English Language Test / Bank Examination.

Directions—(Q. 1–15) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Keshav and Yash lived in neighbouring villages. Once, a fair was held nearby and they set off from their homes hoping to do some business there. Keshav filled his sack with cheap cotton, overlaid it with a layer of fine wool, and set off for the fair. Meanwhile Yash, collected some old clothes, put a layer of sheer cotton on top and made his way to the fair. Each stopped to rest under a tree and got to talking. “I have the finest wool in my sack,” boasted Keshav Not to be outdone, Yash said, “I have cotton of the most superior quality.”

The two struck a deal. They would exchange their goods and since wool was more expensive, Yash would pay Keshav an extra rupee. But Yash had no money on him. So after agreeing to pay Keshav later, they went home, laughing at each other’s folly. It did not take them long to discover that they had been duped. The next day, Keshav landed at Yash’s house. “You cheat! Give me my rupee at least.” Yash was untroubled by Keshav’s words, “Of course. But first help me find the treasure at the bottom of this well. We can divide it.” So Keshav went into the well. But each time Yash, hauled up the bucket Keshav had filled, he said, “Oh ! No treasure here. Try again.” Keshav soon realized he was being used as free labour to clean the well. So he gave a loud shout, “Here is the treasure! Watch out it’s heavy !” Yash was amazed that there actually was treasure in the well. As soon as he pulled up the bucket he threw away the rope so that Keshav could not come up. But, what did he find in the bucket ? Keshav covered in mud ! They began fighting again. Soon it got too dark to continue and they left for their homes.

But Keshav did not give up easily. He arrived at Yash’s house a few days later. Yash spotted him and told his wife, “I will pretend to be dead. Keshav will have to give up.” But when Keshav heard Yash’s wife wailing, he rushed out to gather the villagers. “My friend has died. Let’s take his body for cremation.” Yash’s wife got scared, “Go away. I shall arrange for cremation myself !” But the villagers thought she was too grief stricken. Once they reached the cremation ground, Keshav told the villagers, “It is getting dark. I shall watch over him during the night.” When the villagers had left, Keshav said to Yash, “Stop pretending. Give me my money !” Now, a gang of thieves came upon them and seeing one figure seated on the funeral pyre and another standing next to him talking, they assumed them to be ghosts and dropped their bag of stolen goods and left at top speed. The two, saw the bag full of gold and silver ornaments and divided it between themselves. Keshav made sure he got an extra gold coin and the account was settled at last!

1. What made the two young men decide to visit the fair ?

(A) They thought they could get jobs and support themselves

(B) They wanted to trade their goods at the fair and earn some money

(C) To sell the produce they had grown for a handsome profit

(D) Being unemployed they thought they could entertain people at the fair

(E) Not clearly mentioned in the passage

Ans : (B)

2. What were Keshav and Yash quarrelling about ?

(A) The cost of wool

(B) The interest on the loan Yash had taken

(C) Dividing the thieves’ treasure equally

(D) The money Yash owed Keshav

(E) The wages for digging the well

Ans : (D)

3. Why were the two men happy despite not going to the fair ?

(A) They had managed to buy whatever they needed on the way

(B) They had got a good deal in exchange for a rupee

(C) They had become fast friends and had made a lot of money in the bargain

(D) Each thought he had got the better deal and had swindled the other

(E) None of the above

Ans : (D)

4. Why did the villagers gather at Yash’s house ?

(A) Yash’s wife was very upset seeing Keshav and her husband arguing

(B) To help Yash’s wife carry Yash’s body home as night had fallen

(C) To give Yash’s wife the news of her husband’s death

(D) They wanted to keep watch over Yash’s wife during the night

(E) None of the above

Ans : (E)

5. Why did Yash request Keshav to go down into the well ?

(A) He knew Keshav was smart and would clean it thoroughly

(B) He was in search of treasure that he had buried

(C) To trick Keshav into cleaning it

(D) His wife had refused to help him

(E) To make Keshav earn the extra gold coin

Ans : (C)

6. Which of the following cannot be said about the two young men ?

(a) They were lazy and made their wives work.

(b) They were a match for each other in shrewdness.

(c) They were dishonest and tried to swindle each other.

