English Quiz for IBPS PO Mains: 26th of October

IBPS PO Mains English Quiz

The English language perplexes most of the students and makes one nervous during the examination even if the answer to the question is known. But there are no formulas to cramp or the longer the calculation to deal with. The mistakes that occur are because of the lack of confidence. With proper strategy, Study Notes, Quizzes, Vocabulary one can calm his/her nerves and excel in no time. Make the reading newspaper, editorial a habit, and also participate in the daily quiz. The IBPS PO 2019 is just one step away from your reach. Here is the quiz under the Study Plan ‘FATEH’, on the IBPS PO Mains English Quiz and we have  Reading Comprehension  for 26th of October 2019. You can also check out the latest books for IBPS PO 2019

Directions (1-7): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain parts are given in bold to answer some of the questions based on the passage.

There’s a paradox at the heart of global finance. The U.S. share of the world economy has drifted lower for decades, and now President Trump is retreating from the American chief executive’s traditional role as Leader of the Free World. Yet the U.S. dollar remains, as the saying goes, almighty. “American exceptionalism has never been this stark,” Ruchir Sharma, head of emerging markets and chief global strategist for Morgan Stanley Investment Management, said at a Council on Foreign Relations symposium on Sept. 24. By the latest tally of the European Central Bank, America’s currency makes up two-thirds of international debt and a like share of global reserve holdings. Oil and gold are priced in dollars, not euros or yen. When Somali pirates hold up ships at sea, it’s dollars they demand. And threats to be cut off from the dollar-based global payments system strike terror into the likes of Iran, North Korea, and Russia. It’s no exaggeration to say that the dollar’s primacy is at least as valuable to the U.S. as a couple of aircraft carrier strike groups.

Political leaders who once accepted the dollar’s hegemony, grudgingly or otherwise, are pushing back. Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, said in September that it’s “absurd” that European companies buy European planes in the American currency instead of their own. In March, China challenged the dollar’s dominance in the global energy markets with a yuan-denominated crude oil futures contract. Russia slashed its dollar holdings this year, claiming that the greenback is “becoming a risky instrument in international settlements.” And French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire told reporters in August that he wants financing instruments that are “totally independent” of the U.S., saying, “I want Europe to be a sovereign continent, not a vassal.”
This disturbance in the force isn’t good news for the U.S. The dollar’s preeminent role in global finance is an “exorbitant privilege,” as Valéry Giscard d’Estaing, then France’s finance minister, said in 1965. If the dollar loses its central role—to be sure, not an imminent threat—the U.S. will be more vulnerable when there’s a loss of investor confidence. The Federal Reserve might even have to do what other nations do when global investors panic: jack up interest rates to painful levels to keep speculative money from flowing out. As it is now, when trouble breaks out, investors flood into U.S. markets seeking refuge, oddly enough even when the U.S. itself is the source of the problem, as it was in last decade’s global financial crisis.

A slippage in the dollar could also be viewed as a symptom of U.S. isolationism. “In a hypothetical scenario where the U.S. withdraws from the world,” damage to the dollar’s standing could cause average U.S. interest rates to rise by 0.8 percentage point, according to a December paper by Barry Eichengreen of the University of California at Berkeley and two researchers from the European Central Bank.
While any serious erosion of the dollar’s status would take years, the U.S. can’t take its preeminence for granted, says Eichengreen: “Being the incumbent international currency is an advantage, but it’s not the only thing that matters.”

The most immediate risk to the dollar is that the U.S. will overplay its hand on financial sanctions, particularly those against Iran and countries that do business with Iran. In May the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 deal that eased sanctions on Iran in exchange for that country’s promise to stop certain nuclear activities. The U.S. will reimpose sanctions on Nov. 4 and is successfully pressuring companies outside the U.S. not to do business with Tehran. European companies and banks could be punished by the U.S. if they inadvertently transact with sanctioned Iran and Iranian groups such as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. European leaders, in response to what they perceive as an infringement on their sovereignty, are openly working on a payments system that would enable their companies to do business with Iran without getting snagged by the U.S. Treasury Department and its powerful Office of Foreign Assets Control. One idea is to set up a government-funded organization, which would be less vulnerable to U.S. actions than a private company or bank, to arrange exchanges of Iranian oil for products from Europe and possibly Russia and China as well. French officials say the transactions might be structured as barter to avoid involving banks. “We cannot accept as Europeans that others, even our closest allies and friends, determine who we can do business with,” Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, said at the Bloomberg Global Business Forum on Sept. 26.

