(Download) Practice Paper for IBPS, Bank Exams "English Language & Comprehension"

Practice Paper for IBPS, Bank Exams

ENGLISH LANGUAGE & COMPREHENSION

Directions (51-59): Read the following interview and answer the given questions based on that some words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

A pioneering new book, Gender and Green Governance, explores a central question: If women had adequate representation in forestry institutions, would it make a difference to them, their communities, and forests as a national resource? Interview with the author.

Why has access to forests been such a conflictridden issue?

This is not surprising. Forests constitute not just community and national wealth, but global wealth. But for millions, forests are also critical for livelihoods and their daily lives.
Your first book. Cold Hearths and Barren Slopes (1986), was about forests. Is there an evolution of argument here?
Yes indeed : In Cold Hearts and Barren Slopes, I had argued that social forestry, with its topdown implementation and focus on commercial species, was neither ‘social’ nor forestry’, and would protect neither forests nor village livelihoods. The answer, I argued, lay in allowing forests com-munities to manage local forests. Fi-nally, in 1990, India launched the joint forest management programme and Nepal also started community forestry. So I decided to see for myself how community forestry was actually doing.

Between 1995 and 1999, I travelled extensively across India and Nepal and found paradox :
Forests were indeed becoming greener but women’s problem of firewood shortages persisted and in many cases had become more acute. Also, despite their high stakes in forests, women continued to be largely excluded from forest management. I coined the term “participatory exclusions” to describe this. However, the current book is less about women’s exclusion.’ I ask :What if women were present in forest governance ? What difference would that make?
But has this question not been raised before?
Economists researching environmental collective action have paid little attention to gender. Scholars from other disciplines focusing on gender and governance have been concerned mainly with women’s near absence from governance institutions.’ The presumption is that once women are present all good things will follow. But can we as time this? No. Rural women’s relationship with forests is complex.
On the one hand, their everyday dependence on forests for firewood fodder, etc, creates a strong stake in conservation. On the other, the same dependence can compel them to extract heavily from forests. As one landless woman told me. ‘Of course, it hurts me to cut a green branch but what do I do if my children are hungry? Taking an agnostic position, I decided to test varied propositions, controlling for other factors.

What did you find?

First, women’s greater presence enhances their effective voice in decision-making. And there is a critical mass effect If forests management groups have 25-33 per cent female members in their executive committees it significantly increases the likelihood of women attending meetings, speaking up and holding office. However, the inclusion of landless women makes a particular difference. When present in sufficient numbers they are more likely to attend meetings and voice
their concerns than landed women. So what matters is not just including more women, but more poor women.
Second, and unexpectedly, groups with more women typically make stricter forest use rules. Why is this the case? Mainly because they receive poorer forests from the forest department. To regenerate these they have to sacrifice their immediate needs. Women from households with some land have some fallback. But remarkably even in groups with more landless women, although extraction is higher, they still balance self interest with conservation goals, when placed in decision
making positions.
Third, groups with more women outperform other groups in improving forest conditions, despite getting poorer forests. Involving women substantially improves protection and conflict resolution,helps the use of their knowledge of local biodiversity, and raises children’s awareness about conservation.

51. What was author’s view on ‘Social Forestry Scheme’?

(1) A great success

(2) Beneficial for villagers

(3) Neither good nor bad

(4) Should have been implemented as top-down’

(5) None of these


52. Which of the following is one of the reasons of forests being a conflict ridden issue ?

(1) Some countries have larger forest cover

(2) There is less awareness about global warming

(3) High dependence of many on forests

(4) Less representation of women

(5) Less representation of local women

53. The author is advocating inclusion of

(1) More landless women

(2) More landed women

(3) More women irrespect ive of their financial status

(4) Local people

(5) Younger women in the age group of 25-33 years

54. Which of the following best descr ibes “par ticipatory exclusion”, as used in the interview?

(1) Outside support

(2) Overdependence

(3) Benefitting without self interest

(4) Cont ribut ing with profits

(5) None of these

55. In the second question, the interviewer asked’Is there an evolut ion of argument here?’ Which of the following best descr ibes that?

