Dear Aspirants, Our IBPS Guide team is providing a new series of English Language Questions for IBPS Clerk 2021 Mains so the aspirants can practice it on a daily basis. These questions are framed by our skilled experts after understanding your needs thoroughly. Aspirants can practice these new series questions daily to familiarize with the exact exam pattern and make your preparation effective.
Paragraph fillers
Directions (1-5) : 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).
1) In the past week, India has, on average, reported 292 new Covid-19 deaths every day, and 21,072 new infections daily — both the lowest in around half a year. Since the peak of India’s first wave in mid-September, ……………………………………………………………both, the positivity rate — the proportions of samples tested that return positive for Sars-CoV2 — is at the lowest ever. This is a key metric key in determining how widespread the virus is in a community. According to the World Health Organization, if the positivity rate remains five per cent or below for two weeks, a region can be said to be keeping its outbreak under control.
- These numbers have dropped nearly 80% in the last week
- On the other hand, the grand exercise to vaccinate more than 300 million people
- On Monday, officials in four states carried out vaccination
- The calm waters that India’s outbreak is in right now should not
- States are tracking down passengers who have recently returned from the United Kingdom (UK)
2) As the New Year dawns after what seems a long 12 months wracked by death, devastated economies and uncertainty, the global landscape remains in flux. ………………………… The Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused anti-China sentiment to soar worldwide, highlighted the need for diversified sources of vital supplies such as pharmaceuticals and rare earths. This has prompted countries to accelerate geo-political realignments and develop new supply chains.
- For India especially, the coming year heralds a phase of new uncertainties,
- An aggressive China, a malevolent China-Pakistan relationship
- Rivalries between global players will, however, get enhanced.
- with its attendant implications, will all be central to India’s strategic policy.
- Globally, the China-United States (US) relationship is perhaps the most crucial today.
3) Countries that were growing economically pre-pandemic, are now witnessing worrying trends. For instance, pre-Covid, ……………………………………. its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunged by nearly 31.4% – a record held previously only by the Great Depression. In the United Kingdom (UK), unemployment hit a three-year high and over 800,000 people lost their jobs. Emerging and fledgling economies like India and South Africa are also experiencing historic contractions.
- International trade and domestic economies were the first to take a hit
- By the end of the second quarter, international trade was almost one-fifth
- The Covid-19 shock is expected to cause a seven to nine per cent fall in global trade
- Emerging and fledgling economies like India and South Africa are also experiencing historic contractions
- Unemployment in the United States (US) was at a half-century low but by the second quarter of 2020
4) Being “vocal for local” co-exists very uncomfortably with “zero effect, zero defect.” In every public speech these days, Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi has spoken of the need for economic self-reliance, embodied in the slogan Atmanirbhar Bharat. …………………………… This was blended with his larger vision of national revival, speaking of “things manufactured abroad” having “shackled” Indians. But the PM went on to demand “a clear message for our manufacturers that they should not compromise on the quality of the products.” Made in India products, he insisted, must “meet global standards.”
- It may not be obvious, but these two imperatives do no align with each other
- His latest radio address was no different. He praised individuals who had purged foreign-made items from lists of daily-use products.
- If Indian consumers were to move en masse to only products made in their country,
- The impetus for an Indian factory-owner to then invest in improving his products would largely evaporate.
- Modi has remarkable powers of persuasion, but even he cannot change basic economic behaviour.
5) Mental health issues in the context of Covid-19 are more complex and challenging due to a large proportion of socially and economically vulnerable population, high burden of pre-existing mental illness, constrained mental health services infrastructure, less penetration of digital mental health solutions, and ………………………………………………… says a study Mental health implications of Covid-19 pandemic and its response in India, published in the International Journal of Social Psychiatry in September.
- The thrust now, as the paper suggests, should also be on developing need-based interventions,
- After the pandemic began, there were many reports of people suffering from increased stress, anxiety, depression.
- Above all, the scare created due to misinformation on social media,
- These need to be expanded and made more accessible.
- They should be instrumental in guiding the planning and prioritisation of mental health care resources.
Word usage
Directions (6-10) : In each of the following questions, a word has been given and used in three statements. You are supposed to identify which of the statement/s use/s the word correctly and mark that as your answer.
6) Adolescent
I) Here it develops into a caterpillar, or rather an adolescent
II) My adolescentyears were some of the worst of my life.
III) My adolescent daughter spends hours on the phone every night, gabbing with her friends.
- Only I and II
- Only II and III
- Only II
- Only I
- Only III
7) Defecate
I) She will often lick their abdomens to stimulate the digestive system and help them urinate and defecate.
II) The vet will be able to rule out any health issues that may cause the cat to defecateoutside of the litter box.
III) Fleas defecate the fresh flakes of blood which look similar to dandruff but have a, black or reddish appearance.
- Only II
- Only I
- Only III and I
- Only I and II
- Only III
8) Sanitation
I) Very little was spent on sanitation, roads, other public works and education.