The Europeans’ progress has been slow, so there won’t be anything ready in time to alleviate the sanctions taking effect in November, says Carsten Brzeski, a former European Commission official who’s now chief economist of ING-DiBa, the German branch of the Dutch banking company ING Group. Indeed, U.S. national security adviser John Bolton dismissed the European plan from the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in late September, calling the European Union “strong on rhetoric and weak on follow-through.” He needled, “So we will be watching the development of this structure that doesn’t exist yet and has no target date to be created.”

Q1. What is/are the signs that show(s) the unraveling of the dollar paradox?
(I) European Commission finds unreasonable to trade for the European products by the European companies in dollars.
(II) China has initiated Yuan-denominated crude oil contracts to surpass dollar’s hegemony.
(III) French minister expects consonance between US Dollar and European currency.
(IV) Russians are insecure for using dollars as an instrument for international discharges.
(a) Only (I)
(b) Both (II) and (III)
(c) Only (I) (II) and (IV)
(d) Only (I) (II) and (III)
(e) All (I) (II) (III) and (IV)

Q2. According to the passage what is/are the immediate risks that the US Dollar is/are facing?
(I) Nuclear attacks on the US due to the re-imposition of the earlier eased sanctions.
(II) France may exchange goods for trading with other countries to avoid involvement of any currency.
(III) European leaders are planning to set up a government-funded organization to trade with Iran, Russia and China.
(a) Only (III)
(b) Both (I) and (III)
(c) Only (I)
(d) Both (II) and (III)
(e) All (I) (II) and (III)

Q3. According to the passage, what is/are the fields where dollar hegemony is visible?
(I) Dollar makes up for the two-thirds of the international debts and a like share of the global reserve holdings.
(II) Oil and gold are priced in the American currency.
(III) Somali pirates demand for dollars to release the ship they capture.
(IV) Iran, North Korea and Russia are dreaded with the threats to be cut off from the dollar-based global payments system.
(a) Only (I)
(b) Both (II) and (III)
(c) Only (I) (II) and (IV)
(d) Only (I) (II) and (III)
(e) All (I) (II) (III) and (IV)

Q4. Which of the followings explains the paradox of the US dollar at the heart of global finance?
(I) Even though America has adopted the policy of exceptionalism, the dollar is still losing its strength.
(II) Even though there are threats from US in the global payment system, the Dollar still makes up for two-third of international debts.
(III) Even though the US share of the world economy is declining for decades, the dollar still stands out as the most powerful instrument in the international market.
(a) Only (III)
(b) Both (I) and (III)
(c) Only (I)
(d) Both (II) and (III)
(e) All (I) (II) and (III)
L1Difficulty 3
QTags Reading Comprehension

Q5. Suggest the most appropriate title for the given passage.
(a) The growing paradox of US dollar.
(b) The tyranny of US dollar.
(c) The rebel of European leaders.
(d) Iran in international market.
(e) Europe as a Sovereign Continent.

Q6. Choose the word most SIMILAR in the meaning of highlighted word given in the passage.
HEGEMONY
(a) Acquiescence
(b) Contingency
(c) Ascendancy
(d) Docile
(e) Subservience

Q7. Choose the word most OPPOSITE in the meaning of the given highlighted word in the passage.
EXORBITANT
(a) Outrageous
(b) Extortionate
(c) Conjectural
(d) Reasonable
(e) Dubious

Directions (8-15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain parts are given in bold to answer some of the questions based on the passage.

The government is currently in an unenviable position. Whereas there are demands for taking strong steps to tackle the problems facing the economy, the Centre is seen handling the situation with kid gloves.

Most of the afflictions of the economy — a high current account deficit (CAD), rising inflation, poor exports, expensive imports, and concerns over meeting the fiscal deficit target — are because of depreciating rupee and rising oil prices, which are largely influenced by external factors.

The government had already taken some steps to control the CAD, such as increasing import tariffs on several non-essential items and sought to ease the burden of higher oil prices by cutting petrol and diesel prices for consumers. But these steps are akin to small dams tackling huge floods. The problem is the government can’t do more without risking damage to other important macroeconomic indicators such as the fiscal deficit.

The government’s recent action of directing oil marketing companies to take a Re.1 per litre hit on their finances was viewed as a reversal of deregulation of oil prices in 2014. The Finance Minister had since sought to reassure everybody that this wasn’t the case. But the situation reveals the constraints the government is facing.

