IBPS Clerk Previous Year Exam Paper - 2016 (Held on:
01-01-2017) "English Language"
Directions (1-5): In each of the following questions, each sentence
has some blank spaces. Fill in the blanks with appropriate words out of the
given alternatives.
1. Activists in the country have long protested its……… society that
essentially……………. women from travelling, marrying or attending college without
permission from a male relative, who is called their ……………
(1) benevolent, forbid, steward
(2) pre-Adamite, prevent, custodian
(3) pre-eminent, restrict, protector
(4) venerable, condemns, manciple
(5) patriarchal, prohibits, guardian
2. Individual tax rates in the country are substantially…………. compared to
tax rates in the US and Western Europe but slightly than those in emerging
markets………………..
(1) slow, more
(2) decreasing, increased
(3) lesser, much
(4) lower, higher
(5) stricter, lower
3. The regulator body is likely to………. stricter trading norms, create
special liquidity window on the budget day to combat potential market………..
(1) implement, versatile
(2) let, flexibility
(3) remove, steady
(4) ignore, dynamic
(5) impose, volatility
4. Sales of consumer packaged goods companies are…………………….. to record
their slowest growth in two years as customers cut back their expenditure even
on……………….. items and groceries.
(1) expected, essential
(2) willing, regularly
(3) estimate, necessary
(4) approximately, daily
(5) determined, important
5. The bad loan ratios are………………….. to be uglier in the fourth quarter
given the……………….. loan growth.
(1) moved, frail
(2) likely, weaker
(3) tend, skewed
(4) intend, meagre
(5) going, swiftly
Directions (6-13): Read the the following passage and answer the given
questions. Certain words/phrases have been given in bold to help you locate them
while answering some of the questions.
Though global multinationals account for only 2% of the world’s jobs, they own
or orchestrate the supply chains that account for over 50% of world trade, they
make up 40% of the value of the West’s stock markets; and they own most of the
world’ intellectual property. Although the idea of being at the top of the food
chain makes these companies sound all-conquering, rickety and overextended are
often more fitting adjectives. Companies became obsessed with internationalising
their customers, production, capital and management. In 2016multinationals’
cross-border investment fell by 10-15%, the share of trade accounted for by
cross-border supply chains has stagnated since 2007 and the proportion of sales
that Western firms make outside their home region has shrunk. They are in
retreat. To understand why this is, consider the three parties that made the
boom possible, investors, the “headquarters countries” in which global firms are
domiciled, and the “host countries” that received multinational investment. Each
thought that multinational firms would provide superior financial or economic
performance. Investors saw a huge potential for economies of scale. As China,
India and the Soviet Union opened up,- and as Europe liberalised itself into a
single market, firms could sell the same product to more people.
Moreover, they saw ‘geographical arbitrage’ i.e. from the rich world they could
get management, capital, brands and technology and from the emerging world they
could get cheap workers and raw materials as well as lighter rules on pollution.
These advantages led investors to think global firms would grow faster and make
higher profits. That was true for a while, not today. The profits of the top
700-odd multinational firms have dropped by 25% over the past five years,
according to FTSE, an index firm. The weakness of many currencies against the
dollar is part of the story; the stump in commodity prices, and thus the profits
of oil firms, mining firms and the like is a factor too. Another 10% of
deterioration is due to the collapse of banks. Individual bosses will often
blame one-off factors, currency moves, the economic collapse of Venezuela,
currency swaps and the like can be thought of, a depression in Europe, a
crackdown on graft in China, and so on. But the deeper explanation is that both
the advantages of scale and those of arbitrage have worn away.
As a result, firms with a domestic focus are winning market share by 2%. In
Brazil, two local banks, have trounced global lenders. What about the
“headquarters countries”? In the 1990s and 2000s they wanted their national
champions to go global in order to become bigger and brainier. The mood changed
after the financial crisis.
Multinational firms started to be seen as agent of inequality. They created jobs
abroad, but not at home. As a result, the tapestry of rules designed to help
business globally is fraying. Takeovers of western firms now often come with
strings attached by governments to safeguard local jobs and plants. There are
gathering clouds in host countries as well. China has been turning the screws on
foreign firms in a push for “Indigenous innovation”. Bosses say that more
products have to be sourced locally and intellectual property often ends up
handed over to local partners. Strategic local partners. Strategic industries,
including the internet, are out of bounds to foreign investment. Many fear that
China’s approach will be mimicked around the developing world, forcing
multinational firms to invest more locally and create more jobs-a mirror image
of the pressure placed on them at home.
6. Which of the following is true in the context of the passage?
A. Multinationals wanted their champions to go global in 1990s and 2000s.
B. Financial measures to address the situation in Venezuela.
C. Breaking of large corporate entities.
(1) Only C
(2) Only B
(3) Only A
(4) B and C
(5) All A, B and C
7. Which of the following can be said about the multinationals in the
context of the passage?
A. Investors in multinational firms may stop investing.
B. There is resistance to multinational firms in their own domestic markets.
C. Multinationals are struggling.
(1) Only A
(2) Only B
(3) A and B
(4) All A, B and C
(5) A and C
8. Which of the following phrases from the passage can be replaced by
‘trouble’ in the context of the passage?
A. Out of bounds
B. Economies of scale
C. Gathering clouds
D. In retreat
(1) Only C
(2) All A, B, C and D
(3) B and D
(4) A and B
(5) Only B
9. Which of the following is responsible for and are best explanation(s)
for the current health of global firms?
