English Language Quiz for SBI, IBPS Prelims 2021- 27th March

Directions (1-5): There are three sentences given in the following question. Find the sentence(s) which is/are grammatically correct and mark your answer choosing the best possible alternative among the five options given below each question. If all the sentences are correct, choose (e) as your answer.

Q1. (I)Israel, though still enhancing ties with China is desirous to supply military hardware and partners India on matters of security and economic development.
(II)The world is moving towards realpolitik, ignoring previous relations based on history, commonality of religion and humanitarian considerations.
(III)Across the globe, terrorism is a major threat, which India has kept under control.

(a)Only (I) is correct
(b)Only (II) is correct
(c)Both (I) and (III) are correct
(d)Both (II) and (III) are correct
(e)All are correct

Q2. (I) While the use of hard power and tough diplomatic negotiations almost invariably hog the spotlight in international relations, soft power rarely comes into play.
(II) Culture, including Buddhism and Hinduism, have become one of the three key markers in India’s close engagement with South East Asia, the other two being commerce and maritime connectivity.
(III) Some experts opine that the emphasis in some versions of the Ramayana in South East Asia is more on story-telling then on evoking devotion.

(a)Only (I) is correct
(b)Only (II) is correct
(c)Both (I) and (II) are correct
(d)Both (II) and (III) are correct
(e)All are correct

Q3. (I) The RTE Act of 2009 mandated compulsory training of all teachers in a time-barred manner with a simultaneous overhaul of the teacher education curricula.
(II) While India has been one of the earliest countries to have institutionalized a teacher-education regime nationally, effectively outcomes of such training provisions have remained a matter of debate.
(III) A critical factor that dictates quality schooling is trained manpower.

(a)Only (I) is correct
(b)Only (II) is correct
(c)Both (I) and (III) are correct
(d)Both (II) and (III) are correct
(e)All are correct

Q4. (I) Some of the scriptures and works of even non-Hindus mention the Ganga as the best of all rivers.
(II) The Ganga, regarded as the cradle of India’s civilisation, has been gradually sinking and stinking.
(III) The sources of pollution are urban liquid wastes, industrial liquid wastes, large scale wallowing of cattle and dumping of the dead into the water.

(a)Only (I) is correct
(b)Only (II) is correct
(c)Only (III) is correct
(d)Both (I) and (III) are correct
(e)All are correct

Q5. (I) Japanese geologists estimate that a 2.3 square kilometer patch of seafloor might contain enough rare earth materials to sustain global demand for a year.
(II) The WWF predicts that we will be forced to colonize two planets within 50 years if natural resources continue to be exploited at the current rate.
(III) One of the asteroids are Eros, which is said to yield a value estimated at $15.84 trillion, and to contain more gold than has ever been mined in the history of the earth.

(a)Only (I) is correct
(b)Only (II) is correct
(c)Both (I) and (II) are correct
(d)Both (II) and (III) are correct
(e)All are correct

Directions (6-10): In the following paragraph, there is a set of four highlighted words against each number indicated in bold in the beginning of the sentences. One of the given words in each set may or may not fit into the statement. Choose the word which is not suitable in the context of the paragraph. If all the four words are correct and feasible, choose (e) i.e. “No error” as your answer.

(6) A revised record on developing, managing and operating security infrastructure in the Indian Ocean island state of Seychelles signed over the weekend by outgoing foreign secretary S Jaishankar underlines India’s opportunities and challenges in becoming a security provider in the littoral.

(7) As India steps out to take larger responsibilities in the Indian Ocean, it should look to its own past for lessons on the solutions associated with projecting military power. (8) In the Great Game of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the British Raj have to continuously fend off rival European powers from gaining a strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean.

(9) The Raj also had to ensure that its own access to islands at critical locations and the choke points constricting entry and exit from the Indian Ocean is not threatened by internal turbulence in these places, power play by its rivals or a combination of both. The burden of getting this done was on the shoulders of the so-called “politicals”. (10) The term referred to the officers of the fable Political Department, the precursor of our present foreign office under the Raj. The “politicals” had the task of negotiating special political relationships and military partnerships with kingdoms and khanates beyond the frontiers and steer the geopolitical dynamic in favour of the Raj.

