English Quiz for SBI PO Prelims exam: 6th May 2018

Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

A group of seven Opposition parties has submitted a notice for an impeachment motion against Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra citing five reasons. This is the first such move against the top judge of the apex court in the country. It is a moment for a nation to pause, take a deep breath, ask some questions. First and fundamentally: Is impeachment, which is the extreme step to punish an errant judge, merited in this case? India’s Constitution prescribes a layered and cumbersome process involving several stages. The bar is set deliberately high on the admissibility of such a move because the consequences for the system can be destabilising and debilitating. The judiciary is the guardian of the Constitution and its guarantee of individual liberties. Its independence is indispensable for other institutions and for the framework of checks and balances to remain in good health. So, do the five grounds on which CJI Dipak Misra is sought to be indicted meet the standard, pass the test? They don’t.

There is an unmistakable air of tentativeness about the charge sheet drawn up against CJI Misra — his alleged involvement in a case relating to an educational trust that allegedly involved the payment of illegal gratification, his acquisition of land 39 years ago and surrendered later, his allocation of cases as master of roster. An impeachment motion must involve clear incapacity or proven misconduct. It cannot be the instrument by which mere suspicions about a judge’s conduct are sought to be expressed or confirmed. It cannot be propelled by a difference of views in court. An impeachment motion must not be — it must not be seen to be — mired in the politics of the day. The move of the Opposition parties against the CJI comes a day after a CJI-led bench spoke on a case that has drawn extraordinary political attention — it dismissed petitions that sought an independent probe into the 2014 death of Judge BH Loya, who at that time was hearing the Sohrabuddin fake encounter case in which BJP president Amit Shah was an accused. Its timing does little to insulate the impeachment notice from Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s accusation that it is a “revenge petition”.

To be sure, there is an unseemly stand-off, an unprecedented breakdown of trust within the Supreme Court today. Sharp anxieties have also been stoked about the court’s ability and willingness to stand up to an executive armed with a decisive mandate, in the matter of the stalled Memorandum of Procedure or government delay in clearing appointments recommended by the Collegium. It is also true that for both these crisis, the CJI must take prime responsibility. Yet, an impeachment move by a divided Opposition is neither the answer nor the way out. It will only lead to a bruising politicisation of a court already divided, and to its embitterment, at a time when it needs to stand firm against external challenge. Perhaps the Opposition leaders helming the impeachment move should have listened to Justice J Chelameswar, one of the four SC judges who held a press conference against the CJI in January, but who insists that the solution must be found through an institutional “audit” and by putting in place a “proper alternative” — through correcting the system, that is, not by unsettling it.

Q1. As per India’s constitution, impeachment process is considered to be….

(a) an unconstitutional process.

(b) a slow and complicated process.

(c) a process comprising of various stages.

(d) Both (b) and (c)

(e) None of the Above.

S1. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer 5th line of first para
“India’s Constitution prescribes a layered and cumbersome process involving several stages.”
Cumbersome means slow and complicated.

Q2. Why is judiciary considered crucial for constitution, in context to the passage?

(a) it is crucial for the framework of checks and balances to remain 

(b) it is represented as the guardian of the constitution.

(c) it is a guarantee for all liberties provided to an individual.

(d) All (a), (b) and (c)

(e) None of the Above

S2. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer 1st para 7th line
“The judiciary is the guardian of the Constitution and its guarantee of individual liberties. Its independence is indispensable for other institutions and for the framework of checks and balances to remain in good health.”

Q3. What are the indispensable requirements to conduct an impeachment motion, in context to the passage?

(a) it must be based on legal and proven misconduct. 

(b) it cannot move forward by difference of views in court.

(c) it cannot confirm a misconduct on mere suspicions.

(d) all (a), (b) and (c)

(e) None of the Above

S3. Ans. (d)
Sol. Refer 2nd para 4th line
“An impeachment motion must involve clear incapacity or proven misconduct. It cannot be the instrument by which mere suspicions about a judge’s conduct are sought to be expressed or confirmed. It cannot be propelled by a difference of views in court. An impeachment motion must not be — it must not be seen to be — mired in the politics of the day”

Q4. Which of the following given statements is correct in context with the passage?

(a) Five opposition parties have submitted a notice for impeachment motion against CJI Dipak Misra citing seven reasons. 

