English
Language Practice Questions for IBPS Clerk – Set 7
Directions (1 – 5): Sentence Fillers
1. Indian officialdom has all but acknowledged
what many suspected all along ‐ that there is something amiss about the growth
narrative. _________________. The finance ministry expects a 50,000‐crore shortfall
in revenue collections, against the budgeted estimate of 14.5 lakh crore. It
has promised that the fiscal deficit target of 3.9 per cent of GDP will be
adhered to, without serious cutbacks in expenditure.
a) But that may not be enough to spur
investment, given the poor demand impulses, borne out by flat tractor and auto
sales, and the stock of unsold homes.
b) Indeed, while the Budget rightly
prioritizes capital spending in infrastructure, setting aside some Rs. 70,000
crore, it is worth considering whether a larger sum is needed to get the
investment cycle going — even if this entails a small deviation from the fiscal
deficit target.
c) There can be no beer me than now
to impart an intelligent, rather than populist, fiscal stimulus — with inflation
under control and oil prices not posing pressures on the subsidy front.
d) A lowering of the projections made
in the Economic Survey, from 8.1‐8.5 per cent to 7.5 per cent, hardly comes as
a surprise, given a 14 per cent deficient monsoon, persistently negative
exports and indifferent industrial growth.
e) The RBI has “front loaded” its
rate cuts and is helping banks deal with stressed assets so that they can lend
freely.
2. For many years, the continent Africa remained
unexplored and unknown. The main reason was the inaccessibility to its interior
region due to dense forests, wildlife, savage tribal, deserts and barren solid
hills. ____________. While others explored with the idea of expanding their
respective empires, Livingstone did so to explore its vast and mysterious
hinterland, rivers and lakes.
a) He was primarily religious man and
a medical practitioner who tried to help mankind with it.
b) Livingstone was born in Scotland
and was educated to become a doctor and priest.
c) He explored an unknown river in
Western Luanda. However, he was reduced to a skeleton during four years of
travelling.
d) He discovered the origin of the
River Nile in 1866. He again suffered many discomforts. He became too sick and
could not even walk.
e) Many people tried to explore the
could not survive the dangers, David Livingstone is among those brave few who
not only explored part of Africa but also lived among the tribals bringing them
near to social milieu.
3. _______________________. Even the human body is
a form of energy. Call it prana or jivatma or simply vayu energy sustains the
gross body and expresses it through sensory perceptions and the basic physical
elements. The three fundamental gunas‐ satvik, nijasik and tamasik which
characterize the nature of the human being, very often in a combination, are
further sub divided into many basic qualities commonly known as human values.
a) Energy is neither created nor
destroyed; it is only recycled and recast in different forms.
b) Love, affection, integrity and
truth, for instance, are values that are as important to life as breathing or
eating.
c) Energy values are positive but in
the course of practice and because they emanate from a mind that is susceptible
to negative thoughts, they get corrupted.
d) Energy generates negativity and
manifest in the form of tying cheating or causing others harm.
e) The very fact that human
civilization has survived over centuries shows that despite all the negativity,
the force of positive energy within all of us continues to expand and enrich.
4. Over the next five years, India faces one of
the world’s biggest financing challenges: bringing clean, affordable, reliable,
water and energy to all, building the infrastructure for smart ciĕes to thrive
and investing in enterprises that will provide livelihoods for an extra 10
million jobseekers each year. Through all of this and beyond, a sustainable
financial system is both a necessity and an opportunity. _____________________.
Actual practice suggests the reverse.
a) At IDFC, the business case for
sustainable finance is real and multifaceted: reduced risk, increased market
share, access to international finance, reduced reputational risks and enhanced
brand value.
b) For too long, a myth has been
allowed to take root in India that sustainability and finance are at odds –
that taking account of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors
raises costs, reduces returns and impedes development.
c) The fivefold increase in the country’s
solar target to 100 GW of installed capacity by 2022 will require unprecedented
volumes of investment, perhaps as much as $ 100 billion as per some estimates.
d) The Small Industries Development
Bank of India has found, for example, that loans to energy – efficient
companies have a much better loan recovery rate than the norm.
e) Sustainable finance is
fundamentally about channeling capital to India’s real economy needs. Take
renewable.
5. Central to the financial sector reforms would
be the restructuring and financing of public sector banks (PSBs.
___________________. Accordingly, it recommended that the minimum government
holding in PSBs should be reduced from 51 per cent to 33 per cent. It was
argued that reducing the government holding to 33 per cent would not mean a
loss of control over the social objectives of PSBs, but it would give a
breather to these banks to meet minimum capital requirements.
a) The UPA government I and II swore
by the 51 per cent minimum government holding and hence there was an impasse.
b) The Financial Sector Legislative
Reforms Commission (2013) recommended a single Indian Financial Sector Code.
c) The Narasimham Committee II on
Banking Sector Reforms (1998) concluded that the fisc just could not meet the
capital requirements of PSBs.
d) The pronouncements of the present
BJP government, however, indicate that they would not deviate from the 51 per
cent government holding in PSBs.
e) Under the NDA regime, Finance
Minister Yashwant Sinha made a valiant effort to get this recommendation
accepted, but parliamentarians from his own party blocked the move.
