English Practice Questions For IBPS Clerk Mains 2017

English Section is a topic that is feared by most of the candidates appearing in the IBPS Clerk Mains Exam. Though the sheer number of concepts and rules may seem intimidating at first, with discipline and the right approach, it is not difficult to master these concepts and their application to questions. Through such English Quizzes for IBPS Clerk and other upcoming exams, we will provide you with all types of high-level questions to ace the questions based on new pattern IBPS Clerk Mains.


Directions (1-3): The sentences given in each of the following questions, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labeled with a letter. From among the five choices given below each question, choose the most logical order of sentences that construct a coherent paragraph.

Q1. (A)One of the frequent requests we receive is for a takedown of a particular story from our digital archive.
(B)In philosophy, the accent is on coming up with a right question. 
(C)At some level, questioning is cerebral. 
(D)The underlying principle is that there is an answer to every right question.
(E)They have to delve deep into available literature, triangulate multiple strands to eliminate internal contradictions, and provide a clue that is consistent with both the legal and ethical frameworks. 
(F)However, providing answers is the task of sloggers. 

(a)BDCFEA
(b)ADCAEF
(c)DBCEAF
(d)BFCEAD
(e)ACBDEF

Q2. (A)On many social occasions, readers ask me to explain how I examine specific issues using these broad guidelines.
(B)These questions often force one to look at one’s own craft much more closely. 
(C)Curious readers are never short of questions.
(D)Constant interaction with readers leads to new areas of interrogation.
(E)For instance, there are two binding codes that determine my work: Living our Values, which is the code of editorial values of this newspaper, and the Terms of Reference for the Readers’ Editor, which spell out my role. 
(F)They are interested in the process and want to know how I, as the custodian of their interests in the newspaper, respond to their queries. 

(a)CBDFEA
(b)DBCEFA
(c)ABDCEF
(d)CBEAFD
(e)EFCDBA


Q3. (A)Many successful joint ventures (JVs) were also formed in the Indian automobile sector. 
(B)Over four decades, the initial joint venture led the automobile revolution in the country.
(C)These JVs, with international collaboration, became a preferred route for technology acquisition.
(D)In India, the pharmaceutical sector grew as the government encouraged private drug companies to undertake collaborative research through government-owned institutions.  
(E)In the 1980s, the Government of India set up Maruti Udyog Ltd, a JV with Japanese car maker Suzuki having 74 per cent equity. 
(F)The company achieved 65 per cent indigenisation of car components by 1991. 

(a)DACEFB
(b)ABCDEF
(c)ADBECF
(d)EABDFC
(e)BDCAFE

Directions (4-6): There are three sentences given in each question. Find the sentence(s) which is/are grammatically correct and mark your answer choosing the best possible alternative among the five options given below each question. If all the sentences are correct, choose (e) as your answer.   


Q4. (i)No sooner we entered than he got up and left the room. 
(ii)It being a fine day, we went out for a picnic at Okhla.
(iii)Yesterday I met an old friend when I was going to the market. 

(a)Only (iii) is correct
(b)Both (i) and (ii) are correct
(c)Both (ii) and (iii) are correct
(d)None is correct
(e)All are correct

Q5. (i) If a student needs advice about careers, he or she should consult the Careers officer.
(ii) The theory of relativity is so complicated as we cannot describe it in a few sentences. 
(iii) I know she is having a lot of books on how to improve English. 

(a)Only (i) is correct
(b)Only (iii) is correct
(c)Both (i) and (ii) are correct
(d)Both (ii) and (iii) are correct
(e)All are correct

Q6. (i) It was seven o’clock in the evening when the train steamed into the station. 
(ii) We were still talking about what we should do when we heard the children shouting. 
(iii) Neither he nor I was able to finish the task within the time limit. 

(a)Only (i) is correct
(b)Only (ii) is correct
(c)Only (iii) is correct
(d)Both (i) and (iii) are correct
(e)All are correct

Directions (7-9): 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).


Q7. India saw 1,100 heat-related deaths in 2016, and more than 2,200 in 2015. Most states do not report the deaths and very few cities have heat action plans, said Dr Mavalankar, who was instrumental in Ahmedabad adopting a heat action plan, and becoming the first South Asian city to inform citizens about extreme weather and of ways to take necessary action. In 2010, Ahmedabad faced a severe heat wave, and 274 cases of heatstroke and 65 deaths; by contrast, ______________________________________

(a) there were 57 cases of heatstroke and 11 deaths in 2015, after implementation of the heat action plan.
(b) temperatures must rise above 30 degrees Celsius with a departure of at least 4.5 degrees Celsius.
(c) these “hot spots” have been “at the lower end of various health, education, economic and population growth indicators”.
(d) the increasing recognition of heat as a public health problem, India did not thus far have an HVI.
(e) the maximum temperature exceeds 40 degrees Celsius and the departure from normal is at least 6.5 degrees Celsius.

Q8. The bicycle was invented in the 19th century and it remains a mode of transport for a large number of people. Developed countries in Europe have brought back the bicycle as a mode of urban commuting in a big way, ________________________________________. It is time for India to promote bicycle culture as well, so that we burn less fossil fuels while improving our health. Medical experts view cycling as an exercise which, while being less strenuous on the body, is a workout for all the major muscles.

(a) while middle-income countries in Latin America are trying to replicate the model.
(b) with the participation of one-fourth of its population of eight million, every Sunday and on other holidays, covering around 68 days of the year.
(c) Cycling culture, which existed in the 1970s and 1980s in India, before the arrival of cars in big numbers, can be revived.
(d) it will reduce our CO2 emissions.
(e) as we gradually move away from fossil fuels, cycling will provide a good alternative for short commutes and also become a sport for the young.


