English
Practice Questions for Bank/Insurance Exams (28 – 02 – 2018)
Directions (1 – 10): Read the following passage 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.
While several discoveries
in science ever since people started engaging in organised research activity
have led to a better life for the average human being. It cannot be gainsaid
that some have been used to cause untold misery to vast sections. The
developments in science and technology have proved to be a mixed
blessing-marvellous medical discoveries like penicillin and antibiotics have
cured diseases whereas the fabrication of the atom bomb has resulted in wiping
out entire towns and populations. It all goes to show that science is a
double-edged weapon because it can be used both for good and evil purposes.
Herein comes the crucial question of ethics. Is it not possible for scientist
to say "no" when asked to take up research that may one day lead to
destruction? This poser has been troubling the participants in research
activity for decades. Noelle Lenoir, who has served as a chairperson on the international
Bioethics Committee of UNESC0 and is know heading the European Commission's group
of advisers on the Ethical impllication of Biotechnology, has done well to
highlight several issues in the World Science Report.
While bitter disputes
followed the dropping of the atom bombs over the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki in 1945, there was no organised reaction as such. But the developments
in biology like Genetic engineering, which is nothing but a process of
modifying living organisms, led to an ethics movement even three decades ago.
Significantly enough, a conference of geneticists meeting at Azilomar in the
U.S. declared a moratorium on research for one year, providing a pause for
understanding the possible risks to human health and the environment as a
result of using genetically-modied organisms. During the I960s, ethics panels were setup in several
countries but France was the first country to establish a national consultative
committee for ethics in the life and health sciences. A survey made three years
a go by the UNESCO Bioethics Unit pointed to the functioning of more than 200
national ethics committees all over the world. It is interesting to learn that
there is now a discerniblemovement from ethics to law with the aim of
protecting human rights laced with the challenge of science and technology.
Again, it is worth noting that the Uber Parliamentary Union placed the issue of
the links between bioethics and human rights on its agenda. Essentially, the
objective of these efforts is to a form that the human being is not a mere
object for science.
1. Why are developments in science a double-edged weapon?
a) they have resulted in both
harmless and harmful things
b) they have been beneficial and
destructive
c) they have developed without ethics
d) As human being is a mere object
for science.
e) none of the above
2. Why did the scientists declare a moratorium on research
for one year?
I.
to study the risks to human health
II.
to study the risks to environment
III. to debate about ethical issues
a) I and II
b) I and Ill
c) II and Ill
d) I, II and Ill
e) Only II
3. The article is most probably written by a:
a) scientist
b) social activist
c) newspaper reporter
d) Politician
e) cannot say
4. Based on the above passage, we can say that the author
feels that:
a) scientists should refuse to do
research on destructive things
b) ethics committees should be
established
c) human beings are not objects for
science
d) Genetic engineering should be
banned.
e) None of the above.
5. The tone of the article is:
a) analytical
b) critical
c) descriptive
d) judgmental
e) None of these.
6. Why was there no organised reaction to the nuclear bombs
dropped on Hiroshima, according to the writer?
a) people did not feel strongly
against them
b) there were no ethics commitment
tees established at that time
c) the world was too shocked to
respond.
d) Countries in the west are
inconsiderate towards the plight of the other countries.
e) none of the above.
7. Which of the following statement is not true?
a) there are more than 200 national
ethics committees all over the world.
b) scientists have declared a
moratorium on research for one year.
c) bitter disputes followed the
dropping of the atom bombs.
d) There is a movement for protecting
human rights.
e) All are correct
8. What is the title of the passage?
a) Ethics and scientific research
b) Human beings and scientific
research
c) Science is a double-edged weapon
d) Protection of human rights
e) The developments in science and
technology
9. This passage basically explains
a) The similarities and differences
among several ancient societies
b) The influuence of river
settlements on the growth of early civilizations
c) How climatic changes led to the
founding of the earliest recorded cities.
d) The development of primitive
technologies in the ancient Middle East
e) None of the above
10. According to the passage, the increasing aridity of
formally fertile grasslands in Egypt and Mesopotamia caused the settlement
patterns in those regions to become
a) Less nomadic
b) Less stable
c) More concentrated
d) More sparse
e) None of the above
Directions (11 – 15): Four statements with blanks have been
given. These statements are followed by four alternatives. Choose the one which
fits into the set of statements the maximum number of times.
11. A. Professional studies has become the _______ of the rich.
B. Every
citizen has the _______ to speak, travel and live as he pleases.
C. He
has a definite ________ over all his rivals.
D. Sheron
no longer has the ________ of the company’s bungalow and car.
a) advantage
b) privilege
c) right
d) concession
e) Laxity
12. A. People sensed _________.
B. A
bad ________ case had come in – a person with a smashed arm.
C. And
then, without warning, ________ struck.
D. The
dogs were the first to recognize the signs of oncoming ________.
a) tragedy
b) accident
c) disaster
d) calamity
e) misfortunes
13. A. The men there have fought _________ and emotional withdrawal, and were
more capable of helping Jim.
B. But
______ does occasionally inflict all the adults.
C. A
person who is deeply hurt feels very __________.
D. It
is hard to survive this feeling of _______.
a) dejection
b) lonely
c) trouble
d) depression
e) Home sick
14. A. I have had a small power of _________.
B. Down
with a very high fever, he suffers from frequents fits of _________.
C. They
are now bitter enemies – all because of a small ________.
D. Her
__________ is the most creative thing she has ever possessed.
a) illusion
b) imagination
c) hallucination
d) misunderstanding
e) Desperation
15. A. Communism states that every individual must live for the _________.
B. The
_________ of the affairs of the nation is deplorable.
C. _________
have been laid down by the United States : states The Statesman.
D.
No _________ has succeeded in gaining complete autonomy from the Federal
government.
a) state
b) nation
c) government
d) condition
e) Hegemony
Answers with Explanations:
1. B) Refer to the 5th line of the 1st para of the passage, “The developments
in science and technology have proved to be a mixed blessing -marvellous
medical discoveries……………………………… has resulted in wiping out entire towns and
populations.”
2. A) Given in the 3rd sentence of the 2nd paragraph.
3. E) We cannot figure out the profession with which the author might be
associated with by reading the passage.
4. A) He presents it in the form of question and calls it ‘crucial’. (First
paragraph)
5. A) He analyses the use of science and the question of ethics.
6. E) The possible reason for this can’t be inferred from the passage.
7. B) Not scientists in general but a particular group of geneticists.
8. A) The author has discussed about the value of ethics while carrying out a
scientific research throughout the passage.
9. B)
10. C) Refer the last two sentences of the first paragraph.
11. B) Privilege can be used in A, B. and D.
Laxity means lack of
strictness.
12. C) Disaster can fit in A., C. and D.
Calamity: A calamity is
an event that brings terrible loss, lasting distress, or severe affliction.
Disaster: A disaster is a
sudden accident or a natural catastrophe that causes great damage or loss of
life.
13. D) Depression fits in A., B. and D.
14. B) Imagination fits in A. and
D.
Hallucination means an
experience involving the apparent perception of something not present.
15. A) State fits in A, B and D.
