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LAL BAKHSH LINGUISTICS ACADEMY

FPSC / SPSC — Lecturer & Subject Specialist English — Preparation Series

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MODULE 03

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Mock Test
30 Questions: 20 Structuralism / Saussure MCQs + 10 FPSC-Style Grammar MCQs | Time:

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35 Minutes

Compiled by Lal Bakhsh

Subject Specialist English (BPS-17) | TEA 2024 USA Alumni | Master Trainer — PITE & STEDA
Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School Gaji Khuhawar, Taluka Warah, District Kamber Shahdadkot, Sindh
LLA MODULE 03 — MOCK TEST MODULE 03
Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy Structuralism in Linguistics: Ferdinand de Saussure Mock Test

Instructions:
1. This test contains 30 Multiple Choice Questions: Section A (Q1–20, Structuralism/Saussure) and Section B (Q21–30, Grammar).
2. Each question carries 1 mark. There is no negative marking. Choose the single best answer.
3. Mark your answers clearly. The Answer Key is provided in a separate PDF.

SECTION A — Structuralism & Saussure (Q1–20)

1. Who is widely regarded as the “father of modern structural linguistics”?
A. Noam Chomsky
B. Leonard Bloomfield
C. Ferdinand de Saussure
D. Roman Jakobson
2. Saussure's Course in General Linguistics was compiled and published posthumously by:
A. Trubetzkoy and Jakobson
B. Bally and Sechehaye
C. Hjelmslev and Martinet
D. Chomsky and Halle
3. In what year was the Cours de linguistique générale first published?
A. 1878
B. 1907

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C. 1913
D. 1916
4. The approach that studies language as a self-contained system of interrelated elements, rather than as
a set of historically isolated facts, is called:

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A. Generativism
B. Structuralism
C. Functionalism

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D. Behaviourism
5. Which term refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by an entire speech community?
A. Parole
B. Valeur
C. Langue
D. Syntagm
6. An individual, concrete act of speech produced by a particular speaker on a particular occasion is
called:
A. Langue
B. Parole
C. Signified
D. Diachrony
7. Saussure compared langue and parole to which pair of analogies?
A. A map and a journey
B. A symphony and its performance
C. A seed and a tree
D. A river and its banks
8. Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance is most closely related to Saussure's:
A. Signifier/signified
B. Synchrony/diachrony
C. Langue/parole
D. Syntagmatic/associative
9. In Saussure's model of the linguistic sign, the “sound-image” or perceptible form is called the:
A. Signified
B. Referent
C. Signifier
D. Valeur

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Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy Structuralism in Linguistics: Ferdinand de Saussure Mock Test

10. The mental concept evoked by a signifier, as opposed to the real-world object, is called the:
A. Signifier
B. Signified
C. Referent
D. Syntagm
11. Which notion, added to Saussure's two-part sign model by later semioticians such as Ogden and
Richards, refers to the actual real-world object a sign points to?
A. Valeur
B. Parole
C. Referent
D. Langue
12. The principle that the link between a signifier and its signified is conventional rather than natural is
known as:
A. Linearity
B. Arbitrariness
C. Valeur
D. Synchrony
13. Which of the following is the exception Saussure acknowledges to the general rule of arbitrariness?
A. Compound nouns
B. Loanwords
C. Onomatopoeic words

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D. Proper nouns
14. According to Saussure, the principle that spoken signifiers unfold one after another in time is called
the:

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A. Linearity of the signifier
B. Valeur of the signifier
C. Diachrony of the signifier
D. Syntagm of the signifier

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15. Saussure used the analogy of a chess game to explain the distinction between:
A. Langue and parole
B. Signifier and signified
C. Synchronic and diachronic linguistics
D. Syntagmatic and associative relations
16. The study of a language system as it exists at one point in time, without reference to its history, is
called:
A. Diachronic linguistics
B. Synchronic linguistics
C. Comparative linguistics
D. Historical linguistics
17. Relations between signs that are combined together in a sequence, such as words in a sentence, are
called:
A. Associative relations
B. Paradigmatic relations
C. Syntagmatic relations
D. Diachronic relations
18. The term “paradigmatic,” now commonly used instead of Saussure's original term “associative,” was
introduced by:
A. Roman Jakobson
B. Louis Hjelmslev
C. Leonard Bloomfield
D. Claude Lévi-Strauss
19. Saussure's claim that “in language there are only differences, and no positive terms” refers to the
concept of:
A. Signification
B. Valeur (value)
C. Parole
D. Linearity

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LLA MODULE 03 — MOCK TEST MODULE 03
Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy Structuralism in Linguistics: Ferdinand de Saussure Mock Test

20. Which school of linguistics applied Saussure's structural, oppositional analysis to phonology and
developed the concept of the phoneme as a bundle of distinctive features?
A. American Structuralism
B. Prague School
C. Glossematics
D. Post-structuralism

SECTION B — Grammar (FPSC Past-Paper Style) (Q21–30)

21. Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.
A. Although it was raining, they continued the match.
B. Although it was raining they, continued the match.
C. Although, it was raining they continued the match.
D. Although it was raining; they continued the match.
22. Fill in the blank: Neither the teacher nor the students ____ satisfied with the result.
A. was
B. were
C. is
D. has been
23. Choose the correct passive voice of: “They have completed the project.”
A. The project has been completed by them.

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B. The project was completed by them.
C. The project has completed by them.
D. The project is completed by them.
24. Select the correctly reported speech: He said, “I am writing a letter.”

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A. He said that he is writing a letter.
B. He said that he was writing a letter.
C. He says that he was writing a letter.
D. He said that he writes a letter.

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25. Choose the correct preposition: She has been working here ____ 2018.
A. for
B. from
C. since
D. at
26. Identify the correctly structured sentence.
A. Scarcely had he left the office when it began to rain.
B. Scarcely he had left the office when it began to rain.
C. Scarcely had he left the office than it began to rain.
D. Scarcely he left the office when it began to rain.
27. Choose the word that is nearest in meaning to “PRECARIOUS”.
A. Stable
B. Risky
C. Generous
D. Cautious
28. Choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to “AUSTERE”.
A. Strict
B. Lavish
C. Plain
D. Stern
29. Identify the correct sentence.
A. Each of the candidates were given equal time.
B. Each of the candidates was given equal time.
C. Each of the candidates have given equal time.
D. Each of the candidate was given equal time.

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LLA MODULE 03 — MOCK TEST MODULE 03
Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy Structuralism in Linguistics: Ferdinand de Saussure Mock Test

30. Choose the correct idiom to complete: He always tries to ____ when there is hard work to be done.
A. take the bull by the horns
B. pass the buck
C. burn the midnight oil
D. bury the hatchet

— End of Mock Test —

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© Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy (LLA) | Module 3 Mock Test — Structuralism (Saussure) Page 5