(Papers) IBPS PO Exam Paper - 201 "Held on: 1-11-2014" ::ENGLISH LANGUAGE::
(Papers) IBPS PO Exam Paper - 201 "Held on: 1-11-2014"
::ENGLISH LANGUAGE::
DIRECTION (Qs. 1-15): 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.
Governments have traditionally equated economic progress with steel mills and cement factories. While urban centers thrive and city dwellers get rich, hundreds of millions of farmers remain mired in poverty. However, fears of food shortages, a rethinking of antipoverty priorities and the crushing recession in 2008 arecausing a dramatic shift in world economic policy in favour of greater support for agriculture. The last time when the world’s farmers felt such love was in the 1970s. At that time, as food prices spiked, there was real concern that the world was facing a crisis in which the planet was simply unable to produce enough grain and meat for an expanding population. Governments across the developing world and international aid organisations plowed investment into agriculture in the early 1970s, while technological breakthroughs, like high-yield strains of important food crops, boosted production. The result was the Green Revolution and food production exploded. But the Green Revolution became a victim of its own success.
Food prices plunged by some 60% by the late 1980s from their peak in the mid- 1970s. Policymakers and aid workers turned their attention to the poor’s other pressing needs, such as health care and education. Farming got starved of resources and investment. By 2004, aid directed at agriculture sank to 3.5% and “Agriculture lost its glitter.” Also, as consumers in highgrowth giants such as China and India became wealthier, they began eating more meat, so grain once used for human consumption got diverted to beef up livestock. By early 2008, panicked buying by importing countries and restrictions slapped on grain exports by some big producers helped drive prices upto heights not seen for three decades. Making matters worse, land and resources got reallocated to produce cash crops such as biofuels and the result was that voluminous reserves of grain evaporated. Protestsbroke out across the emerging world and fierce food riots toppled governments. This spurred global leaders into action. This made them aware that food security is one of the fundamental issues in the world that has to be dealt with in order to maintain administrative and political stability. This also spurred the U.S. which traditionally provisioned food aid from American grain surpluses to help needy nations, to move towards investing in farm sectors around the globe to boost productivity. This move helped countries become more productive for themselves and be in a better position to feed their own people. Africa, which missed out on the first Green Revolution due to poor policy and limited resources, also witnessed a ‘change’. Swayed by the success of East Asia, the primary povertyfighting method favoured by many policymakers in Africa was to get farmers off their farms and into modern jobs in factories and urban centers. But that strategy proved to be highly insufficient. Income levels in the countryside badly trailed those in cities while the FAO estimated that the number of poor going hungry in 2009 reached an all time high at more than one billion. In India on the other hand, with only 40% of its farmland irrigated, entire economic boom currently underway is held hostage by the unpredictable monsoon. With much of India’s farming areas suffering from drought this year, the government will have a tough time meeting its economic growth targets. In a report, Goldman Sachs predicted that if this year too receives weak rains, it could cause agriculture to contract by 2% this fiscal year, making the government’s 7% GDP-growth target look “a bit rich”. Another green revolution is the need of the hour and to make it a reality, the global community still has much backbreaking farm work to do.
1. What is the author’s main objective in writing the passage
(a) Criticising developed countries for not bolstering economic growth in poor nations
(b) Analysing the disadvantages of the Green Revolution
(c) Persuading experts that a strong economy depends on industrialization and not agriculture
(d) Making a case for the international society to engineer a second Green Revolution
(e) Rationalising the faulty agriculture policies of emerging countries
2. Which of the following is an adverse impact of the Green Revolution ?
(a) Unchecked crop yields resulted in large tracts of land becoming barren
(b) Withdrawal of fiscal impetus from agriculture to other sectors
(c) Farmers began soliciting government subsidies for their produce
(d) Farmers rioted as food prices fell so low that they could not make ends meet
(e) None of these
3. What is the author trying to convey through the phrase “making the government’s 7% GDP growth target look “a bit rich”?
(a) India is unlikely to achieve the targeted growth rate
(b) Allocation of funds to agriculture has raised India’s chances of having a high GDP
(c) Agricultural growth has artificially inflated India’s GDP and such growth is not real
(d) India is likely to rave one of the highest GDP growth rates
(e) A large portion of India’s GDP is contributed by agriculture
4. Which of the following factors was/were responsible for the neglect of the farming sector after the green revolution?
(A) Steel and cement sectors generated more revenue for the government as compared to agriculture.
(B) Large scale protests against favouring agriculture at the cost of other important sectors such as education and healthcare.
(C) Attention of policy makers and aid organizations was diverted from agriculture to other sectors.
(a) None
(b) Only (C)
(c) Only (B) & (C)
(d) Only (A) & (B)
(e) All (A), (B) & (C)
5. What prompted leaders throughout the world to take action to boost the agriculture sector in 2008?
(a) Coercive tactics by the U.S. which restricted food aid to poor nations
(b) The realization of the link between food security and political stability
(c) Awareness that performance in agriculture is necessary in order to achieve the targeted GDP
(d) Reports that high-growth countries like China and India were boosting their agriculture sectors to capture the international markets
(e) Their desire to influence developing nations to slow down their industrial development.
