(Paper) SBI STENOGRAPHER Clerk 2nd SITTING EXAM Paper - 2012 "Held On 27-05-2012"

::GENERAL ENGLISH::

Directions (1-10) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Princess Chandravati was very beautiful. She loved all kinds of ornaments and always wanted to wear the most precious and lovely jewels. Once, a jeweller came to the palace and gifted the king a wonderful diamond necklace. It glittered with big and small diamonds. It was certainly a very expensive necklace. The princess fell in love with it as soon as she saw it. So the king presented it to her.From that day on, the princess always wore that necklace, wherever she went. One day before going for a swim in the pond, she took the necklace off and put in the hands of her
oldest and the most trustworthy servant. “Hold this and be careful. This is the most precious necklace in the whole world,” she said. The servant was an old woman. She sat under a tree, holding the ornament tightly and waited for the princess. It was a hot afternoon and the servant was very tired so she dozzed off .under the tree. Suddenly the servant felt that someone was tugging at the necklace and she woke up with a start.She looked around but no one was there and the necklace was gone. Scared out of her wits, the old servant started screaming. On hearing her scream the royal guards rushed to her. She pointed towards the direction in which the thief may have gone and the guards ran off that way. There was a poor and dim-witted farmer walking on the same road. As soon as he saw the royal guards running towards him, he thought that they wanted to catch him and started running. But he was not a strong man and could not outrun the hefty guards. The royal guards caught him in no time. “Where is it ?” they demanded, shaking him. “Where is what ?” the poor farmer stammered back. “The necklace you stole 1” thundered one of the royal guards. The farmer had no idea what they were talking about. He only understood that some precious necklace was lost and he was supposed to
have it. He quickly replied, “I don’t know where it is now. I gave it to my landlord.” The guards ran towards the landlord’s house. “Give us the necklace right now !” the guards demanded of the fat landlord. “Necklace ? I don’t have any !” the stunned landlord replied. “Then tell us quickly who does,” demanded the soldiers. In order to get the royal guards off his back, the landlord pointed towards a priest who was walking by his house and said, “He does.” The guards now caught hold of the priest who was walking towards the temple and thinking about the lunch he had just eaten. The priest was stunned when one of the burly guards jumped on him and asked about the necklace.He remembered that the minister, Bhupati, was at the temple. He took the guards to the temple and pointed towards the praying minister, “I gave it to him,” he said. Bhupati too was caught and all four men were thrown in jail. The chief minister of the kingdom knew Bhupati well and was sure that Bhupati would never steal. He decided to find out who the culprit was. He hid near the jail where all four men were put and heard them talking. First, Bhupati asked the priest, “Panditji, why did you say that you gave the necklace to me ? I was quietly praying at the temple and now you have landed me in jail for no fault of mine.” The priest looked apologetic. He pointed towards the landlord and said, “I didn’t know what to say. He set the guards on me. I was simply passing by his house and was on my way to the temple.” The land lord looked at the priest sheepishly. Then he turned towards the poor farmer and yelled, “You lazy good-for-nothing man Why did you say that I had the necklace ?” The farmer, trembling under the angry gaze of all three men, said, “I was just walking home, The guards caught me and I did not know what to say.” On hearing, this conversation, the chief minister understood that all the four men were innocent. He immediately ordered the royal guards to search thoroughly, near the pond. The guards searched high and low till they saw something glinting on the tree. On the tree sat a monkey with the princess’ favourite necklace around his neck. It took a lot of coaxing and bananas before the monkey threw the necklace on the ground. The king apologised to all the four men and gave them gold coins as compensation. He requested his daughter to wear the necklace only indoors.

