English Language Quiz For IBPS Clerk Prelims 2023 – 02nd July

Directions (1-8): Read the following passage and answer the following questions. Some words are given in bold to answer the questions

SBI Cards, the credit card arm of India’s largest public sector lender State Bank of India (SBI), last week filed its draft red herring prospectus for an initial public offering. The IPO could raise as much as ₹9,600 crore through the issue. Ahead of its IPO, Mint looks at the key factors that India’s second largest credit card issuer is banking on to ride the equity markets.

The initial public offering (IPO) of SBI Cards comes at a time when there has been a massive spurt in digital payment transactions, fuelled by massive innovation and offerings by financial institutions. Considering that India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, its second largest credit issuer is banking upon rise in personal consumption that includes splurging on luxury goods, spending more on dining, entertainment, vacations and less on basic needs of house, food and education. Rapid urbanization is expected to improve infrastructure, create jobs, which in turn will propel savings. Besides, India’s favourable demographics — large young population — is another crucial factor that the company is banking upon.

Steps taken by the government and the banking regulator, especially in the last three years to launch innovative payment options, shift in consumer preferences have boosted online payments. The Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity, demonetization of high value currency in November 2016, rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the launch of real-time payments system Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have been key drivers of rapid growth in digital payments space. Besides, rise in internet usage, increase in smartphone penetration, affordable data, presence of large number of payment apps, a booming e-commerce sector and simple, hassle-free online payments have also contributed to the rise in digital payments, including credit cards.

Ability to quickly adopt technology and increasing indebtedness has made credit card more popular among millennials. The proportion of credit card users among millennials — below 30 years of age — has almost doubled to 35% in 2018-2019 from 19% in 2014-2015. The share of customers below 25 years witnessed a ten-times jump in that period. They are seen driving, what CRISIL Research expects to be approximately ₹14.4 trillion in size by fiscal 2024, the boom in India’s unsecured loan, that credit cards are part of.

A young population armed with discretionary and higher spending power, card issuance in smaller cities, tapping new-to-credit customers and strong investments in payment infrastructure will all aid the credit card penetration. Shift in consumer behavior toward digital payment systems and formalization of the economy will also help the growth of credit cards. Interest-free-EMI and its international exposure makes it a popular choice for online transactions and advantage over UPI and e-wallets. Creation of requisite infrastructure such as availability of more point of sale (PoS) machine is a crucial driver for its growth.

The rapid growth in the e-commerce industry has given opportunities to several payments companies. In the payments space, banks, financial technology companies, technology startups as well as major technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Apple compete with each other to be part of the most popular payment option. Credit card companies offer cash backs, reward points, discounts to customers based on a customer’s spending, which make it a popular and a convenient choice for users. Many players are now also increasingly partnering with others to offer co-branded credit cards to attract more customers. In 2018-19, credit cards accounted for 30%-35.0% of overall e-commerce payment value.

Q1. What has led to the IPO of SBI Cards?

(a) Sudden Eruption in transactions via digital payments.
(b) Financial institutions providing offers with innovations.
(c) Competing to get maximum customers.
(d) Only (a) and (b)
(e) None of these

Q2. What are the reasons causing rise in digital payments?

(a) Launching innovative payment alternatives
(b) Adhaar, The Jan Dhan, and Mobile(JAM) trinity
(c) GST and UPI
(d) Increased internet and smartphone usage in rural areas
(e) (a), (b), and (c)

Q3. Which of the following statement(s) is/are true according to the given passage?

(a) Credit card popularity among millennials is the result of quick technology adoption.
(b) Eight times jump is seen in the usage of credit card.
(c) Experts of CRISIL expect huge growth in FY 2023-2024
(d) Both (b) and (c)
(e) None of these

Q4. What are the factors that can promote credit card growth?

(a) More investment in payment infrastructure and issuing card in smaller cities.
(b) Consumers shifting towards digitalized payments
(c) EMIs without any interest fees
(d) Availability of Point of Sale machines
(e) All of the above

Q5. How has the e-commerce industry spurred growth in digital payments and credit cards industry?

(a) Competition between technology giants and startups
(b) Different attractive offers by credit card companies.
(c) Attracting more customers through co-branding credit cards.
(d) All (a), (b), and (c)
(e) None of these

Q6. Which of the following words is most similar in meaning with the given word highlighted in the passage?

SPURT

(a) Compel
(b) Flourish
(c) Erupt
(d) Ignorance
(e) Establish

Q7. Which of the following words is most similar in meaning with the given word highlighted in the passage?

DISCRETIONARY

(a) Unrestricted
(b) Agreement
(c) Forsake
(d) Inflexible
(e) Adversary

Q8. Which of the following words is most opposite in meaning with the given word highlighted in the passage?