6. What motivated the U.S. to focus on investing in agriculture across the globe ?
(a) To make developing countries become more reliant on U.S. aid
(b) To ensure grain surpluses so that the U.S. had no need to import food
(c) To make those countries more self sufficient to whom it previously provided food
(d) To establish itself in the market before the highgrowth giants such as India and China could establish themselves
(e) None of these
7. What impact did the economic recession of 2008 have on agriculture ?
(a) Governments equated economic stability with industrial development and shifted away from agriculture
(b) Lack of implementation of several innovative agriculture programmes owing to shortage of funds
(c) It prompted increased investment and interest in agriculture
(d) The GDP as targeted by India was never achieved because of losses in agriculture
(e) None of these
8. What encouraged African policymakers to focus on urban jobs ?
(a) Misapprehension that it would alleviate poverty as it did in other countries
(b) Rural development outstripped urban development in many parts of Africa
(c) Breaking out of protests in the country and the fear that the government would topple
(d) Blind imitation of western models of development
(e) None of these
9. Which of the following had contributed to exorbitant food prices in 2008 ?
(A) Hoarding of food stocks by local wholesalers which inadvertently created a food shortage.
(B) Export of foodgrains was reduced by large producers.
(C) Diverting resources from cultivation of foodgrains to that of more profitable crops.
(a) None
(b) Only (C)
(c) Only (B)
(d) All (A), (B) & (C)
(e) Only (B) & (C)
10. Which of the following is true about the state of agriculture in India at present ?
(A) Of all the sectors, agriculture needs the highest allocation of funds.
(B) Contribution of agriculture to India’s GDP this year would depend greatly upon the monsoon rains.
(C) As India is one of the high-growth countries, it has surplus food reserves to export to other nations.
(a) Only (A) and (C)
(b) Only (C)
(c) Only (B)
(d) Only (B) and (C)
(e) None of these
DIRECTION (Qs. 11- 13 ): Choose the word/group of words which is most similar it meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
11. STARVED
(a) Deprived
(b) Disadvantaged
(c) Hungry
(d) Fasting
(e) Emaciated
12. SLAPPED
(a) Beaten
(b) Imposed
(c) Withdrawn
(d) Avoided
(e) Persuaded
13. PLOWED
(a) Cultivated
(b) Bulldozed
(c) Recovered
(d) Instilled
(e) Withdrew
DIRECTION (Qs. 14 and 15): Choose the word/phrase which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
14. PRESSING
(a) Unpopular
(b) Undemanding
(c) Unobtrusive
(d) Unsuitable
(e) Unimportant
15. EVAPORATED
(a) Absorbed
(b) Accelerated
(c) Grew
(d) Plunged
(e) Mismanaged
DIRECTIONS (Qs. 16-20) : The sentences given in each question, when properly sequenced, form a coherent paragraph. Each sentence is labelled with a letter. Choose
the most logical order of the sentences from amongst the given choices so as to form a coherent paragraph.
16. P : In the past, the customised tailoring units were localised to the township or city and catered exclusively to domestic demand.
Q : Traditionally, Indians preferred custom-made clothing and the concept of ready-to-wear is a relatively recent one.
R : Consumer awareness of styling issues and the convenience afforded by ready-to-wear helped RMG industry make small inroads into the domestic market in the 1980s.
S : The customised tailoring outfits have always been a major source of clothing for domestic market.
(a) Q R S P
(b) Q S P R
(c) R S Q P
(d) S Q P R
(e) None of these
17. P : Such a system will help to identify and groom executives for positions of strategists.
Q : Evaluation of performance is more often than not done for the purpose of reward or punishment for past performance.
R : They must become an integral part of the executive system’ .
S : Even where the evaluation system is for one’s promotion to assume higher responsibilities, it rarely includes terms that are a key for playing the role of strategist effectively, e.g., the skills of playing the role of change agent and creative problem solving.
(a) S Q P R
(b) S R Q P
(c) R S Q P
(d) Q S R P
(e) None of these
18. P : Participation involves more than the formal sharing of decisions.
Q : Through anticipation individuals or organisations consider trends and make plans, shielding institutions from trauma of learning by shock.
R : Innovative learning involves both anticipation and participation.
S : It is an attitude characterised by the cooperation, dialogue and empathy.
(a) Q R S P
(b) P Q R S
(c) R Q P S
(d) S P Q R
(e) None of these
19. P : Almost a century ago, when the father of the modem automobile industry, Henry Ford, sold the first Model T car, he decided that only the best would do for his customers.
Q : Today, it is committed to delivering the’ finest quality with over six million vehicles a year in over 200 countries across the world.
R : And for over 90 years, this philosophy has endured in the Ford Motor company.
