Dear Aspirants, Our IBPS Guide team is providing a new series of English Questions for IBPS RRB Clerk/EPFO Assistant/LIC ADO 2019 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.
Check here for IBPS RRB Clerk Prelims Mock Test 2019
Check here for EPFO Assistant Mock Test 2019
[WpProQuiz 6665]
Directions (1-10) Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.
In 1998, I had the rare experience of seeing bossa nova pioneer João Gilberto live inconcert in San Francisco. Gilberto, who died on Saturday at age 88, was a famousrecluse known both for his magical music-making as well as his stage fright. If you hadthe chance to watch him perform live, you seized the opportunity because it might neverhappen again. This is my account of that memorable evening.
The man holding the guitar has the nervous look of someone who has just stepped off asubway train and now worries he has picked the wrong stop. The concert promoter istaken aback by his unexpected appearance – she is still in the midst of her introduction(“I would like to thank my boyfriend, I would like to thank the audience for being here…”). She has not yet mentioned the “star of the evening”, João Gilberto. And here he isonstage now, looking very unlike the evening star, this anxious man in a brown suit, whowants to get back on the subway train but is afraid that it has already left the station.As was the case at Carnegie Hall a few nights before, the audience gives a standingovation merely at a glimpse of the performer. The warm welcome may backfire.Applause seems only to amplify Gilberto’s stage fright. But retreat is impossible; thetrain has certainly left the station by now. He moves to the small padded bench at centrestage, sits down and stares at his feet.
Getting on stage may be the most difficult part of a concert for João Gilberto, legendaryinventor of the bossa nova style. Twenty-one years have passed since his lastperformance in San Francisco. But veterans of the nightclub scene still recall hisengagement with Stan Getz at the now-defunct Keystone Korner – where club ownerTodd Barkan virtually needed to shove Gilberto out on stage. His reclusion is wellknown, and few expected him ever to perform again in the United States.Many stories are told of Gilberto’s shyness. Some may well be apocryphal: forinstance, the account of Elba Ramahlo, a well-known singer in her own right, reportedlymoving into the same apartment building as Gilberto, in an attempt to befriend him.When João phoned her one day to borrow a deck of playing cards, she quickly complied,seeing this as her chance to break through the barriers that kept him out of contact withother human beings. When she arrived at the door of his apartment, herefused to let her in, asking her to slip the cards, one at a time, under the door.
The same week that Gilberto is scheduled to perform in San Francisco, a number offamous Brazilian singers, including Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque, are participating ina Brazilian music festival in France. Their visit coincides with the World Cup matchtaking place there, and is likely motivated by the performers’ desire to root forthe Brazil team in person. Yet João has somehow been convinced to come to the US forconcerts in New York, Miami and San Francisco while his compatriots are congregatingin France. The apparent reason is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first bossanova recordings – which Gilberto made for Brazil’s Odeon label in June 1958.Knowledgeable fans realise how rare a treat this is. At Carnegie Hall, one could spotTony Bennett, Jon Hendricks, João Bosco, Tommy Mottola, Cornell Dupree and SoniaBraga, among other luminaries. The day before the California concert, the San FranciscoChronicle reported that Gilberto’s appearance was “the hottest ticket in town.”
Now firmly seated on his bench, Gilberto begins speaking in a whisper. The applausehas yet to die down, but suddenly the audience becomes quiet, strains to hear what he issaying. No, he is not whispering, it just seems that way. He is singing, but very softly. Iam in the third row, only a few feet away, yet it takes me some time before I can hear hisguitar, which is even quieter than his voice.The confusion is not surprising. Gilberto’s singing style is as shy as his stagedemeanor. Miles Davis once said that João’s delivery was so hypnotic that he “wouldsound good reading a newspaper.” The analogy is apt in many ways. Gilberto is almostas quiet as a man reading the newspaper, almost as introspective, as unaware of what’shappening around him. When Tom Jobim first brought Gilberto to the attention ofrecord company executives four decades ago, they listened in shocked silence to thissinger who hardly moved his lips. Finally one remarked: “Tom said he’d bring us asinger, but ended up bringing a ventriloquist.”
The release of their first record, Chega de Saudade, would eventually be lauded as themost influential event in modern Brazilian music. But resistance was firm at first. Whenthe sales staff played it for an influential client, he tore it off the turntable and smashedthe record against the table. “Why do they record singers who have a cold?” he askedsarcastically.
Within a few months, Gilberto had taken Brazil by storm. Five years later, the bossacraze reached America, where Gilberto teamed with Stan Getz for a recording whichspawned the hit single Girl from Ipanema, and spent almost two years on the Billboardalbum charts.Gilberto was a revolutionary, but one who retained strong links to the previousgeneration of Brazilian musicians. On his US tour he performs the many Jobimcompositions that he made famous, but also plays pieces by Ary Barroso and DorivalCaymmi, whose songs were recorded by Camen Miranda before the Second World War.And he is equally at home with the later generation of Brazilian “Tropicalist”songwriters, such as Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Many in the audience were nodoubt surprised when Gilberto sang S’Wonderful in English, but George Gershwin andCole Porter are equally part of his tradition.
