Reading Comprehension for SBI PO 2017
Directions (1 – 10): Read the following passages
carefully and answer the questions given. Below it certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Agni v, India’s most powerful
long‐range ballistic missile, has lived up to the hopes of its creators at the Defence
Research and Development Organisation. In its maiden flight, the missile
demonstrated that it could accurately lob a dummy warhead weighing slightly
over one tone to a distance of over 5,000 km. India already has nuclear‐capable
missile that can reach all of Pakistan and Agni V is clearly intended to
provide a similar deterrent capability with respect to China. More test
flights will be necessary before the missile is inducted into the country’s strategic
arsenal. V.K. Saraswat, Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister, has called
the missile “a game‐changer” that can perform different roles, from carrying
multiple warheads to providing anti‐satellite capability and even launching
tiny satellite into orbit. Like its progenitor, Agni III, this missile
has a two‐metre diameter (as compared to the one‐metre diameter of Agni I and
II). Agni III and V are therefore the first Indian missiles that can
potentially be equipped with several warheads each (known as Multiple
Independently Targeted Re‐entry Vehicles or MIRV) MIRVs, however, pose their
own technological challenges, especially the need to considerably shrink the size
and weight of nuclear warheads. Deposite China’s earlier start, its ballistic
missiles are still thought to be equipped with single warheads, not MIRVs. This
suggests that developing an operational MIRV capability is not easy and will
take time for both countries. Which is just as well because mutual security –
as the superpowers discovered during the Cold War – does not lie in going down
that path.
Both China and Pakistan posses formidable
nuclear‐armed missiles of their own. The former is in the process of
replacing its liquid‐fueled ballistic missiles with more modern solid
propellant ones. From bases in Qinghai and Yunnan provinces, these missiles can
reach all of India. In addition, in 2004, China launched the first of its
second‐generation Type 094 Jinclass nuclear‐powered submarines that will carry
JL‐2 solid‐propellant ballistic missiles. Islamabad too has a number of
long‐range missiles in its armoury. An assessment carried out by an India strategic
studies group found that Pakistan had a “credible deterrent structure”
organized around the solidpropellant Shaheen‐1 and Shaheen‐2 missiles. However,
for the purposes of deterrence also requires working assiduously to
remove sources of friction that can erupt into open conflict. It is also
important that India and China start taking to each other on nuclear matters.
1. Which of the following is true about Agni V ?
A.
It is equipped with several MIRVs.
B.
It has the capability to reach all parts of China.
C.
It is India’s most powerful long‐range ballistic missile
a) Only A
b) Only C
c) Only A and B
d) Only B and C
e) All of the above
2. Why did the Scientific Adviser to the Defence Minister Call Agni
V ‘a game changer’ ?
a) Because it can not be relied upon because of its
multiplication.
b) Its design is based on a game very popular among kids.
c) It’s name given to this missile by the Defence ministry.
d) Because it can perform many different roles
e) None of these
3. According to the passage, what kind of technological challenge
Agni III and IV pose ?
A.
Their size and weight are unusually large.
B.
Older technology has been used in them.
C.
Their effect remains limited to a narrow range.
a) Only A
b) Only C
c) Only A and C
d) Only A and B
e) None of these
4. Qinghai and Yunnan provinces exist in :
a) India
b) China
c) Pakistan
d) U.S.A
e) Not mentioned in the passage
5. According to the passage Shaheen‐1 and Shaheen‐2 are :
a) liquid‐fuelled ballistic missiles
b) Nuclear warheads
c) Solid propellant ballistic missiles
d) Rocket launchers
e) none of these
Directions (6 – 8): Chose the word which is most nearly
the same in meaning as the word printed in bold as
used in the passage.
6. DETERRENT
a) Obstacle
b) Retaliating
c) Permission
d) Catalyst
e) Encouragement
7. PROGENITOR
a) Ancestor
b) Priority
c) Founder
d) Earlier Model
e) Creator
8. FORMIDABLE
a)Weak
b) Feeble
c) Pleasant
d) Most desirable
e) Most powerful
Directions (9 – 10): Choose the word which is most nearly
the opposite in meaning as the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
9. ASSIDUOUSLY
a) truly
b) Industriously
c) Lazily
d) Dramatically
e) Fundamentally
10. MAIDEN
a) First
b) Introductory
c) Last
d) United
e) Fatal
Answers:
1. E) 2. D)
3. A) 4. B) 5. C)
6. B) 7. D) 8. E)
9. C) 10. C)