S : Thus a vehicle is ready for the customers only, if it passes the Ford ‘Zero Defect Programme’.
(a) P Q R S
(b) P R Q S
(c) R S P Q
(d) P R S Q
(e) None of these
20. P: Finish specialists recommended a chewing gum containing xylitol-a natural sweetener present in birch, maple, corn and straw-to be used several times a day by young children.
Q : Chewing gum is a new solution that “may work for parents whose children suffer from chronic ear infections.
R : An experiment was conducted involving three hundred and six children between two and six years.
S : After Finish studies showed that xylitol is effective in preventing cavities, a team of researchers decided to investigate its effects on a very similar type of bacteria which causes ear infections.
(a) Q R S P
(b) P Q R S
(c) R Q P S
(d) Q P S R
(e) None of these
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DIRECTIONS (Q. 21-25) : Read each sentence to find out whether there is any 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 (e). (Ignore errors of punctuation, if any.)
21.(a) The ongoing merger among
(b) the two companies will
(c) have an adverse
(d) impact on consumers
(e) No error
22.(a) It is evident that
(b) the banking sector has underwent
(c) tremendous changes during
(d) the past two decades
(e) No error
23.(a) According to the consultant
(b) a more detail analysis of
(c) customer needs
(d) and product pricing is required
(e) No error
24.(a) Over the next five years
(b) the government needs to invest
(c) at less 350 billion dollars
(d)in rural infrastructure
(d) No error
25.(a) The lack of no funds
(b) has resulted in several
(c) delays inlaunching our
(d) new product in India
(e) No error
DIRECTIONS (Qs. 26-30) : Read the following passage carefully to give the answer.
Regular physical activity provides numerous health benefits — from leaner bodies and lower blood pressure to improved mental health and cognitive functioning. As the school
physical education programme promotes physical activity and can teach skills as well as form or change behaviour, it holds an important key to influencing health and well-being across the life span. To improve the fitness of students, we need to rethink the design and delivery of school-based physical education programme. Adults in the United States think that information about health is more important for students to learn than contents in language, arts, mathematics, science, history or any other subject. Despite this high ranking, most schools devote minimal curriculum time to teaching students how to lead healthy lives. Our first step might be to consider ways to increase curriculum time devoted to physical education. In addition, schools need to thoughtfully analyse the design and delivery of school physical education programme to ensure that they are engaging, developmentally appropriate, inclusive and instructionally powerful.
26. According to this passage, regular physical activity is needed to :
(a) control one’s blood pressure
(b) lose one’s weight
(c) improve one’s cognitive skill
(d) improve one’s physical as well as mental health
(e) None of these
27. In order to tone up the physical education programme :
(a) it should be made compulsory at school
(b) an assessment of the existing programme should be made
(c) a committee should be set up in every school
(d) the programme should be reoriented and implemented
(e) None of these
28. According to American, health education is more important than teaching :
(a) social sciences
(b) liberal arts
(c) any subject
(d) natural sciences
(e) None of these
29. The author wants the reoriented physical education programme to be :
(a) given minimal curriculum time
(b) very comprehensive
(c) relevant to the modern society
(d) thoughtful
(e) None of these
30. In order to improve the physical education programme, we should first of all :
(a) allot more time to the teaching and learning of physical activity
(b) decide on the number of activities to be taught
(c) employ qualified instructors
(d) increase the teaching load of instructors
(e) None of these
DIRECTIONS (Qs. 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.
Economic backwardness of a region is 131by the coexistence of unutilized 132 on the one hand, and 133 natural resources, on the other. Economic development essentially means a process of 134 change whereby the real per capita income of a economy 135 over a period of time. Then, a simple but meaningful question arises; what causes economy development ? Or what makes a country developed ? This question has absorbed the 136 of scholars of socio-economic change for decades. Going through the 137 history of developed countries like America, Russia and Japan, man is essentially found as 138 in the process of economic development. Japan, whose economy was 139 damaged from the ravages of the Second World War, is the clearest example of our time to 140 kingdom role in economic development.
31. (a) developed
(b) cured
(c) improved
(d) enhanced
(e) characterised
32. (a) sources
(b) finances
(c) funds
(d) manpower
(e) industries
33. (a) exhaustive
(b) unexploited
(c) abundant
(d) indefinite
(e) unreliable
34. (a) upward
(b) drastic
(c) negligible
(d) incredible
(e) sudden
35. (a) diminishes
(b) degenerates
(c) increases
(d) succumbs
(e) stabilizes
36. (a) plans
(b) attempts
(c) attention
(d) resources
(e) strategy
37. (a) existing
(b) glorious
(c) ancient
(d) economic
(e) discouraging
38. (a) pivotal
(b) neutral
(c) insignificant
(d) enchanted
(e) vicious
39. (a) increasingly
(b) always
(c) gradually
(d) deliberately
(e) badly
40. (a) enlighten
(b) validate
(c) negate
(d) underestimate
(e) belittle
