(Paper) SBI STENOGRAPHER Clerk 2nd SITTING EXAM Paper - 2012 "Held On 03-06-2012"

::GENERAL ENGLISH::

Directions (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.

The men of Suvarnanagari were very lazy. They only liked to gossip and tell each other tall tales. As soon as the sun rose, the men would tuck into a hearty breakfast and then gather in groups for their daily session of gossiping. Then they would spend the rest of the day telling each other impossible stories. They came back home only at lunch and dinner time. The farmlands of Suvarnanagari were very fertile. If the men had spent
even a little time at the fields, they would have reaped wonderful crops. But as they did nothing, all the responsibilities ended up on the shoulders of the women. They had to work hard the whole day. They cooked, cleaned, sent the children to school, worked in the fields, took the crops to the market-in short they did everything. One day the tired women gathered and decided that the men needed to be taught a lesson. One of them
suggested that they write to the king about their problem, as he was known to be a just and a kind person. So the letter was written and sent to the king. The women went back to their daily routines hoping that the king would soon take some action. Many days passed, nothing changed, no one came, and the poor women began to lose hope. “After all why would the king of such a vast empire be concerned about the plight of the women
of such a tiny village 7′ they thought. A month passed by and it was a full moon night.The men ate their dinners and because it was so beautiful and well lit outside, they gathered again to chat and boast. That night they were trying to prove to one another that they were capable of performing the most impossible tasks. Soon a tall and hand some stranger joined them. Seeing his noble features and intelligent eyes, each one wanted to prove himself better than the others and impress him. One said, “I knew the map of this kingdom even before I was born. I ran to meet the king as soon as I was born, my mother had such trouble bringing me back home !” Everyone was impressed by this story. Soon another man said, ‘So what is so great about that ? When I was just a day old. I could ride a horse. I sat on a big horse and rode all the way to the king’s palace. He received me with a lot of love and we had the most delicious meal together.” This was even more impressive so everyone applauded. Now a third man said, “Huh! That is nothing.” I sat on an elephant when I was a week old and had lunch with the king in his palace.” Before the admiring murmurs could die down, a fourth man said, “When I was a month old, I flew like a bird and landed in the king’s garden. The king picked me up and even let me sit on his throne with him.” While everyone was in awe of these stories, the stranger spoke up, “Do all four of you know the king very well ?” “Of course we do !” they replied together.” Our king knows and loves us. In fact he is proud to have supernatural beings like us in his kingdom,” one of them added. The stranger looked thoughtful. “That makes my task so much easier. You see, I work in the king’s court. Some days ago the king had summoned four supermen to the city in order to repair a large hole in the city wall. As you know, we use only the largest and the toughest stones for building these walls, and they could be lifted and put in place only by these supermen. The four supermen asked to be paid in gold bars and the king complied.But the night they received their fee, they disappeared from the palace. I have been wandering around ever since looking for them. The king has ordered me to find the four men and bring them back to the capital to finish the work. They will also have to return the gold bars they ran away with. It looks like the search has finally ended. I will take the four of you to the king along with the gold bars. The king will be very pleased with me and will surely reward me,” said the stranger. By the time the stranger finished his story the four men realised that their lies had landed them into a huge trouble. Their faces turned ashen and they dived at the stranger’s feet. “Save us they pleaded. “Those were all lies. We are all just a bunch of lazy men. But if you forgive us and forget our stories we promise to do some honest work and stop telling such lies,” they wailed. The stranger smiled and said, “Alright, I will tell the king that there are no supermen in this village, just honest and hardworking men and women.” That night the stranger left the village. The women were sure that it was none other than the king himself.

1. How did the men of suvarnanagari spend their days ?

(1) They helped in repairing the kingdom’s walls
(2) They worked in the fields and at the market
(3) They only ate, gossiped and told each other tall tales
(4) They searched for the supermen
(5) They spoke about their experiences

2. What did the women of Suvarnanagari decide ?

(1) That they would complain to the king about the lazy men
(2) That they would write a letter to the village headman
(3) That they would stop working in the fields
(4) That they would stop sending the children to school
(5) That they would start gossiping like the men

3. Why did the women of Suvarnanagari start losing hope ?

(1) Bacause there was no improvement in the men’s behaviour despite the king’s intervention
(2) Because many days had passed and the king had not acted on their complaint
(3) Bacause they could not earn much despite working hard all day in the field
(4) Bacause the king always favoured the men of Suvarnanagaii
(5) Bacause they wer losing their irrmortance after the men hid- started working

4. What did the second man boast about ?

(1) That he knew the way to the palace even before being born
(2) That he was stronger than all the other supermen in that village
(3) That he flew to the king’s palace a week after he was born
(4) That he rode an elephant after he was born and had lunch with the king
(5) That he rode a horse a day after he was born and had a meal with the king

5. Why were the four supermen summoned by the king as told by the stranger ?

(1) To make sure that the men of Suvarnanagari were working in the fields
(2) To rob the gold bars from Suvarnanagari
(3) To help the women of Suvarnanagari in their daily chores
(4) To make sure that the children of Suvarnanagari went to school
(5) To fix the hole in the city wall with strong and big stones

6. Why did the four men start wailing ?

(1) They realised that there were other supermen in the kingdom
(2) They realised that the king was upset about their laziness
(3) They realised that they were being unfair to the women
(4) They realised that their lies had landed them in trouble
(5)They realised that the stranger was the king

7. What did the four men promise to do ?

(1) They promised that they would stop lying and start working hard
(2) They promised that they Mould repair the city wall ,
(3) They promised that they would return the gold bars, the king gave them
(4) They promised that they _ would help the stranger look for the four superman
(5) They promised that they would gossip only about true stories

