SBI PO Main- English Miscellaneous Quiz
State bank of India’s probationary Officer’s prelims was held on the 8th and 9th of June. Students gave the exam with great enthusiasm and we also hope that you have done well. Prelims will be followed by the mains, and the date is already scheduled for 20 July this year. We know you all are full of optimism and expect your name in the cut-off list of prelims. Here is a quiz on English Language being provided by Adda247 for free to let you practice the best of latest pattern English Questions for SBI PO Examination 2019-20 so that you can make sure that this year’s PO is in your pocket. With this, we wish you all the very best for the results of prelims. Keep the preparation engines running.
Directions (1-5): In the questions given below few sentences are given which are grammatically correct and meaningful. Connect them by the word given above the statements in the best possible way without changing the intended meaning. Choose your answer accordingly from the options provided to form a correct, coherent sentence.
Q1. UNLESS
(A) The new President of the Court of Appeal has warned waiting times of at least 22 months for appeal hearings will get worse.
(B) The former COA president Mr. Justice Sean Ryan had retired last March and Mr. Justice Paul Gilligan earlier this month.
(C) The judges due to retire would have more time to actually hear cases rather than have to be freed to write up judgments.
(D) The new judges need to be appointed urgently to reduce the delays and cancellations for appeal hearings
Only A-D
Only A-C
Only A-B
Both A-B and C-D
None of these
Solution:
Statements (A) and (D) can be joined together using the conjunction “unless”. The conjunction unless is used to mean ‘except if’. The clause which follows unless is a subordinate clause, it needs a main clause to make a complete sentence. Here, statement (A) stands as the main clause while statement (D) as a subordinate clause. Both the sentences are in the similar context and therefore, the statement thus formed is “The new President of the Court of Appeal has warned waiting times of at least 22 months for appeal hearings will get worse unless new judges are appointed urgently.” Hence, option (a) is the most viable answer choice.
Q2. ALTHOUGH
(A) There has been an increase in the number of birds and animals seen at the sanctuary.
(B) According to a recently conducted forest census, small and native birds are under threat.
(C) The release of kites in the sanctuary is the reason why small birds feel threatened.
(D) This has led to a decrease in the number of small birds which are moving away because of the threat from raptors.
Only A-D
Only A-C
Only A-B
Both A-B and C-D
None of these
Solution:
Statements (A) and (B) can be joined together using the conjunction “although”. Although means ‘in spite of something’. It is a subordinating conjunction. This means that the clause which it introduces is a subordinate clause, which needs a main clause to make it complete. Here, statement (B) stands as the main clause while statement (A) as a subordinate clause. The meaningful sentence thus formed is “Although there has been an increase in the number of birds and animals seen at the sanctuary, according to a recently conducted forest census, small and native birds are under threat.” Hence, option (c) is the most viable answer choice.
Q3. NOTWITHSTANDING
(A) Finance Committee will be evaluating other potential reductions.
(B) As a result of the levy failure, we have been working to find ways to further reduce and control our expenses.
(C) There has been a planned reduction in the cost of production and maintenance.
(D) The need for additional funds remains for the development of a new product.
Only C-D
Only A-C
Only A-B
Both A-B and C-D
None of these
Solution:
Statements (C) and (D) can be joined together using the phrase “Notwithstanding”. ‘Notwithstanding’ means although; in spite of the fact that. Both the sentences are in the similar context therefore, the single coherent sentence thus formed is “Notwithstanding the planned reduction in the cost of production and maintenance, the need for additional funds remains for the development of a new product.” Hence, option (a) is the most viable answer choice.
Q4. BECAUSE
(A) There is a huge heap of garbage on Mumbai-Goa Expressway which is feeding site for kites.
(B) There has been a rise in the number of eagles, hawks and vultures in the area.
(C) Every year, nature lovers and forest officials conduct the census on Buddha Purnima.
(D) Birds like eagles, hawks and vultures thrives on the garbage lying around the area.
Only A-D
Only B-D
Only A-B
Both A-B and B-D
None of these
Solution:
Statements (A) and (B) as well as Statements (B) and (D) can be joined together using the conjunction “because”. ‘Because’ is used to introduce a word or phrase that stands for a clause expressing an explanation or reason. In the first case, statement (A) stands as a reason for the event in statement (B). The meaningful sentence thus formed is “Because there is a huge heap of garbage on Mumbai-Goa Expressway which is feeding site for kites, there has been a rise in the number of eagles, hawks and vultures in the area.” In the second case, statement (D) stands as a reason for the event in statement (B). The meaningful sentence thus formed is “There has been a rise in the number of eagles, hawks and vultures in the area because of the garbage lying around on which these birds thrive.” Hence, option (d) is the most viable answer choice.
