English Language Quiz for IBPS 2020 Mains Exams- 22nd December

Directions (1-5): The following question consists of a sentence which is divided into three parts which contain grammatical errors in one or more than one part of the sentence. If there is an error in any part of the sentence, find the correct alternatives to replace those parts from the three options given below each question to make the sentence grammatically correct. If there is an error in any part of the sentence and none of the alternatives is correct to replace that part, then choose (d), i.e., None of the (I), (II) and (III) as your answer. If the given sentence is grammatically correct or does not require any correction, choose (e), i.e., No correction required as your answer.

Q1. India’s GDP growth expecting to be around 7.1 per cent this fiscal (I)/ following a likely pick up in industrial production as firms (II)/ resort to ‘restocking’ post-GST especially ahead of festive season, says a Nomura report. (III)

(I)India’s GDP growth is expected to be around 7.1 per cent this fiscal
(II)follows a likely picking up in industrial production as firms
(III)resorting to ‘restocking’ post-GST especially ahead festive season, says a Nomura report

(a)Only (I)
(b)Only (II)
(c)Both (I) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q2. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has identified the second batch (I)/ of large accounts which have defaulted in repayment of (II)/ loans and has advised banks to resolve them. (III)

(I)The Reserve Bank of India identified the second batch
(II)of large accounts which have defaulted in repaying of
(III)loans and have advised banks to resolve them

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (II) and (III)
(c)Both (I) and (II)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q3. It is a measure of the economic slide that plagues rural India (I)/that there could be remarkable surge in demand of jobs (II)/in Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme. (III)

(I)It is a measure of the economic slide that had plagued rural India
(II)that there has been a remarkable surge in demand for jobs
(III)under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (II) and (III)
(c)Both (I) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q4. Flood control of India is complicated and in a large extent neglected (I)/ to simple reason that “flood control” as a subject is absent (II)/ from the Union, State and Concurrent Lists of the Constitution of India. (III)

(I)Flood control in India is complicated and to a large extent neglected
(II)for the simple reason that “flood control” as a subject is absent
(III)for the Union, State and Concurrent Lists of the Constitution of India

(a)Only (II)
(b)Both (I) and (II)
(c)All (I), (II) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q5. The joint decision to enhance military-to-military (I)/cooperation would have gone long way in reducing (II)/border tensions and standoffs if correctly implemented. (III)

(I)The joint decision has enhanced military-to-military
(II)cooperation would go a long way in reducing
(III)border tensions and standoffs are correctly implemented

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (I) and (III)
(c)Only (II)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Directions (6-10): The following question consists of a sentence which is divided into three parts which contain grammatical errors in one or more than one part of the sentence. If there is an error in any part of the sentence, find the correct alternatives to replace those parts from the three options given below each question to make the sentence grammatically correct. If there is an error in any part of the sentence and none of the alternatives is correct to replace that part, then choose (d), i.e., None of the (I), (II) and (III) as your answer. If the given sentence is grammatically correct or does not require any correction, choose (e), i.e., No correction required as your answer.

Q6. The willing of the Tamil National Alliance to accept (I)/ a founding document arrive on the basis (II)/ of a bipartisan consensus is a good sign. (III)

(I)The willingness of the Tamil National Alliance to accept
(II)a founding document arrived at on the basis
(III)of a bipartisan consensus were a good sign

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (I) and (II)
(c)Both (I) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q7. Encouraging the farmers to adopt dairy and animal husbandry (I)/ as alternate sources of income, Modi said that such initiatives would lead to “a new path of progress” (II)/ that would not only raise farmers’ income but also the overall income. (III)

(I)To encourage the farmers adopting dairy and animal husbandry
(II)as alternate source of income, Modi said such initiatives would have led to “a new path of progress”
(III)that would raise farmers’ income but the overall income

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (II) and (III)
(c)Both (I) and (II)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q8. Iran has strongly rejected the US allegations that it has violated the UN resolution, (I)/and insists that it’s missile tests and rocket launches is solely for (II)/defense purposes and not designed to carry nuclear warheads. (III)
(I)Iran had strongly rejected the US allegations regarding the violation of the UN resolution,
(II)and insists that its missile tests and rocket launches are solely for
(III)defense purposes not design to carry nuclear warheads

(a)Only (I)
(b)Only (II)
(c)Both (I) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q9. In the last few days, steep hike in the price of (I)/petrol and diesel is creating doubts about the legitimacy of (II)/ recent introduced pricing mechanism for these products. (III)

(I)In the last few days, steep hike in the prices of
(II)petrol and diesel are creating doubts regarding legitimization of
(III)recently introduced pricing mechanism for these products

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (I) and (III)
(c)All (I), (II) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Q10. India-US defence cooperation is set to get a boost when US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis (I)/ visits India next week during which he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi (II)/ and hold talks with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. (III)

(I) India-US defence cooperation set to get a boost when US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis
(II) visit India next week during which he meets Prime Minister Narendra Modi
(III) and held talks with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman

(a)Only (I)
(b)Both (I) and (III)
(c)Only (II)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Directions (11-15): In each of the given questions an inference is given in bold which is then followed by three paragraphs. You have to find the paragraph(s) from where it is inferred. Choose the option with the best possible outcome as your choice.

