LLA
LAL BAKHSH LINGUISTICS ACADEMY
FPSC / SPSC — Lecturer & Subject Specialist English — Preparation Series
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MODULE 03
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Mock Test
Answer Key with Brief Explanations — 30 Questions (Section A: Structuralism, Section B:
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Grammar)
ANSWER KEY — CONFIDENTIAL
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 — ANSWER KEY MODULE 03
Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy Structuralism in Linguistics: Ferdinand de Saussure Answer Key
Quick-Reference Answer Grid
Q1: C Q2: B Q3: D Q4: B Q5: C
Q6: B Q7: B Q8: C Q9: C Q10: B
Q11: C Q12: B Q13: C Q14: A Q15: C
Q16: B Q17: C Q18: B Q19: B Q20: B
Q21: A Q22: B Q23: A Q24: B Q25: C
Q26: A Q27: B Q28: B Q29: B Q30: B
SECTION A — Structuralism & Saussure: Detailed Key
1. Who is widely regarded as the “father of modern structural linguistics”?
Correct Answer: C. Ferdinand de Saussure
2. Saussure's Course in General Linguistics was compiled and published posthumously by:
Correct Answer: B. Bally and Sechehaye
3. In what year was the Cours de linguistique générale first published?
Correct Answer: D. 1916
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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:
Correct Answer: B. Structuralism
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5. Which term refers to the abstract linguistic system shared by an entire speech community?
Correct Answer: C. Langue
6. An individual, concrete act of speech produced by a particular speaker on a particular occasion is called:
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Correct Answer: B. Parole
7. Saussure compared langue and parole to which pair of analogies?
Correct Answer: B. A symphony and its performance
8. Chomsky's distinction between competence and performance is most closely related to Saussure's:
Correct Answer: C. Langue/parole
9. In Saussure's model of the linguistic sign, the “sound-image” or perceptible form is called the:
Correct Answer: C. Signifier
10. The mental concept evoked by a signifier, as opposed to the real-world object, is called the:
Correct Answer: B. Signified
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?
Correct Answer: C. Referent
12. The principle that the link between a signifier and its signified is conventional rather than natural is known
as:
Correct Answer: B. Arbitrariness
13. Which of the following is the exception Saussure acknowledges to the general rule of arbitrariness?
Correct Answer: C. Onomatopoeic words
14. According to Saussure, the principle that spoken signifiers unfold one after another in time is called the:
Correct Answer: A. Linearity of the signifier
15. Saussure used the analogy of a chess game to explain the distinction between:
Correct Answer: C. Synchronic and diachronic linguistics
16. The study of a language system as it exists at one point in time, without reference to its history, is called:
Correct Answer: B. Synchronic linguistics
17. Relations between signs that are combined together in a sequence, such as words in a sentence, are called:
Correct Answer: C. Syntagmatic relations
18. The term “paradigmatic,” now commonly used instead of Saussure's original term “associative,” was
introduced by:
Correct Answer: B. Louis Hjelmslev
© Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy (LLA) | Module 3 Mock Test — Structuralism (Saussure) Page 2
LLA MODULE 03 — ANSWER KEY MODULE 03
Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy Structuralism in Linguistics: Ferdinand de Saussure Answer Key
19. Saussure's claim that “in language there are only differences, and no positive terms” refers to the concept
of:
Correct Answer: B. Valeur (value)
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?
Correct Answer: B. Prague School
SECTION B — Grammar: Detailed Key
21. Choose the correctly punctuated sentence.
Correct Answer: A. Although it was raining, they continued the match.
22. Fill in the blank: Neither the teacher nor the students ____ satisfied with the result.
Correct Answer: B. were
23. Choose the correct passive voice of: “They have completed the project.”
Correct Answer: A. The project has been completed by them.
24. Select the correctly reported speech: He said, “I am writing a letter.”
Correct Answer: B. He said that he was writing a letter.
25. Choose the correct preposition: She has been working here ____ 2018.
Correct Answer: C. since
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26. Identify the correctly structured sentence.
Correct Answer: A. Scarcely had he left the office when it began to rain.
27. Choose the word that is nearest in meaning to “PRECARIOUS”.
Correct Answer: B. Risky
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28. Choose the word that is most nearly opposite in meaning to “AUSTERE”.
Correct Answer: B. Lavish
29. Identify the correct sentence.
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Correct Answer: B. Each of the candidates was given equal time.
30. Choose the correct idiom to complete: He always tries to ____ when there is hard work to be done.
Correct Answer: B. pass the buck
— End of Answer Key —
© Lal Bakhsh Linguistics Academy (LLA) | Module 3 Mock Test — Structuralism (Saussure) Page 3