Sample Questions for CLAT English Section based on Passages

‘Goldstein!’ bellowed the boy as the door closed on him. But what most struck Winston was the look of helpless fright on the woman’s greyish face. Back in the flat he stepped quickly past the telescreen and sat down at the table again, still rubbing his neck. The music from the telescreen had stopped. Instead, a clipped military voice was reading out, with a sort of brutal relish, a description of the armaments of the new Floating Fortress which had just been anchored between Iceland and the Faroe lslands. With those children, he thought, that wretched woman must lead a life of terror. Another year, two years, and they would be watching her night and day for symptoms of unorthodoxy. Nearly all children nowadays were horrible.

What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it.

The songs, the processions, the banners, the hiking, the drilling with dummy rifles, the yelling of slogans, the worship of Big Brother—it was all a sort of glorious game to them. All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals.

It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children. And with good reason, for hardly a week passed in which ‘The Times’ did not carry a paragraph describing how some eavesdropping little sneak—’child hero’ was the phrase generally used—had overheard some compromising remark and denounced its parents to the Thought Police. The sting of the catapult bullet had worn off. He picked up his pen half-heartedly, wondering whether he could find something more to write in the diary. Suddenly he began thinking of O’Brien again.

A) As apathetic
B) As rebellious
C) As adoring
D) As skeptical

A) They instilled discipline
B) They encouraged rebellion
C) They fostered loyalty
D) They promoted independence

A) A pang of sympathy
B) A surge of empathy
C) A shiver of apprehension
D) A pang of remorse

A) Strident and imperious
B) Sonorous and commanding
C) Melodious and persuasive
D) Hushed and ominous

A) Pallid
B) Aghast
C) Vacant
D) Grim

A) Acts of bravery
B) Acts of treachery
C) Acts of kindness
D) Acts of rebellion

A) Due to their lack of discipline
B) Due to their susceptibility to propaganda
C) Due to their rebellious nature
D) Due to their potential betrayal

A) Rebellion
B) Playing with toys
C) Worship of Big Brother
D) Reading books

A) The enemies of the State
B) The Party
C) Themselves
D) Foreigners

A) Whispered
B) Shouted
C) Muttered
D) Murmured

Winston was dreaming of his mother. He must, he thought, have been ten or eleven years old when his mother had disappeared. She was a tall, statuesque, rather silent woman with slow movements and magnificent fair hair. His father he remembered more vaguely as dark and thin, dressed always in neat dark clothes (Winston remembered especially the very thin soles of his father’s shoes) and wearing spectacles.

The two of them must evidently have been swallowed up in one of the first great purges of the fifties. At this moment his mother was sitting in some place deep down beneath him, with his young sister in her arms. He did not remember his sister at all, except as a tiny, feeble baby, always silent, with large, watchful eyes. Both of them were looking up at him. They were down in some subterranean place—the bottom of a well, for instance, or a very deep grave—but it was a place which, already far below him, was itself moving downwards.

They were in the saloon of a sinking ship, looking up at him through the darkening water. There was still air in the saloon, they could still see him and he them, but all the while they were sinking down, down into the green waters which in another moment must hide them from sight for ever. He was out in the light and air while they were being sucked down to death, and they were down there because he was up here. He knew it and they knew it, and he could see the knowledge in their faces. There was no reproach either in their faces or in their hearts, only the knowledge that they must die in order that he might remain alive, and that this was part of the unavoidable order of things.

A) Through Winston’s denial of his role in his family’s fate
B) Through Winston’s acknowledgment of his culpability in his family’s demise
C) Through Winston’s efforts to absolve himself of any blame
D) Through Winston’s indifference towards his family’s suffering

A) His desire for self-preservation conflicting with his familial obligations
B) His resentment towards his family’s dependence conflicting with his sense of duty
C) His guilt over his family’s fate conflicting with his desire to forget them
D) His fear of death conflicting with his determination to save his family

A) That guilt is a natural response to survival
B) That guilt is a burden that must be ignored for survival
C) That guilt is a necessary catalyst for redemption
D) That guilt is an unavoidable consequence of sacrifice

A) By depicting Winston’s acceptance of his family’s demise
B) By illustrating Winston’s efforts to change his family’s fate
C) By highlighting Winston’s refusal to accept responsibility for his family’s fate
D) By portraying Winston’s resignation to his own survival at the expense of his family

A) Aboveground
B) Underground
C) Submerged
D) Aerial

A) That it can lead to denial and indifference
B) That it can drive individuals to self-destructive behavior
C) That it can manifest as determination and resilience
D) That it can result in emotional detachment and apathy

A) Resembling a carved figure in form or appearance
B) Exuding elegance and grace
C) Lacking mobility or flexibility
D) Exhibiting a commanding presence

A) The importance of familial bonds in times of adversity
B) The inevitability of sacrifice for the greater good
C) The emotional turmoil of survivor’s guilt
D) The fragility of human relationships in a dystopian society

A) Reflective
B) Anxious
C) Indifferent
D) Optimistic

A) By evoking a sense of nostalgia and longing
B) By conveying a tone of urgency and fear
C) By maintaining a detached and objective perspective
D) By highlighting the absurdity and cruelty of the dystopian society

A) It values familial bonds above all else.
B) It is governed by an oppressive regime.
C) It promotes individual freedoms and liberties.
D) It encourages open expression and dissent.

A) He is loyal to the regime.
B) He harbors resentment towards the regime.
C) He is indifferent to the regime’s actions.
D) He actively opposes the regime.

A) It is minimal, allowing for personal freedom.
B) It is moderate, with occasional monitoring of citizens.
C) It is extensive, with constant monitoring of citizens’ activities.
D) It is non-existent, as citizens are trusted by the government.

A) By highlighting the oppressive nature of the regime and its impact on individuals
B) By downplaying the severity of the regime and focusing on individual resilience
C) By romanticizing the dystopian setting and portraying it as a utopian society
D) By ignoring the political context and focusing solely on personal relationships

A) Tyrannical
B) Cruel
C) Lenient
D) Harsh