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Odisha BSE Madhyama English study materials
Odisha BSE Madhyama English study resources

Odisha BSE Madhyama English practice questions

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Question 1English

In the sentence 'The teacher gave the students a new assignment', what is the indirect object?

  1. the students Correct answer.
  2. a new assignment
  3. The teacher
  4. gave

Explanation

An indirect object names the person who receives the direct object and normally comes before it. Here 'a new assignment' is what was given (direct object), and 'the students' are the receivers, so they form the indirect object.

Question 2English

Which word in the sentence 'She sang beautifully at the annual function' is an adverb?

  1. annual
  2. beautifully Correct answer.
  3. sang
  4. function

Explanation

An adverb modifies a verb, an adjective or another adverb, and often answers 'how'. 'Beautifully' tells us how she sang, so it modifies the verb 'sang' and is an adverb.

Question 3English

Choose the option that correctly changes 'Ravi writes a letter' into the passive voice.

  1. A letter is written by Ravi. Correct answer.
  2. A letter is wrote by Ravi.
  3. A letter has written by Ravi.
  4. A letter was written by Ravi.

Explanation

The active verb 'writes' is simple present, so the passive needs the present form of 'be' plus the past participle: 'is written'. The object 'a letter' becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

Question 4English

Which sentence uses the article correctly?

  1. He is the honest man of village.
  2. He is an honest man. Correct answer.
  3. He is honest a man.
  4. He is a honest man.

Explanation

The choice between 'a' and 'an' depends on the sound that begins the next word, not the letter. 'Honest' begins with a vowel sound because the 'h' is silent, so 'an honest man' is correct.

Question 5English

Identify the sentence in which the preposition is used correctly.

  1. She is good on mathematics.
  2. She is good in mathematics.
  3. She is good at mathematics. Correct answer.
  4. She is good for mathematics.

Explanation

Certain adjectives take fixed prepositions, and 'good' is followed by 'at' when it means skilled in a subject or activity. This collocation must be learnt as a unit rather than guessed.

Question 6English

Which option correctly reports the sentence 'The teacher said to me, "Bring your notebook tomorrow."'?

  1. The teacher asked me bring my notebook the next day.
  2. The teacher told that I bring my notebook tomorrow.
  3. The teacher said me to bring your notebook tomorrow.
  4. The teacher told me to bring my notebook the next day. Correct answer.

Explanation

An imperative in indirect speech becomes 'told/asked + object + infinitive'. The possessive 'your' shifts to 'my' and the time word 'tomorrow' shifts to 'the next day'.

Question 7English

Choose the correct question tag for: 'The boys have finished their work, ______?'

  1. have they
  2. don't they
  3. haven't they Correct answer.
  4. didn't they

Explanation

A question tag echoes the auxiliary of the main clause and reverses its polarity. The clause uses the positive auxiliary 'have', so the tag must be negative: 'haven't they'.

Question 8English

Which sentence contains a correctly formed conditional clause?

  1. If I would have known, I would have come.
  2. If I had known, I would have come. Correct answer.
  3. If I knew, I would have come.
  4. If I have known, I would come.

Explanation

The third conditional describes an unreal past situation: the 'if' clause takes the past perfect ('had known') and the main clause takes 'would have + past participle'.

Question 9English

In the sentence 'The old man walked slowly across the busy road', which word is the head of the noun phrase 'the busy road'?

  1. the
  2. busy
  3. road Correct answer.
  4. across

Explanation

The head of a noun phrase is the noun that carries the core meaning, with determiners and adjectives modifying it. In 'the busy road', 'road' is the noun, while 'the' is a determiner and 'busy' an adjective.

Question 10English

Choose the sentence that uses the modal verb correctly to express strong obligation.

  1. You could submit the form by Friday.
  2. You must submit the form by Friday. Correct answer.
  3. You may submit the form by Friday.
  4. You might submit the form by Friday.

Explanation

'Must' expresses strong obligation or necessity imposed by the speaker or a rule. 'Might', 'could' and 'may' express possibility or permission, which is much weaker.

Question 11English

Which option gives the correct plural form of 'crisis'?

  1. crisises
  2. crisis
  3. crisi
  4. crises Correct answer.