Q11. The downward trend is ascribed to the failure of neoliberal policy.

(1) The FRBM Act effectively tied the hands of the government and has since its passage resulted in a decline in the fiscal deficit to GDP ratio to 3.5 per cent in 2016-17. Since this occurred in a period when the government sought to move to an investor- friendly tax regime, which capped and even reduced the tax-to-GDP ratio, a consequence has been curbs on spending that had an overall deflationary impact on the economy.

(2) The Indian economy faces “serious downside risks” as the government’s demonetisation drive, implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) and corporate deleveraging could accelerate a slowdown and make recovery difficult, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, or UNCTAD, said in its Trade and Development Report 2017.

(3) This year’s overall growth rate promises to be the worst in the last four years. At least one reason for this is the demonetization exercise last November which probably lopped off about one per cent from the overall growth rate. It is tempting to jump to the conclusion that demonetization – surely amongst the worst policy decisions in recent times – has been solely responsible for the rather dismal performance and also played an important role in slowing down the economy.

(a)Only (1)
(b)Only (2)
(c)Only (3)
(d)Both (1) and (3)
(e)All (1), (2) and (3)

Q12. Education system in India should be autonomous.

(1)Insights from the report showed that while education is one of the most funded causes in India, few models have achieved scale, and quality remains a pressing issue. Holistic development is not given due attention and as such, access to education has not been equitable, and teacher shortages have impeded quality education delivery. To remedy these gaps, the Report observes the critical need for relevant curriculum design, leadership development, and ecosystem interventions that will go a long way in driving the quality and sustainability of the education sector.

(2)India’s vision of being a world leader in the 21st century is unlikely to be realized without an education system that keeps abreast with the needs of our future citizens. There is a strong case for public-private partnerships in education which will unleash the true potential of Indian citizens in a competitive climate. Clear guidelines and an audit and accountability mechanism is necessary for such an endeavour to succeed.

(3)Education is now a business activity devoted to immediate profits instead of long term benefits to society and rather than leave it to institutions as a mere suggestion (which would probably not be taken) the state could stipulate at least 100 hours of compulsory film viewing per annum for each school/college up to a certain level while also providing a large selection of films to pick from. The nation needs to have an educational programme of its own to create useful citizens, and cannot leave this to private initiatives.

(a)Only (1)
(b)Only (2)
(c)Both (1) and (2)
(d)Both (1) and (3)
(e)All (1), (2) and (3)

Q13. Conservation should not be considered a drag on development.

(1)The tiger population in countries where the big cat occurs had a chequered existence. Although assiduously conserved, tiger populations in some of the range countries are awfully precarious; their numbers lie around the presumed ecological thresholds as far as their viability is concerned. The world has already lost three of the nine subspecies of this charismatic species, further restricting its world population genetically to only six subspecies or geographical variations.

(2)Tiger conservation basically demands stringent protection laws, vast landscapes and a good prey base. While these demands may sound innocuous, they conflict with the country’s land-use planning for development, and as a result, conservation is sidelined in favor of more human-centered priorities.

(3)India lost 69 tigers in 2015 and 52 in 2016. While poaching did not claim all these tigers, it does remain a serious threat to the tiger population. Among the tiger conservation practices, protection and intelligence gathering should be accorded priority and made more professional.

(a)Only (2)
(b)Only (3)
(c)Both (1) and (2)
(d)Both (2) and (3)
(e)All (1), (2) and (3)

Q14. ISRO’s recent accomplishments pronounce the autarky of Indian space prowess.

(1)Success upon success has visited ISRO in the past several years. It successfully put into orbit its spacecraft around Mars in its first attempt on September 24, 2014. The spacecraft completed 1,000 earth days in its orbit on June 19, 2017, well beyond its designated mission life of six months. Its mission to the moon, Chandrayaan-1, was the first to discover the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface soil and rocks. Majority of the mission was financed by Isro’s commercial arm antrix which generates a profit of more than 28 million dollar a year by launching various foreign satellites.

