English Language Practice Questions for IBPS Clerk – Set 19
Directions
(1 – 10): Below, a passage is given with five blanks labelled (1)-(10). Below
the passage, five options are given for each blank. Choose the word that fits
each blank most appropriately in the context of the passage, and mark the
corresponding answer.
There
lived a famous sage in a dense forest. Every day, the animals of the forest came
to him to listen to his __ (1) __ preaching. One day a mouse who was chased by
a cat ran straight to the ashram of the sage. There he laid __ (2) __before the
sage and narrated to him the whole story in a trembling voice. The sage was in
a fix. He thought for a moment and then with his __ (3) __ powers transformed
the mouse into a bigger cat. Seeing a huge cat before him the other cat ran
away. The mouse had hardly enjoyed a few __ (4) __days of his life, when one
day, a fox pounced upon him. This was a new problem. He, somehow, saved himself
from the fox and ran straight to the sage for help. The fox too was in his hot
__ (5) __. Soon both of them stood before the sage. The sage seeing the plight
of the mouse this time, transformed the mouse into a bigger fox. Seeing a big
fox before him the other fox ran away. The mouse became more carefree and began
roaming about in the forest more freely with his newly __ (6) __status of a big
fox. But, his happiness was short-lived. One day, while he was moving around in
the forest freely, a tiger pounced upon him. The mouse, somehow, managed to
save his life and as usual ran to take shelter in the ashram of the sage. The
sage, once again, took __ (7) __ on the mouse and transformed him into a tiger.
Now, the mouse, after acquiring the status of a tiger, roamed fearlessly in the
forest. He killed many animals in the forest unnecessarily. After having been
transformed into a tiger, the mouse had become __ (8) __ for the -forest
animals. But one thing always bothered his mind and kept him worried; and that
was, the divine powers of the sage. One day he said to the sage, "I'm
hungry. I want to eat you, so that I could enjoy all those divine powers, which
you do. Allow me to kill you." Hearing these words the sage became __ (9)
__. Sensing the tiger's evil designs, he immediately transformed the tiger back
into the mouse. The worst had happened. Now the mouse realised his __ (10) __.
He apologised to the saint for his evil actions and requested him to change him
again into a tiger. But the sage drove the mouse away by beating him with a
stick.
1.
a) Moral b) regular c) spiritual
d) fabulous e) daily
2. a)
Sleeping b) prostrate c) tried
d) angry e) happy
3. a)
strong b) every c) immense
d) divine e) true
4. a)
Youthful b) lavish c) clever
d) fierce e) carefree
5. a)
Pursuit b) temper c) desire
d) hunger e) anger
6. a) won b) desired
c) shifted d) acquired e) situated
7. a)
fear b) pity c) shame
d) zeal e) trial
8. a)
invincible b) troublesome c) ruler
d) powerful e) shocking
9. a)
troubled b) furious c) perturbed
d) petrified e) baffled
10. a)
fear b) loss c) folly d) scar
e) assault
Directions
(11 – 15): Read the 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 (5).Ignore errors of
punctuation, if any.
11.
The inheritance he had (A) in the firm was tied (B) up so he could not
sell (C) outside the family. (D) No error (E)
12. It was such
bizarre coincidence that the (A) two teams thought of the same plan at the
(B) same time thereby blighting the (C) purpose of the meeting and
creating a lot of confusion. (D) No error (E)
13. She is like
that right from (A) her childhood and so she is successful (B) in every field
and triumphs wherever (C) she sets her foot. (D) No error (E)
14. Most of the
labourers of the cotton mills (A) were unsophisticated in the sense that they
(B) were recruited of (C) the village and were small peasants and agricultural
labourers. (D) No error (E)
15. I would like
for us to remain friends (A) and not end all ties but be (B) out of the
particular relationship (C) that we share now. (D) No error (E)
Answers with Explanation:
1. C) 2. B)
3. D) 4. E) 5. D)
6. D) 7. B) 8. A)
9. B) 10. C)
11. E) There is no error in the
sentence. It might seem that the preposition ‘in’ in part (B) of the sentence
is incorrect or the preposition ‘up’ in part (C) of the sentence. There is no
error in the usage of the prepositions so the sentence is grammatically
correct.
12. A) The error
lies in part (A) of the sentence as the preposition ‘a’ is needed in between
the words ‘such’ and ‘bizarre’, to focus that it was one coincidence that took
place. The sentence should read as:’It was such a bizarre coincidence..’
13. A) The first
part of the sentence indicates that the action of her being a certain way is
completed (indicating past tense). Thus, the error lies in the 1st part of the
sentence. The tense to be used here should be past perfect to make the sentence
grammatically correct. It should read as:’She had been like that..’ or present
perfect tense ‘She has been like that..’.
14. C) The error
lies in part (C) of the sentence as the preposition ‘of’ is incorrect and needs
to be replaced with ‘from’ to make it correct. A person is recruited ‘from’ a
place ‘by’ someone. There cannot be any usage of the preposition ‘of’ here.
Thus the sentence must read as:’..they were recruited from the..’
15. E) There is no
error in the sentence. It might seem that the preposition ‘for’ is incorrect in
part (A) but it is not so. The sentence is without any error. Thus option (E)
is the correct answer.
