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IBPS PO Prelims English Language Mini Mock Test 8 – Cloze Test

Directions (1-8): In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are also printed below the passage and against each five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Nature, a perceptive thinker has said, is always ahead of the avant-garde. Which is to say that even the ‘advance guard’ of artists and writers which thinks and expresses things before others do is behind nature. Art can be daring, writing _________________ (1). For sheer originality, however, nature is not to be overtaken.

Human nature, likewise, may be said to be ever ahead of those who try to understand it or dare to shape it. M.K. Gandhi, who tried to do both, has, not surprisingly, been described as one who was ‘ahead of his time’. I am not sure if anyone can, in the linear logic of _____________ (2), ever be ahead of his time. But studying human behaviour as thoroughly as he did, ‘in foul weather and fair’, Gandhi had acquired the ____________ (3) of anticipating collective responses to events and then either encouraging or resisting those responses.

He knew in his bones that India’s struggle for freedom was a historical ____________ (4) and did all he could to take it forward. He knew likewise in the pulse of his being that partitioning India was wrong and did all he possibly could to avert it. He along with Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan knew that communal divisiveness would __________ (5) the drawing of the Radcliffe lines. So much so that in the _______________ (6) of 1946, while the subcontinent prepared itself for the transfer of power, he, with Ghaffar Khan, made sure that where the fires would ____________ (7) — along the borders of the two coming-to-be dominions — they would be. As the “one man boundary force” (Lord Mountbatten’s description of him) that he became, Gandhi could not extinguish those fires but he did succeed in ____________ (8) innumerable flames — with the help of some incredible volunteers in the same cause, like SachinMitra and SmritishBanerjea of Calcutta who died by standing between two rioting mobs.

Q1.

(a) Spat

(b) Warble
(c) Audacious

(d) Mien

(e) Sate

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Q2.

(a) Docile

(b) Patronizing
(c) Teem

(d)Estranged

(e) Chronology

Q3.

(a) Fitful

(b) Erode
(c)Knack

(d)Unaffected

(e)Canto

Q4.

(a)Imperative

(b) Raiment
(c) Intrepid

(d) Seemly

(e) Allay

Q5.

(a) Reticent

(b) Propensity
(c) Chide

(d) Outlast

(e) Espoused

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Q6.

(a)Cravens

(b) Embers
(c) Ostensible

(d) Vestige

(e)Plumb

Q7.

(a)Innate

(b) Reverie
(c) Rage

(d) Wrangle

(e) Crevice

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Q8.

(a) Deign

(b) Capricious
(c) Stupendous

(d) Chaffing

(e) Dousing

Directions (9-15): In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are also printed below the passage and against each five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Given his wealth and philanthropy, Bill Gates will be heard respectfully when he says that millions more in India and Africa will die before the Covid-19 pandemic ends. _____________ (9) about India’s fatality figure (“The true number… is probably much higher”), Microsoft’s co-founder ____________(10)  that the disease itself may account for only 10 per cent of future deaths — the knock-on effects will kill millions more.

All the more reason, therefore, for using this interregnumto consider not only the threat of decimation but also the challenge of the new norm. It’s popular __________ (11) that the Mandarin word for crisis combines two characters standing for danger and opportunity. Where that _________ (12) mix will lead no one knows. Viruses have shaped history. Smallpox, measles and influenza epidemics helped European colonization of the Americas. The Spanish flu sparked an economic ___________ (13) that shaped the Roaring Twenties. Much depends on how long the pandemic rages. Gates’s hope of an effective, mass-produced vaccine by the end of 2021 and the consequent immunization of enough people worldwide to halt the disease in its tracks seems reasonable now that Phase III trials of the Oxford vaccine are ____________ (14).

Our problem is with the government’s callously neglected human responsibilities. Covid-19 has exposed India’s __________ (15) inadequate healthcare system. Remedying this should be Delhi’s first task after the pandemic. Hunger spreads as jobs disappear and agricultural productivity declines. Lockdowns disrupt education. Other causes of death — malaria and HIV here, cancer in the West — are neglected.

Q9.

(a) Foreboding

(b) Sceptical

(c) Pillage

(d) Rend

(e) Livelihood

Q10.

(a)Hewed

(b) Parity

(c) Affable

(d) Warns

(e) Interminable

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Q11.

(a)Sentinel

(b) Lore

(c) Precision

(d)Usurp

(e) Slew

Q12.

(a)Precept

(b)Odium

(c) Heady

(d)Wanton

(e)Depose

Q13.

(a)Enduring

(b)Candid

(c) Fray

(d)Deference

(e) Surge

Q14.

