English Quizzes, for SBI/IBPS PO Prelims 2021 – 27th October

Directions (1-5): 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.

Social media platforms allow political parties to reach millions of prospective voters and are therefore an integral part of elections. However, some authoritarian regimes across the world have used social media to manufacture positive public opinion. Worse, some established democracies have had to deal with propaganda, fake news and foreign interference in domestic elections. These developments point to the capacity of social media platforms to seriously undermine democratic practices worldwide.

Following the Cambridge Analytica scandal, where the company illegally harvested the personal data of millions of Facebook users without their consent and used that to influence their voting preferences, Facebook has been in the forefront in creating various checks and balances in cyberspace to create an environment for free and fair elections. It has created specialised global centres with the sole aim of promoting election integrity. As a platform that sees billions of posts each day, Facebook has identified Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML)-powered pattern recognition tools to be the most effective line of defence against “unnatural interference”.

Whenever accounts are found that are similar to ones flagged in the past and that are inaccurate, abusive, or violating the platforms’ terms of service, they are systematically removed. At present, AIML tools assist the platform block or remove over a million accounts a day. According to a recent survey, one in two Indian voters has received some kind of fake news in the month leading to the elections. AIML tools also work to minimise the spread of such disinformation.

Some of the actions taken by these platforms, however, have not been that well received, especially by those who say that these platforms should not be deciding what is proper and improper in the Indian online space. For instance, Twitter’s top officials, including global CEO Jack Dorsey, were summoned to appear before the Parliamentary Panel on Information Technology for alleged bias against right-wing voices on the platform.

With almost all the popular social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp, being foreign-owned, and with India having neither insights into their internal algorithms and functioning nor any viable homegrown equivalents, its population will always be susceptible to interference beyond its control. India’s ability to create its own mass collaborative technology and independent institutions with technical expertise that can monitor and counter actions of the government, is paramount in ensuring that social media evolves into an enabler of transparency and democracy, rather than a cause of democratic recession.

Q1. How are Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AIML)-powered pattern recognition tools identified to be the most effective line of defence against “unnatural interference”?
(I) Whenever accounts are found that are similar to ones flagged in the past and that are inaccurate, abusive, or violating the platforms’ terms of service, they are systematically removed.
(II) AIML tools work to minimise the spread of fake news.
(III) AIML places an embargo on the publishing and broadcasting of content that is likely to affect the election.

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

Q2. Which of the following is/are incorrect in context of the passage?
(I) Facebook has created specialised global centres with the sole aim of promoting election integrity.
(II) Social media platforms allow political parties to reach millions of prospective voters and are therefore an integral part of elections.
(III) At present, AIML tools assist Facebook block or remove over a million accounts a day.

(a) Only (I)
(b) Only (II)
(c) Only  (III)
(d) Both (I) and (II)
(e) None of the Above

Q3. Which of the following is/are true in context of the passage?
(I) Existing legal provisions may be less than adequate to address the unique challenges posed by social media.
(II) According to a recent survey, one in two Indian voters has received some kind of fake news in the month leading to the elections.
(III) Besides churning out massive volumes of fake content, it is now evident that individual operators on social media are trying to influence minds and voting patterns.

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

Q4. Choose the word which is SIMILAR to the word given in passage.

UNDERMINE

(a) relieve
(b) threaten
(c) assist
(d) weaken
(e) strengthen

Q5.  Choose the word which is opposite to the following word given in bold in the passage.

PARAMOUNT

(a) outstanding
(b) preeminent
(c) ascendant
(d) inferior
(e) prime

Directions (6-15): In each of the following questions four words are given in bold. Which of the following words must replace each other so that the sentence becomes contextually correct and meaningful. If the sentence is correct as it is, choose option (e) as your answer.

Q6. Rich mineral (1)/resources and the present government’s (2)/willingness to (3)/attract infrastructure will (4)/build plenty of foreign investment.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q7.  Some of the city’s (1)/advantages include a good education system, (2)/attractive quality of life and a good transport system which can (3)/cope with its (4)/rising population.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q8. (1)/Regulators in America have plans to (2)/comply the amount of capital that its eight largest banks can (3)/hold and banks will have until 2018 to (4)/increase.
(a) 2-4
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q9. If we (1)/ quality the school curriculum, colleges will not only (2)/get better (3)/revise students but companies will also get (4)/skilled employees.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-3
(e) No change required

Q10. By (1)/selling small dairy farms and (2)/running milk to factories, women of the village take (3)/care of the (4)/needs of their families.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q11. The term populism has (1)/acquired considerable currency these days and is (2)/widely used to (3)/describe a distinctive (4)/mode of politics.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q12. Every teacher and every (1)/student of this college is (2)/glorious to do his best for the (3)/determined prospects of the (4)/college.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No  change required

Q13. Sikkim was seriously (1)/affected by the September 2011 (2)/earthquake, which (3)/measured 6.9 on the Richter (4)/scale.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q14.  India has a (1)/going publishing scene, thanks to not only the big (2)/publishers but also a lot of quality-(3)/conscious little publishing house that keep it (4)/vibrant.
(a) 1-2
(b) 2-3
(c) 3-4
(d) 1-4
(e) No change required

Q15. The (1)/spurred proponents of economic liberalization have often (2)/argued that the (3)/relaxation of state control will lead to phenomenal growth of industries (4)/staunch by FDI.
(a) 1-2
(b) 1-4
(c) 3-4
(d) 2-3
(e) No change required

Solutions

S1. Ans.(d)
Sol. Both (I) and (II) are correct. Refer 3rd paragraph.

S2. Ans.(e)
Sol. None of the above is incorrect. All are correct in context of the passage.

S3. Ans.(b)
Sol. Only (II) is true. Refer 3rd paragraph.

S4. Ans.(d)
Sol. Undermine: lessen the effectiveness, power, or ability of, especially gradually or insidiously.

S5. Ans.(d)
Sol. Paramount: more important than anything else; supreme.

S6. Ans.(c)
Sol. Replace “attract-build” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

S7. Ans.(e)
Sol. No change required

S8. Ans.(a)
Sol. Replace “comply-increase” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

S9. Ans.(d)
Sol. Replace “quality-revise” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

S10. Ans.(a)
Sol. Replace “selling-running” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

S11. Ans.(e)
Sol. No change required

S12. Ans.(b)
Sol. Replace “glorious-determined” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

S13. Ans.(e)
Sol. No change required

S14. Ans.(d)
Sol. Replace “going-vibrant” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

S15. Ans.(b)
Sol. Replace “spurred-staunch” with to make the sentence correct and meaningful.

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