Explanation

Nouns borrowed from Greek that end in '-is' normally form the plural in '-es', with the stem changing from '-i-' to '-e-'. Thus 'crisis' becomes 'crises', like 'analysis' and 'thesis'.

Question 12English

Identify the sentence in which the comparative degree is used correctly.

  1. She is more tall than her sister.
  2. She is tallest than her sister.
  3. She is taller than her sister. Correct answer.
  4. She is more taller than her sister.

Explanation

Short adjectives like 'tall' form the comparative with '-er', and 'than' introduces the second item of comparison. Using both 'more' and '-er' is a double comparative and is incorrect.

Question 13English

Which word in 'The little girl smiled sweetly at her mother' functions as an adjective?

  1. mother
  2. sweetly
  3. little Correct answer.
  4. smiled

Explanation

An adjective modifies a noun by describing a quality. 'Little' describes the noun 'girl', so it is an adjective; 'sweetly' modifies the verb and 'mother' is a noun.

Question 14English

Choose the correct form to complete: 'Neither the captain nor the players ______ ready for the match.'

  1. has been
  2. is
  3. are Correct answer.
  4. was

Explanation

With 'neither ... nor', the verb agrees with the subject nearer to it, which here is the plural 'players'. The plural verb 'are' is therefore required.

Question 15English

Which sentence uses the apostrophe correctly?

  1. The childrens books' are new.
  2. The children's' books are new.
  3. The children's books are new. Correct answer.
  4. The childrens' books are new.

Explanation

Irregular plurals that do not end in '-s', such as 'children', form the possessive by adding '-s'. The correct possessive is therefore 'children's'.

Question 16English

What is the function of the underlined conjunction in 'He studied hard, so he passed the examination'?

  1. It shows a condition.
  2. It shows a reason.
  3. It shows contrast.
  4. It shows a result. Correct answer.

Explanation

The conjunction 'so' introduces a clause that states the consequence of the first clause. Studying hard is the cause, and passing the examination is the result.

Question 17English

Which option is the correct synonym of 'diligent'?

  1. cheerful
  2. hardworking Correct answer.
  3. careless
  4. lazy

Explanation

'Diligent' describes a person who works steadily and with careful effort, so 'hardworking' is its closest synonym. The other options describe different qualities.

Question 18English

Choose the correct antonym of 'scarcity'.

  1. shortage
  2. poverty
  3. need
  4. abundance Correct answer.

Explanation

'Scarcity' means a shortage or an insufficient supply, so its antonym must express plentiful supply. 'Abundance' means a large quantity, the opposite of scarcity.

Question 19English

In the sentence 'The news spread like wildfire', what figure of speech is used?

  1. personification
  2. metaphor
  3. hyperbole
  4. simile Correct answer.

Explanation

A simile compares two different things using 'like' or 'as'. Here the speed with which the news spread is compared to wildfire using 'like', so it is a simile.

Question 20English

Which option correctly combines the two sentences using a relative clause: 'I met a girl. She had won a prize.'

  1. I met a girl whose had won a prize.
  2. I met a girl which had won a prize.
  3. I met a girl who had won a prize. Correct answer.
  4. I met a girl she had won a prize.

Explanation

A relative clause begins with a relative pronoun that replaces the repeated subject. Since the girl is a person and is the subject of the second clause, the pronoun 'who' is used.

Question 21English

Choose the sentence in which the gerund is used correctly as the subject of a clause.

  1. Swimming in the river is dangerous. Correct answer.
  2. To swimming in the river is dangerous.
  3. Swimming in the river are dangerous.
  4. Swim in the river is dangerous.

Explanation

A gerund is an '-ing' form that acts as a noun, and when it heads the subject it takes a singular verb. 'Swimming in the river' is one activity, so the singular 'is' is correct.

Question 22English

Which sentence uses the present perfect tense correctly?

  1. I have seen him last week.
  2. I have seen him two days ago.
  3. I have seen him yesterday.
  4. I have just seen him at the market. Correct answer.

Explanation

The present perfect links a past action to the present and cannot be used with a finished past time expression such as 'yesterday' or 'ago'. 'Just' marks recent completion and is compatible with the present perfect.

Question 23English

What is the meaning of the idiom 'to let the cat out of the bag'?

  1. To escape from danger
  2. To reveal a secret carelessly Correct answer.
  3. To lose something valuable
  4. To start a quarrel

Explanation

This idiom means to disclose a secret, usually by accident or without caution. It has nothing to do with cats or bags literally; the whole phrase carries the meaning.

