Dear
Students, As you all aware, the most challenging and toughest exam SBI PO has notified.
So start your preparation early to get placed in most reputed bank. In the English
section, there were total 30 questions. Reading
Comprehension 10 Q, Cloze
test 10 Q and Phrase replacement 10 Q. In this post, we will discuss
questions related to 'Reading Comprehension'. These types of questions are
based on the Reading habits and vocabulary. Students are advised to revise
vocabulary and Read a lot and practice RCs daily.
Directions (1 – 6):
The passage given below is followed by a set of questions. Choose the most
appropriate answer to each question.
Paragraph1: Even in our globalizing world,
the question as to whether “human rights” is an essentially Western concept,
which ignores the very different cultural, economic and political realities of
the South, persists. Can the values of a consumer society be applied to
societies with nothing to consume? At the risk of sounding frivolous: when you
step a man in traditional dress from beating his wife, are you upholding her
human rights or violating his? The fact is that a number of serious objections
exist to the concept of universal human rights, which its defenders need to
acknowledge honestly if only to refute them. The first objection argues that
all rights and values are defined and limited by cultural perceptions; there is
no universal culture, therefore there are no universal human rights. Some
philosophers object that the concept of human rights is founded on an
individualistic view of man as an autonomous being whose greatest need is to be
free from interference by the state, imbued, as it were, with the right to be
left alone. Whereas non-Western societies often espouse a communitarian ethic
that sees society as more than the sum of its individual members, and considers
duties to be more important than rights.
Paragraph2: Then there is the usual
North/South argument, with “human rights” cast as a cover for Western
intervention in the developing world. Developing countries, some also argue,
cannot afford human rights, since the tasks of nation-building and economic
development remain unfinished; suspending or limiting human rights thus
sacrifices the few to benefits the many. Other object to specific rights which
they say reflect Western cultural bias, the most troublesome here being the
women’s rights. How can women’s right be universal when, in some societies,
marriage is seen not as a contract between two individuals but as an alliance
between lineages, and when the permissible behavior of women is central to a
society’s perception of familial honor? Inn addition, some religious leaders
argue that human rights can only be acceptable if they are founded on the
transcendent values of their faith and are thus sanctioned by God. There
is a built-in conflict between the universality of human rights and the
particularity of religious perspectives. How to respond to these
objections? Concepts of justice and law, legitimacy and dignity, protection
form oppressive rule and participation in community affairs are found in every
society; and the challenge facing human rights advocates, rather then throw up
their hands at the impossibility of universalism, is to identify the common
denominators. These objections reflect a false opposition between the
primacy of the individual and the paramountcy of society.
Paragraph3: Culture is too often cited as a
defence against human rights by authoritarians who crush culture whenever it
suits them. Besides, which country can claim to be following its pure
“traditional” nation-state cutting across tribal boundaries and conventions,
then argue that tribal traditions should be applied of judge the state’s human
rights conduct. There is nothing sacrosanct about culture anyway. Culture
constantly evolves in any living society, responding to both internal and external
stimuli, and much in every culture societies outgrow and reject. Let us concede
that child marriage, female circumcision and the like are not found
reprehensible by many societies; but let us also ask the victims of these
practices about how they feel. Where coercion exists, rights are violated, and
these violations must be condemned whatever the traditional justification.
Coercion, not culture, is the test.
Paragraph4: As for religion, every,
religion embodies certain verities that are applicable to all mankind- justice,
truth, mercy, compassion and men often allow God to be blamed for their own
sins, As UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan put it, the problem is not with the
faith, but with the faithful. As for suspending human rights in the interest of
development: authoritarianism promotes repression, not development. Development
is about change, but repression prevents change. Though there may be cases
where authoritarian societies but Botswana, an exemplar of African democracy,
has grown faster than most authoritarian states. A number of developing
countries- notably India, China, Chile, Cube, Lebanon and panama played an
active and influential part in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. The principles of human rights have been widely adopted, imitated
and ratified by developing countries, so it is hardly fair to suggest they have
been imposed on them. When one hears of the unsuitability or ethnocentricism of
human rights, what are these human rights that someone in a developing country
can do without? The right to life? Freedom from torture? The right not be
arbitrarily arrested, imprisoned or executed? No one actually advocates the
abridgements of any of these rights. Objections to the applicability of human
rights standards are all too frequently voiced by authoritarian rulers and
power elites to rationalize violations that sustain them in power. Just as the
Devil can quote scripture for his purpose, Third World communitarianism can be
the slogan of a deracinated tyrant trained, as in the case of Pol Pot, at the
Sorbonne. The authentic voices of the South know how to cry out in pain. Those
are the voices that must be heeded.