The Centre has few choices when it comes to cushioning the oil price blow. First, it can do nothing more than the Rs.2.5 per litre cut in fuel prices it has already implemented. Second, it can cut the price of fuel further by reducing the excise duty even more than the Rs. 1.5 per litre recently implemented. Third, it can use the finances of the oil marketing companies to absorb the impact of a price cut. Fourth, it can ask all the States — and at least expect the BJP-led ones to agree — to further reduce VAT on fuel.

Doing nothing is naturally an attractive option. But the issue this time is that the high oil prices are more linked to political causes, which are much stickier than a demand-supply mismatch, which in the age of shale oil and gas has become a less vexing issue. Prices could likely go up further, increasingly making ‘doing nothing’ a painful way forward.

The idea of taking a further hit on excise duty collections must certainly be very discomfiting for Mr. Jaitley, who has repeatedly and vociferously maintained that the government will keep to its fiscal deficit target of 3.3% of GDP. With the Centre’s GST revenue coming in about Rs.5,000-Rs.7,000 crores lower than it should, and the States facing an average 13% shortfall in GST revenue this year, the only bright spot is direct taxes.

Net direct tax collections grew 14% in the April-September 2018 period, which is strong compared to the trend. But strong direct tax collections cannot shoulder the burden of lower indirect tax collections both due to GST and a further cut in excise duties on fuel. A further excise duty cut will, in short, increase the likelihood of missing the fiscal deficit target.

Apart from the economic reasons why this might not be a good idea, a slippage two year in a row will give the Opposition political brownie points which is probably not something the government can afford in an election year. Likewise, forcing the oil marketing companies to take another hit to their finances will also not go down well. Oil company stocks will plummet more than they already have.

Whether the States will be willing to reduce VAT rates is a more political than economic question, one that only they can answer.

In the early part of the government’s tenure, low oil prices gave it the luxury of cruising along by making only minor tweaks. Now, in the last few months of its term, a reversal of fortunes has meant the very most it can do are minor adjustments.

Q8. What does the author mean by ‘these steps are akin to small dams tackling huge floods’?
(a) The government has increased import tariffs on several non-essential items and sought to ease the burden of higher oil prices by cutting oil prices for consumers.
(b) The government asking the Oil marketing companies to take a Rs. 1 per litre hit on their finances is prudent.
(c) The steps taken by the government to control the Current Account Deficits are insufficient.
(d) The government is facing constraint in tacking the economic challenges being faced by the nation.
(e) None of these.

Q9. The last sentence of the fourth paragraph states ‘But the situation reveals the constraints the government is facing’. In what respect, the government is facing the constraints?
(a) Controlling the Current Account Deficit.
(b) Cushioning the oil price blow.
(c) Asking the oil marketing companies to take a Rs. 1 per litre hit on their finances.
(d) Options (b) and (c)
(e) None of these

Q10. Which of the following ways can be used by the government to contain the oil prices?
(i) The government should ask the States to trim VAT on fuel.
(ii) The government should reduce the excise duty.
(iii) The government should use the finances of the Oil Marketing companies to absorb the impact of a price cut.
(iv) The government should stay idle.
(a) only (i)
(b) Both (ii) and (iv)
(c) Both (i) and (iii)
(d) Only (i) (ii) and (iii)
(e) All (i) (ii) (iii) and (iv)

Q11. Which of the following steps if taken by the government may not yield positive results?
(a) Further cutting down the excise duty on the oil prices.
(b) Forcing the oil marketing companies to take another hit to their finances by absorbing global oil-price rise to their finances.
(c) A strong collection of the Net Direct Tax
(d) Only (a) and (b)
(e) All (a), (b) and (c)

Q12. Idiomatically, which of the following(s) is/are not attributed by the author as the ‘kid gloves’ when he said ‘…the Centre is seen handling the situation with kid gloves…’ in the first paragraph?
(i) A high current account deficit (CAD)
(ii) The government increasing import tariffs on several non-essential items
(iii) The government cutting petrol and diesel prices for consumer;
(iv) Concerns over meeting the fiscal deficit target
(v) Strong Net Direct Tax collections between April-September 2018.
(a) Options (i) and (ii)
(b) Only (iii)
(c) Options (i), and (iv)
(d) Options (i), (iv) and (v)
(e) Options (ii), (iii) and (v)

