Dear Aspirants, Our IBPS Guide team is providing a new series of English Language Questions for IBPS PO 2020 Prelims 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.
Phrase replacement
Directions (1-5): Which of the following phrases given against each sentence can replace the phrase given in double inverted commas in the sentence grammatically and contextually? If none of the phrases can replace the word/phrase given in bracket in the sentence, select ‘None’ as your answer.
1) Mr. Kejriwal also said the option proposed by the Centre will lead to a “cumbersome” process of borrowing by the States, crediting the debt amount to the GST compensation fund. (Source: The Hindu, 2nd Sept, 2020)
I) Vexation
II) Burdensome
III) Cumberbabe
- I and II
- I, II, III
- Only I
- Only II
- None of these.
2) The intentional “incarceration” of his maternal uncle for several months was the result of a huge conspiracy by his rivals.
I) Imprisonment
II) Confinement
III) Harassment
- I, II, III
- Only I
- I, II
- I, III
- None of these.
3) He immensely “vaunted”over his philanthropic activities yesterday at his office in front of all his colleagues.
I) Proud
II) Praised
III) Boasted
- I, II
- Only III
- I, III
- I, II, III
- None of these.
4) In the “euphoria” surrounding the great Indian victory, some grim facts should not be overlooked. (Source: The Hindu, 2nd Sept, 2020)
I) enlightenment
II) Delight
III) Happiness
- I, II
- Only II
- I, II, III
- II, III
- None of these.
5) Being a “neophyte” he tries to learn from his seniors at his workplace constantly.
I) Veteran
II) Sincere
III) Novice
- II, III
- Only II
- Only III
- I, II, III
- None of these.
Sentence correction
Directions (6-10): Four statements are given below at A, B, C and D. There may be error/errors in the given statements. Mark the incorrect statement as the answer. If all the statements are incorrect, mark option E, i.e., “All are incorrect” as the answer.
6)
- India’s GDP suffered its steepest contraction on record in the April-June quarter.
- The provisional data show that the output shrank 23.9% from a year earlier.
- It is evident that the stringent COVID-19 lockdowns in force through the first third of the quarter, and substantially in May, hollowed out demand.
- Private consumption spending, which account for almost 60% of GDP, contracted 26.7% as consumers abjured almost all discretionary spending. (Source: The Hindu, 2nd Sept, 2020)
- All are incorrect.
7)
- If further proof was needed of India’s growing stature in world class chess and of the mind sport’s rising popularity in the country, the online Chess Olympiad provided it in emphatic fashion on Sunday.
- India became the joint champion, along with title favourite Russia, even as the Olympiad trended on Twitter and thousands followed the action through live streaming on social media.
- The title had to be shared because the result in two games in the second match of the final was affected by a net outage.
- India’s Nihal Sarin and DivyaDeshmukh had lost on time as competitive chess is always a race against the clock but probably none would have if they were not disconnected. (Source: The Hindu, 2nd Sept, 2020)
- All are incorrect.
8)
- India’s strong protest in the UN Security Council over Pakistan’s so-called “statement” to a special discussion on terrorism is explained by the number of factors.
- First, the statement, which Pakistan’s mission to the UN published as something delivered at an “open” debate on a report by the UN Secretary General, was never actually delivered.
- the only countries invited to the discussion were permanent and non-permanent members of the UNSC and officials briefing them.
- Neither does the UNSC take cognisance of statements by non-participating countries. (Source: The Hindu, 27th Aug, 2020)
- All are incorrect.
9)
- Overhaul has a nice connotation.
- The smooth first run of one’s childhood bicycle after it got overhauled is a lasting memory.
- When people say that a system has became very bad that it needs an overhaul, they actually believe that such a thing is possible, that someone can do it.
- In popular imagination, an overhaul also carries an association with radical improvement. (Source: The Hindu, 27th Aug, 2020)
- All are incorrect.
10)
- Analysts on Dalal Street seem divided for whether the Supreme Court verdict will result in a two player telecom market for India or not but they believe without support from parent’s firm, Vodafone Idea would be forced to shut out shop.
- The much-awaited Supreme Court verdict granted a 10-year time frame to telecom players on Tuesday for paying the Adjusted Gross Revenue related dues to the DoT.
- The apex court said telcos should pay 10% of the AGR-related dues by March 31, 2021.
- It further added that every year by February 7 a payment has to be made. (Source: Economic Times, 1st Sept, 2020)
- All are incorrect.
Answers :
Directions (1-5):
1) Answer: D
Here the word “cumbersome” means “problematic” or “causing extra burden or trouble”. “Vexation” meaning “irritation” and “Cumberbabe” representing the female fans of the actor Benedict Cumberbatch are two irrelevant words and are not fitting the context of the sentence. Therefore, option D that says only II with the word “Burdensome” is the correct answer choice to this question.
2) Answer: C
The word “incarceration” means “having jailed or confined” therefore, the words “confinement” and “imprisonment” are the appropriate replacements for the word. “Harassment” is irrelevant here. Therefore, option C is the correct answer choice to this question.
3) Answer: B
The word “vaunted” means to “show pride”. So, “boasted” will be the best replacement for “vaunted”. “Proud” is grammatically not correct alternative for “vaunted” as it is in adjective form and “vaunted” is a verb here in its past form. “Praised” is also not relevant to the context. Therefore, option B is the correct answer choice for this question.
4) Answer: D
“Euphoria” means “joy” and therefore, “delight” and “happiness” are the correct alternatives of the word. “Enlightenment” means “clear perception” or “true knowledge on a spiritual level” which is irrelevant here. Therefore, option D is the correct answer choice to this question.
5) Answer: C
“neophyte” means “newly appointed” or “amateur”. So, the word “novice” can be the perfect alternative for the word “neophyte”. “Sincere” means “responsible” that is an irrelevant word here while “veteran” means expert which is just opposite of the word “neophyte” and therefore inept. Therefore, option C is the correct answer choice to this question.
Directions (6-10):
6) Answer: D
The subject-verb agreement has problem here. As the subject is “Private consumption spending”, that is connected with its verb through the linker “which” is a singular number subject, it must have a singular form of verb following. Therefore, it should be “accounts” instead of “account”. Therefore, option D is the correct answer choice to this question.
7) Answer: D
The sentence in the option D is talking about two people or two chess players who are the subjects here. So, “neither” should replace “none”. “None” generally represents more than two while “neither” represents only two. Therefore, option D is the correct answer choice to this question.
8) Answer: A
The sentence in option A has multiple errors. First of all, the noun protest here should be followed by “to” not “in” as the protest here is represented towards the matter of Pakistan’s statement in UNSC. Also, the expression “the number of” is not appropriate here as it is used for singular subject while here the sentence is about various factors. So, “the number of” should be replaced by “a number of” representing plural number. Therefore, option A is the correct answer choice to this question.
9) Answer: C
The sentence in option C has multiple grammatical errors. Firstly, the auxiliary verb “has” must be followed by the V3 form or the “past participle” form of the main verb and therefore, “became” should be replaced with “become”. Then, there is a clear use of the paired conjunction “so…that” which is always used together and thus, “very” should be replaced with “so” to correct the sentence. Therefore, option C is the correct answer choice to this question.
10) Answer: A
the sentence in option A has errors. Firstly the verb “divided” should be followed by the preposition “on” instead of “for” according to the grammatical rule of appropriate preposition. Also, “parent’s firm” must be replaced with “parent firm” that represents the idea of “main firm” or “head firm”. Therefore, option A is the correct answer choice to this question.
