(b) Lincoln did not have revengeful attitude towards the Southerners
(c) The Northerners were in favour of the Southerners
(d) Lincoln could control his anguish against the Southerners while expressing himself.

(D) Lincoln did not have any hatred for the slave-owners because
(a) they were a vast majority
(b) they all belonged to upper caste
(c) they would have treated him with malice
(d) none of these

(E) Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as “revulsion”, used in the passage.
(a) disgust
(b) avenge
(c) apathy
(d) violence.

7. Read the given passage and answer the questions that follow:
Social engineering is a concept in political science that refers to efforts to systematically manage popular attitudes and social behaviour on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups.
The term has a negative connotation, and is sometimes used as an accusation against any who propose to use law, tax policy, or other kinds of state influence to accomplish social goals. For instance, political conservatives in the United States have accused their opponents of “social engineering” through their promotion of political correctness, on the basis that political correctness is an attempt to change social attitudes by defining “acceptable” and “unacceptable” language.
However, virtually all law and governance has the effect of changing behaviour and can be considered “social engineering” to some extent. Thus, whether any specific polity is labelled as “social engineering” is often a question of degree and intent. Prohibitions on murder, rape, suicide and littering are all policies aimed at discouraging perceived undesirable behaviours, and have positive social consequences. Governments also influence behaviour more subtly through incentives and disincentives built into economic policy and tax policy, for instance, and have done so for centuries. Therefore the exact boundaries of social engineering are hard to pinpoint.

(A) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word concept in the passage?
(a) A thought
(b) A practice
(c) A theory
(d) A general idea

(B) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word popular in the passage?
(a) well-liked
(b) enjoying wide-spread acceptance
(c) favourite
(d) pertaining to the people as a whole

(C) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word connotation in the passage?
(a) association
(b) denotation
(c) meaning found in the dictionary
(d) idea

(D) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word accusation in the passage?
(a) dismissal
(b) blame
(c) charge
(d) crime

(E) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word any in the passage?
(a) an unspecified individual
(b) a specific individual
(c) one or another, selected at random
(d) one or another, without exception or restriction

(F) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word accomplish in the passage?
(a) to complete
(b) to sustain
(c) to achieve
(d) to finish

(G) Which of the choices given below is opposite in meaning to the word conservatives in the passage?
(a) The orthodox
(b) Liberals
(c) Traditionalists
(d) Rebels

(H) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word promotion in the passage?
(a) support
(b) sponsor
(c) advocate
(d) to elevate to a higher position
(I) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word virtually in the passage?
(a) related to Virtues
(b) not real
(c) some of
(d) almost

(J) Which of the choices given below is closest in meaning to the word effect in the passage?
(a) influence
(b) goal
(c) effort
(d) consequence.

8. Re-write the following sentences by putting the verbs in brackets in the correct tense and making other changes, if necessary.
Q. By the time he (arrive) tomorrow, I (finish) my work.
A. By the time he arrives tomorrow, I will have finished my work.

(a) I (go) to Calcutta as soon as the academic term (end).
(b) He suddenly (remember) that he (lock) the gate that evening.
(c) The long, slow method of (cook) meat in a liquid which is kept at (simmer) point is known as stewing.
(d) After she (work) at the University for three years, she (decides) to give up teaching.
(e) I (know) him quite well when I (be) young.

9. Give the figurative meaning of the following words and phrases and use them in a sentence.
(a) Red herring
(b) Guinea pig
(c) Master-stroke
(d) To make a mincemeat of
(e) Grape vine.