Q9. The present-day world needs a philosophy and practice to herald non-exploitative social and economic structures based on compassion, equality, liberty, fraternity and equal opportunity. In terms of both philosophy and practice, Marxism combines in its scope both the dimensions and thereby, provides a comprehensive approach for dealing with complex social and economic issues of our time. Marxism, founded in the 19th century, continues to be equally valid and pertinent for society and economy in the 21st century. ___________________________________________

(a) It is grossly unfair to reduce Marxism to a mere study of the economic dimensions of life.
(b) The comprehensive scope of Marxism, which encompasses not only the materialistic basis of production, but also other finer dimensions of life, makes it a wholesome and holistic method to understand — and transform — the social, economic and cultural aspects of human consciousness.
(c) The capitalism which Marx analysed has today transformed into crony capitalism, leading to more exploitation and causing grave dehumanisation.
(d) This is all the more striking in the context of Europe, where every 20 years, a new philosophy emerges and influences human action and consciousness.
(e) Terrorism and right-wing conservatism, new forms of fascism, global warming and climate change are threatening to take us back to the dark ages of the medieval period.


Directions (10-12): In each of the following sentence there are three blank spaces. Below each sentence there are five options and each option consists of three words which can be filled up in the blanks in the sentence to make the sentence meaningful and grammatically correct.


Q10. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels through Sri Lanka for the UN Vesak Day celebrations, he will speak and hear much about the teachings of the world’s greatest ____________, Gautama Buddha. He is also certain to be mindful of Sri Lanka’s _______________with war, victory, militarism, the challenges of conflict resolution, and getting to peace and______________.

(a) peaceful, ignorance, settlement
(b) antagonistic, undergo, agreement
(c) nonviolent, encounter, estrangement
(d) pacifist, experience, reconciliation
(e) conciliatory, unfamiliarity, harmony


Q11. Most Tamil parents wanted their children to study and become civil servants, and even in the worst of times, _____________many difficulties to ensure that their sons and daughters attended school. ___________Tamil parents sat on dharna outside militant camps where their children had been________________.

(a) undergo, Ecstatic, recruited
(b) underwent, wailing, conscripted
(c) ignored, lamenting, levied
(d) experienced, mourning, discharged
(e) abided by, cheering, allocated

Q12. Rivers, it seems, have gone out of the lives of large numbers of people in India, in cities surely. They do become part of public_________________, but only as items of disputes between riparian states, or as beneficiaries — or victims — of large projects or when they go into _______________and cause havoc, sometimes even when they run dry. But the river as a part of people’s day-to-day experiences is________________ a matter of public conversation.

(a) ignorance, deluge, hardly
(b) speech, shortage, seldom
(c) discourse, spate, rarely
(d) sermon, paucity, scracely
(e) talk, inundation, frequently

Direction (13): In question given below there are two statements, each statement consists of two blanks. You have to choose the option which provides the correct set of words that fits both the blanks in both the statements appropriately and in the same order making them meaningful and grammatically correct.


Q13. (1)Myanmar _______________ the recent terror attacks during the Amarnath Yatra in India as also various acts of terror ______________ by terrorists from across the borders.
(2) He ______________ the scene between Gloucester and his sons as the act was ______________ with an intention to harm the modesty of his family.

(a)condemned, perpetrated
(b)rebuked, persisted
(c)reproached, achieved
(d)reprimanded, enforced
(e)clobbered, responded

Direction (14): The following question consists of a sentence which is divided into three parts which may contain grammatical errors. If there is an error in any part of the sentence, find the correct alternatives to replace those parts from the three options given below each question to make the sentence grammatically correct. If there is an error in any part of the sentence and none of the alternatives is correct to replace that part, then choose (d) i.e. None of the (I), (II) and (III) as your answer. If the given sentence is grammatically correct or does not require any correction, choose (e) i.e. No correction required as your answer.

Q14.  Suicide is nothing but an ‘escapist’ approach (I)/to life problem which are nothing but part of (II)/a larger divine plan to facilitating our spiritual progress. (III)
(I) Suicide has nothing to do with an ‘escapist’ approach
(II) to life’s problems which are nothing but part of
(III) a larger divine plan to facilitate our spiritual progress

(a)Only (II)
(b)Both (II) and (III)
(c)All (I), (II) and (III)
(d)None of the (I), (II) and (III)
(e)No correction required

Direction (15): In the following question, a part of the sentence is given in bold; it is then followed by three sentences which try to explain the meaning of the phrase given in bold. Choose the best set of alternatives from the five options given below each question which explains the meaning of the phrase correctly without altering the meaning of the sentence given to the question.

Q15. The dichotomy is the striking feature. An estimated 25 per cent of our population is economically advanced with access to the latest technology, while the rest wallows in inhuman conditions.

(I)An estimated 25 per cent of our population has access to the latest technology forming economically advanced populace while the rest still lives a savage life; it makes the difference more evident.
(II)What is more striking is that one-fourth of our population is economically and technologically advanced while the rest is deprived of any such facilities.
(III)It is a distinct feature that around 25 per cent of our population is economically advanced with proficiency in technology and communication while the rest is still reeling under poverty.

(a)Only (I) is correct
(b)Only (III) is correct
(c)Both (II) and (III) are correct
(d)Both (I) and (II) are correct
(e)All are correct