15th January 2020 IBPS Clerk Mains English Daily Mock Reading Comprehension Practice set

The IBPS Clerk Mains Exam is scheduled to happen very soon. There is not much not time left for the mains examination. In this context,  The English Language  Quiz can be a savior for the students by helping them in scoring very good marks in lesser time and effort. Here is a quiz on English Language being provided by Adda247. You can practice the latest pattern English Questions for IBPS Clerk Mains Exam. The Quiz Contains Practice set.

Directions (1-8): Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. Some words are highlighted to help you answer some of the questions. 

You would have noticed that people have different ideas about what politics is. Political leaders, and persons who contest elections and hold political office, may argue that it is a kind of public service. Some others associate politics with manipulation and intrigue undertaken to pursue ambitions and satisfy wants. A few thinks of politics as what politicians do. If they see politicians defecting from parties, making false promises and tall claims, manipulating different sections, pursuing personal or group interests ruthlessly and in worst cases stooping to crime, they link politics with ‘scams’. So prevalent is this way of thinking that when we see people in different walks of life trying to promote their interests by any means possible, we say they are playing politics. If we see a cricketer manipulating to stay in the team, or a fellow student trying to use his father’s position, or a colleague in office mindlessly agreeing with the boss, we say he or she is playing ‘dirty’ politics. Disillusioned by such pursuits of selfishness we despair of politics. We say, “I am not interested in politics” or “I am going to stay away from politics”. It is not only ordinary people who despair of politics; even businessmen and entrepreneurs routinely blame politics for their woes even as they benefit from and fund various political parties. Cinema stars also complain of politics though they seem to be adept at the game once they join it.

We are thus confronted with conflicting images of politics. Is politics an undesirable activity that we should stay away from and get rid of? Or, is it a worthwhile activity which we must engage with to make a better world?

It is unfortunate that politics has come to be associated with the pursuit of self-interest by any and every method. We need to realise that politics is an important and integral part of any society. Mahatma

Gandhi once observed that politics envelops us like the coils of a snake and there is no other way out but to wrestle with it. No society can exist without some form of political organisation and collective decision making. A society that wants to sustain itself needs to consider the multiple needs and interests of its members. Several social institutions such as the family, tribes and economic institutions, have emerged to help people fulfil their needs and aspirations. Such institutions help us find ways of living together acknowledging our obligations to each other. Among such institutions, governments play an important part. How governments are formed and how they function is thus an important focus of politics. 

But politics is not confined to the affairs of government. In fact, what governments do is relevant because it affects the lives of the people in many ways. We see that governments determine our economic policy and foreign policy and educational policy. These policies can help to improve the lives of people, but an inefficient or corrupt government can also endanger people’s lives and security. If the government in power allows any conflicts to become violent, markets close, and schools are shut. These disrupt our lives; we cannot buy things that we may need urgently; those who are sick cannot reach the hospital; even the school schedule gets affected, syllabi cannot be completed, and we may have to take extra coaching for the exams and pay tuition fees. If, on the other hand, the government makes policies to increase literacy and employment, we may get an opportunity to go to a good school and get a decent job. 

Since the actions of the government affect us deeply, we take a lively interest in what governments do. We form associations and organise campaigns to articulate our demands. We negotiate with others and try to shape the goals that governments pursue. When we disagree with the policies of the government, we protest and organise demonstrations to persuade the government to change the existing laws. We passionately debate the actions of our representatives and discuss whether corruption has increased or decreased. We ask whether corruption can be rooted out; whether reservations for specific groups are just or not. We try to understand why some parties and leaders win elections. In this way we look for the rationale underlying the prevalent chaos and decay and aspire to create a better world.

To sum up, politics arises from the fact that we have different visions of what is just and desirable for us and our society. It involves the multiple negotiations that go on in society through which collective decisions are made. At one level, it involves what governments do and how they relate to the aspirations of the people; at another level, it involves how people struggle and influence decision making. People may be said to engage in political activity whenever they negotiate with each other and take part in collective activities which are designed to promote social development and help to resolve common problems.