1. Why did the king present the diamond necklace to his daughter ?

(1) She liked ornaments and had grown very fond of the diamond necklace
(2) The king did not like ornaments and had no use of the necklace
(3) She had demanded the necklace from him
(4) The king liked to give expensive gifts to his daughter
(5) The king wanted to test the princess’ ability of handling expensive things

2. What did the old servant realize when she woke up ?

(1) That there were monkeys in the palace garden
(2) That the princess, necklace was missing from her hands
(3) That a poor farmer had stolen the necklace
(4) That the princess had snatched the necklace from her hands
(5) That the princess had already left

3. Why did the poor fanner run ?

(1) He was in a hurry to reach home and hide the stolen necklace
(2) He was worried that the guards would reach his house before him
(3) He had stolen the necklace and did not want to be interrogated by the guards
(4) He wanted to reach the landlord’s house before the guards reached there
(5) He saw the royal guards running after him and thought they would arrest him

4. Why did the landlord lie about the necklace ?

(1) He wanted to prove that the old servant was lying
(2) It was a conspiracy between him and the poor farmer
(3) He did not like the priest and wanted to get him punished
(4) Bhupati had ordered him to lie about the necklace
(5) He didn’t know anything about it and wanted to get rid of the guards

5. Why did the chief minister decide to intervene in the case of the stolen necklace ?

(1) He suspected that the old servant was the actual culprit
(2) He knew that the poor farmer was dim-witted and that he had created all the confusion
(3) He knew that Bhupati was an honest minister and would never do such a thing
(4) He suspected that the landlord was the actual culprit and wanted to get him punished
(5) He already knew that all four men were innocent

6. What did the chief minister do in order to find out who the actual culprit was ?

(1) He sent a spy and asked him to find out the actual culprit
(2) He directly asked Bhupati if he had stolen the princess’necklace
(3) He asked the soldiers to keep a thorough watch on the old servant
(4) He hid near the jail and overheard the conversation among the four men
(5) He interrogated all the four men

7. Who among the following was the actual culprit ?

(1) The monkey
(2) Bhupati, the minister.
(3) The poor dim-witted farmer
(4) The old and trusted servant
(5) One of the royal guards

8. Which of the following is true according to the passage ?

(1) The necklace was made of big and small rubies
(2) The royal guards did not hear the old servant scream
(3) The royal guards were polite to all four men
(4) The priest was on his way to the temple
(5) None is true

9. Arrange the following incidents in a chronological order as they occurred in the passage.

(A) The landlord pointed towards the priest
(B) The old servant dozed off .
(C) The monkeys were offered bananas
(D) A jeweller visited the king

(1) DBCA
(2) DBAC
(3) BDAC
(4) DABC
(5) BDCA

10. What did the king do after the necklace was found ?

(1) He rewarded the chief minister and thanked him
(2) He rewarded the guards
(3) He took the necklace away from the princess
(4) He apologised to all the four men
(5) Not mentioned in the pas sage

Directions (11-13) : Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in the meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

11. Dozed off

(1) Waited
(2) Dreamt
(3) Slept
(4) Nodded
(5) Sat

12. Tugging

(1) Tearing
(2) Stealing
(3) Cheating
(4) Pushing
(5) Pulling

13. Precious

(1) Valuable
(2) Best
(3) Biggest
(4) Ordinary
(5) Worthless

Directions (14-15) : Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

14. Caught hold

(1) Nabbed
(2) Picked up
(3) Let go
(4) Plunged
(5) Slipped off

15. Trembling

(1) Scared
(2) Tensed
(3) Calm
(4) Quite
(5) Shaking

Directions (16-20) : Each sentence below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank which best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

16. They……… invited all the members of the association …………….the inauguration.

(1) had, by
(2) has, at
(3) can, in
(4) have, for
(5) want, by

17. They ………their best, but were ………..to retrieve any data from that computer.

(1) gave, sorry
(2) showed, able
(3) thought, happy
(4) sent, unsuccessful
(5) tried, unable

18. The ………..of rural schools is poor as…………… to their urban counterparts.

(1) functions, like
(2) progress, unlike
(3) condition, compared
(4) state, matched
(5) situation, contrast

19. She would prefer………………. travel early rather……………… during peak hours.

(1) for, to
(2) to, than
(3) in, so
(4) not, if
(5) at, about

20. Her purse was………….. at the bus stop so she ……………..a complaint at the nearest police station.

(1) taken, did
(2) stolen, filed
(3) given, gave
(4) left, register
(5) sneaked, put

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Directions (21-25) : Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical error or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The number of that part is the answer. If there is ‘No error’ the answer is (5). (Ignore errors of punctuation if any.)