(2)The GSLV Mk III, part of the GSLV launchers, carried India’s heaviest satellite, GSAT-19 weighing 3136 kg for 16.20 minutes, will continue to be an operating launch. This was the first such launch from India. Earlier, India used to ask foreign space organizations to launch heavy satellites/orbiters. With this development, India will now be able to save crores. The GSLV Mk-III will continue to be a launch vehicle in the future.

(3)A key focus area of ISRO is building reusable launch vehicles (RLVs). In fact, the RLV program crossed a milestone on May 23, 2016, with the launch and return of a winged RLV-TD in a scaled configuration that flew at hypersonic speed. On August 28, 2016, ISRO took the next steps towards reducing the cost of access to space when a modified two-stage vehicle developed by the VSSC (Kerala, India) used air-breathing propulsion in its scramjet engine.

(a)Only (2)
(b)Both (1) and (2)
(c)Both (2) and (3)
(d)Both (1) and (3)
(e)All (1), (2) and (3)

Q15. Most NGOs in India lack leaders to succeed Current Management.

(1)NGOs lack a foundational, leadership development culture and often do not have a shared understanding of what this should look like. Pushed in part by donors to focus almost exclusively on delivering programs, NGOs do not emphasize talent development and often shortchange themselves by under-investing in people.

(2)For the not-for-profit sector to play a far larger role in narrowing the social development deficit in India, prioritizing and investing in developing leaders needs to be a concerted effort from all sector stakeholders—NGO leaders, funders, and intermediaries.

(3)If India’s NGOs are to make real strides toward ambitious goals such as providing equitable healthcare, ensuring high-quality education for children, or providing access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation, they will have to confront the unassailable fact that exceptional organizations rely on exceptional leaders—and they need to grow more of them.

(a)Only (1)
(b)Only (3)
(c)Both (1) and (2)
(d)Both (2) and (3)
(e)All (1), (2) and (3)

Solutions

S1. Ans. (a)
Sol. In the first part of the sentence, “expecting” should be replaced by “is expected” as the sentence is in the passive voice. Moreover, the correct form depends on context. When we combine a verb with a form of to be, we typically need an -ed or -ing form. When we combine a verb with a modal like can or should, we typically need the base form. The other two parts of the sentence do not require any correction as both are grammatically correct. Hence (a) is the correct option.

S2. Ans. (e)
Sol. The given sentence is grammatically correct. Hence it doesn’t require any correction.

S3. Ans. (b)
Sol. The first part of the sentence is grammatically correct as the sentence is in Present tense. In part (II) of the sentence, “there has been a remarkable surge in demand for jobs” is the correct phrase as the noun phrase ‘remarkable surge’ seems to be missing a determiner before it. The addition of article ‘a’ before ‘remarkable surge’ acts as a determiner to it. Moreover, an article (a, an, or the) is a type of determiner. Possessive adjectives (my, his, our), possessive nouns (Joe’s, mother’s), and quantifiers (each, every) are also determiners. Single countable nouns usually require a determiner. In the third part of the sentence, the preposition “in” should be replaced by “under” and the article “the” should be used before “Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme” to make the sentence grammatically correct. Hence (b) is the correct option.

S4. Ans. (b)
Sol. In the first part of the sentence, replace the phrases “Flood control of India” and “in a large extent” by “Flood control in India” and “to a large extent” respectively as “in” and “to” are the correct prepositions in the context of their usage in the sentence. Moreover, Prepositions are function words that indicate how a noun or noun phrase relates to the rest of the sentence. Some prepositions, such as in, on, after, or since, express temporal or spatial relationships. In other cases, the relationship is more abstract, and the best preposition to use may depend on the words around it. These are known as “dependent prepositions,” and they do not follow any clear pattern. So, we need to choose prepositions carefully because sometimes changing a preposition can completely change the meaning of the phrase. Similarly, in the second part of the sentence, the phrase “to simple reason” should be replaced by “for the simple reason” as the correct preposition is “for” and there should be a use of determiner before the noun phrase “simple reason.” The third part of the sentence doesn’t require any correction as it is grammatically correct. Hence (b) is the correct option.

S5. Ans. (c)
Sol. The first part of the sentence is grammatically correct and connects well with the other two parts to generate a coherent sentence. In the second part of the sentence, “would have gone long way” should be replaced by “would go a long way” as the phrase “gone long way” is not paired with the correct article. Moreover, there are many set expressions that require the definite article (the point is), the indefinite article (keep an eye on), or no article (head over heels). These expressions are idiomatic, so they don’t follow a particular pattern. The third part of the sentence is grammatically correct as there will be a use of the dependent clause “if” to make the sentence meaningful. Hence (c) is the correct option.