II) The drainage system and conditions of sanitationinside the house were found extremely inadequate.
III) Sanitation decreases the death-rate, religion keeps up the birth-rate.
- Only III
- Only I and III
- Only II and III
- Only I and II
- Only II
9) Portrayed
I) If her image portrayedhonesty, Dean’s statement caught her completely off balance.
II) He is portrayedas the archadversary and accuser of man.
III) Yet even in this sterner setting the figure portrayed is unmistakably the same.
- Only II
- Only III
- Only I
- Only I and II
- Only II and III
10) Coalition
I) A coalitionof downtown business owners have created a marketing plan to bring more shoppers into the downtown area.
II) As a single person, I find it very difficult to fight the coalition of my neighbors who are against the installation of a neighborhood charter.
III) A clever politician has formed a coalition, to put back the children into schools.
- Only I
- Only II and III
- Only III
- Only I and II
- Only II
Answers :
Directions (1-5):
1) Answer: A
The paragraph starts while quoting that `In the past week, India has, on average, reported 292 new Covid-19 deaths every day, and 21,072 new infections daily — both the lowest in around half a year’. The sentence further states how the `positivity rate — the proportions of samples tested that return positive for Sars-CoV2 — is at the lowest ever’. Out of the choices available, the sentence A clearly fits the blank most appropriately and the usage of the phrase ‘positivity rate’ confirms the same.
Therefore, option A is the correct answer choice to this question.
2) Answer: C
Out of all the sentences option C fits the blank most appropriately as it takes the discussion started in the paragraph further in the most logical manner.
Moreover, usage of the phrase ‘which has caused anti-China sentiment to soar worldwide’after the phrase ` Covid-19 pandemic’ indicates that the sentence covered after the blankand the reference of `devastated economies and uncertainty’ in the very beginning of the sentence validates it.
Option C is hence the correct answer.
Therefore, option C is the correct answer choice to this question.
3) Answer: E
If we read the sentences carefully, we can observe the presence of a phrase `Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunged by nearly 31.4%’ in the sentence following the blank. The reason for `witnessing unemployment in the United States (US)’ is present in the sentence given as option E. Moreover, presence of the phrase `record held previously only by the Great Depression’ related with the blank, for the first time in the succeeding paragraph confirms this sentence to be fitting the blank.
Therefore, option E is the correct answer choice to this question.
4) Answer: B
As it is clearly seen that the sentence preceding the blank `Narendra Modi has spoken of the need for economic self-reliance, embodied in the slogan Atmanirbhar Bharat’shows concern regarding the `Atmanirbhar Bharat’and a clear demand from the `manufacturers that they should not compromise on the quality of the products’the only sentence that fits the blank coherently is option B.It aligns to the idea introduced in the first sentence and connects well to the sentences that follow.
Therefore, option B is the correct answer choice to this question.
5) Answer: C
If we read the given paragraph carefully we can observe that `Mental health issues in the context of Covid-19 are more complex and challenging due to a large proportion of socially and economically vulnerable population’ Therefore, usage of option A for the blank would just become redundant in the context.Out of the rest of the options, option C that confirms the `the scare created due to misinformation on social media’ and authenticated by the `study of mental health implications’fits the blank most appropriately.
Therefore, option C is the correct answer choice to this question.
Directions (6-10) :
6) Answer: B
The definition of adolescent is immature or like a teenager. Adolescent is defined as a person who is in between puberty and adulthood. A high school student is an example of an adolescent. Hence, Statement I is meaningless.
Therefore, option B is the correct answer choice to this question.
7) Answer: D
Intransitive verb, defecate: to discharge feces from the bowels. to void excrement from the bowels through the anus; have a bowel movement. to become clear of dregs, impurities, etc. It does not make any sense in statement III.
Therefore, option D is the correct answer choice to this question.
8) Answer: B
The definition of sanitation is the process of maintaining cleanliness and dealing with sewage. An example of sanitation is the city department that makes sure trash is disposed of properly. The disposal of sewage and waste.is a fixed time in the year when a particular sporting activity is pursued, such as the Olympics.Adjective, pertaining to public hygiene, esp. the removal of waste. But statement II does not make any sense.
Therefore, option B is the correct answer choice to this question.
9) Answer: E
verb (used with object), portrayed to make a likeness of by drawing, painting, carving, or the like. to depict in words; describe graphically, to represent dramatically, as on the stage: He portrayed Napoleon in the play. Sentence II and III have used the given word correctly. But in the first sentence it is grammatically and contextually wrong. It should have been ‘If her look portrayed honesty’ instead of ‘image’ to make it correct.
Therefore, option E is the correct answer choice to this question.
10) Answer: D
The term coalition is the denotation for a group formed when two or more people, factions, states, political parties, militaries etc. agree to work together temporarily in a partnership to achieve a common goal. The word coalition connotes a coming together to achieve a goal. Sentence I and II have used the given word correctly. But in the third sentence it is grammatically and contextually wrong.
Therefore, option D is the correct answer choice to this question.