(b) Impeachment is an extreme step against any offending judge.

(c) the charge sheet filed against CJI is indefinite.

(d) According to justice Justice J Chelameswar, solution must not be found through an institutional ‘audit’.

(e) None is correct.

S4. Ans. (b)
Sol. Refer 1st para 4th line.

“: Is impeachment, which is the extreme step to punish an errant judge, merited in this case?”

Q5. According to the passage, the CJI must take the responsibility of

(a) Sohrabuddin fake encounter case

(b) payment of illegal gratification to an educational institute.

(c) government delay in clearing appointments recommended by the Collegium.

(d) All of the above

(e) None of the above

S5. Ans. (c)
Sol. Refer 3rd para 2nd line.

Q6. What is the most appropriate title for this passage?

(a) Notice to Impeach

(b) Not this way

(c) Responsibilities of CJI

(d) Judiciary and Constitution

(e) None of the Above

S6. Ans. (b)
Sol. The most appropriate title for the passage is “Not this way”. This title best suits the passage because the article revolves around the way how impeachment should be done according to the constitution and the way it is being done in this case, which is not the right method.

Q7. Choose the word which best expresses the meaning of the following word given in bold in the passage

ERRANT

(a) cruel

(b) disagreement

(c) rift

(d) righteous

(e) aberrant

S7. Ans. (e)
Sol. Errant: erring or straying from the accepted course or standards.
Aberrant: departing from an accepted standard.

Q8. Choose the word which best expresses the meaning of the following word given in bold in the passage

STOKED

(a) declined

(b) aroused

(c) fainted

(d) groaned

(e) mourned

S8. Ans. (b)
Sol. Stoked: excited or euphoric.

Q9. Choose the word which is most opposite to the following word given in bold in the passage

HELMING

(a) prompting

(b) managing

(c) shunning

(d) prevailing

(e) conducing

S9. Ans. (c)
Sol. Helm: guide mentally; influence
Shun: persistently avoid, ignore, or reject (someone or something) through antipathy or caution.

Q10.  Choose the word which is most opposite to the following word given in bold in the passage

INDISPENSABLE

(a) trivial

(b) crucial

(c) essential

(d) fundamental

(e) imperative

S10. Ans. (a)
Sol. Trivial: of little value or importance.
Indispensable: absolutely necessary.

Directions (11-15): In the passage given below there are blanks which are to be filled with the options given below. Find out the appropriate word in each case which can most suitably complete the sentence without altering the meaning of the statement. 

Benjamin Disraeli presciently said that debt is a (11) mother of folly, and of crime. When a company runs into debt, it is the creditor who inarguably suffers more than the debtor. Insolvency laws aim to assist both the debtor and the creditor in the management and (12) of the debtor’s assets. Recent months have witnessed insolvency petitions against numerous companies being admitted. A few of these companies may also have assets in other jurisdictions, and one of the (13) questions that arises is the treatment of such assets. This, as such, is the province of cross-border insolvency laws. In a situation where an insolvency petition is admitted against a company and the committee of creditors (CoC) fails to arrive at a resolution plan, the company is ordered to be liquidated under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016. In this situation, it is (14) to understand the regime governing the disposition of the foreign assets of a company. It is in this area that the code is (15) inadequate, and there is an urgent need for a framework on cross-border insolvency.

Q11. 

(a) clever

(b) unfruitful

(c) barren

(d) prolific

(e) capable

S11. Ans. (d)
Sol. Prolific: present in large numbers or quantities; plentiful.

Q12. 

(a) disposition

(b) claiming

(c) mismanagement

(d) monitoring

(e) capture

S12. Ans. (a)
Sol. Disposition: the distribution or transfer of property or money to someone, especially by bequest.

Q13. 

(a) resulting

(b) adverse

(c) frugal

(d) crucial

(e) None of the above

S13. And. (d)
Sol. Crucial: of great importance.

Q14. 

(a) unsuitable

(b) prolific

(c) inventive

(d) admirable

(e) pertinent

S14. And. (e)
Sol. Pertinent: relevant or applicable to a particular matter; apposite.

Q15. 

(a) superfluous

(b) woefully

(c) amiable

(d) amicably

(e) sarcastically

S15. Ans. (b)
Sol. Woefully: very badly; deplorably.