(A) Only (a)

(B) Only (a) and (c)

(C) Only (b) and (c)

(D) All (a), (b) and (c)

(E) None of the above

Ans : (A)

7. Why did Keshav get an extra gold coin from the thieves’ treasure ?

(A) As payment for digging the well

(B) It was the amount Yash owed Keshav for protecting him from the thieves

(C) As repayment of the rupee that Yash owed him

(D) It was his idea to spend the night at the cremation ground

(E) He had proved to be cleverer than Yash

Ans : (C)

8. What was Keshav’s reaction to Yash’s presumed ‘death’ ?

(A) He immediately sent for the villagers to comfort Yash’s wife

(B) He was very upset because he realized that he would never recover his money

(C) He paid for all Yash’s funeral arrangements

(D) He could not be consoled and kept a watch over Yash’s body all night

(E) He knew Yash was pretending and decided to trick him too

Ans : (E)

9. What frightened the thieves ?

(A) The sight of what they thought were the spirits of the dead

(B) The realization that the villagers would soon return

(C) Someone had discovered their hiding place

(D) Their loot had been stolen by other thieves

(E) The villagers had lit a funeral pyre for them

Ans : (A)

10. Which of the following is not true in the context of the passage ?

(A) Keshav was persevering by nature

(B) There was no treasure buried in Yash’s well

(C) Keshav guarded Yash’s body because he knew thieves lived there

(D) Yash’s wife supported her husband in his crooked dealings

(E) Neither Keshav nor Yash could be trusted to keep his word

Ans : (C)

Directions—(Q. 11–13) Which of the following is most similar in meaning to the word given in bold as used in the passage ?

11. Discover

(A) Invent

(B) Explore

(C) Locate

(D) Realize

(E) Research

Ans : (D)

12. Struck

(A) Reached

(B) Impacted

(C) Slapped

(D) Attacked

(E) Occurred

Ans : (A)

13. Top

(A) Height

(B) Lid

(C) Finest

(D) Upper

(E) Maximum

Ans : (B)

Directions—(Q. 14–15) Which of the following is most opposite in meaning to the word given in bold as used in the passage ?

14. Dark

(A) Bright

(B) Cheerful

(C) Shadow

(D) Fair

(E) Shining

Ans : (A)

15. Free

(A) Occupied

(B) Paid

(C) Captured

(D) Busy

(E) Dependent

Ans : (B)

Directions—(Q. 16–25) Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical mistake/error in it. The error if any, will be in one part of the sentence. Mark the letter of the part with error as your answer. If there is no error, mark (E).

16. In order to (A) / attract tourists many (B) / hotels have been offered (C) / attractive deals and discounts. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (C)

17. The Board is likely (A) / to take its time (B) / to examine the facts (C) / before giving their decision. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (D)

18. How can we open (A) / these branches on time (B) / if we have not (C) / yet obtained the licences ? (D) No error (E)

Ans : (C)

19. One of the disadvantage (A) / of fixed deposit schemes (B) / is that banks offer (C) / low rates of interest. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (A)

20. According to experts, it is (A) / necessarily for you to save (B) / and invest at least twenty-five (C) / percent of your monthly income. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (B)

21. The manager has not (A) / yet replied to the (B) / customer letter asking (C) / about her loan application. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (C)

22. While the formation of RBI (A) / was approved in March, 1934 (B) / it was inaugurated (C) / only in April 1, 1935. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (D)

23. The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority has (A) / asked all insurance (B) / companies submitting their (C) / balance sheets by June. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (C)

24. Arun’s father has been ill (A) / since last year and Arun (B) / has spend his entire (C) / savings on his treatment. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (C)

25. There are a large number (A) / of Chinese workers which (B) / are employed by (C) / software companies in India. (D) No error (E)

Ans : (B)

Directions—(Q. 26–30) In each question below a sentence with four words printed in bold type is given. These are lettered as (A), (B), (C) and (D). One of these four words printed in bold may be either wrongly spelt or inappropriate in the context of the sentence. Find out the word which is wrongly spelt or inappropriate if any. The letter of that word is your answer. If all the words printed in bold are correctly spelt and also appropriate in the context of the sentence, mark (E) i.e., ‘All correct’ as your answer.

26. There are few (A) differents (B) between (C) these two marketing proposals. (D) All correct (E)

Ans : (B)

27. Most (A) banks have been hiring (B) staff for their corporate (C) banking divisions. (D) All correct (E)

Ans : (B)

28. The interest rate for postal deposits is fixed (A) by the government and usually (B) remains (C) stable. (D) All correct (E)

Ans : (D)

29. Companies (A) will benefit (B) if the Finance Ministry decides to lesser (C) taxes in this budget. (D) All correct (E)

Ans : (C)

30. Compare (A) to private (B) banks, we have a larger (C) network (D) of branches in North India. All correct (E)

Ans : (A)

Directions—(Q. 31–40) In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

A poor man was once travelling through the desert. Feeling thirsty and tired, he began to …(31)… for water. At last finding a stream, he …(32)… to his knees and drank the water which …(33)… very sweet. He filled up his bottle …(34)… continued on. After several days journey, he …(35)… the palace and got an opportunity to …(36)… the King. As a mark of …(37)… he presented the King with the bottle …(38)… water. The King tasted the water, and …(39)… rewarded the man. All the courtiers …(40)… to taste the water but the King refused. When the man had left overjoyed, the king explained why he had acted so strangely. “After such a long journey, the water was foul tasting. I could not risk anyone showing, his disgust for a gift which was so sincerely given! For this reason alone I reserved the tasting of the water for myself.”