Q6.
(a) record
(b) security
(c) signed
(d) opportunities
(e) no error

Q7.
(a) steps
(b) responsibilities
(c) solutions
(d) projecting
(e) no error

Q8.
(a) have
(b) continuously
(c) gaining
(d) strategic
(e) no error

Q9.
(a) ensure
(b) access
(c) location
(d) constricting
(e) no error

Q10.
(a) referred
(b) officers
(c) fable
(d) precursor
(e) no error

Directions (11-15): For the questions given below seven sentences are given which are not in logical order. Rearrange them (one of the sentence is the odd one out) to form a coherent paragraph and then answer the questions following it.

(A)Toshiba-Westinghouse then carried the baton to actualise the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal, but ran into a different storm as both Toshiba and Westinghouse had major financial troubles last year.

(B)Today, nearly a decade since the memoranda of understanding were inked, and three years after the last wrinkles were ironed out, there is no sign yet of any concrete contract between an American company and the Indian authorities to build a reactor.

(C) In 2009, both GE-Hitachi and Toshiba-Westinghouse had begun talks on techno-commercial agreements for six reactors each in India.

(D)These commercial contracts were to be the start of the ‘payoff’ for the U.S. that had considerably shifted its stand on non-proliferation to give India the waivers needed, and they were to herald India’s arrival on the global nuclear power stage in return.

(E)Instead, GE-Hitachi’s plans were shelved after it rejected the Obama-Modi agreement in January 2015, saying GE would not accept the compromise formula on supplier liability.

(F) After a near-bankruptcy, Toshiba jettisoned Westinghouse for just $4.6 billion to a Canadian consortium, a deal that is now expected to be cleared by the end of 2018.

(G) Third, India’s own requirements from the India-U.S. civil nuclear deal have changed considerably.

Q11. Which one of the following does not belong to the coherent paragraph after rearrangement?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) G
(e) E

Q12. Which one of the following is the second sentence of the paragraph after rearrangement (excluding answer of Q.1)?
(a) C
(b) D
(c) E
(d) F
(e) A

Q13. Which one of the following summarises the paragraph after the rearrangement?
(a) The commercial disagreement between Toshiba and GE-Hitachi led Toshiba and Westinghouse to come together to carry out the project of six reactors but failed due to financial shortcomings and ultimately Toshiba discarded Westinghouse for $4.6 billion.
(b) The financial crisis was set off because Westinghouse went into major cost overruns, possibly worth more than $15 billion, in building four AP1000 reactors at two projects in the U.S., the same reactors as the ones meant for India.
(c) This would mean that even if an India-U.S. techno-commercial contract is finally readied in 2019, and the ground breaking begins immediately, it may not see fruition until 2029, a good 20 years after the nuclear agreement was signed.
(d) Nuclear power is losing its primacy in the energy mix. In 2016, for example, global wind power output grew by 16%, solar by 30%, but nuclear energy only by 1.4%.
(e) New Delhi may not get the support that the Obama administration had promised both on financing renewable energy projects and in facilitating India-U.S. civil nuclear power deals.

Q14. Which one of the following is the fourth sentence of the paragraph after rearrangement?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) G
(e) E

Q15. Which one of the following is the last second sentence of the paragraph after rearrangement (excluding answer of Q.1)?
(a) A
(b) B
(c) C
(d) G
(e) E

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Solutions

S1. Ans. (d)
Sol. There is a minor error in the first sentence; the verb “partners” should be replaced by its first form “partner” as it is to be noted that the verb is used with “to-infinitive” [to supply military hardware and partner…]. Moreover, the use of the conjunction “and” denotes that both the verbs [supply and partner] should be in the same form to make the sentence grammatically correct. The other two statements are grammatically correct and do not require any correction. Hence option (d) is the correct choice.