S6. Ans. (b)
Sol. In the first part of the sentence, the verb “willing” should be replaced by the noun “willingness” as the correct phrase should be “the willingness of the Tamil National Alliance.” In the second part of the sentence, there will be the use of phrasal verb “arrived at” which means to reach a result, decision, or solution to a problem. The phrasal verb adds meaning to the sentence. The third part of the sentence is absolutely fine as it doesn’t require any correction. Hence (b) is the correct option.

S7. Ans. (e)
Sol. The given sentence is grammatically correct. Hence it doesn’t require any correction.

S8. Ans. (b)
Sol. The first part of the sentence is grammatically correct as the sentence is in Present Tense. In the second part, “it’s” should be replaced by “its” as “It’s” is always the abbreviation of “it is” as in “It’s (= it is) a nice day, isn’t it?” while “Its” is the possessive of “it” as in, “That is Morton’s puppy but I don’t know its name.” In the second case “its” means “belonging to it”. Thus in the context of the sentence, the possessive of “it”, “its” is the correct usage. The third part of the sentence is grammatically correct and thus doesn’t require any correction. Hence (b) is the correct option.

S9. Ans. (b)
Sol. The first part of the sentence requires a minor change; the singular form of “price” should be replaced by the plural form of it i.e. “prices” as “prices” in this case refers to the prices of both “petrol and diesel”. The second part of the sentence doesn’t require any correction as it correctly follows the sentence structure. However, in the third part of the sentence there will be the use of an adverb “recently” in place of the adjective “recent” to make the sentence grammatically correct. Hence (b) is the correct choice.

S10. Ans. (e)
Sol. The sentence is grammatically correct and follows the correct grammar structure to bring out the most desirable and appropriate meaning. None of the parts requires any correction; thus (e) is the correct option.

S11. Ans. (a)
Sol. The FRBM Act mentioned in paragraph 1 is about the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act enacted in 2003. The paragraph is more about the failure associated with neo-liberalism which resulted in an overall deflationary impact on the economy. The term “neo-liberalism” refers to a freeing of the economy by eliminating regulations and barriers that restrict what actors can do and transfers control of economic factors to the private sector from the public sector. Neoliberal policies aim for a laissez-faire approach to economic development. Thus the given inference can be generated from this paragraph. However, the other two paragraphs have got similar perspectives citing demonetization drive and other recent economic decisions to be the reasons behind the downward trend of the Indian economy. It is to be noted that these decisions do not affirm to the neo-liberal policy failure and thus cannot be connected to the given inference. Hence (a) is the correct option.

S12. Ans. (e)
Sol. Passage 1 brings out the loopholes in our education system along with the need of remedies to sustain the deliverance in the education sector which is the need of the hour. Paragraph 2 states that our education system needs to move alongside the needs of our future citizens to fulfill the vision of being a world leader in the 21st century. Similarly, paragraph 3 talks about the need for proper reforms in the education system to create useful citizens. Thus all the three paragraphs direct to the given inference, “Education system in India should be autonomous.” It is to be noted that the word “autonomous” in this case refers to “self-sufficient or self-governing.” Hence (e) is the correct option.

S13. Ans. (a)
Sol. Both the paragraphs 1 and 3, talk about the need for conservation of tiger population and certain strict measures for the purpose. Both these articles fail to give any hint regarding the development process. Thus the given inference is untrue to both of them. In the case of paragraph 2, it is mentioned that protection mechanisms to conserve the tiger population is the need of the hour, but it should not be considered a drag on development. It is particularly mentioned in the last sentence of the paragraph that conservation is sidelined in favor of more human-centered priorities which should not have been the case. Thus the given inference, “Conservation should not be considered a drag on development” can

S14. Ans. (e)
Sol. All the three paragraphs mark the achievements of ISRO’s space programs over the last few years. These successes proclaim the self-sufficiency of Indian space agency as it is now independent enough to take bigger challenges in times to come. Thus all three passages agree to the given inference, “ISRO’s recent accomplishments pronounce the autarky of Indian space prowess.” Hence (e) is the correct option.

S15. Ans. (e)
Sol. All the three paragraphs are based on the common theme. All the three articles express the need of building leadership development culture in the not-for-profit sector. This infers that to achieve the bigger goals that NGOs in India perceive, they need to work hard to develop exceptional leaders that they lack in current management. Hence all three generate the same inference, “Most NGOs in India lack leaders to succeed Current Management.”

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