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

(1) The second man was boasting about his powers
(2) The women of Suvarnanagari were unhappy
(3) The stranger left the village
(4) The stranger said that he would take the four men to the king

(1) ADCB
(2) BDAC
(3) ABDC
(4) BACD
(5) BADC

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

(1) The women of Suvarnanagari gossiped
(2) The women were sure that the stranger was the king himself
(3) The second man said that he could fly when he was a week old
(4) The stranger said that the city wall was detroyed by the four supermen
(5) None is true

10. Which of the following may be an appropriate title to the passage ?

(1) The fertile farms of Suvarnanagari
(2) The man who could fly
(3) The lazy men of Suvarnanagari
(4) The foolish women of Suvarnanagari
(5) The city walls of Suvarnanagari

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. Tuck into

(1) Eat
(2) Fit into
(3) Sleep
(4) Wear
(5) Place on

12. Plight

(1) Troubles
(2) lives
(3) Routine
(4) Fights
(5) Arguments

13. Received

(1) Obtained
(2) Welcomed
(3) Collected
(4) Found
(5) Got

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. Die down

(1) Stop
(2) Decrease
(3) Kill
(4) Start
(5) Create

15. Complied

(1) Accepted
(2) Agreed
(3) Declined
(4) Decided
(5) Disobeyed

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………… changed a few criterion …………………in recruitment process.

(1) has – our
(2) have – their
(3) can – a
(4) had – an
(5) may – company

17. They had………. the venue for the party a month……………………

(1) found – soon
(2) saw – earlier
(3) looked – later
(4) selected – easily
(5) booked – in advance

18. She is one of the………. interior decorators ………….the city .

(1) best – in
(2) most – of
(3) better – for
(4) good – by
(5) more – on

19. Please…………… sure that you attach the photocopies……………. not the original documents.

(1) be – also
(2) in – but
(3) so – only
(4) as – just
(5) make – and

20. ……………….his parents moved to another city, he…………. to stay in this city.

(1) Despite – still
(2) Though – continues
(3) In spite of – wants
(4) No sooner – waits
(5) Later – remains

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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. She informed that (1)/ she will visiting her (2)/ aunt at the (3)/ hospital the next day.(4)/ No error (5)

22. Each participant are (1)/ expected to be present (2)/ at least an hour (3)/ before the competitioh. (4)/ No Error (5)

23. The king praised (1)/ the minister and (2)/ rewarded him with (3)/ a thousand gold coins. (4)/ No Error (5)

24. She had requested (1)/ me to looked after (2)/ her garden while (3)/ she was away. (4)/ No Error (5)

25. The farmer was (1)/ in need of money (2)/ so he went (3)/ at the money-lender. (4)/ No Error (5)

Direcitons (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 gram matically meaningful and correct ? If the sentence is correct as it is and No correction is required’ , mark (5) as the answer.

26. Barring the few, all the costomers are defaulters.

(1) Barred a few
(2) Leave a few
(3) Barring a less
(4) Barring a few
(5) No correction required

27. They cooks up a story in order to get out of the situation.

(1) cooked in a story
(2) cooked up a story
(3) cooked up a stories
(4) cooked on the story
(5) No correction required

28. She likes to be in all good books of others.

(1) on the good books
(2) in the books
(3) in the good books
(4) in the good bookings
(5) No correction required

29. The actor has been keeping lower profile for some time now.

(1) lowering the profile
(2) profile low
(3) a lowest profile
(4) a low profile
(5) No correction enquired

30. Though everyone was tired, Rahul was hell bend on playing another game.

(1) bending hell on
(2) hell bent in
(3) hell bent on
(4) hell bent for
(5) No correction enquired

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.

The ‘Fool of the Year’ contest was (31) to all the courtiers of king Krishnadeva Raya. All of them looked forward to the event as the winner would (32) a handsome prize of 5000 gold coins. The trouble was that Raman (33) won the contest. One year the other courtiers decided that he must be kept out of it and (34) his servant to lock him in his room to prevent him from reaching the palace in time for the event. Consequently, Raman reached the palace (35) the contest was over. Just as the (36) of the winner was about to be announced the king noticed Raman. Seeing him come in, the king asked him why he was so late. Raman toldhim he was in need of a hundred gold coins and had been engaged in trying to (37)the amount.“If you had participated in the contest you might have won the prize money and your problem would have been solved,” said the king. “You’ve behaved very foolishly, Raman.” “Sir that means I am a fool,” said Raman, “you’re the greatest fool I’ve ever seen I” said the king. “In that case all the others here are (38) than me. That means I have won the contest !” said Raman. The king realised that he had (39) a slip but he was too proud to acknowledge it. To the chagrin of the other courtiers, the king (40) Raman the winner of the `Fool of the Year’ contest I

31. (1) closed
(2) easy
(3) open
(4) lost
(5) winning

32. (1) find
(2) give
(3) see
(4) receive
(5) show

33. (1) never
(2) tried
(3) totally
(4) easy
(5) always

34. (1) bribed
(2) ask
(3) complained
(4) raised
(5) confessed

35. (1) later
(2) soon
(3) after
(4) completely
(5) not

36. (1) face
(2) contest
(3) contestant
(4) name
(5) age

37. (1) look
(2) collects
(3) finding
(4) counting
(5) raise

38. (1) foolish
(2) happier
(3) wiser
(4) sad
(5) taller

39. (1) fallen
(2) showed
(3) found
(4) made
(5) created

40. (1) declared
(2) announce
(3) said
(4) told
(5) called

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