Q1. Which of the following options mentions the correct definition of politics?

(a) It is a kind of public service.

(b) It is the manipulation and intrigue undertaken to pursue ambitions and satisfy wants.

(c) It is a sort of ‘scams’ where politicians defect from parties, make false promises and tall claims, manipulate different sections, pursue personal or group interests ruthlessly and stoop to crime. 

(d) It is a thing which arises from the fact that we have different visions of what is just and desirable for us and our society and involve multiple negotiations that go on in society through which collective decisions are made.

(e) None of the above

Q2. Which of the following options mention the hypocrisy highlighted by the author in the passage?

(I) People are disillusioned with the definition of politics.

(II) Some people, who despair of politics, benefit from and fund various political parties.

(III) People judges politics with what politicians do. 

(IV) Persons who earlier used to complain of politics become adept at the game once they join it. 

(a) Only (I)

(b) Both (II) and (IV)

(c) Both (III) and (II)

(d) All of (I), (II), (III) and (IV)

(e) None of the above

Q3. Which of the following options mention(s) the most prevalent perception about politics among people?

(I) It is a thing which arises from the fact that we have different visions of what is just and desirable for us and our society and involve multiple negotiations that go on in society through which collective decisions are made.

(II) Pursuit of self-interest by any and every method.

(III) Politics envelops us like the coils of a snake and there is no other way out but to wrestle with it.

(a) Only (I)

(b) Only (II)

(c) Only (III)

(d) Both (I) and (III)

(e) All of (I), (II) and (III)

Q4. Which of the following situations is the most ideal situation for politics?

(I) On an issue having relevance for the whole society, consensus has been reached among people having different opinion.

(II) On an issue having relevance for the whole society, consensus has not been reached but different groups of people having different opinions have decided to continue negotiations.

(III) On an issue having relevance for the whole society, consensus has not been reached but one group among the different groups having different opinions has decided to organize nation-wide bandh.

(a) Only (III)

(b) Both (I) and (II)

(c) Only (I)

(d) None of (I), (II) and (III)

(e) All of (I), (II) and (III)

Q5. Which of the following situations illustrates the prevalent perception about politics among people but not the correct definition?

(I) A bank customer uses his acquaintance to bypass long queue at the customer service counter. 

(II) An uncle of Ravish, working as the Senior Manager at a Telecommunication company, uses his connections to help him get a new mobile connection at a lightning fast speed. 

(III) A group of people providing free meals three times a day to poor people every day.

(a) Only (I) & (II)

(b) Only (III)

(c) Only (I)

(d) All of (I), (II) & (III)

(e) None of (I), (II) & (III)

Q6. Which of the followings is false?

(a) Politics is confined to the affairs of government.

(b) A society that wants to sustain itself needs to consider the multiple needs and interests of its members.

(c) Politics is an important and integral part of a society.

(d) How governments are formed and how they function is an important focus of politics.

(e) None of the above

Q7. Which of the following words has a meaning which is SIMILAR to the meaning of the word ‘intrigue’?

(a) Spectre

(b) Onus

(c) Despair

(d) Virtuoso

(e) Unscrupulousness

Q8. Which of the following words has a meaning which is OPPOSITE in meaning to the word ‘stooping’?

(a) Manipulating

(b) Concocting

(c) Contriving

(d) Strengthen

(e) Defecting 

Directions (9-15): Read the following passage and answer the questions that follow. One word is highlighted to help you answer a question. 

The origin of the financial crisis in 1991 can be traced from the inefficient management of the Indian economy in the 1980s. We know that for implementing various policies and its general administration, the government generates funds from various sources such as taxation, running of public sector enterprises etc. When expenditure is more than income, the government borrows to finance the deficit from banks and also from people within the country and from international financial institutions. When we import goods like petroleum, we pay in dollars which we earn from our exports. 