1) Choose the option which is most similar to the word in the question,as mentioned in the passage.
spawned
a) procreated
b) kindred
c) congenital
d) intrinsic
e) None of these
2) Choose the option which is most similar to the word in the question,as mentioned in the passage.
ovation
a) applause
b) criticism
c) accuse
d) berate
e) None of these
3) Choose the option which is most similar to the word in the question,as mentioned in the passage.
backfire
a) ricochet
b) flourish
c) succeed
d) languish
e) None of these
4) Choose the option which is most opposite to the word in thequestion, as mentioned in the passage.
apocryphal
a) spurious
b) doubtful
c) fictitious
d) authentic
e) None of these
5) Choose the option which is most opposite to the word in thequestion, as mentioned in the passage.
recluse
a) eremite
b) outcast
c) hermit
d) extrovert
e) None of these
6) Choose the option which is most opposite to the word in thequestion, as mentioned in the passage.
demeanor
a) attitude
b) behaviour
c) conduct
d) faineance
e) None of these
7) Which of the following is/are correct according to the passage?
I) João Gilberto was a famous performer known both for his magical music-making aswell as his stage fright.
II) Getting on stage was the most difficult part of a concert for João Gilberto, legendaryinventor of the bossa nova style.
III) Twenty-one years have passed since João Gilberto’s last performance in Boston.
a) only II
b) II and III
c) I and II
d) I, II, III
e) None of these
8) Which of the following is/are incorrect according to the passage?
I) The day before the California concert, the San Francisco Chronicle reported thatJoão Bosco’s appearance was “the hottest ticket in town.”
II) When Tom Jobim first brought João Gilberto to the attention of record companyexecutives four decades ago, they listened in shocked silence to this singer whohardly moved his lips.
III) The release of their first record, Chega de Saudade, was lauded as the mostinfluential event in modern Brazilian music.
a) only III
b) II and III
c) I and II
d) I only
e) None of these
9) ‘Gilberto was a revolutionary, but one who retained strong links to the previousgeneration of Brazilian musicians.’
Which of the following choices substantiate the above statement?
a) On his US tour João Gilberto performed many Jobim compositions made himfamous.
b) João Gilberto was the great performer who was also the inventor of the bossa novastyle.
c) When Tom Jobim first brought Gilberto to the attention of record companyexecutives four decades ago, they listened in shocked silence to this singer who hardlymoved his lips.
d) On his US tour João Gilberto performed the many Jobim compositions that he madefamous, but also played pieces by Ary Barroso and Dorival Caymmi, whose songs wererecorded by Camen Miranda before the Second World War.
e) None of these
10) What can be said about the author’s style of writing?
a) Admirable
b) Apathetic
c) Contemptuous
d) Belligerent
e) None of these
Answers :
Direction (1-10) :
1) Answer: a)
Option A) is correct; ‘procreated’ is the suitable synonym of the given word.
Option B) is incorrect; ‘kindred’ means related.
Option C) is incorrect; ‘congenital’ means inherent.
Option D) is incorrect; ‘intrinsic’ means innate.
2) Answer: a)
Option A) is correct; ‘applause’ is the suitable synonym of the given word.
Option B) is incorrect; ‘criticism’ is the antonym of the word.
Option C) is incorrect; ‘accuse’ is the antonym of the word.
Option D) is incorrect; ‘berate’ is the antonym of the word.
3) Answer: a)
Option A) is correct; ‘ricochet’ is the suitable synonym of the given word.
Option B) is incorrect; ‘flourish’ means to thrive.
Option C) is incorrect; ‘succeed’ means to achieve success.
Option D) is incorrect; ‘languish’ means to deteriorate.
4) Answer: d)
Option A) is incorrect; ‘spurious’ means deceitful.
Option B) is incorrect; ‘doubtful’ is the synonym of the word.
Option C) is incorrect; ‘fictitious’ is the synonym of the word.
Option D) is correct; ‘authentic’ is the suitable antonym of the given word.
5) Answer: d)
Option A) is incorrect; ‘eremite’ means cenobite.
Option B) is incorrect; ‘outcast’ is the synonym of the word.
Option C) is incorrect; ‘hermit’ is the synonym of the word.
Option D) is correct; ‘extrovert’ is the suitable antonym of the given word.
6) Answer: d)
Option A) is incorrect; ‘attitude’ is the synonym of the word.
Option B) is incorrect; ‘behavior’ is the synonym of the word.
Option C) is incorrect; ‘conduct’ is the synonym of the word.
Option D) is correct; ‘faineance’ is the suitable antonym of the given word.
7) Answer: c)
Option C is the correct choice.
Statement III is incorrect. Twenty-one years have passed since João Gilberto’s lastperformance in San Francisco.
8) Answer: d)
Only Statement I is incorrect. The day before the California concert, the San
Francisco Chronicle reported that João Gilberto’s appearance was “the hottest ticketin town.”
9) Answer: d)
Option D is the correct option as it substantiated the above statement. Option A isfactually incorrect so it is discarded; options B and C do not substantiate the givenstatement, so they are eliminated.
10) Answer: a)
Option A) is correct option; The author is a fan of great musical performer João Gilbertowho passed away recently and gives a glimpse of Gilberto’s journey as a Musician.
Option B) is incorrect option; ‘Apathetic’ means indifferent so this choice is incorrect.
Option C) is incorrect option; similarly this choice is also discarded.
Option D) is incorrect option; ‘Belligerent’ means hostile, so this choice is alsodiscarded.