S2. Ans. (a)
Sol. The first sentence is grammatically correct. However, there are errors in both the second and the third statements. In the statement (II), the plural verb “have” should be replaced by the singular verb “has” as the Subject it is referring is in singular form [Culture]. It is to be noted that the subject “Culture” incorporates both Buddhism and Hinduism as well, as it is mentioned “including Buddhism and Hinduism”. Thus, it will be considered a singular Subject only and to make the sentence grammatically correct, it should follow the subject-verb agreement.

In the case of the third sentence, the adverb “then” is incorrectly matched with the sentence structure; it should be replaced by the conjunction “than” as there is a case of comparison. The adverb “then” implies after that; next; afterwards, while the conjunction “than” implies introducing the second element in a comparison. Hence option (a) is the correct choice.

S3. Ans. (c)
Sol. Both the first and the third statements are grammatically correct and they do not require any correction. However, in the second sentence, there is a slight error in the use of an adverb instead of an adjective as the sentence demands. The adverb “effectively” should be replaced by the adjective “effective” as this adjective would modify the noun “outcomes” which wasn’t the case with the adverb. Adjectives are words that describe the qualities or states of being of nouns, while Adverb is a word or phrase that modifies the meaning of an adjective, verb, or other adverb, expressing manner, place, time, or degree (e.g. gently, here, now, very). Hence option (c) is the correct choice.

S4. Ans. (e)
Sol. All the three statements are grammatically correct and they do not require any correction. Hence option (e) is the correct choice.

S5. Ans. (c)
Sol. Both the statements (I) and (II) are grammatically correct. However, in the third sentence, the plural verb “are” should be replaced by its singular “is” as the noun following the phrase “one of the” is always a plural noun, whereas use of verbs as singular or plural entirely depends upon the subject of the statement, i.e. singular verb for singular subject and plural verb for plural subject. In this case, the Subject “Eros” is singular, so the verb should also be singular i.e. “is”.  Hence option (c) is the correct choice.

S6. Ans. (a)
Sol. The usage of the word ‘record’ doesn’t fit into the blank. ‘record’ means a thing constituting a piece of evidence about the past, especially an account kept in writing or some other permanent form. A record is formed once the agreement is signed and it is mentioned in the paragraph that something is signed for developing, managing and operating security infrastructure. Thus, the correct word should be ‘agreement’.

S7. Ans (c)
Sol. The usage of the word ‘solutions’ here is wrong as the paragraph is describing about the upcoming difficulties and challenges associated with the military power. The paragraph is not expressing any prevailing problem for which the solution might be refereed from the past lessons. Thus, the correct word should be “difficulties”.

S8. Ans. (a)
Sol. The usage of ‘have’ is making the sentence grammatically incorrect. The time reference of 19^th century indicates that the sentence is in the past tense. Hence, the correct word to be used here should be ‘had’.

S9. Ans. (e)
Sol. The sentence given here is correct. The word ‘constricting’ means to make narrower, especially by encircling pressure.

S10. Ans. (c)
Sol. The word “fable” is incorrectly used here as the word denotes a verb which means tell fictitious tales. However, in this case the word should be used as an adjective “fabled” to modify the noun “Political Department”. In this case, the adjective “fabled” means famous, especially by reputation. Hence (c) is the correct option.

S11. Ans.(d)
Sol. Option (d) is the correct choice. Statement (G) does not belong to the theme of the paragraph. All the statements except for statement (G) are following the theme of the paragraph and making it coherent.

S12. Ans. (a)
Sol. Option (a) is the correct choice. The sequence of the paragraph after rearrangement is BCDEAF

S13. Ans. (a)
Sol. Only option (a) is summarizing the given paragraph. All the other options are either irrelevant or providing additional information to the paragraph.

S14. Ans. (e)
Sol. Option (e) is the correct choice. The sequence of the paragraph after rearrangement is BCDEAF

S15. Ans. (a)
Sol. Option (a) is the correct choice. The sequence of the paragraph after rearrangement is BCDEAF

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