(a)Nominal

(b)Insinuate

(c) Imminent

(d)Bland

(e) Impertinent

Q15.

(a) Suppliant

(b) Languid

(c) Rave

(d) Monetary

(e) Scandalously

Solutions

S1. Ans. (c)

Sol. “Audacious” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.

Audacious: showing a willingness to take surprisingly bold risks.

Spat: a quarrel about petty points

Warble: sing or play with trills

Mien: a person’s appearance, manner, or demeanor

Sate: fill to contentment

S2. Ans. (e)

Sol. “Chronology” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (e) is the right answer choice.

Chronology: the arrangement of events or dates in the order of their occurrence.

Docile: easily handled or managed

Patronize: treat condescendingly

Teem: be full of or abuzz with

Estrange: arouse hostility or indifference in

S3. Ans. (c)

Sol. “Knack” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.

Knack: an acquired or natural skill at doing something.

Fitful: occurring in spells and often abruptly

Erode: become ground down or deteriorate

Canto: a major division of a long poem

S4. Ans. (a)

Sol. “Imperative” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (a) is the right answer choice.

Imperative: of vital importance; crucial.

Raiment: especially fine or decorative clothing

Intrepid: invulnerable to fear or intimidation

Seemly: according with custom or propriety

Allay: lessen the intensity of or calm

S5. Ans. (d)

Sol. “Outlast” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.

Outlast: live or last longer than.

Reticent: temperamentally disinclined to talk

Chide: scold or reprimand severely or angrily

Propensity: an inclination to do something

Espouse: choose and follow a theory, idea, policy, etc.

S6. Ans. (b)

Sol.  “Embers” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.

Embers: a small piece of burning or glowing coal or wood in a dying fire.

Craven: lacking even the rudiments of courage; abjectly fearful

Ostensible: appearing as such but not necessarily so

Vestige:an indication that something has been present

Plumb: examine thoroughly and in great depth

S7. Ans. (c)

Sol. “Rage” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.

Rage: violent uncontrollable anger.

Innate: not established by conditioning or learning

Reverie: an abstracted state of absorption

Wrangle: quarrel noisily, angrily, or disruptively

Crevice: a long narrow opening

S8. Ans. (e)

Sol.Dousing” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (e) is the right answer choice.

Dousing: extinguish (a fire or light).

-pour a liquid over; drench.

Deign: do something that one considers to be below one’s dignity

Capricious: determined by chance or impulse rather than by necessity

Stupendous: so great in size, force, or extent as to elicit awe

Chaffing: material consisting of seed coverings and pieces of stem

S9. Ans. (b)

Sol. “Sceptical” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.

Sceptical: not easily convinced; having doubts or reservations.

Foreboding: a feeling of evil to come

Pillage: steal goods; take as spoils

Rend: tear or be torn violently

S10. Ans. (d)

Sol. “Warns” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (d) is the right answer choice.

Hew: make or shape as with an axe

Parity: functional equality

Affable: diffusing warmth and friendliness

Interminable: tiresomely long; seemingly without end

S11. Ans. (b)

Sol. “Lore” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (b) is the right answer choice.

Lore: a body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth.

Sentinel: a person employed to keep watch for some anticipated event

Precision: the quality of being reproducible in amount or performance

Usurp: seize and take control without authority

Slew: a large number or amount or extent

S12. Ans. (c)

Sol. “Heady” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.

Heady: having a strong or exhilarating effect.

-(of alcoholic drink) potent; intoxicating.

Precept: a rule of personal conduct

Odium: state of disgrace resulting from detestable behavior

Wanton: unprovoked or without motive or justification

Depose: force to leave an office

S13. Ans. (e)

Sol. “Surge” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (e) is the right answer choice.

Surge: a sudden powerful forward or upward movement, especially by a crowd or by a natural force such as the tide.

Deference: a courteous expression of esteem or regard

Fray: a noisy fight

Candid: openly straightforward and direct without secretiveness

Enduring: unceasing

S14. Ans. (c)

Sol. “Imminent” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (c) is the right answer choice.

Imminent: about to happen.

Nominal: insignificantly small; a matter of form only

Insinuate: suggest in an indirect or covert way; give to understand

Bland: lacking stimulating characteristics; uninteresting

Impertinent: improperly forward or bold

S15. Ans. (e)

Sol. “Scandalously” fits the blank appropriately making the sentence contextually meaningful and grammatically correct. Hence, option (e) is the right answer choice.

Scandalously: causing general public outrage by a perceived offence against morality or law.

-(of a state of affairs) disgracefully bad.

Monetary: relating to or involving money

Rave: praise enthusiastically

Languid: lacking spirit or liveliness

Suppliant: humbly entreating

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