Q5. WHEREAS
(A) The data also provides insight into areas where there is stress.
(B) In 2017-18, growth rate of exports lagged that of imports by a significant margin.
(C) Agriculture, which provides a livelihood for close to half the work force, has grown at a slower pace in every single quarter of 2017-18.
(D) The spike in crude prices needs to be offset by prudent fiscal management at all levels of government.
Only A-D
Only B-D
Only A-B
Both A-B and C-D
None of these
Solution:
All the statements given are independent and complete themselves. It should be noted that all the four statements cannot be contextually linked together using the given phrase or conjunction. Hence, option (e) becomes the most suitable choice.
Directions (6-10): In each of the following questions a short passage is given with one of the lines in the passage missing and represented by a blank. Select the best out of the five answer choices given, to make the passage complete and coherent (coherent means logically complete and sound).
Q6. That rural India was to be the focus of Budget 2018 was expected, indeed urgently needed. To this end, the finance minister’s budget speech made all the right noises. What is interesting, however, is the narrative of rural development that the government has constructed. Gone is the focus on jobs, skills, aspirations and empowerment. ____________________________________________. Improved rural infrastructure (particularly sanitation, housing, roads) and—the showstopper of this budget—health insurance are the key focus. Achievements against these schemes are likely to frame the political message that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is going to take to the people in 2019.
And now to this budget’s showstopper—the National Health Protection Scheme to cover 100 million poor and vulnerable families with a coverage of up to Rs5 lakh per family.
More importantly, the immediate concern of alleviating rural distress remains unaddressed.
In the absence of increased allocations, this seems no more than an empty promise.
These low allocations need to be considered in light of the fact that construction targets are high.
The rural economy is to be strengthened through greater government welfare intervention.
Solution:
The paragraph discusses finance minister’s 2018 budget speech. Sentences before the blank talks about the government’s focus on rural development. Sentences after the blank talks about the budget’s focus on the development in rural infrastructure (particularly sanitation, housing, roads). Hence the blank must be filled by the sentence talking about rural development. After reading the given sentences, we can infer that sentence (e) is going correctly with the theme of the paragraph talking about strengthening of rural economy. Hence option (e) is correct among other options.
Q7. The NDA government lost precious time in its first three years in initiating a health scheme that serves the twin purposes of achieving universal coverage and saving people from high health care costs. It announced two years ago in the Budget a health protection scheme offering a cover of ₹1 lakh per family, but ultimately that did not extend beyond ₹30,000. Fresh hopes have been raised with the announcement of Ayushman Bharat in Budget 2018. The plan has the components of opening health centres for diagnostics, care and distribution of essential drugs as envisaged in the National Health Policy, and a National Health Protection Scheme (NHPS) to provide a cover of up to ₹5 lakh each for 10 crore poor and vulnerable families for hospitalisation. __________________________.
Such centres can dispense free essential medication prescribed by all registered doctors and procured through a centralised agency.
These are challenging goals, given the fragmented nature of India’s health system.
Determination of treatment costs by the government is therefore important.
A national health system will also have to subsume all existing state-funded insurance schemes.
Developing countries that launched universal health coverage schemes over a decade ago, such as Mexico, had to address some key challenges.
Solution:
The paragraph revolves around the theme of implementation of the health schemes, discussed in the recent budget, which remained unfulfilled since previous budget. Sentences before the blank talks about the announcement of plan and schemes regarding improving health like opening health centres for diagnostics, care and distribution of essential drugs, in Budget 2018. Hence the sentence which is to be filled in the blank must satisfy the theme of the paragraph. Sentence (b) that has referred these plans as challenging, is making the sentence complete and meaningful. Other options are irrelevant here.
Q8. In October 2017, the results of a field study on Arctic sea ice, often considered a drab subject, received worldwide attention, especially in the media and among international ice scientists. The study by the Cryosphere Climate Research Group at the University of Calgary, Canada, found that satellite measurements of seasonal sea ice that formed over the Arctic every year were likely to be incorrect by a substantial degree. In a paper published in the academic journal Geophysical Research Letters, the researchers said the estimates so far failed to take into account the amount of salt in the layers of snow over the ice. _________________________________________________________.
This is because as the ice cover melts quickly, the ocean gets exposed to sunlight for a longer period.
There is no sun in the Arctic during the winter season and so, because of the cold atmosphere, the ocean freezes and forms what we call “sea ice”.
When snow falls on top of sea ice, it will absorb some amount of salt and the snow cover also becomes partially or completely salty.
As spring arrives, the sun comes out and the snow on top of the sea ice starts melting.