Question 24English

Which option correctly completes the sentence using a phrasal verb meaning 'to postpone'?

  1. The meeting was put out till Monday.
  2. The meeting was put off till Monday. Correct answer.
  3. The meeting was put up till Monday.
  4. The meeting was put on till Monday.

Explanation

The phrasal verb 'put off' means to postpone or delay something to a later time. The other combinations with 'put' carry different meanings and do not fit the context.

Question 25English

Choose the correct transformation of 'He is too weak to walk' using 'so ... that'.

  1. He is so weak that he could not walk.
  2. He is so weak to walk.
  3. He is so weak that he cannot walk. Correct answer.
  4. He is so weak that he can walk.

Explanation

The pattern 'too + adjective + to + verb' conveys inability, and it is rewritten as 'so + adjective + that + subject + cannot/could not + verb'. The negative sense of 'too' must be kept.

Question 26English

In the sentence 'The committee has taken its decision', which property of the noun 'committee' explains why 'its' is used?

  1. It is a proper noun naming a specific body.
  2. It is a material noun naming a substance.
  3. It is an abstract noun naming a quality.
  4. It is a collective noun treated as a single unit. Correct answer.

Explanation

A collective noun such as 'committee' names a group, and in this sentence the group acts as one unit, so a singular pronoun 'its' refers back to it. If the members were seen as acting separately, 'their' would be used instead. The other labels describe nouns that are not groups at all.

Question 27English

Which option correctly completes the sentence with an adverb clause of reason? 'The match was abandoned ______ the ground was waterlogged.'

  1. although
  2. because Correct answer.
  3. whereas
  4. unless

Explanation

An adverb clause of reason answers the question 'why?' and is introduced by subordinators such as 'because', 'since' and 'as'. Waterlogging is the cause of the abandonment, so 'because' fits. The other conjunctions signal contrast or condition, not cause.

Question 28English

Which sentence uses an intransitive verb correctly?

  1. The baby lay on the bed quietly. Correct answer.
  2. She lay the baby on the bed.
  3. The baby laid on the bed quietly.
  4. She laid the baby on the bed.

Explanation

An intransitive verb takes no direct object, and 'lie/lay/lain' is the intransitive pair meaning to recline. 'The baby lay on the bed' therefore uses the past form 'lay' with no object. 'Lay/laid/laid' is transitive and must be followed by an object such as 'the baby'.

Question 29English

Choose the option in which the passive voice is formed correctly from 'Someone has stolen my bicycle'.

  1. My bicycle has been stolen. Correct answer.
  2. My bicycle has stolen.
  3. My bicycle is being stolen by someone.
  4. My bicycle was stolen by someone.

Explanation

When an indefinite subject like 'someone' is dropped, the object 'my bicycle' becomes the subject and the verb becomes 'has been stolen', keeping the present perfect tense. The tense of the original must be preserved in the passive. Options that change the tense or omit 'been' are faulty.

Question 30English

In 'Having finished her homework, Meera switched on the television', what does the participial phrase 'Having finished her homework' indicate?

  1. A purpose for which the main action is done.
  2. An action happening at the same time as the main verb.
  3. A condition that must be fulfilled before the main action.
  4. An action completed before the main verb's action. Correct answer.

Explanation

A perfect participle phrase with 'having + past participle' shows that its action was completed before the action of the main clause. Meera finished the homework first, then switched on the television. Present participles, not perfect participles, suggest simultaneous action.

Question 31English

Which option correctly completes the sentence using a determiner? '______ of the two answers is acceptable, so the paper cannot be marked.'

  1. Neither Correct answer.
  2. Each
  3. Both
  4. Either

Explanation

The sense is that no answer out of two is acceptable, so the negative determiner 'neither' is required. 'Neither' means 'not either' and takes a singular verb 'is'. The other determiners would make the sentence contradict itself.

Question 32English

Which sentence places the adverb of frequency in the position accepted in standard written English?

  1. He goes to the library often after class.
  2. Often he to the library goes after class.
  3. He goes often to the library after class.
  4. He often goes to the library after class. Correct answer.

