CBSE Class 10 English IEO Olympiad MCQs with Answers Set I

WORD AND STRUCTURE KNOWLEDGE

FOR QUESTIONS 1 TO 24, CHOOSE THE CORRECT WORD/PHRASE TO COMPLETE EACH SENTENCE.

1. I should _______ number one last year.
A. to have been
B. had to be
C. had be
D. have been
Answer : D

2. The team will _______ for 90 minutes soon.
A. having been played
B. be played
C. have been playing
D. playing
Answer : C

3. The bridge was made elsewhere, but because of the shipping costs, _______ here.
A. assembled
B. assemble
C. has assembled
D. assembles
Answer : A

4. The box _______ the top of the stairs is full of rubbish.
A. in
B. at
C. on
D. with
Answer : B

5. _______ curator, when we talk about _______ beauty, always finds it hard to define it neatly.
A. The, no article
B. A, the
C. No article, no article
D. No article, a
Answer : A

6. I wish I was going to the park later because I _______ some fresh air.
A. was needing
B. am needing
C. need
D. have needed
Answer : C

7. The school was _______ that it needed to perform better next year.
A. will inform
B. informed
C. informing
D. inform
Answer : B

8. If he _______ for help, would you be able to?
A. asked
B. is asking
C. would ask
D. ask
Answer : A

9. We would _______ a few more runs if we’d played better.
A. be getting
B. have been getting
C. had been able to get
D. have been able to get
Answer : D

10. Before seeing this one, I had _______ looked at a van Gogh painting before.
A. generally
B. continually
C. always
D. never
Answer : D

11. There are a ________ of new computers available this year.
A. dozens
B. load
C. some
D. many
Answer : B

12. We had decided to go the long route before we _______ home.
A. are leaving
B. are left
C. left
D. have left
Answer : C

13. I can’t stand rushing around, so we need to _______ early or we’ll get stuck in traffic.
A. run out
B. get in
C. set off
D. move on
Answer : C

14. He kept _______ about how well he did in last night’s match.
A. carrying on
B. making at
C. selling out
D. seeing off
Answer : A

15. I hate it when people _______ when I’m in a queue.
A. set up
B. run over
C. look out
D. cut in
Answer : D

16. It is interesting to note that although there has not been a marked _______ in results this year, students seem to be doing better than previous years.
A. sideways
B. rewind
C. roundabout
D. upturn
Answer : D

17. Will you stop _______, please? It is really difficult to understand what you want.
A. muttering
B. ambushing
C. crouching
D. pouncing
Answer : A

18. The water comes from the north in the _______, which you can see coming over the valley.
A. aqueduct
B. caliduct
C. circumduct
D. viaduct
Answer : A

19. I think we need a/an _______, and doing it in this way gives us more options.
A. edifice
B. anchor
C. change
D. drought
Answer : C

20. The clouds in the sky looked _______ all day yesterday, and it wasn’t a surprise when it poured down.
A. ominous
B. fascinating
C. resilient
D. savaged
Answer : A

21. The new rules for homework and study times will be really _______ on my free time this term.
A. effluent
B. effort
C. crammed
D. intrusive
Answer : D

22. I am not sure I can have any more; I find fish quite _______ when it has been boiled.
A. minor
B. grotesque
C. revealing
D. diminutive
Answer : B

23. This new film makes it difficult to _______ apart fact from fiction in what happened during that period.
A. comb
B. raise
C. prise
D. show
Answer : C

24. I don’t think the truth was _______ in the director’s mind when putting this new film together.
A. uppermost
B. downsize
C. upbeat
D. rewind
Answer : A

FOR QUESTIONS 25 AND 26, CHOOSE CORRECT SYNONYM OF THE GIVEN WORD.

25. Unruly
A. Boisterous
B. Edible
C. Stabile
D. Joyous
Answer : A

26. Exasperation
A. Accommodation
B. Retribution
C. Vexation
D. Abdication
Answer : C

FOR QUESTIONS 27 AND 28, CHOOSE CORRECT ANTONYM OF THE GIVEN WORD.

27. Procure
A. Claim
B. Hinder
C. Own
D. Include
Answer : B

28. Insular
A. Developed
B. Well-wishing
C. Tolerant
D. Treated
Answer : C

FOR QUESTIONS 29 AND 30, CHOOSE THE OPTION WITH CORRECT SPELLING.