Q13. Which of the following is/are the afflictions of the economy?
(a) A high current account deficit (CAD).
(b) Government directing oil marketing companies to take a Rs 1 per litre hit on their finances.
(c) The nation is importing items at costly rates.
(d) Both (a) and (c)
(e) All (a), (b) and (c)

Directions (14): Choose the word which is the OPPOSITE in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

Q14. Unenviable
(a) Difficult
(b) Desirable
(c) Obtrusive
(d) Nasty
(e) Lackadaisical

Directions (15): Choose the word which is the SAME in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

Q15. Vociferously
(a) Surreptitiously
(b) Nearly
(c) Callously
(d) Incessantly
(e) Loudly

Solutions

S1. Ans. (e)
Sol. The US dollar paradox means even though President Trump withdraws from the American chief executive’s traditional role as the Leader of the Free World, the dollar will still appreciated as the most powerful trading instrument. The Paragraph 2nd quotes all the statements from the different ministers that indicate the vanishing of the dollar paradox.
Refer to the lines of the 2nd paragraph “Political leaders who once accepted the dollar’s hegemony, grudgingly or otherwise, are pushing back… sovereign continent, not a vassal.”
Hence, the option (e) is the most suitable answer choice.

S2. Ans. (d)
Sol. The 4th paragraph mentions the risks for the dollar as the US has decided to punish the countries that will transact with Iran and Iranian groups. However, European leaders have fearlessly decided to form a separate government funded organization to trade with Iran, so as to outcast US dollar from the transactions. This step may cause fall in the value of Dollar in the international market.
Refer to the 7th line of the 4th paragraph “European leaders, in response to what they perceive… to avoid involving banks”.
Hence, the option (d) is the most suitable answer choice.

S3. Ans. (e)
Sol. Dollar’s dominance is visible in all the given fields. Refer to the 6th line of the 1st paragraph “By the latest tally of the European Central Bank, America’s currency makes up two-thirds of international debt and a like share of global reserve holdings. Oil and gold are priced in dollars, not euros or yen. When Somali pirates hold up ships at sea, it’s dollars they demand. And threats to be cut off from the dollar-based global payments system strike terror into the likes of Iran, North Korea, and Russia”. Hence, the option (e) is the most suitable answer choice.

S4. Ans. (a)
Sol. The US dollar paradox means even though Even though the US share of the world economy is declining for decades, the dollar is still appreciated as the most powerful trading instrument. To validate the answer, refer to the first line of the first paragraph “There’s a paradox at the heart… dollar remains, as the saying goes, almighty”. All the other alternatives do not precisely depict the meaning of US dollar paradox. Hence, the option (a) is the most suitable answer choice.

S5. Ans. (b)
Sol. Since the passage is describing about the unreasonable use of power and control of the US dollar in the international market, the title “The tyranny of US dollar” aptly justifies its content. All the other titles fail to denominate the passage. Hence, option (b) is the most suitable answer choice.

S6. Ans. (c)
Sol. Hegemony means leadership or dominance, especially by one state or social group over others; while ascendency means occupation of a position of dominant power or influence. Since they both are synonyms of each other, the option (c) becomes the most feasible answer choice.
Acquiescence means the reluctant acceptance of something without protest.
Contingency means a future event or circumstance which is possible but cannot be predicted with certainty.
Docile means ready to accept control or instruction; submissive.
Subservience means willingness to obey others unquestioningly.

S7. Ans. (d)
Sol. Exorbitant means (of a price or amount charged) unreasonably high; while Reasonable means to keep as much as is appropriate or fair; moderate. Since, they both are antonyms of each other, option (d) is the most suitable answer choice.
Outrageous means shockingly bad or excessive.
Extortionate means (of a price) much too high; exorbitant
Conjectural means based on or involving conjecture.
Dubious means hesitating or doubting.
Hence, the correct answer is the option (d).

S8. Ans. (c)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the first two sentences of the third paragraph. The first sentence delineates the steps taken by the government to control the Current Account Deficit, while the second sentence informs the reader that the steps taken are ‘like small dams tackling huge floods’, meaning that the steps taken are insufficient.
The option (a) only tells us about the steps taken by the government but didn’t tell the correct meaning of the phrase.
Only option (c) tells us about the correct meaning of the phrase and is the correct answer.
Hence, the option (c) is the correct answer.

