English Language Practice Questions for IBPS Clerk – Set 15

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English Language Practice Questions for IBPS Clerk – Set 15
Directions (1 – 10): Kindly read the passage carefully and answer the questions given beside.
Parents, state legislators, the courts and the police in India seem to be having a harrowing time with an elusive enemy. Blue Whale — an online ‘game’ that supposedly prods teenagers into undertaking a sequence of bizarre, dangerous tasks which include lacerating their skin and jumping off buildings — seems to be as ominous and mysterious as Moby Dick. For now, it even seems as fictional. It is claimed that some boys who have lost their lives played this online but not a single police investigation in either Kerala or in Maharashtra has conclusively linked the game with their deaths. While everyone from Microsoft to Facebook has been instructed by the government to “disable” links to Blue Whale, there is no clarity on where these are, who its creators are, and how this game is run.
Unlike a flu virus running amok, catching an online link to ‘Blue Whale’ isn’t easy. That’s why it is not clear if the government, in its mission to ‘ban’ Blue Whale, will invoke some of its trusty armoury in the Information Technology Act — akin to the purge on pornography — to clear search term combinations of “blue”, “whale” “game” “death” and “suicide.” Why something as amorphous as Blue Whale has so quickly captured a chunk of public murmur has less to do with the nature of the game and more with our unease of adjusting to an exponentially hyper-connected world.
Mundane objects circulating and systematically killing those who come in contact with them is a favorite trope of fiction. From the glowing briefcase of Pulp Fiction to the killer video cassette of the Ring, few things are more terrifying than the ubiquitous becoming sinister. While video games, Internet chat rooms and now, virtual-reality headsets, have over the decades been blamed by befuddled parents as the body snatchers who have turned their outdoorsy children into inmates of an alternate-reality prison, it’s the vast difference between our dependence on communication devices and how little we ‘understand’ the inner workings of these objects such as mobile phones, websites, apps, Internet protocol that makes them objects of terror.
A few decades ago, parents could ban prurient books, music and movies because as a rule of thumb anything with sexual innuendo or graphic violence could be recognised and categorised as such and locked away. Now the dilemma that adults face is that they are as hooked to mobile phones as their children. The relative addictiveness of Candy Crush vis-à-vis Snapchat can no longer be easily classified and therefore condemned.
That human beings, young or old, are primed towards irrational thrill-seeking is a biological fact. Wise people, with doctorates in medicine, continue to smoke despite incontrovertible evidence of the toxic effects of tobacco. Pilgrims and trekkers sign up, on faith, to trudge on swaying bridges and brave inhuman weather to visit homes of mythical gods and for views from mountain peaks that can be bought with a plane ticket.
1. Why the Blue Whale game needs to be curbed by the government?
I. It’s a trap laid by the intellectual divisions of the society.
II. Some psychologists have planned to make people commit suicide.
III. Inducing anyone to commit suicide online or offline is an act that merits criminal investigation.
a) Only I
b) Only I and III
c) Only III
d) None of these
e) All of these
2. Which of the following is/are false according to the passage?
a) ‘Blue Whale’ game is similar to flu virus which also runs uncontrolled.
b) Adults also keep using mobile phones all day like children.
c) ‘Blue Whale’ game has attracted a lot of attention across the world.
d) Both A and C
e) None of these
3. With reference to the passage, why are both parents and police having a tough time with this elusive enemy?
I. It encourages people to cut their skin and in general inflict self harm
II. It puts teenager’s life into danger.
III. It’s nothing but a wastage of time.
a) I and III
b) Only II
c) Only I and II
d) Only III
e) None of these
4. With reference to the passage, what are the possible reason/s for intelligent people not being able to stop smoking despite knowing its ill effects?
I. Practical application differs widely from theoretical evidence.
II. Unreasonable excitement makes them smoke again and again.
III. Smoking is a part of the elite society and hence, is difficult for them to leave.
a) I and III
b) Only II
c) Only III
d) Only I and II
e) None of these
5. How our excessive dependence on communication devices can have undesirable repercussions as mentioned in the passage?
a) They inhibit outdoor activity and thus preventing physical work.
b) The inner functioning of these objects is different and it can have more alarming effects.
c) They promote pornography and sexual violence.
d) Not mentioned in the passage
e) All of these
6. As per the passage, what is/are the option/s available with the Indian government in order to stop people searching for the deadly Blue Whale Game?
a) By filing petition in the Supreme Court against a complete ban on this game.
b) By issuing an advisory among societies against its negative effects.
c) By banning several search term combinations which are used while searching the game.
