Reading Comprehension for IBPS PO Prelims Exam: 29th August 2018

Dear Aspirants,

Reading Comprehension for IBPS PO Prelims Exam

IBPS PO Prelims is in its way and lot of aspirants are heading towards new hopes with this upcoming opportunity. Thus, English Language can be an impetus for their success by saving time and scoring well. So, instead of boiling the ocean, try building up a strong vocabulary, an effective knowledge of grammar, and efficient comprehension skills so as to be on the ball to face this particular section. Here is a quiz on English Language being provided by Adda247 to let you practice the best of latest pattern English Questions for upcoming IBPS PO exam.

Directions (1-7): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Kerala is reeling under the worst floods since 1924. The Southwest monsoon that began on June 1 has been 30 per cent in excess in the state. All 44 rivers in the state are in spate and 35 of its 39 dams are overflowing. A red alert has been sounded in all 14 districts while 12 of them are already flooded. In the past week alone, 94 persons have died. Landslides, mudslips and flashfloods have been reported from all over the state. Over one lakh people have shifted to relief camps and many more are reportedly marooned in houses and buildings cut off by flood waters. The state’s main airport at Nedumbassery, Kochi, was closed on Wednesday after water from Periyar, the state’s largest river, flooded the runway.

Road and rail links are in disarray with central Kerala, including the city of Ernakulam, cut off from rest of the state. Parts of the state are now without electricity. Flood waters have entered the tourist destination of Munnar and the Triveni Sangamam at Sabarimala. Relief operations are in full swing and it will need generous help from the Centre and other agencies as a large part of the state’s transport infrastructure will have to be repaired or rebuilt.

While the immediate concern is rescue and relief, this deluge and the tragedy it has wreaked should be a reason to reflect on Kerala’s development trajectory. Excess rainfall is primarily responsible for the disaster, but unplanned development, particularly in construction and quarrying, have contributed to the death and destruction.

The construction boom in recent years has taken a toll on the state’s wetlands and river valleys. With farming becoming uneconomic, paddy fields have been turned into real estate and released for construction. This has reduced the area available for rain and flood waters to spread. Better management of watersheds could have reduced the intensity of the floods. Similarly, better planning and co-ordination in the opening of dams may have helped to phase out the release of excess storage from reservoirs, limiting the extent of the floods.

Kerala’s geography can be both a saving factor and a recipe for disaster. The Gadgil Committee report on conservation of the Western Ghats had flagged the need for better regulation and management of the hill region. It was resisted by a large section of residents and rejected by the political mainstream. The government may need to revisit the report and restrain certain types of environment-unfriendly activities in the hills. The protection of wetlands will also need to be pursued urgently and necessary corrections made in development plans.

Q1. As per the passage, what measures could have reduced the intensity of the floods in Kerala?

Better management of watersheds.

Restore rivers to their natural courses

Both (a) and (b)

Better planning and co-ordination in the opening of dams.

Both (a) and (d)

Solution:

Refer paragraph 4 following lines : "Better management of watersheds could have reduced the intensity of the floods. Similarly, better planning and co-ordination in the opening of dams may have helped to phase out the release of excess storage from reservoirs, limiting the extent of the floods."

Q2. Which of the following can be the most appropriate title for the passage above?

Faulty Infrastructure

The Trickle

The Tragedy

The Deluge

The Drizzle

Solution:

The most appropriate title for the passage above is "The Deluge". Deluge means a severe flood. Hence, the paragraph is about the floods in Kerala.

Q3. Which of the following statement(s) is/are incorrect in context with the passage?

(I) Many river channels have been historically straightened to improve navigability.

(II) India has witnessed many of the largest, most catastrophic floods, causing irreparable damage to people's livelihood, property, and crucial infrastructure.

(III) Kerala will need help from centre and other agencies to rebuild state's transport infrastructure which has been damaged.

Only (I)

Only (II)

Only (III)

Both (I) and (II)

Both (II) and (III)

Solution:

Only option (III) is correct. Refer paragraph 2 following lines "Relief operations are in full swing and it will need generous help from the Centre and other agencies as a large part of the state’s transport infrastructure will have to be repaired or rebuilt."