(1) From Bar ren to Greener slopes

(2) From local groups to local groups with more women

(3) A fine balance between conservat ion and commercial forestry

(4) Top-down approach to Com-munity forestry

(5) Participatory exclusion to Greener slopes


56. What percent of female members in the Executive Commit tee for Forest Management is being recommended by the author?

(1) Less than 25%

 (2) More than 50%

 (3) 100%

(4) About 75%

(5) None of these

57. Why does author say Rural women’s relationship with forests is complex’?

(1) Dependence forces them to ext ract and also have concern for conservation

(2) If they protect forests, their livelihood is severely affected

(3) Poor women have been excluded from forest management

(4) They cannot be asked to restore forests which are crit ical for them

(5) Greener forests do not meet the requirement of firewood

58. Landless women, when in decision making role

(1) ext ract much more from forest

(2) improve their own financial status

(3) do not care for forest

(4) are able to meet conservat ion objectives as well as their own interest

(5) fulfill their own interest at the cost of conservat ion goals

59. When more women are involved, which of the following also happens?

(1) They get poorer forests

(2) They come to know about conservation needs

(3) Children become more aware about conservation

(4) They are able to devote more time to conservation

(5) They get a more comprehensive understanding of local biodiversity

Directions (60 -63): Choose the word/group of words which is most nearly the same in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold.

60. CONTROLLING

(1) holding in check

(2) increasing

(3) decreasing

(4) passing

(5) ignoring

61. PARADOX

(1) similarity

 (2) position

(3) anomaly

(4) difference

(5) excuse

62. ACUTE

(1) accurate

 (2) severe

(3) dull

(4) focused

(5) refined

63. GREEN

(1) colour

(2) dried

(3) old

(4) live

(5) big

Directions (64 -68) : Which of the phrases (1), (2), (3) and (4) given below each sentence should replace the word/phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and no correction is required, mark (5) as the answer.

64. The abduction and return of the local leader within twenty four hours on Wednesday has left some lose end that have been intriguing investigators probing the case.

(1) left some loosened endings

(2) been leaving some loosening ends

(3) leave some lose ends

(4) left some loose ends

(5) No correction required

65. According to the investigators, the hammer used in the crime was the one who is used by security guard to sound the hourly bell on a metal plate while on duty.

(1) are those ones which

 (2) was the one that

 (3) which one

(4) is ones that

(5) No correction required

66. The fraud comes at a time when the unregulated microfinance industry is facing a crisis on its way of high interest rates and low repayment of loans.

(1) because manner of

(2) since ways are

(3) way of

(4) in the way of

(5) No correction required

67. Preliminary investigation revealed that the woman had committed suicide on account of her failed attempt to enter the country.

(1) in place of

(2) being depressed of

(3) in belief of

(4) reason being

(5) No correction required

68. Frustrated families of the missing people have sought access to all documents and data concerning the search, and the inclusion of international experts in the inquiry.

(1) have sought accessing

(2) is seeking access

 (3) are seeking accessed

(4) has sought accesses

(5) No correction required

Directions (69 - 73) : Rear range the following six sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph; then answer the questions given below them.
(A) While the reference point for the former is the state, for the latter it’s society.
(B) India’s’ strategic community’ comprises two distinct circles with little overlap,
(C) Consequently, mainstream strategists have an external orientation to their discourse, concenrating on high politics; the latter is more internal oriented.
(D) Their prescriptions too are under standably poles apart and thus. the state, to which both their commentary is directed, has to play balancer, and ends up being at the receiving end of criticism from both sides.
(E) Out of the two, one can be termed the ‘mainstream’ and the other ‘alternate’.
(F) To further elaborate on the external and internal concept while one is enamored of India’s rise and place in the global order, the other is more sensitive to its vulnerabilities and inadequacies.

 

69. Which of the following should be the FOURTH sentence after rearrangement?

(1) E

(2) D

(3) C

(4) B

(5) A

70. Which of the following should be the SIXTH sentence after rearrangement?

(1) A

(2) B

(3) C

(4) D

 (5) E

71. Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence after rearrangement?