Development policies required that even though the revenues were very low, the government had to overshoot its revenue to meet challenges like unemployment, poverty and population explosion. The continued spending on development programmes of the government did not generate additional revenue. Moreover, the government was not able to generate sufficiently from internal sources such as taxation. When the government was spending a large share of its income on areas which do not provide immediate returns such as the social sector and defence, there was a need to utilise the rest of its revenue in a highly efficient manner. The income from public sector undertakings was also not very high to meet the growing expenditure. At times, our foreign exchange, borrowed from other countries and international financial institutions, was spent on meeting consumption needs. Neither was an attempt made to reduce such profligate spending nor sufficient attention was given to boost exports to pay for the growing imports.

In the late 1980s, government expenditure began to exceed its revenue by such large margins that meeting the expenditure through borrowings became unsustainable. Prices of many essential goods rose sharply. Imports grew at a very high rate without matching growth of exports. As pointed out earlier, foreign exchange reserves declined to a level that was not adequate to finance imports for more than two weeks. There was also not sufficient foreign exchange to pay the interest that needs to be paid to international lenders. Also, no country or international funder was willing to lend to India.

India approached the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), popularly known as World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and received $7 billion as loan to manage the crisis. For availing the loan, these international agencies expected India to liberalise and open up the economy by removing restrictions on the private sector, reduce the role of the government in many areas and remove trade restrictions between India and other countries.

India agreed to the conditionalities of World Bank and IMF and announced the New Economic Policy (NEP). The NEP consisted of wide ranging economic reforms. The thrust of the policies was towards creating a more competitive environment in the economy and removing the barriers to entry and growth of firms. This set of policies can broadly be classified into two groups: the stabilisation measures

and the structural reform measures. Stabilisation measures are short term measures, intended to correct some of the weaknesses that have developed in the balance of payments and to bring inflation under control. In simple words, this means that there was a need to maintain sufficient foreign exchange reserves and keep the rising prices under control. On the other hand, structural reform policies are long-term measures, aimed at improving the efficiency of the economy and increasing its international competitiveness by removing the rigidities in various segments of the Indian economy. The

government initiated a variety of policies which fall under three heads viz., liberalisation, privatization and globalisation.

    

Q9. Which of the followings is NOT a source of generation of fund for the Indian government?

(a) taxation 

(b) borrowing money from people within the country

(c) running of public sector enterprises

(d) both (a) & (c) 

(e) none of the above

Q10. Which of the followings was NOT a cause of the financial crisis in 1991?

(a) Inefficient management of the Indian economy in the 1990s.

(b) The income from public sector undertakings was not very high to meet the growing expenditure.

(c) The government was spending a large share of its income on areas which do not provide immediate returns.

(d) Sufficient attention was not given to boost exports to pay for the growing imports.

(e) None of the above

Q11. Which of the following situations, if had been true, would have helped India in averting the 1991 crisis?

(a) India Rupee getting weaker against the US dollar

(b) India Rupee getting strong against the US dollar

(c) Decrement in the export from India

(d) Increment in the import to India

(e) Increasing prices of crude oil

Q12. Which of the followings were the conditions placed on India for getting $7 billion?

(a) Removing restrictions on the private sectors

(b) Reducing the role of the government in many areas

(c) Removing trade restrictions between India and other countries

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

(e) None of (a), (b) and (c)

Q13. What were the objectives of the New Economic Policy?

(I) Removing barriers to entry and growth of firms.

(II) Creating stringent laws on labour for the benefit of employees.

(III) Creating a more competitive environment in the economy.

(a) Only (I) 

(b) Both (II) and (III)

(c) Both (I) and (III)

(d) Both (I) and (II)

(e) All of (I), (II) and (III)

Q14. Which of the following (s) is/are the objectives of the stabilization measures of the New Economic Policy?