29. How do you spell the word that means ‘to be confined’?
A. Incarcerated
B. Incersarated
C. Incarserated
D. Incarscareted
Answer : A

30. How do you spell the word that means ‘to look for something’?
A. Reconnesence
B. Recconissence
C. Reconessence
D. Reconnaissance
Answer : D

READING

FOR QUESTIONS 31 TO 35, READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.

This year, we will have 3 million tourists wandering the world each day. We should pause and take a look at their social, cultural and environmental impact and take remedial measures, because the issues could become seriously negative if things are left as they are.
Just a few examples of the destructive force tourism related issues have on local populations are those of China, Bali, Australia and Greece. The Great Wall of China which has been so mistreated by the massive invasion of tourists that it has begun to crumble in places. The famous beaches of Bali are littered with rubbish and the traffic is in a gridlock, and roads and footpaths are in a dangerous state of disrepair. The famous Australian Coral Reef Barrier has already lost one third of the corals. The Parthenon has so many visitors taking pieces of rocks and ruins, and drawing or carving on ancient pillars, that special police squad had to be created to try and stop the vandalism.
Another example of the social issues that can arise can be seen in Venice. The town has around 55,000 residents. There were 100,000 in 1970. Every year 1,000 residents leave because rents and the cost of living keep going up. It is estimated that around 5 million visitors go to Venice each year.
As a result, the number of sweepers and cleaners employed by the city has had to go up continuously and it puts a genuine strain on all the public services. One part of the tourist trade that is being blamed for this is the cruise ship. Unfortunately, the industry insists that without their mega-ships landing at the centre of the town, up to 5,000 jobs would be in danger.
Tourism is the largest employer in the world -1 person in every 11. However, many of the jobs are in fact only seasonal and most are poorly paid. The majority of the money does not stay in the place where it is spent either, but instead goes back to big companies and food imported to suit the tourists’ habits. For example, it has been calculated that in the Caribbean, 70% of what tourists spend goes directly back to the US and Canada.
In fact, now there is a growing search for “intact” places, different from “touristic” places. Tourist restaurants have become synonymous with poor food and high prices, and a tourist place is one that has lost its own identity just to conform to the demands of tourists. It has been the proliferation of McDonald’s, Pizza Huts and other fast food joints, often in the most beautiful parts of towns, that pushed Petrini, an old village with gastronomic tradition, to start a movement called the Slow Food movement. The movement defends the freshness of materials that must be local, preserving the original and traditional cuisines, and defending local products from the ongoing homogenisation. It now has over 100,000 members in 150 countries, that defend local identity against globalisation.

31. Choose the best title or heading for the passage.
A. Unwelcome Guests
B. We Need More Tourists
C. Visiting New Places
D. Travelling the World
Answer : A

32. Which structure is being deliberately damaged by the tourists?
A. The Great Wall
B. The Parthenon
C. The Bali beaches
D. The Great Barrier Reef
Answer : B

33. What is the biggest problem for Venice?
A. The lack of organisation
B. The local people
C. The council
D. The cruise liners
Answer : D

34. Where does most of the money go that tourists spend?
A. Restaurants and bars
B. Local sellers
C. Global companies
D. People working in hotels
Answer : C

35. What does the word ‘gastronomic’ mean in the final paragraph?
A. Food
B. Dancing
C. Culture
D. Art
Answer : A

FOR QUESTIONS 36 TO 40, READ THE PASSAGE AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.