The presence of salt distorted satellite readings and, as a result, scientists overestimated the thickness of Arctic sea ice.
Solution:
Here the paragraph is all about the incorrect satellite measurement regarding thickness of ice in the Arctic sea, which is due to not considering the amount of salt over the ice. The sentences above the blank talk about the statement of researchers regarding reason behind the cause, hence the next sentence should be related to this. Sentence (e) which is giving further reasons behind the cause, is making the paragraph appropriately complete and meaningful. Hence option (e) is the correct choice
Q9. For about 90 kilometres of its course of 160 km, the Noyyal river, a tributary of the Cauvery, is dead. Effluents loaded with salt and dangerous chemicals, discharged by the textile dyeing industries in Tiruppur district of Tamil Nadu, have killed the river. From Murugampalayam in Tiruppur district to Noyyal village in Karur district, the broad, swift-flowing Noyyal has been reduced to a stricken stream of effluents. _____________________________________________.
The river was nothing but a stagnant pool of effluents.
Consequently, agriculture in lakhs of acres in Tiruppur, Erode and Karur districts has been ruined.
Karuppannan’s remarks came after television channels and newspapers carried pictures of the river foaming up with effluents and reported that it happened when dyeing units let effluents into the river taking advantage of the rains.
The dyeing units send the effluents by a pipeline to Common Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs), where they are treated and converted into reusable water.
The effluents generated from the dyeing process include sludge, chemical sludge, salt and solar residue.
Solution:
The given paragraph is giving the causes regarding deceased Noyyal river, a tributary of the Cauvery. Dangerous chemicals have reduced the broad river to a stream of effluents. Sentence (b) talking about the effects in the Tiruppur, Erode and Karur districts, is making the paragraph complete. Hence option (b) is the correct choice.
Q10. Apart from the agriculture sector, there needs to be increased focus on agriculture-allied sectors if we want to improve overall rural income. The livestock sector, which contributes around 4% to India’s gross domestic product (GDP), is particularly critical. ______________________________. Small and marginal farmers have high dependence on the livestock sector. Hence, measures to boost livestock sector growth and productivity will have a significant impact in alleviating rural distress.
The services sector contributes around 27% to rural output, as against 55% to India’s GDP.
The rural workforce finds it difficult to get absorbed in the manufacturing sector.
Improvement in employment in the manufacturing and services sectors will be critical in improving rural income.
India has a mixed crop livestock farming system, with livestock becoming an important secondary source of income.
There has been a substantial growth in employment in the construction sector in rural areas.
Solution:
Here the paragraph discusses the need to improve the overall rural income through improving agriculture related sectors like livestock sector. Sentence above the blank is about the contribution of livestock sector on GDP, while sentence after the blank is about dependence of farmers on this sector. Hence the blank must be filled by the sentence giving the importance of livestock sector in rural income. Hence option (d) is the correct choice as compared to others.
Directions (11-15): Rearrange the following sentences to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions that follow.
(A) With the relevant measure of price gains, the Consumer Price Index, reflecting an acceleration in inflation for a sixth straight month in December, and that at the fastest pace in 17 months, the bank’s rate-setting panel must have had little difficulty in choosing to remain on hold.
(B) The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the repo rate unchanged was no surprise given the focus with which the Monetary Policy Committee has approached its mandate: of keeping inflation in check.
(C) The RBI’s nominee, Michael Debabrata Patra, in fact voted to head off incipient price pressures by raising the policy rate by 25 basis points.
(D) For starters, “an unusual pick-up in food prices in November”, combined with a “less than usual” softening in the winter seasonal food price moderation, meant headline inflation averaged 4.6% in the third quarter.
(E) This was probably best exemplified by the reversal in stance of the six-member panel’s hitherto most dovish member, Ravindra H. Dholakia, to vote to stand pat on interest rates.
(F) This the MPC did while retaining a ‘neutral stance’, which gives it the flexibility to change gears in either direction.
(G) Laying out the factors informing its decision, the RBI once again spotlighted the less than reassuring outlook for price stability.
(H) The RBI had in December made a projection for inflation in the range of 4.3-4.7% in the six months through March 2018.
(I) In a country where a health crisis is often a precursor to financial catastrophe for the poor, the salience of a healthcare financing scheme cannot be overstated.
Q11. If the sentence (B), “The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the repo rate unchanged was no surprise given the focus with which the Monetary Policy Committee has approached its mandate: of keeping inflation in check.” is the first sentence of the paragraph so formed after the rearrangement, which of the following sentences does not belong to the paragraph?