Q4. In the passage above, A sentence is given in bold- "Kerala’s geography can be both a saving factor and a recipe for disaster." Which of the following statements gives the correct way of writing the above statement without altering its meaning?

Kerala’s geography is not efficient for coping with a disaster.

Kerala’s geography can save people from a disaster and cope with its after effects.

Kerala's geographical conditions can become a saviour of disaster and a means of disaster.

Kerala’s geographical conditions are both a rescuer of disaster and a custodian of disaster.

None of the Above

Solution:

The line in bold means that Kerala's geographical conditions can become a saviour of disaster, i.e. if well developed it can save it from disaster and a means of disaster, i.e.,the geographical conditions are also prone to disaster.

Q5. Which of the following statements is/are true in context with the passage?

(I) All 44 Rivers in the state are flooded and 35 of its 39 dams are overflowing.

(II) Kerala’s main airport at Nedumbassery, Kochi, was closed on Wednesday after water from Periyar River flooded the runway.

(III) A red alert has been sounded in all 14 districts while 12 of them are already flooded.

Only (I)

Only (II)

Only (III)

All of the Above

None of the Above

Solution:

All three statements are true in reference to the passage.

Q6. Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR to the word given in passage.

MAROONED

Rescued

Abandoned

Reclaimed

Harbor

Redeem

Solution:

Marooned: leave (someone) trapped and alone in an inaccessible place, especially an island.
Abandoned: having been deserted or left.
Reclaimed: retrieve or recover (something previously lost, given, or paid); obtain the return of.
Harbor: give a home or shelter to.
Redeem: compensate for the faults or bad aspects of.

Q7. Choose the word which is most opposite to the following word given in bold in the passage.
DISARRAY

Clutter

Shambles

Discomposure

Orderliness

Unruliness

Solution:

Disarray: a state of disorganization or untidiness.
Orderliness: arranged or disposed in a neat, tidy manner or in a regular sequence
Clutter: cover or fill (something) with an untidy collection of things.
Shambles: a state of total disorder.
Discomposure: the state or feeling of being disturbed or agitated; agitation.
Unruliness: refusal to obey

Directions (8- 15): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Britain (and France) declared war on Germany in 1939. In preparation, India’s economy was geared up by the colonial government towards the war effort through imposition of controls. The first was the exchange control. Completely convertible into any currency until then, the rupee was made inconvertible. Transferring money outside the sterling area required permission under rules that were laid down in London. The maze of controls grew as the war went on. Dollar securities held by private individuals were compulsorily acquired, and compensation was in rupees at the market price on an arbitrary date, resulting in losses to many. The Bank of England (BoE) sold the securities so acquired, adding the dollars to its coffers. Dollars for the war were also raised by selling silver bullion from India’s reserves to governments outside the sterling area.
Dollars could be spent on imports of essential consumables, not capital goods. What was essential was defined by the war requirements until 1946, when civilian requirements were included. The restrictions on capital goods imports continued because the BoE had blocked what were called India’s sterling balances. By the end of World War II, India had accumulated a sizeable sterling balance of £1,300 million — India’s earnings in foreign currency on its exports for the war, deposited in the BoE in the form of sterling to the credit of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) account. The balance had grown with import controls limiting forex outflows. The corresponding increase in rupee circulation stoked war inflation in India.
After the war ended, the transfer of the sterling balances was negotiated between India and Britain. (After Partition, Pakistan joined the talks.) India’s key negotiator, B.K. Nehru, has described the protracted settlement in his memoirs. Winston Churchill had been threatening to write off the sterling balances. In the first round of negotiations, in 1946, by which time Churchill was out of power, the British delegation sought a considerable scaling-down of the sterling balances. India sought word that the sterling — that had become much overvalued — would not be devalued. The visitors refused. The sterling to them was still the premium currency against which other currencies were valued.
The next sterling balances negotiations were held in London in July 1947 against the backdrop of the Government of India having been thrown into chaos by the advancement of the date Independence/Partition to August 15, 1947, from June 30, 1948. After August 15, India and Pakistan would have had no forex other than the sterling balances to pay for imports. The urgency of reaching an agreement increased. The impossibility of a write-off was accepted. But limits were placed on their use by the two countries — as unrestricted spending would have run the British balance of payments, and consequently its economy, to the ground.