31. (A) desire

(B) pursue

(C) need

(D) obtain

(E) search

Ans : (E)

32. (A) fell

(B) drop

(C) jumped

(D) leaped

(E) sat

Ans : (D)

33. (A) looked

(B) tasted

(C) flavour

(D) became

(E) sample

Ans : (B)

34. (A) before

(B) soon

(C) and

(D) that

(E) however

Ans : (C)

35. (A) came

(B) reached

(C) built

(D) seen

(E) arrived

Ans : (B)

36. (A) meet

(B) receive

(C) homage

(D) acquaint

(E) welcome

Ans : (A)

37. (A) rebuke

(B) regards

(C) regret

(D) respect

(E) reverend

Ans : (D)

38. (A) had

(B) of

(C) filled

(D) contained

(E) full

Ans : (B)

39. (A) foolishly

(B) hasty

(C) similarly

(D) selfishly

(E) generously

Ans : (E)

40. (A) began

(B) hoping

(C) begged

(D) anxious

(E) wish

Ans : (C)

Current Affairs / April 2010.

• The Union Cabinet approves the big ticket disinvestment in Steel Authority of India Ltd. (SAIL) to mop up about Rs, 16000 crore by selling its equity and issuing fresh shares to the public.
• The centre kicks off the auction of 3G spectrum; the participation of major firms leads to a much higher bid than the base price.
• The Indian Space Research Organsation (ISRO) announces that it will launch the first in a constellation of seven satellites envisaged for the ambitious Indian Regional navigation Satellite System (IRNSS) by th end of 2011.
• Indian scientists announce the first ever detailed mapping of mycobacterium tuberculosis, an achievement that will help in producing more effective drugs to combat the bug that causes TB.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences  proposes a National Mission on monsoon towards developing reliable dynamic models for forecasting the monsoon over the next three to five-year period through a multi-institutional effort.
• The indian armies agrees to acquire the indigenous two-stage ramjet Akash missile.
• At an international conference in New Delhi, Hon’ble President Ms. Pratibha Patil underlines the need to forge a link between the corporate world and the agriculture sectio to speed up the development process in the rural areas and remove poverty.
• India’s ambitious quest to achieve total independence in cryogenic technology for launching satellite launch vehicles sufers a setback, with the indigenous cryogenic engine in a Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle failing to ignite and the vehicle tumbling into the bay of Bengal.
• The centre withdraws a ban imposed on SMS for pre-paid moiles in Jammu & Kashmir.
• ISRO’s Catosat 2B high resolution satellite is flagged off from Bengaluru to Sriharikota, wherefrom it will be launched.
• The government launched the second edition of the Triton series of exercises designed to test the security of the Kerala coast.
• The supreme court upholds the Delhi High Court judgment awarding life imprisonment to Manu Sharma in the long-running Jessica Lal murder case.
• Mr. Mukul Sangma is sworn in as the Chief Minister of Meghalaya; he replaces Mr. D. D. Lapang
• To, check inflation, the Reserve bank of India hikes the short term indicative lending and borrowing rates — repo and reverse repo of banks by 25 basis point.
• With the centre seeking time for completion of the Environment Impact Analysis on an alternative alignment for the Sethusamudram Ship Channel Project without cutting across Adam’s Bridge or Ram Setu, the Supreme Court defers judgment till February 2011.
• The Centre announces that the sea along the Indian coasts will be brought under the ambit of the Coastal Regulation Zone guidelines.
• The Union Cabinet apporves a capital infusion of Rs. 15,000 crore in public sector banks during the 2010-11 fiscal to facilitate an increase in their lending capacity by about Rs. 1.85 lakh crore.
• Navies of India and the US begin annual war exercises, the 14th edition of Malabar, involving anti-submarine warfare surface firing, visit board, search and seizure and submarine operations in the Arabian.
• The Centre asks the States to designate an appropriate authority at the distric level for identifying economically backward families to ensure uniformity in sancitoning interest susidy on education loans under the Central scheme for students belonging to economically weaker sections – from scheduled banks.
• The Cainet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approves a proposal to set up 1000 additional model schools as a benchmark of excellence in educationally backward blocks through State Governments.
• Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh holds talks with visiting Afghan President Mr. Hamid Karzai in New Delhi at the talks, Afghanistan assures India of its commitments to prvide full security to Indians working there and India conveys readiness to augment its assistance to Kabul for capcity building and restrenghtening public institutions.
• Finance Minister Mr. Pranab Mukharji announces a slew of tax concessions, including a debt relief package for coffee growers and marginal changes in tax proposals to benefit such seectors as consturction and encourage the setting up of new hospitals.