(a) Maintaining sufficient foreign exchange reserves.

(b) Removing rigidities in various segments of the Indian economy.

(c) Improving the efficiency of the economy

(d) Bringing inflation under control

(e) Options (a) & (d)

Q15. Which of the following words has the meaning which is SIMILAR to the meaning of the given word ‘sufficient’?

(a) auxiliary

(b) ambitious

(c) subsidiary

(d) enough

(e) accessory

SOLUTIONS

S1. Ans. (d)

Sol.  The answer to the question can be derived from the first two sentences of the last paragraph ‘to sum up, politics arises from the fact we have different visions of what is just and desirable for us and our society. It involves the multiple negotiations that go on in society through which collective decisions are made’. 

Options (a), (b) and (c) reflect the misconception about politics.

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer. 

S2. Ans. (b)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the last two sentences of the first paragraph ‘it is not only ordinary people who despair of politics; even businessmen and entrepreneurs routinely blame politics for their woes even as they benefit from and fund various political parties. Cinema stars also complain of politics though they seem to be adept at the game once they join it’.

The statements (II) and (IV) can be derived from the above-mentioned sentences. 

The statements (I) and (III) don’t fall under the definition of hypocrisy. 

Hence, the option (b) is the correct answer. 

S3. Ans. (b)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the first sentence of the third paragraph ‘It is unfortunate that politics has come to be associated with the pursuit of self-interest by any and every method’. Thus, statement (II) is correct and option (b) is the correct answer. 

S4. Ans. (c)

Sol. First, let’s understand what politics is. To understand this, we need to refer to the first two sentences of the last paragraph ‘To sum up, politics arises from the fact that we have different visions of what is just and desirable for us and our society. It involves the multiple negotiations that go on in society through which collective decisions are made.’ In the given situations, there is an issue on which different people have different opinion but in the situation marked as (I), a consensus has been reached among people which facilitate making a collective decision while in the situation marked as (III), a chaos seems to be created which as mentioned in the fourth paragraph is termed as bad politics.

S5. Ans. (a)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the first sentence of the third paragraph ‘It is unfortunate that politics has come to be associated with the pursuit of self-interest by any and every method’, and from few sentences of the first paragraph: ‘If we see a cricketer manipulating to stay in the team, or a fellow student trying to use his father’s position, or a colleague in office mindlessly agreeing with the boss, we say he or she is playing ‘dirty’ politics.’

Upon analyzing the above, we can understand that the prevalent perception about politics is the pursuit of self-interest by any and every method. The statements (I) and (II) correctly illustrate the prevalent perception about politics among the people. 

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer. 

S6. Ans. (a)

Sol. The first sentence of the fourth paragraph says, ‘But politics is not confined to the affairs of government’. Clearly, option (a) is FALSE. 

The options (b), (c) and (d) are true as they are present as sentences in the third paragraph. 

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer. 

S7. Ans. (e)

Sol. Intrigue [noun] means ‘the secret planning of something illicit or detrimental’;

Spectre [noun] means ‘a ghost’;

Onus [noun] means ‘something that is one’s duty or responsibility’;

Despair [noun] means ‘the complete loss or absence of hope’;

Virtuoso [noun] means ‘a person highly skilled in music or another artistic pursuit’;

Unscrupulousness [noun] means ‘the state of being unscrupulous (a person who has contempt for laws of right or justice’;

From above, it could be understood that the word ‘unscrupulousness’ has a meaning which is SIMILAR to the meaning of the word ‘intrigue’. 

Hence, the option (e) is the correct answer. 