Q8. In which of the following year/years were the sterling balances negotiations held?

1946

1947

1948

Both (a) and (b)

Both (b) and (c)

Solution:

Refer the following lines in paragraph 3 and 4: "In the first round of negotiations, in 1946, by which time Churchill was out of power, the British delegation sought a considerable scaling-down of the sterling balances. India sought word that the sterling — that had become much overvalued — would not be devalued. The visitors refused."
"The next sterling balances negotiations were held in London in July 1947 against the backdrop of the Government of India having been thrown into chaos by the advancement of the date Independence/Partition to August 15, 1947, from June 30, 1948. "

Q9. What controls were imposed by the colonial government to gear up India's Economy towards the war?

Dollar securities held by private individuals were compulsorily acquired, and compensation was in rupees at the market price on an arbitrary date, resulting in losses to many.

Transferring money outside the sterling area required permission under rules laid down in London.

Indian rupee was made inconvertible from completely convertible.

Both (b) and (c)

All of the Above

Solution:

All are correct. Refer Paragraph 1.

Q10. Which of the following statements is/are true in context with the passage?

(I) The sterling was floated against the major international currencies in the early 1970s, the rupee as late as 1993-1994.

(II) India devalued the rupee proportionally: from ₹3.309 to a dollar to ₹4.762.

(III) Dollars could be spent on imports of essential consumables, not capital goods.

Only (I)

Only (II)

Only (III)

Both (I) and (II)

Both (II) and (III)

Solution:

Only (III) is correct. Refer paragraph 2.

Q11. Which of the following statement(s) is/are incorrect in context with the passage?

(I) Limits were placed on how much could be drawn in a given period from the balances.

(II) India had accumulated a sizeable sterling balance of £1,300 million by the end of World War II.

(III) Dollars for the war were raised by selling silver bullion from India’s reserves to governments outside the sterling area.

Only (I)

Only (II)

Only (III)

Both (I) and (II)

Both (II) and (III)

Solution:

Only (I) is incorrect. Both (II) and (III) are correct.
Option (II) Refer paragraph 2
Option (III) Refer paragraph 1

Q12. Which of the following can be the most appropriate title for the passage above?

Transferring Money Outside India

War and its After Effects

Control on Money

A Brief History of the Rupee

Differentiating Sterling and Rupee

Solution:

The most appropriate title for the passage is "A Brief History of the Rupee"

Q13. In the passage given above a line is given in bold. Which of the following can be inferred from the line given in bold?

A limit on loans to India and Pakistan by British economy prevented it from getting down to the ground.

Limited restrictions were imposed on India and Pakistan to import, which saved the British economy from going down.

Limits were placed on the use of imports on India and Pakistan, without which the economy of British would have landed to the ground.

Limits were placed on use of forex by India and Pakistan and if this restriction would not have been made, the British economy would have gone down to the ground.

None of the Above

Solution:

In the last passage, it is being talked about that after August 15, India and Pakistan would have had no forex other than the sterling balances to pay for imports. So, limits were placed on their usage and if this restriction would not have been made, the British economy would have gone down to the ground.

Q14. Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR to the word given in passage.

COFFERS

Spartan

Ascetic

Coffins

Casket

Liabilities

Solution:

Coffers: a strongbox or small chest for holding valuables.
Casket: a small ornamental box or chest for holding jewels, letters, or other valued objects.
Spartan: showing or characterized by austerity or a lack of comfort or luxury.
Coffins: a long, narrow box, typically of wood, in which a dead body is buried or cremated.
Liabilities: the state of being legally responsible for something.

Q15. Choose the word which is most opposite to the following word given in bold in the passage.
PROTRACTED

Attenuated

Multiplied

Dignified

Curtailed

Amplified

Solution:

Protracted: lasting for a long time or longer than expected or usual.
Curtailed: reduce in extent or quantity; impose a restriction on.
Attenuated: (especially of a person) extremely thin.
Amplified: enlarge upon or add detail to (a story or statement).

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