Directions (6 – 10): Double Fillers
6.You will see signs of ________ everywhere, which
speak well for the ________ of these people.
a) decoration, senses
b) clear, debris
c) beauty, careful
d) industry, prosperity
e) None of these
7.He objected to the proposal because it was
founded on a ________ principle and also was ________ at times.
a) Faulty, desirable
b) Imperative, reasonable
c) Wrong, inconvenient
d) Sound, acceptable
e) None of these
8.The army regime has announced firm steps on
________ democracy and fighting ________.
a) clamping, anarchy
b) ruling, voters
c) restoring, terrorism
d) enlightening, anti-corruption
e) None of these
9. Unpredictable _________ of the child could not
lead the consultants to any _________.
a) performance, setting
b) belief, judgment
c) operation, purpose
d) behaviour, conclusion
e) None of these
10.The governmental ___________spurred dramatic
improvements in the way waste management is ________out in many hospitals.
a) rule, thrown
b) plans, conduct
c) crusade, one
d) efforts, carried
e) None of these
Directions (11
– 15): A number of sentences are given below which, when properly sequenced,
form a COHERENT PARAGRAPH. Four sentences are LOGICAL connected, one sentence
is out of the context. Find the ODD SENTENCE.
11. A. Economists love
incentives.
B. They love to dream them up and enact them, study them and
tinker with them.
C. The typical economist believes the world has not yet
invented a problem that he cannot fix if given a free hand to design the proper
incentive scheme.
D. His solution may not always be pretty – it may involve
coercion or exorbitant penalties or the violation of civil liberties – but the
original problem, rest assured, will be fixed.
E. An incentive is given to all the employees who perform
exceptionally well.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E
12. A. Like the proverbial
butterfly that flaps its wings on one continent and eventually causes a
hurricane on another, Norma McCorvey dramatically altered the course of events
without intending to.
B. She was a lady who possessed exceptional skills and she
was a wine connoisseur, travelled the world and lived her life luxuriously.
C. It had taken shape more than twenty years earlier and
concerned a young woman in Dallas named Norma McCorvey.
D. All she had wanted was an abortion.
E. There was another factor, meanwhile which had greatly
contributed to the massive crime drop of the 1990s.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E
13. A. Fear is a dreadful
thing.
B. It darkens our lives, from fear we act neurotically.
C. We are asking whether man can ever be free of this
terrible burden.
D. Courageous people are very contented with their lives.
E. fear may be lurking in the deep unconsciousness, in the
deep recesses of one’s own brain.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E
14. A. Kohal says she has
always had best travel experience in all the leading airlines.
B. And there are stories in the media and social media of
notes being left on flights, or complaints being made, by passengers upset that
they’ve flown with a female pilot.
C. Kohal’s doctor mother and engineer father taught her and
her sister that they weren’t any different from men and could do anything they
wanted as long as they had fun doing it.
D. GoAir, a budget airline in India, said in 2013 that it
only wanted to hire small, young females to be flight attendants in order to
save money on fuel by keeping the weight of the plane down.
E. This family support has helped her excel, but many women
entering traditionally male-dominated professions in India encounter more
obstacles.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E
15. A. But anyone who has
worked as a professional in the country knows otherwise.
B. So what about the infamous terror attacks in Asian
countries which is the cause of fear in much of the rest of the world?
C. In the collective imagination, there are two Europes: the
industrious north, with relatively low unemployment and dynamic economies, and
the sluggish south, where people would just as soon kick back, sip an espresso
and watch the world go by.
D. Olivier, a senior counsel in a large French multinational
in the construction industry in Paris works about 45 to 50 hours a week, from
roughly 09:00 till 19:30.
E. Many people would lump France, the land of the 35-hour
workweek, long lunches and even longer vacations, with the south.
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) D
(e) E
Answers with Explanations:
1. D) 2. E) 3. A)
4. B) 5. C)
6. D) 7. C) 8. C)
9. D) 10. D)
11. E) The 1st sentence sets the tone for
discussion on the importance of incentives for the economists. The 2nd is the
extension of the remark and the 3rd sentence takes it forward with ‘the typical
economist’ and their fixation with problem solving. 4th takes the idea further
and points out its limitations, and 5th is irrelevant sentence according to the
passage. So, ABCD are in logical order. Option E is odd sentence.
12. B) The
5th sentence introduces the topic of discussion-crime drop in the 90’s, hence
the opener; The 3rd sentence provides historical backdrop of the trend; The 1st
statement talks about the impact of Norma McCorvey, The fifth sentence
justifies he comparison with the proverbial butterfly, as she ‘just wanted an
abortion.’ The 2nd sentence gives irrelevant information about the lady. So,
ECAD are in logical order. Option B is odd sentence.
13. D) The
paragraph opens with a general statement about fear (1st sentence). The 2nd
sentence talk about how it’s a ‘dreadful thing’; and 3rd calls it a terrible
burden. The 5th sentence explains how ‘one may not be conscious’ of fear. ABCE
-all these four sentences talk about ‘fear’ and are logical connected but
Option D talks about courage which is totally different from what the passage
is all about. Hence D is out of the context sentence. D is the odd sentence.
14. A) The
3rd is an opener, as it lays the background for discussion on ‘sexism’ in the
airlines industry. The 5th sentence (this family support) refers to the gender
neutral values enjoyed by Kohal. the 4th and 2nd sentences indicate the
instances of sexism prevalent in the airline industry. Hence CEDB are in
logical order.
The 1st sentence mentions
about the luxurious travel experience of customers, which is out of the
context. This paragraph talks about the sexism and option A is ODD SENTENCE.
15. B) The
3rd sentence is a general observation about the ‘two Europes’, The 5th sentence
puts France with the southern part of Europe and talks about a common myth
regarding the workload in the region. The 1st and 4th sentences illustrate that
it is far from true. The 2nd sentence raises a question which is out of the
question about terrorism in Asia. CEAD are in logical order and option B is ODD
sentence.