A. Economic trouble in some countries
B. Advatages of labour taht were earlier have diminished
C. Failure of banks
(1) Only C
(2) Only B
(3) Only A
(4) A and B
(5) All A, B and G
10. Which of the following is/are reason(s) for the author’s mention of
various countries in the passage ?
A. To illustrate the changing climate for global businesses.
B. To elucidate the similarities in response to multinational businesses.
C. To negate the popular assumption that developing economies have overtaken
developed ones.
(1) Only A
(2) Only B
(3) A and B
(4) B and C
(5) None
11. Which of the following words is/are the opposite of the word ‘lighter’
as used in the passage ?
A. Tighter
B. Stricter
C. Insignificant
D. Robust
(1) Only A
(2) A and B
(3) Only C
(4) A and C
(5) None
12. Which of the following cannot besaid about ‘geographical arbitrage’?
(1) It has facilitated the spread of cross-border trade.
(2) It caused stagnation of trade in the 1990s.
(3) Its effects have worn off.
(4) Western firms could increase profits.
(5) All the given options can be said.
13. Which of the following do(es) the passage centrally address ?
A. Prosperity of multinational firms
B. Governments’ increasingly protecting the interests of local firms
C. Concern for global trade and industry
(1) A and C
(2) Only B
(3) Only C
(4) A and B
(5) All A, B and C
Directions (54-58): In these questions, a sentence is given with three
words/group of word$, in bold type. One or more of them may have a certain
error. Below the sentence are given three combinations of words/group of words
i.e. (A), (B). and (C). You have to find out the correct word/group of words
from among (A), (B) and (C) given below each sentence to replace the incorrect
words and make the sentence grammatically correct and meaningful. One, two, all
three or none of them may be correct. Decide upon which is/are correct, if any
and mark the correct option which denotes your answer. If the sentence is
correct as it is, mark ‘No correction required’ as your answer.
14. In 2015, two years after Hurricane Sandy hit his city, the mayor
announced to set up a $3 billion restoration fund, partly was intended to pay
for sea walls that would help city from storms ahead.
A. He was setting up-which-any storms in the future
B. The setting up of-that-storms
C. The creation of-part of which future storms
(1) Only A
(2) All A, B and C
(3) A and B
(4) Only C
(5) No correction required
15. Since ancient times, medics have relied on their sense of smell to
help them work out what is wrong with their patients- fruity odours on the
breath, for example, let them monitor the condition of diabetics, while foul
odours assist in the diagnosis of respiratory tract infections.
A. relying-to work out anything-diagnosing
B. were reliant-work out whether anything-how to diagnose
C. had to rely in working out the anything any diagnosis
(1) Only A
(2) All A, B and C
(3) A and B
(4) Only C
(5) No correction required
16. Thailand’s performing dismally is not drastically out of step with
countries of similar incomes, not strange given its unusually generous spending
on education.
A. dismal performance but it is expenditure on
B. having a dismal performance-being-budget
C. dismally performing- is not amount spent on
(1) Only C
(2) All A, B and C
(3) A and B
(4) Only A
(5) No correction required
17. There is a government survey, about 12.6 million Japanese aged 60 or
older now opting working, up from 8.7 million in 2000 and two-thirds of Japan’s
over-65s want to stay gainfully employed. A. In have an option and gain
employment B. As revealed by-are opting-gains from employment C. According to opt
to keep gainfully employed
(1) Only B
(2) All A, B and C
(3) A and B
(4) Only C
(5) No correction required
18. The hope is that the torrents of data which generate will contain some
crucial nuggets that let neuroscientists get more understanding how exactly the
brain does all it does.
A. This schemes closer to what it does
B. Which will able to-function
C. That this studies-abetter-work
(1) Only A
(2) All A, B and C
(3) A and B
(4) Other than those given as options
(5) None
Directions (19-23) : In these questions, there are four/five sentences
(A), (B), (C), (D) and/or (E). Three or four of these sentences contribute to
one main idea when these sentences are formed into a paragraph. One sentence
does not contribute to that main idea. That sentence is your answer.
19. Which of the following does not contribute to the main idea of the
given passage ?
A. The cost of production for luxury goods is not usually a prime concern and
capital investment is generally modest, except for watches.
B. Some of the normal rules do not apply to luxury-goods makers, even though in
many ways they are similar to other consumer-goods companies.
C. To view the world through the lens of luxury is to see it subtly offered.
D. A really prestigious item can be a ‘Veblen good’, named after an American
economist born in themed-19th century who noticed that demand for some goods
actually rises as they get more expensive because they confer yet more status.
(1) Only A(2)Only B
(3) A and B(4) B and C
(5) B and D
20. Which of the following does not contribute to the main idea of the
given passage?
A. These present drivers of its economy, however, are under threat from
technology.
B. Africa is a hopeful continent with an exuberance driven by minerals,
hydrocarbon and commodities.
C. Without the ability to create knowledge through hands-on learning the quality
of education, in the country is unlikely to improve.
D. The long-view trajectory of electric vehicles in Africa suggests a future
where electrons will power more cars than carbon compounds.
(1) Only A
(2) Only C
(3) Only B
(4) Both B and C
(5) All those given as options contribute
h when opened simultaneously. If B alone can takes 2 h less than A alone takes to fill the tank compleletely. How much does A alone take to fill the tank?