A
I
D
C
G
Solution:
If (B) is the first sentence of the paragraph so formed after the rearrangement, the statement (I) does not seem to be the part of the paragraph. The first statement of the paragraph gives a valid clue that the theme of the paragraph revolves around the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the repo rate unchanged. However, the statement (I) makes out a different topic which is contextually incorrect; it is about the healthcare financing scheme which has no relevance with any other statement of the paragraph. Hence option (b) is the correct choice.
Q12. If the sentence (H), “The RBI had in December made a projection for inflation in the range of 4.3-4.7% in the six months through March 2018.” is the last sentence of the paragraph so formed after the rearrangement of other sentences and the exclusion of incoherent sentence, which of the following sentences can follow the sentence (H) coherently?
With pump prices of petrol and diesel having risen sharply in January, the RBI has now been forced to raise its estimate for retail price gains in the fourth quarter to 5.1%.
The domestic currency finally settled the day with a modest 4 paise loss against the US dollar, extending its downtrend for the fifth straight session.
The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the RBI kept the policy repo rate at 6 % with five of the six members in the Committee voted in favour of the decision.
The normalisation of monetary policy by advanced economies could spell a decisive end to global ‘easy money’ conditions and may trigger some flight of capital from emerging markets including India.
None of the above
Solution:
The sentence (a) makes a proper and logical connection with the sentence (H) as the mention of statistical range of 4.3-4.7% as the projection for inflation by the RBI in December gives an indication that the sentence (a) would follow the sentence coherently. There is a clear connection between the two statements as the sentence (a) also states that the estimate for retail price gains in the fourth quarter may go up to 5.1%. The other options are, however, out of the context and do not make any logical combination with the coherent paragraph so formed. Hence option (a) is the correct choice.
Q13. If the sentence (B), “The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the repo rate unchanged was no surprise given the focus with which the Monetary Policy Committee has approached its mandate: of keeping inflation in check.” is the first sentence of the paragraph so formed after the rearrangement of other sentences and the exclusion of incoherent one, which of the following combinations denotes that the latter sentence would immediately follow its former one i.e., the first sentence would be immediately followed by the second one?
B-D
G-I
E-H
A-E
G-H
Solution:
If (B) is the first sentence of the coherent paragraph, the combination of sentences (A) and (E) makes a valid and appropriate connection with each other. It can be viewed by reading the sentence (A) properly which mentions that the bank’s rate-setting panel must have had little difficulty after the decision was taken by the RBI. The sentence finds a suitable connection with the sentence (E) which also mentions about the reversal in stance of the six-member panel’s hitherto most dovish member, Ravindra H. Dholakia. Thus, the latter sentence follows the former one coherently and meaningfully which is not the case with the other combinations given as options. Hence option (d) is the correct choice.
Q14. If the sentence (C), “The RBI’s nominee, Michael Debabrata Patra, in fact voted to head off incipient price pressures by raising the policy rate by 25 basis points.” follows the sentence (F) after rearranging the other sentences into a coherent paragraph and excluding the incoherent sentence, which of the following sentences can come in between the two statements without altering the theme of the paragraph?
It later strengthened to hit a high of 64.02 in mid- morning deals as bullish momentum in equity markets kept leading the way for the local unit.
In forward market today, premium for dollar declined due to mild receiving from exporters.
Consumers blame the reluctance of the government to lower the fuel prices, even when the international crude oil prices plummeted, as the main reason for the consumer price index inflation.
The decision of maintaining the status quo, citing the inflationary trends, has come in for severe criticism by retail and industrial loan-seekers.
None of the above.
Solution:
None of the given statements can come in between the two statements as they fail to connect with either of the sentences. Moreover, the statements given as options are out of the context which have no relevance with the theme of the paragraph. Hence option (e) is the correct choice.
Q15. If the sentence (B), “The Reserve Bank of India’s decision to keep the repo rate unchanged was no surprise given the focus with which the Monetary Policy Committee has approached its mandate: of keeping inflation in check.” is the first statement and the sentence (H) the last of the coherent paragraph so formed after the rearrangement of other sentences and the elimination of the incoherent one, which of the following options depicts the most appropriate sequence of the coherent paragraph?
BADGEIFH
BGFCEDAH
BAEFCGDH
BEFGIAFH
BCFGEADH
Solution:
If (B) is the first and (H) is the last statements, the sentences in the sequence of BAEFCGDH form a coherent paragraph which is about the implications of the current decision taken by the RBI to keep the repo rate unchanged. The question can be quickly solved by taking the help of previous questions asked in the format. In the previous question, it is clearly mentioned that the sentence (C) follows the sentence (F) after the correct rearrangement of sentences and elimination of the incoherent one. This can be visualized in the option (c) only. Other sequences are not in proper order to make the paragraph coherent. Hence option (c) is the correct choice.
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