S9. Ans. (b)
Sol. The correct answer for the question can be derived from the fourth and the fifth paragraph. The last sentence of the fourth paragraph mentions that the government is facing constraints, while the first sentence of the fifth paragraph mentions that ‘the Centre has few choices when it comes to cushioning the oil price blow.’ The fourth paragraph also focuses on the tackling oil prices. The option (c) only tells about the step taken by the government to control the oil prices blow, but it isn’t the answer to the question because the question asks at what area, is the government is facing constraints.
Hence, the correct answer is the option (b).

S10. Ans. (e)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the fifth paragraph, where the statement (i) can be deduced from the last sentence of the paragraph, the statement (ii) can be deduced from the third sentence which is ‘Second, it can cut the price of fuel further by reducing the excise duty even more than the Rs. 1.5 per litre recently implemented’, and the statement (iii) can be deduced from the second-last sentence of the paragraph. The first sentence of the sixth paragraph mentions that ‘doing nothing is naturally an attractive option’, so the alternative (iv) is also a way which the government may use to contain the oil prices. Hence, the correct answer to the question is the option (e).

S11. Ans. (d)
Sol. A strong net direct tax collection would help the government in controlling the Current Account Deficit. So, the option (c) would be good for the nation and hence, for the image of the present government, not bad.
The option (a), further cutting down the excise duty on the oil prices would increase the likelihood of missing the fiscal deficit target (as mentioned in the last sentence of the eight paragraph). Missing the fiscal deficit target (as mentioned in the ninth paragraph) will give the opposition political parties brownie points which the government can’t afford in an election year. Similarly, it is also mentioned in the ninth paragraph that forcing the oil marketing companies to take another hit to their finances will severely affect the companies and their stocks.
From above, we find that both options (a) and (b) are correct, and hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.

S12. Ans. (d)
Sol. First, let’s understand the meaning of the phrase ‘…the Centre is seen handling the situation with kid gloves…’ In the phrase, the ‘situation’ means ‘the afflictions of the economy—a high current account deficit (CAD), rising inflation, poor exports, expensive imports, and concerns over meeting the fiscal deficit target’, and the ‘kid gloves’ are the insufficient steps taken by the government, mentioned specifically in the third and fourth paragraphs—increasing import tariffs on several non-essential items, cutting petrol and diesel prices for consumers, and directing the oil marketing companies to take a Rs. 1 per litre hit on their finances etc.
So, the options (ii) and (iii) are the steps taken by the government which is, idiomatically, expressed by the author as the ‘gloves’. The use of the adjective ‘kid’ before the noun ‘gloves’ implies that the ‘steps recently taken’ by the government in the wake of the current afflictions of the economy are ineffective.
The options (i) and (iv) implies the situations faced by the government.
Now let’s study the option (v). Strong net direct tax collections between April-September 2018 is an effect/consequence, not a step taken by the government in the wake of the current afflictions of the economy.
So, the options (i), (iv) and (v) doesn’t represent the ‘kid gloves’ as mentioned in the given phrase.
In the question, we must choose the option(s) which isn’t/aren’t attributed by the author as the ‘kid gloves’. So, the correct answer is the option (d).

S13. Ans. (d)
Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the second paragraph which is ‘most of the afflictions of the economy—a high current account deficit (CAD), rising inflation, poor exports, expensive imports, and concerns over meeting the fiscal deficit target…’
Clearly, only options (a) and (c) are the correct answer.
Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.

S14. Ans. (b)
Sol. Unenviable [adjective]: difficult, undesirable, or unpleasant
Obtrusive [verb] means ‘noticeable or prominent in an unwelcome or intrusive way’;
Lackadaisical [adjective] means ‘lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy;
Nasty [adjective] means ‘offensive’;
Among the given options, clearly, ‘Desirable’ is the correct antonym for the given word and hence, the option (b) is the correct answer.

S15. Ans. (e)
Sol. Vociferously [adverb] means ‘in a vociferous manner’;
Vociferous [adjective] means ‘conspicuously and offensively loud; given to vehement outcry;’
Surreptitiously [adverb] means ‘in a way that attempts to avoid notice or attention; secretively’;
Callously [adverb] means ‘in a way that shows an insensitive and cruel disregard for others; unfeelingly’;
Incessantly [adverb] means ‘without interruption; constantly’;
From above, clearly, ‘loudly’ is the synonym of ‘vociferously’, and hence, the correct answer is the option (e).