Explanation

Adverbs of indefinite frequency such as 'often', 'always' and 'never' normally come before the main verb but after the verb 'be'. In 'He often goes', the adverb correctly precedes the lexical verb 'goes'. The other options either split the verb phrase awkwardly or use impossible word order.

Question 33English

Identify the type of sentence: 'Although the road was flooded, the bus reached the school on time.'

  1. Complex sentence Correct answer.
  2. Compound sentence
  3. Simple sentence
  4. Compound-complex sentence

Explanation

A complex sentence contains one main clause and at least one subordinate clause. Here 'the bus reached the school on time' is the main clause and 'Although the road was flooded' is a subordinate clause of concession. There is no second independent clause, so it is not compound.

Question 34English

Which option correctly changes 'She said, "I am going to Puri now"' into indirect speech?

  1. She said that I was going to Puri then.
  2. She told that she was going to Puri then.
  3. She said that she is going to Puri now.
  4. She said that she was going to Puri then. Correct answer.

Explanation

When the reporting verb is in the past, the present continuous 'am going' shifts to 'was going', and the time word 'now' becomes 'then'. The first person 'I' changes to 'she' to match the speaker. The verb 'said' also keeps its usual pattern without an indirect object.

Question 35English

Which option correctly completes the sentence with a suitable preposition? 'The students were congratulated ______ their excellent results.'

  1. on Correct answer.
  2. with
  3. about
  4. for

Explanation

The verb 'congratulate' is followed by the preposition 'on' when naming the achievement: 'congratulated on their results'. This is a fixed collocation that must be learnt as a unit. The other prepositions do not collocate with 'congratulate' in this sense.

Question 36English

Which sentence uses the article correctly according to standard English usage?

  1. He is the honest man and a European by birth.
  2. He is an honest man and an European by birth.
  3. He is an honest man and a European by birth. Correct answer.
  4. He is a honest man and an European by birth.

Explanation

The choice between 'a' and 'an' depends on the sound that follows, not the letter. 'Honest' begins with a vowel sound, so 'an honest man' is right, while 'European' begins with the consonant sound /j/, so 'a European' is right. Article use must follow pronunciation.

Question 37English

Which option gives the correct meaning of the phrasal verb in 'The meeting was put off till Monday'?

  1. attended by many people
  2. conducted very quickly
  3. postponed to a later time Correct answer.
  4. cancelled permanently

Explanation

The phrasal verb 'put off' means to postpone or delay something to a later time. In this sentence the meeting is shifted to Monday, which confirms postponement. 'Call off', by contrast, means to cancel.

Question 38English

Which option correctly completes the sentence with a suitable modal? 'You ______ have informed the teacher earlier; the delay caused a problem.'

  1. should Correct answer.
  2. can
  3. will
  4. may

Explanation

The structure 'modal + have + past participle' refers to past obligation or criticism. 'Should have informed' means the person did not inform and this was a mistake. The other modals do not combine naturally with 'have + past participle' in this critical sense.

Question 39English

In 'The teacher, as well as the students, was present at the function', why is the singular verb 'was' used?

  1. The verb agrees with the nearer noun 'students'.
  2. The phrase 'as well as' makes the subject plural.
  3. The verb agrees with the first subject 'teacher'. Correct answer.
  4. The verb agrees with the object 'function'.

Explanation

When two subjects are joined by 'as well as', 'along with' or 'together with', the verb agrees with the first subject only. The first subject here is the singular 'teacher', so 'was' is correct. The added phrase is parenthetical and does not change the number of the subject.

Question 40English

Which option correctly completes the sentence using a suitable form of the verb? 'If I ______ the answer, I would have told you at once.'

  1. have known
  2. knew
  3. had known Correct answer.
  4. know

Explanation

The main clause 'would have told' shows a third conditional, which refers to an unreal past situation. The if-clause of a third conditional uses the past perfect: 'If I had known'. The other forms belong to the second or first conditional.

Question 41English

Which sentence uses the infinitive correctly as a subject?

  1. To err human is, and forgive divine is.
  2. To err is human, and forgiving divine is.
  3. Erring is human, and to forgive divine.
  4. To err is human, and to forgive is divine. Correct answer.

Explanation

An infinitive phrase such as 'to err' or 'to forgive' can serve as the subject of a clause, and here the two balanced clauses follow that pattern. The structure is parallel, with an infinitive subject in each clause. The other options break word order or mix forms without parallelism.