The challenge of climate change is global, and it demands action on an international scale, such as the Paris Agreement. But a large part of the solution must be local, involving all of us in the way energy is produced and consumed.
Very recently, there was a decision made that has allowed the Argentina population to now generate their own energy through clean and unconventional sources and add surpluses into the public grid. This is an important novelty in a country beginning a slow and difficult process, with a still uncertain end, to replace fossil fuels. A new law was born with the aim of increasing the generation and addition to the grid of clean energy by many small nearby sources, citizens and other private sectors, in what is known as distributed, dispersed or decentralised generation.
Argentina has had a hard time shifting to renewable power sources. They still represent a very small share of the electric grid, which is made up of 64 percent fossil fuel power plants; fueled by oil or gas.
It is a global issue and other countries, such as the UK could also do more to encourage citizen generated electricity. In the UK, more people could support the energy transition, and share in the benefits, by storing power in batteries, electric vehicles and smart boilers. This enables the grid to draw power when it’s cheap and plentiful, and temporarily lighten the load if there’s a peak in demand. Here, since 2009, the price of solar panels has fallen by 80% and wind turbines by 40%. And it won’t stop there. Renewable energies are becoming competitive with fossil fuels and new nuclear, but still out of reach of many of the regular citizens.
Renewable energies and supporting technologies, like storage, are advancing in leaps and bounds. The old energy companies have been sluggish in catching up so, although there is the ability to produce more electricity via renewable, investment is still being made in gas and nuclear power. With the right government policies in the UK there could be great potential for citizen-owned energy.
Take Germany and Denmark as examples in how successful citizen-generated electricity has become. Recently, Germany produced so much electric power that prices were actually negative. As in, customers got paid to use the electrical system. However, the average overall percentage produced by renewables last year was 33%. Neighbouring Denmark already sometimes produces more renewable energy than the nation’s citizens consume on a more regular basis with 40% of the national electricity being supplied by wind. They are currently 90% self-sufficient for their energy needs.
Electricity generation in Denmark has changed fundamentally over the past two decades and Denmark has a long tradition of setting ambitious national energy targets. By 2050, Denmark aims to be a low-carbon society independent of fossil fuels.
All in all, Europe is performing well in its organisation of renewables. In 2011, renewables created 21.7% of the EU’s power. After three years, this figure has achieved 27.5% and is expected to grow to 50% by 2030. The EU’s underlying endeavours in advancing the use of renewables encouraged this. Proceeded by the development, which brought down sustainable costs, renewables have now moved toward becoming cost-focused, and even sometimes significantly less expensive than fossil fuels.

36. Choose the best title or heading for the passage.
A. Costs too High
B. Governments Need to Help
C. Europe is Alone
D. Homemade Electricity
Answer : D

37. What changed in Argentina?
A. The law
B. The generation
C. The money
D. The government
Answer : A

38. What can’t normal people afford in the UK?
A. Electricity bills
B. Renewable technology
C. More tax for energy saving
D. To heat their houses in winter
Answer : B

39. Denmark has several days in the year when _______.
A. electricity is free
B. they don’t need electricity
C. the sun shines all day
D. whole country needs to heat their homes
Answer : A

40. What does ‘this’ refer to in the last paragraph?
A. Tough guidelines
B. Government decision
C. New target
D. Lower costs
Answer : C

SPOKEN AND WRITTEN EXPRESSION

FOR QUESTIONS 41 TO 45, CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE OPTION TO COMPLETE EACH CONVERSATION.

41. Chaz : We’ve got to buck up our ideas if we want to win this year.
Dave : I disagree I think we’re _______ nicely.
A. up town
B. on track
C. down river
D. on rails
Answer : B

42. Edward : I can’t believe that this book, _______, cost so much.
Beth : Really, how much was it?
A. up on here
B. there is it
C. the one here
D. way up high
Answer : C

43. Romesh : Can you give me a _______ when the teacher is coming back to the room, please?
Hamdan : Sure, no problem.
A. look over
B. low down
C. move on
D. heads up
Answer : D

44. Teacher : Can you close the door properly because someone keeps leaving it slightly ajar?
Student : Sure sir, but I think the _______ is broken so it may open again.
A. latch
B. key
C. opening
D. floor
Answer : A

45. Randa : There’s no way we _______ have been able to get across that river there. I’m glad we walked round and used the bridge.
Elwood : True, that’s saved us getting soaked.
A. could
B. ought to
C. must
D. have to
Answer : A

ACHIEVERS SECTION

FOR QUESTIONS 46 AND 47, CHOOSE THE CORRECT OPTION TO FILL IN THE BLANK.

46. The new computer system _______ everything else we have had before, in every way.
A. bumps
B. wipes
C. moves
D. trumps
Answer : D

47. Not _______ did James make the varsity team, but he _______ became one of the strongest players through hard work and focus.
A. only, also
B. that, too
C. hardly, just
D. so, really
Answer : A

48. CHOOSE THE CORRECT SYNONYM OF THE GIVEN WORD.
Quiescent
A. Envisioned
B. Regarded
C. Idle
D. Adroit
Answer : C

49. CHOOSE THE CORRECT ANTONYM OF THE GIVEN WORD.
Poignant
A. Unemotional
B. Bitter
C. Discontented
D. Rotund
Answer : A

50. CHOOSE THE MOST SUITABLE OPTION TO COMPLETE THE CONVERSATION.
Pooja : There’s no way that was a goal! The striker was _______ offside.
A. blatantly
B. dreadful
C. creative
D. intrusive
Answer : A