S8. Ans. (d)

Sol. ‘Stooping’ [stoop, verb] means ‘lower one’s moral standards so far as to do something reprehensible’;

Manipulating [manipulate, verb] means ‘handle or control (a tool, mechanism, information, etc.) in a skillful manner’; ‘control or influence (a person or situation) cleverly or unscrupulously’;

Concocting [concoct, verb] means ‘create or devise (a story or plan)’;

Contriving [contrive, verb] means ‘create or bring about (an object or a situation) by deliberate use of skill and artifice; manage to do something foolish or create an undesirable situation’;

Defecting [defect, verb] means ‘abandon one’s country or cause in favour of an opposing one’;

From above, it could be understood that among the given options, the word ‘strengthen’ has a meaning which is OPPOSITE to the meaning of the word ‘stooping’. 

Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.

S9. Ans. (b)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the second and third sentences of the first paragraph ‘We know that for implementing various policies and its general administration, the government generates funds from various sources such as taxation, running of public sector enterprises etc. When expenditure is more than income, the government borrows to finance the deficit from banks and also from people within the country and from international financial institutions.’

From above we understand that ‘taxation and running of public sector enterprises’ are sources of generation of funds for the Indian government while borrowing money form people within the country is NOT a source of generation of fund for the Indian government but a source of loan. 

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer. 

S10. Ans. (a)

Sol.  The answer to the question can be found certain sentences present in the first two paragraphs. 

In the first paragraph, it is given that ‘the origin of the financial crisis in 1991 can be traced from the inefficient management of the Indian economy in the 1980s,’ not 1990s. So, the option (a) is wrong. 

The options (b), (c) and (d) are present in the form of certain sentences of the second paragraph. 

Hence, option (a) is the correct answer. 

S11. Ans. (b)

Sol. India would have averted 1991 financial crisis, had India have enough reserve of foreign exchange. 

So, among the options, we have to find the situation which would have helped in maintaining and/or increasing reserve of foreign exchange for India.

India Rupee getting stronger against the US dollar would have increased the amount of US dollars India would be getting from her exports and thus, would have helped in maintaining and/or increasing reserve of foreign exchange for India. 

Increment in import to India and increasing prices of crude oil would have placed strain on the foreign exchange reserve. 

Similarly, decrement in the export from India would have reduced the source of foreign exchange.

Among the given options, option (b) would have helped positively toward maintaining the foreign exchange reserve. 

Hence, option (b) is the correct answer. 

S12. Ans. (d)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the last sentence of the second last paragraph ‘For availing the loan, these international agencies expected India to liberalize and open up the economy by removing restrictions on the private sector, reduce the role of the government in many areas and remove trade restrictions between India and other countries’. 

From above, it could be found out that all the options (a), (b) & (c) are correct. 

Hence, the option (d) is the correct answer.  

S13. Ans. (c)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the third sentence of the last paragraph ‘The thrust of the policies was towards creating a more competitive environment in the economy and removing the barriers to entry and growth of firms.’

Among the given alternatives, the alternatives (I) and (III) are the ones which are mentioned in the passage. 

Hence, option (c) is the correct answer. 

S14. Ans. (e)

Sol. The answer to the question can be derived from the last paragraph from the sentences discussing Stabilisation measures: ‘Stabilisation measures are short term measures, intended to correct some of the weaknesses that have developed in the balance of payments and to bring inflation under control. In simple words, this means that there was a need to maintain sufficient foreign exchange reserves and keep the rising prices under control.’

From above, it could be understood that the options (a) & (d) are correct. 

Hence, option (e) is the correct answer. 

S15. Ans. (d)

Sol. Sufficient [adjective] means ‘enough; adequate’;

Auxiliary [adjective] means ‘providing supplementary or additional help and support’;

Ambitious [adjective] means ‘having or showing a strong desire and determination to succeed’;

Subsidiary [adjective] means ‘less important than but related or supplementary to something’;

Accessory [adjective] means ‘contributing to or aiding an activity or process in a minor way; subsidiary or supplementary’;

From above, it could be understood that the word ‘enough’ has a meaning which is SIMILAR to the ‘sufficient’. 

Hence, option (d) is the correct answer.