REQUISITE

(a) Joined
(b) Follower
(c) Soothe
(d) Optional
(e) Fascinate

Directions (9-10): In the following questions, a word is given in bold followed by three sentences. Choose the appropriate option mentioning the sentence(s) that uses the highlighted word in a grammatically correct and contextually meaningful manner.

Q9.
Stagger
(I) Leaders from western New York are echoing the governor’s belief that any reopening of New York’s economy amid the coronavirus pandemic will likely be staggered.
(II) The Ministry of Home Affairs said that should people come to work, they must be put into shifts that have an hour in between and stagger their lunch breaks to ensure social distancing.
(III) Nancy Pelosi has stagger to hold a chamber-wide vote to authorise the impeachment inquiry, despite pushback from the White House and Republicans.

(a) Only (I)
(b) Only (II)
(c) Only (III)
(d) Both (I) and (II)
(e) Both (II) and (III)

Q10.
Coercive
(I) While New South Wales considers drafting legislation on coercive control, Scottish laws to criminalize such behavior have already made a significant difference in domestic abuse cases.
(II) Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan made a coercive appeal to Finance Minister for bringing jet fuel and natural gas under the ambit of GST.
(III) Bozlu Miah, of Stuart Street, pleaded guilty to one count of coercive and controlling behavior and two counts of common assault,

(a) Only (I)
(b) Both (III) and (I)
(c) Only (III)
(d) Both (I) and (II)
(e) Both (II) and (III)

Solutions

S1. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer to the second paragraph, the hint can be drawn from the lines, ‘The initial public offering (IPO) of SBI Cards comes at a time when there has been a massive spurt in digital payment transactions, fuelled by massive innovation and offerings by financial institutions.’
Hence, option (d) [Both (a) and (b)] is the right answer choice.

S2. Ans. (e)
Sol. Refer to the second paragraph, the hint can be drawn from the lines, ‘Steps taken by the government and the banking regulator, especially in the last three years to launch innovative payment options, shift in consumer preferences have boosted online payments. The Jan Dhan, Aadhaar and Mobile (JAM) trinity, demonetization of high value currency in November 2016, rollout of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the launch of real-time payments system Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have been key drivers of rapid growth in digital payments space.’
Hence, option (e); [all of the above; (a), (b), and (c) is the right answer choice.

S3. Ans. (a)
Sol. Refer to the third paragraph, the hint can be drawn from the lines, ‘Ability to quickly adopt technology and increasing indebtedness has made credit card more popular among millennials.’
Hence, option (a) is the right answer choice.

S4. Ans. (e)
Sol. refer to the fourth paragraph, the hint can be drawn from the lines, ‘A young population armed with discretionary and higher spending power, card issuance in smaller cities, tapping new-to-credit customers and strong investments in payment infrastructure will all aid the credit card penetration. Shift in consumer behavior toward digital payment systems and formalization of the economy will also held the growth of credit cards. Interest-free-EMI and its international exposure makes it a popular choice for online transactions and advantage over UPI and e-wallets. Creation of requisite infrastructure such as availability of more point of sale (PoS) machine is a crucial driver for its growth.’
Hence, option (e) [all of the above; (a), (b), (c), and (d)] is the right answer choice.

S5. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer to last paragraph of the given passage, the hint can be drawn from the lines, ‘The rapid growth in the e-commerce industry has given opportunities to several payments companies. In the payments space, banks, financial technology companies, technology startups as well as major technology giants such as Amazon, Google and Apple compete with each other to be part of the most popular payment option. Credit card companies offer cash backs, reward points, discounts to customers based on a customer’s spending, which make it a popular and a convenient choice for users. Many players are now also increasingly partnering with others to offer co-branded credit cards to attract more customers. In 2018-19, credit cards accounted for 30%-35.0% of overall e-commerce payment value.’
Hence, option (d) [All (a), (b), and (c)] is the right answer choice.

S6. Ans. (c)
Sol. Spurt means a sudden marked burst or increase of activity or speed.
Erupt is most similar in meaning with the given word. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.

S7. Ans. (a)
Sol. Discretionary means available for use at the discretion of the user.
Unrestricted is most similar in meaning with the given word. Hence, option (a) is the right answer choice.

S8. Ans. (d)
Sol. Requisite means made necessary by particular circumstances or regulations.
Optional is the most opposite in meaning with the given word. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.

S9. Ans. (d)
Sol. Stagger- Walk or move unsteadily, as if about to fall; arrange (events, payments, hours, etc.) so that they do not occur at the same time.
Lurch, Reel, Sway
Astonish or deeply shock.
Amaze, Astound
Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.

S10. Ans. (b)
Sol. Coercive- Relating to or using force or threats.
Insistent, Persistent, Pressing, Urgent
Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.