Question 42English

Which option correctly transforms 'The teacher made him write the essay again' into the passive?

  1. He was making to write the essay again.
  2. He was made write the essay again.
  3. He made to write the essay again.
  4. He was made to write the essay again. Correct answer.

Explanation

After the causative verb 'make' in the active voice, the bare infinitive 'write' is used, but in the passive the infinitive takes 'to': 'was made to write'. The tense is kept as past simple passive. Omitting 'to' or the auxiliary 'was' produces an incorrect structure.

Question 43English

Which option correctly completes the sentence with a suitable relative pronoun? 'This is the house ______ windows were broken in the storm.'

  1. which
  2. whose Correct answer.
  3. whom
  4. who

Explanation

The relative pronoun 'whose' shows possession and replaces 'the house's windows'. It can refer to people or things. 'Which' would need to be followed by a verb or preposition, not by a noun it possesses.

Question 44English

Which sentence uses the adverb 'hardly' correctly?

  1. He worked hardly for the examination.
  2. Hardly he worked for the examination.
  3. He hardly worked for the examination. Correct answer.
  4. He worked hard hardly for the examination.

Explanation

'Hardly' is a negative adverb meaning 'almost not', so 'He hardly worked' means he worked very little. Note that 'hardly' is not the adverb of 'hard'; the adverb of 'hard' is 'hard'. Its position is before the main verb.

Question 45English

Which option correctly completes the sentence with a suitable word? 'The teacher asked the students to ______ their answers before submitting the paper.'

  1. revile
  2. revive
  3. review Correct answer.
  4. revise

Explanation

'Review' means to look over or examine something again, which fits checking answers before submission. 'Revise' in British usage often means to study again for an examination, but 'review their answers' is the standard collocation here. The other words are unrelated in meaning.

Question 46English

Which option correctly rewrites 'No sooner had the bell rung than the students rushed out' without changing the meaning?

  1. As soon as the bell rang, the students rushed out. Correct answer.
  2. Before the bell rang, the students rushed out.
  3. The students rushed out until the bell rang.
  4. The bell rang after the students had rushed out.

Explanation

The correlative construction 'no sooner... than' means that one event happened immediately after another. Rewriting it with 'as soon as' preserves that immediate sequence. The other options reverse or distort the order of events.

Question 47English

In the word 'unhappiness', what is the correct order of the morphemes from the root outwards?

  1. un- + happi- + -ness Correct answer.
  2. happy + -ness + un-
  3. -ness + un- + happy
  4. un- + -ness + happy

Explanation

The root is 'happy', which changes to 'happi-' before the suffix '-ness'. The prefix 'un-' is added to the whole word 'happiness', giving 'un + happy + ness'. Prefixes attach outside suffixes in this word, so the order is un-, then the root, then -ness.

Question 48English

Which option correctly gives the meaning of the idiom in 'The new rules were a bitter pill to swallow for the employees'?

  1. a medicine that cures a serious illness
  2. a reward given for good performance
  3. something pleasant that everyone enjoys
  4. something unpleasant that must be accepted Correct answer.

Explanation

The idiom 'a bitter pill to swallow' refers to an unpleasant fact or situation that one has to accept, much like unpleasant medicine. Contexts of rules and employees fit this sense of reluctant acceptance. It never means something enjoyable or a reward.

Question 49English

Which option correctly completes the sentence with a suitable conjunction? '______ you work regularly, you will not pass the examination.'

  1. Unless Correct answer.
  2. Although
  3. Since
  4. Because

Explanation

'Unless' means 'if not' and introduces the condition under which the result will follow. The sentence means that if you do not work regularly, you will fail. The other conjunctions do not express this negative condition.

Question 50English

Which option correctly identifies the function of the underlined word in 'She sings beautifully, which pleases her teacher'?

  1. 'Which' introduces a non-defining relative clause. Correct answer.
  2. 'Which' is a coordinating conjunction.
  3. 'Which' is an interrogative pronoun.
  4. 'Which' introduces a defining relative clause.

Explanation

The clause 'which pleases her teacher' is set off by a comma and adds extra information about the whole preceding clause, so it is non-defining. 'Which' here is a relative pronoun referring to the fact that she sings beautifully. Defining clauses are not separated by commas and restrict the meaning of the noun.