21. He have started (1)/ making a note of (2)/ his appointments as (3)/ he tends to forget them. (4)/ No Error (5)

22. Ajay was adamant (1)/ on finishing the (2)/ work before leaving (3)/ by the day. (4)/ No Error (5)

23. His teacher was pleasantly (1)/ surprised when she learned (2)/ that despite the all problems (3)/he participated. (4) / No Error (5)

24. His brother is (1)/ not only a good (2)/ guitarist but also (3)/ a good singer. (4)/ No Error (5)

25. The priest then request (1)/ all the wealthy men to (2) / donate atleast some money (3)/ for building a new temple. (4)/ No Error (5)

Directions (26-30) : Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below should replace the phrase given in bold in the following sentence to make the sentence grammatically meaningful and correct ? If the sentence is correct as it is and ‘No correction is required’, mark (5) as the answer.

26. The painter never let anyone sneaks a peek at his work before it was finished.

(1) sneak a peeks
(2) sneak a peek
(3) sneak and peek
(4) sneaking and peeking
(5) No correction required

27. Came what may, she never missed a single sermon.

(1) Come whatever may
(2) Come what may
(3) Come what maybe
(4) Came what maybe
(5) No correction required

28. Peter won the race fair and square.

(1) fare and square
(2) fairly and square
(3) fair square
(4) fair not square
(5) No correction required

29. He decided to play in time in the hope that the prices would decrease.

(1) play the time
(2) played for time
(3) play for time
(4) play the timing
(5) No correction required

30. Instead of going through the preliminaries we must get to the heart in the matter.

(1) heart for the matter
(2) heart that mattered
(3) heart of matters
(4) heart of the matter
(5) No correction required

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

Once upon a time a foolish brahmin (31) to Birbal with a strange request. He wanted to be (32) as ‘pandit’. Now, the term ‘pandit’ (33) to a man of knowledge.But unfortunately this poor brahmin was uneducated. Birbal tried to explain the difference to him saying that it was not correct to call an uneducated man a pandit and because of this very reason it would be improper to call him so. But the silly brahmin had his heart (34) on this title. Birbal came up with a brilliant solution and said that as the brahmin was an uneducated man he should (35) abuses and stones at anyone who dared to address him by the very same title. Then Birbal called all his servants and ordered them to call this brahmin a pandit. The brahmin was very pleased. But the moment the servants started calling out to him as ‘pandit’ he pretended to be very angry and (36) abusing them loudly. Then he picked up a few stones and hurled them in their direction. All this shouting and screaming (37) a crowd. When people realised that this brahmin was erupting every time someone called him ‘pandit’, they all started to (38) him. Over the next couple of days, he would constantly hear the word ‘pandit’ wherever he went. Very soon the whole town started referring to him as ‘pandit’ much to his (39). The foolish brahmin never realised why people were calling him a pandit. He was extremely pleased with the result. He (40) Birbal from the bottom of his heart.

31. (1) came
(2) got
(3) reached
(4) visited
(5) asked

32. (1) call
(2) referring
(3) addressed
(4) knows
(5) written

33. (1) is
(2) given
(3) told
(4) refers
(5) said

34. (1) give
(2) set
(3) put
(4) steal
(5) broken

35. (1) hurl
(2) give
(3) stick
(4) keep
(5) say

36. (1) telling
(2) finish
(3) hit
(4) push
(5) started

37. (1) drew
(2) selected
(3) get
(4) saw
(5) scared

38. (1) remember
(2) help
(3) watch
(4) tease
(5) hurl

39. (1) plight
(2) delight
(3) happiness
(4) sadness
(5) indifference

40. (1) yelled
(2) cursed
(3) called
(4) smiled
(5) thanked

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