SBI PO (Main) Exam Paper - 2019 "English Language"
Direction (121 – 123) : Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Certain words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of these.
Meritocracy has become a leading social ideal. Politicians across the ideological spectrum continually return to the theme that the rewards of life – money, power, jobs, university admission – should be distributed according to skill and effort. The most common metaphor is the “even playing field” upon which players can rise to the position that fits their merit. Conceptually and morally, meritocracy is presented as the opposite of systems such as hereditary aristocracy, in which one’s social position is determined by the lottery of birth. Under meritocracy, wealth and advantage are merit’s rightful compensation, not the fortuitous windfall of external events.
Most people don’t just think the world should be run meritocratically, they think it is meritocratic. In the United Kingdom, 84% of respondents to the 2009 British Social Attitudes survey stated that hard work is either “essential” or “very important” when it comes to getting ahead, and in 2016 the Brookings Institute found that 69% of Americans believe that people are rewarded for intelligence and skill. Respondents in both countries believe that external factors, such as luck and coming from a wealthy family, are much less important. While these ideas are most pronounced in these two countries, they are popular across the globe.
Although widely held, the belief that merit rather than luck determines success or failure in the world is demonstrably false. This is not least because merit itself is, in large part, the result of luck. Talent and the capacity for determined effort, sometimes called “grit”, depend a great deal on one’s genetic endowments and upbringing.
This is to say nothing of the fortuitous circumstances that figure into every success story. In his 2016 book Success and Luck, the US economist Robert Frank recounts the long-shots and coincidences that led to Bill Gates’s stellar rise as Microsoft’s founder, as well as to Frank’s own success as an academic. Luck intervenes by granting people merit, and again by furnishing circumstances in which merit can translate into success.
121. What ideas does the author refer to when he/she says, “While these ideas are most pronounced in these two countries, they are popular across the globe.”?
A. Skills and efforts alone can lead to success.
B. Luck and inheritance grant merit and favourable conditions leading to success.
C. Merit can lead to success only if you are a resident of UK or America.
D. External efforts like inheritance and luck do not affect the chance of being rich.
E. Both A & D
122. Which of the following statements can be correctly inferred from the passage?
A. The idea behind 'even playing field' is to bring everyone to their lowest possible level.
B. Even though meritocracy is popular all over the world, only UK and America have successfully implemented it.
C. It is a common fallacy that hard work and skill alone can bring success.
D. In hereditary aristocracy, a lottery is drawn at the birth to determine his/her career.
E. None of the above
123. Which of the following correctly describes the tone of the last paragraph?
A. Fictitious
B. Factual
C. Fallacious
D. Flippant
E. Forceful
Direction )124 – 127) : Which of the following phrases (i), (ii), and (iii) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold letters to make the sentence grammatically correct? Choose the best option among the five given alternatives that reflect the correct use of phrase in the context of the grammatically correct sentence. If the sentence is correct as it is, mark (E) i.e., "No correction required" as the answer.
124. The strategy of human lockdown is being unprecedented in human history and the World Health Organisation has called it the most “aggressive disease containment effort in history”.
i. Was unprecedented in human history
ii. Was unprecedented during human history
iii. Was unprecedented in the history of human beings
A. Only i
B. Only ii
C. Only iii
D. Both i and iii
E. No correction required
125. The Netherlands became a world power in the 17th century, thanks to enormous wealth generates by its East and West India Companies which propelled it to the forefront of scientific discovery and artistic endeavor.
i. enormous wealth generated by its East and West India Companies
ii. enormous wealth being generated by its East and West Companies
iii. enormous wealth had generated by its East and West Companies
A. Only i
B. Only ii
C. Only iii
D. Both i and ii
E. No correction required
126. The announcement by the king of England was met with scorn, anger and ridicule on social media.
i. Had met on scorn, anger and ridicule in
ii. Was meeting of scorn, anger and ridicule on
iii. Had been meet with scorn, anger and ridicule on
A. Only i
B. Only ii
C. Only iii
D. Both ii and iii
E. No correction required
127. Dutch author Marieke Lucas Rijneveld has become one of the youngest writers because shortlisted for a Booker prize, after their debut novel made the final line-up for the International Booker.
i. Was to be shortlisted for a Booker Prize
ii. To be shortlisted for a Booker Prize
iii. To be shortlisted within a Booker Prize
A. Only i
B. Only ii
C. Only iii
D. Both ii and iii
E. No correction needed.
Direction (128 – 130) : Read the given passage carefully and answer the questions that follow. Certain words are printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of these.
When it comes to English books, it is authors like Kavita Kané, Utkarsh Patel, and, more recently, Saiswaroopa Iyer, who seem to have passionately taken up the cause of feminist revisionist mythology.
Kané has written a string of books over the years that are determinedly feminist in nature. She picks the most unusual characters (sometimes even creates them!) to tell her readers what-may- have-been. Her first was titled Karna’s Wife: The Outcast’s Queen (2014), which told the story of Karna through his (fictional) wife, Uruvi.
It is interesting that Kané chose to introduce an entirely new character to tell Karna’s story in the space of mythological fiction. The Mahabharata speaks of no one called Uruvi. Karna is married to Vrushali, Duryodhana’s charioteer’s sister, and to another woman named Supriya. Both are blink-and-miss characters, with little to say or do in the epic. But in Kané’s re-imagined world, Karna’s second wife is Uruvi. She is a woman passionately in love with her husband and plays an active role in his unfolding narrative.
Here, we deal with not one but two subaltern voices – of the woman and of the low caste. Kane’s inspiration for this name seems to have come from some references in later Tamil literature, where Karna’s wife is named Ponnaruvi. However, it is conjectured that Ponnaruvi was an epithet for either Vrushali or Supriya or both.
Kané’s next was Sita’s Sister (2014), where she constructed the life and character of the little-known wife of Lakshmana, Urmila. The Ramayana takes scant notice of her, and when it does, consigns her to what is essentially a 14- year long coma. But Kané imagined her as a living, breathing heroine who holds the fort when everything is crumbling and everyone important has left.
128. Given below is a possible inference that can be drawn from the facts stated in the last paragraph. You have to examine the inference in the context of the passage and decide upon its degree of truth or falsity. 'The Ramayana hardly takes any notice of Lakshmana's wife Urmila who held the fort during an attack and was heavily injured by the falling rubble.'
A. Definitely false
B. Probably false
C. The data are inadequate
D. Probably true
E. Definitely true
129. Which of the following is true about 'Uruvi' with reference to the passage?
A. The author, through Uruvi, shows casteism in the Mahabharata, which was not present in the original version.
B. The author created Uruvi all by herself without any historical reference.
C. The author feels that the Mahabharata had done injustice to Uruvi by telling her story from Karna's point of view.
D. In the original version of the Mahabharata, Uruvi is completely ignored in Karna's story.
E. None of the above.
130. Which of the following statements is NOT true with respect to the passage?
A) Kavita Kané, Utkarsh Patel, and Saiswaroopa Iyer are writing the mythology from a female perspective.
B) Uruvi is not completely fictional.
C) According to Kavita Kané only people belonging to the low caste were second class citizens.
A. Only A
B. Both A & B
C. Both B & C
D. Only C
E. None are correct