d) All of these
e) None of the above
7. Which one of these words is similar to the word ‘Lacerating’ highlighted in the given passage?
a) Gash
b) Heal
c) Incarcerate
d) Sew
e) Tourniquet
8. Which one of these words is similar to the word ‘Ubiquitous’ highlighted in the given passage?
a) Pervasive
b) Transparent
c) Evident
d) Perceiving
e) Furnish
9. Which of the following words is the antonym of the word ‘Dilemma’ highlighted in the passage?
a) Predicament
b) Obstacle
c) puzzle
d) Ponder
e) Resolution
10. Which of the following words is the antonym of the word ‘Irrational ’ highlighted in the passage?
a) Theoretical
b) Logical
c) Vague
d) Total
e) Satisfactory
Directions (11 – 15): In the questions below, a sentence has been given with some of its part in bold. To make the sentence grammatically and idiomatically correct, you have to replace the bold part with one of the correct alternatives stated below. If the sentence is correct, mark the option 'no improvement required' as the answer:
11. His business has doubled with respect not only to its market capitalization but also made a significant contribtuion towards gobbling up the lesser players ruthlessly.
a) Not only his business is doubled with respect to its market capitalization
b) His businesses has not only doubled with respect to its market capitalization
c) His business has not only doubled with respect to its market capitalization
d) With respect to not only his market capitalization, his business doubled
e) No improvement required
12. Unless present policies are revised urgently, the world may probably suffer irreversible damage from the unregulated use of fossil fuels leading ultimately, to the destruction of mankind itself.
a) Until present policies are revised for good
b) Unless present policies should be revised urgently
c) Unless they revised present policies urgently,
d) With present policies revised on an urgent basis
e) No improvement required
13. The Australian football team's winning it's first game of the Championship series excited the fans of the team.
a) The Australians' football team's winning it's
b) The Australian football team's having won its first game of
c) The Australian football team's having won its first game for
d) The Australian football team's winning its first game of
e) No improvement required
14. The US and Australia have jointly test-fired a hypersonic missile capable of moving at a speed eight times more fast than sound, as part of $54-million research project.
a) at a speed eight times as fast as
b) at a speed eight times faster
c) with the speed eight times as faster as
d) at a speed eight times much fast
e) No improvement required
15. World football's governing body FIFA lifted the ban it had imposed on the Sudan Football  Association (SFA) for failed to abide to agreements mentioned in articles 14 and 19 of the FIFA statute.
a) for having failed to abide to agreements
b) for its failure to abide by the agreements
c) for failure to abide by agreement
d) for having failed to abide by the agreement
e) No improvement required


Answers with Explanation:
1. D) I and II options are nowhere mentioned in the passage. Although third option is a general fact that comes out of the passage, but it is not directly mentioned in the passage. We can’t make such an utter conclusion out of it.
2. D) Refering 2nd and 4th paragraph, the paragraph has cited various happenings pertaining to Blue Whale game in India only. Thus Option C hasn’t been mentioned in the passage and is false.
3. C) Both I and II options are true according to the 1st paragraph. Option III hasn’t been mentioned in the passage and is false.
4. B) Option (C) has not been mentioned anywhere and can be eliminated. Thus, only Option II is true.
5. B) The sentence has clearly mentioned in the passage that these objects can also be used for terrorizing people and inducing fear among society and the option B implies the same.
6. C) Options A and B are not mentioned in the passage.
7. A) Lacerate (Verb): tear or make deep cuts in (flesh or skin).
Synonyms: cut (open), gash, slash, tear, rip, rend, mangle, mutilate, maim, maul, shred, score, scratch, scrape, graze, incise, etc.
8. A) If you describe something or someone as ubiquitous, you mean that they seem to be everywhere and commonly. ‘Pervasive’ also means existing in all parts. ‘Evident’ means clear. ‘Furnishing’ means providing something. If a situation, system, or activity is transparent, it is easily understood or recognized. ‘Pervasive’ is the synonym for the word ‘ubiquitous’.
9. E) A dilemma is a difficult situation in which you have to choose between two or more alternatives.
Resolution is the settlement in case of a problem. If you ponder something, you think about it carefully. ‘Predicament’ and ‘puzzle’ are the synonyms of the word dilemma. Only ‘resolution’ is the nearby antonym for the word ‘dilemma’. Option E is the correct answer. 
10. B) If you describe someone's feelings and behavior as irrational, it means they are not based on logical reasons or clear thinking. ‘Logical’ is the clear antonym of the word ‘irrational. ‘Vague’ means unclear and hence not the correct answer. ‘Satisfactory’ is not logical here.
Synonyms - unreasonable, illogical, baseless, unfounded, unjustifiable
Antonym- logical, rational , realistic ,reasonable, responsible.
11. C) A simple thumb rule for such questions with 'not only' and 'but also' is as follows: since the words but also precede a phrase, the words not only should precede the previous phrase as well. This can be seen only in Option C.
12. E) Clearly, the sentence is absolutely correct and thus needs no improvement.
13. D) The correct possessive pronoun would be 'its'.
14. B)
15. B) Here, the correct phrase should be 'abide by' and not 'abide to'.
Abide by (Phrasal Verb): to follow a rule, decision, or instruction