SBI PO Main- English Miscellaneous Quiz
Directions (1-10): Read the following passage, divided into a number of paragraphs, carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Paragraph 1: In recent research, we investigated the impact of rainfall shocks on educational outcomes for children aged in-utero to 16, in rural India (Drought of Opportunities: Contemporaneous and Long-Term Impacts of Rainfall Shocks on Human Capital, 2017). We obtained data on simple literacy and numeracy test scores for over two million children tested between 2005 and 2009 for the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) by non-governmental organization Pratham. This data set has test scores on children who have never enrolled, who are currently enrolled, and who have dropped out of school.
Paragraph 2: We matched the ASER data to rainfall measures from weather stations all over India. We used rainfall as a proxy for agricultural productivity, which allowed us to separate the effects of productivity from other differences across places. Because we had observations of rainfall and test scores for each district over many years, we could measure within-district differences between good, bad and normal rainfall years. By accounting for both district-specific effects (some places just have higher test scores than others), and year-specific effects (test scores might be getting better or worse over time), we could be sure of isolating the effect of rainfall, and its underlying effects on productivity, on human capital investment.
Paragraph 3: We found that children who experienced droughts early in life score lower on tests and are less likely to be enrolled in school. This is consistent with previous literature (Under the Weather: Health, Schooling, and Economic Consequences of Early-Life Rainfall by Sharon L. Maccini and Dean Yang, 2009, and Killing Me Softly: The Fetal Origins Hypothesis by Douglas Almond and Janet Currie, 2011). What we found next surprised us. For older children, when rainfall (and therefore, the prevailing wage) is higher, test scores, attendance, and enrolment decrease. A positive rainfall shock increases wages by 2% and decreases math test scores by 1-6%, decreases school attendance by 2 percentage points, and decreases the probability that a child is enrolled in school by 1 percentage point. This implies that a positive rainfall shock increases the urban-rural enrolment gap by 15% for 5-16-year-olds.
Paragraph 4: To look into what children are doing with their time, we turned to another large household survey in India, the National Sample Survey (NSS). Matching this survey to the rainfall data helped confirm our hypothesis—we observed that children are less likely to report school as their primary activity when rains are good, and more likely to do so during droughts. They are more likely to report wage labour, work at home (on farms or in other businesses) and domestic work as their primary activity when rainfall is abundant. It appears households are responding to higher wages by either having children work in agriculture themselves, or fill in for adults at home while they work. The increased opportunity cost of schooling affects the families’ decision to invest in education.
Paragraph 5: Taken together, the results for early life and older children make sense. The extra income and food supply generated during a good harvest is especially important during the in-utero period and for infants and young children whose brains are still developing. Babies and toddlers are also too young to be of help on the farm or at home, so the substitution effect is not relevant for them. Hence, the income effect dominates. As a child gets older, the relative benefits of nutrition for cognitive ability decrease, while schooling and other time-intensive activities like studying become important in overall test scores. Moreover, they can now be productive in agriculture and at home. Hence, wages increase and labour is in high demand, schooling may take a back seat to farm and/or domestic work for poor families.
Q1. How according to the author the recent research on impact of rainfall shocks would help in determining educational outcomes for children as mentioned in Paragraph 1?
research would provide an exact report of long-term impacts of rainfall on
Human Capital.
final data by Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) would provide test
scores on children who have never enrolled, who are currently enrolled, and who
have dropped out of school.
report would help in obtaining data on simple literacy especially of children
up to 16 years of age in rural India.
Q2. Why according to the passage the rainfall was used as a proxy for agricultural productivity as mentioned in Paragraph 2?
allowed in separating the effects of productivity from other differences across
places in the country.
with help of observations of rainfall and test scores for each district over
many years it was easy to measure within-district differences between good, bad
and normal rainfall years.
accounting for both district-specific effects and year-specific effects, it was
possible to isolate the effect of rainfall, and its underlying effects on
productivity, on human capital investment.
Q3. Which of the following statements is not true in context of the paragraph 3?
Q4. What are the major outcomes after tallying the rainfall data and survey conducted by National Sample Survey (NSS) as mentioned in Paragraph 4?
observed that children are less likely to report school as their primary
activity when rains are good, and more likely to do so during droughts.
observed that households are responding to higher wages by either having
children work in agriculture themselves, or fill in for adults at home while
they work.
(III) It is realized that the increased
opportunity cost of schooling affects the families’ decision to invest in
education.
Q5. How according to the author income effect prevails over substitution effect as mentioned in Paragraph 5?
the in-utero period and for infants and young children whose brains are still
developing are too young to be of help on the farm or at home.
child gets older, they can be productive in agriculture and at home and thus
there is an increment in wages and demand of labour for poor families.
results for early life and older children have the desired effect of increasing
household income, but it may also change the opportunity cost of time-intensive
investments like schooling.
Q6. Which one of the following is the most appropriate title for the given passage?
Directions (7-8): Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in passage.
Q7. Contemporaneous
Q8. Proxy
Hence both are similar in meanings.
Behest means a person's orders or command.
Precept means a general rule intended to regulate behaviour or thought.
Injunction means an authoritative warning or order.
Directions (9-10): Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in passage.
Q9. Abundant
Q10. Cognitive
Lucid means expressed clearly; easy to understand.
Directions (11-15): In the following questions, a sentence is divided into five parts with one of the part of each sentence is highlighted in bold suggesting the grammatically correct part of the sentence. Out of the four other parts, choose the combination of parts of the sentence which contains grammatical or contextual errors in them. If the given sentence is both grammatically correct and contextually meaningful, choose option (E) i.e., “All are correct” as your answer.
Q11. He told us (A)/ he felt nervously (B)/ about the performance, (C)/ but he seemed perfectly composed (D)/ when he walked onto the stage. (E)
Q12. A currency will (A)/ tends to become (B)/ more valuable whenever (C)/ demand for it is greatest (D)/than the available supply. (E)
Q13. To separate out the chaff, (A)/ early cultures tossed baskets (B)/ of grain into the air(C)/ and let the wind to blow (D)/ over the lighter chaff. (E)
Q14. If Hillary Clinton will(A)/ win the election (B)/ in 2008, (C)/ then she will become (D)/ the first female president.(E)
Q15. After working an exhausting (A)/ 16-hour shift, (B)/ the dog-tired police officer (C)/ kicked off the boots (D)/ and crashed on the couch. (E)
English Quiz For NIACL AO Mains 2024 Exa...