(1) E

(2) D

(3) C

(4) B

 (5) A

72. Which of the following should be the FIRST sentence after rearrangement?

(1) A

(2) B

(3) C

(4) D

 (5) E

73. Which of the following should be the THIRD sentence after rearrangement?

(1) A

(2) B

(3) C

(4) D

(5) F

Directions (74 - 78) : 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).

 

74. The dense fog on Friday morn-ing (1)/forced the Airport Au-thority of India to divert (2)/ eight flights, includes two international flights,(3)/out of the International Airport(4)/No error (5).

75. The civic authorities had scrapped the trade license (1)/of a well known restaurant after investigation proved that (2)/it had chopped down a full grown tree simple because (3)/ the tree was blocking the view of the restaurant. (4)/ No error (5).

76. Investigating officers have found (1)/a lot of gaps between(2)/ the informational gather on their own (3)/ and the version of events narrated by the accused. (4)/ No error (5).

77. The minister told reporters that (1)/ although reservations for the backward classes already existed (2)/ based on social aspects there was no quota for them (3)/ based on political backwardness. (4)/ No error (5).

78. The death of the man has brought (1)/to the fore the plight of thousands of migrants (2)/ languishing behind bars in India after (3)/being apprehended in the border. (4)/ No error (5).
 

Directions (79-90) : 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.
With the announcement that he would donate Rs. 8,846 crore of. his equity in the company to the philanthropic trust he controls, the founder and chairman of InfoTech giant Wipro Ltd., Azim Premji has set the (79) very high for other mega rich businessmen of the country. The 28th richest man in the world, and India’s third richest, could not have made a better and more sound (80) choice than this. His Azim Premji Foundation is already working in the rural areas of the country to
improve the quality of education and is not in the process of setting up a university for the poor. This (81) will be a welcome addition to the kitty of a sector that has the capability to transform India but is badly handicapped due to the lack, of adequate funding. Other IT majors Infosys, Mind Tree, TCS and HCL also support programmes that support social equity.
At a time when India’s economic footprint on the global stage is rising, the (82) between the different strata of society has also been increasing. This is not a positive development and the underprivileged sections need to be equipped with life skills so that they too can be a part of the growth story. A very basic requirement of this life skills development is to educate them and make them employable. The fact that most of the heads of these IT majors are (83) first generation entrepreneurs (84) that education, more than anything else, is a great leveler.
At the same time, the improved economic conditions will also push up people into the middleclass bracket and make India a much more attractive market. According to Forbes, which keeps a tab on the (85) of the rich and famous, India has 69 billionaires. Yet how many consider (86) as a priority when it comes to spending ? Industry reports indicate that Indians spend about Rs. 30,000 crore a year on charitable (87) and this includes the money spent by companies on their corporate social responsibility programmes. This is not (88) and Indians, especially the corporate czars, have much more ability to give. In a foreword to Corporate Social Responsibility in India, MS Swaminathan correctly says : “Just as good ecology is good business, good philanthropy will also be good business in the (89) term.” Should the country institutiona lise GSR interventions to deal (90) malnutrition, education, health, employment and poverty ? The government would welcome a helping hand, wouldn’t it ?


79. (1) expectations    (2) parameters   (3) status   (4) bar    (5) task

80. (1) investment   (2) profit   (3) decision     (4) significant    (5) basic

81. (1) take   (2) interest   (3) step    (4) cause     (5) endowment

82. (1) status    (2) income   (3) growth   (4) system    (5) gap

83. (1) seldom    (2) consider   (3) not   (4) themselves   (5) promoting

84. (1) promotes      (2) places    (3) proves    (4) defy     (5) Steps

85. (1) business    (2) areas    (3) activities    (4) purses      (5) life

86. (1) philanthropy    (2) donations    (3) philosophy    (4) spirituality    (5) helping

87. (1) types    (2) causes    (3) trusts    (4) donations    (5) costs

88. (1) enough    (2) expected    (3) correct   (4) less    (5) required

89. (1) financial    (2) social   (3) long   (4) final     (5) short

90. (1) against   (2) with    (3) in   (4) of      (5) off