1. Which of the following can be inferred about the African
or Asian approach to human rights as per paragraph 4?
a) Even if the from or content of
individual rights changes over time, the concept of their universality remains
true.
b) The most important rights of all
are everyone’s right to human rights.
c) Group rights have precedence over
individual rights and conflict resolution would not necessarily be based on the
assertion and defense of individual rights.
d) The rights of every human being
are the same for everyone, at any time and in every circumstance.
e) None of these
2. Which of the following best explains the meaning of
‘universality’ in the author’s concept of “universal human rights” as per
paragraph 2?
a) The authentic voices of the south.
b) Rights belonging to all human
beings and are fundamental to every type of society.
c) Since there is no universal
culture, rights are viewed as representing the particular belief systems,
cultures, and societies rather than those of all cultures and societies.
d) The right of no human being are
the same, at all times, irrespective of the context in which she or he is
placed.
e) None of these
3. According to the paragraph 1, which of the following is
not a serious objection to the “concept of universal human rights”?
a) The concept of universality is
culturally constructed.
b) The concept of universality
represents the particular belief systems of some societies.
c) Human rights are a Western
construct of limited application to non-Western nations.
d) The concept of universality is
something that is based on the particularity of religious perspectives.
e) None of these
4. Which of the following inference/s mentiond in the below
statements is/are supported by the whole passage?
A.
‘Cultural relativism’ is not a valid argument made in order to deny claims of
universality of human rights.
B.
Universality of Women’s rights is not a valid argument because of divergent or
opposing perceptions about women’s role in society.
C.
Cultural diversity can be a valid argument against universality of human rights
if those who cite their cultural attributes are doing so voluntarily.
a) Only A
b) Only B
c) Only C
d) All of the above
e) None of these
5. Which of the following questions will encapsulate the main
purpose of the whole passage?
a) Can the values of the consumer
society be applied to societies that have nothing to consume?
b) Is the concept of universal human
rights a product of the decadent West that has no relevance in other societies?
c) Can personal autonomy guarantee
equal rights for the races and sexes?
d) Are human rights universal?
e) None of these
6. In paragraph 4, why the writer cites the example of
Botswana?
a) To disprove the anti universalism
argument that authoritarianism and economic growth are not irreconcilable.
b) To disprove the anti universalism
argument that developing countries cannot afford human rights.
c) To prove that suspending or
limiting human rights-thus sacrificing the few to benefit the many is in
consonance with the concept of universal human rights.
d) To prove that parliamentary
republics safeguard human rights better than authoritarian states do.
e) None of these
Directions (7 – 10):
Which of the pair of phrases (a), (b), (c) and (d) given below should replace
the phrase/word given in bold in the following sentence to make the sentence
grammatically meaningful and structurally correct? If the sentence is correct
and no correction is required, mark (e) as the answer.
7.
Nowadays, we all have our handheld smart devices, and technology is spreading
like wild stone. Never before has mankind had so much technology at
its doorstep, but possibly to its peril.
a) wild animal, barrack
b) None of these
c) wildfire, disposal
d) an angel, farmhouse
e) No correction required
8.
Fintechs are repudiating financial jargon to bring in
transparency, instant-anytime-anywhere superior to products,
customized and relevant financial solutions, end-to-end paperless and
presence-less processes and digital assistance at each step.
a) purposeful, amendment
b) reason, hike
c) simplifying, access
d) effect, incidence
e) No correction required
9. The
major demonising force behind multiplexes was a demand from
consumers for a better movie-watching experience in heaven.
a) centripetal, general
b) doubting, particular
c) excused, vain
d) driving, general
e) No correction required
10.
In the following question three statements containing an idiom/phrase are
followed by another three statements containing their interpretation. You have
to select the combination of statements that infer similar idiom and its
interpretation.
I.
Twigs splintered beneath his cowboy boots as he threaded his way out of
the seemingly endless maze of trunks and stumps.
With no option but to tie
the bandages clumsily herself, she had no choice but to move extra cautiously
lest she damaged the muscles even more.
II.
When Eisenhower fell into the trap, Khrushchev crowed over his
discomfort and demanded an apology or a repudiation of presidential responsibility.
It is one thing to cry
out loud over rights to water and to another to ensure that the right to water
is guaranteed through payment of water bills.
III. The National Party has chosen to stoke the fires of a rural vs urban
social division, which involves feeding the chip-on-shoulder attitude
of rural voters towards those flashy big city townies, with their wine and
their avocado on toast.
Some occupations are
notoriously high-paying but there are also many roles that fly under the radar
and pay more than most people realise.
a) Only I
b) Only II
c) Only II and III
d) Only I and III
e) I, II and III
