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English Quiz For IBPS Exam 2016

English Quiz For IBPS Exam 2016 |_20.1
Directions
(1-3): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a
passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the
basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select
the best answer of the choices given.

Ecoefficiency
(measures to minimize environmental impact through the reduction or elimination
of waste from production processes) has become a goal for companies worldwide,
with many realizing significant cost savings from such innovations. Peter Senge
and Goran Carstedt see this development as laudable but suggest that simply
adopting ecoefficiency innovations could actually worsen environmental stresses
in the future. Such innovations reduce production waste but do not alter the
number of products manufactured nor the waste generated from their use and
growth. Moreover, there is no guarantee that increased economic growth from
ecoefficiency will come in similarly ecoefficient ways, since in today’s global
markets, greater profits may be turned into investment capital that could
easily be reinvested in old-style eco-inefficient industries.

Even a vastly more ecoefficient industrial system could, were it to grow much
larger, generate more total waste and destroy more habitat and species than
would a smaller, less ecoefficient economy. Senge and Carstedt argue that to
preserve the global environment and sustain economic growth, businesses must
develop a new systemic approach that reduces total material use and total
accumulated waste. Focusing exclusively on ecoefficiency, which offers a
compelling business case according to established thinking, may distract
companies from pursuing radically different products and business models.
Q1.
The primary purpose of the passage is to
(a) explain
why a particular business strategy has been less successful than was once
anticipated
(b) propose
an alternative to a particular business strategy that has inadvertently caused
ecological damage
(c) present
a concern about the possible consequences of pursuing a particular business
strategy
(d) make a
case for applying a particular business strategy on a large scale than is
currently practiced
(e) suggest
several possible outcomes of companies’ failure to understand the economic
impact of a particular business strategy
Q2. The passage
mentions which of the following as a possible consequence of companies’
realization of greater profits through ecoefficiency?
(a) The companies
may be able to sell a greater number of products by lowering prices.
(b) The
companies may be better able to attract investment capital in the global
market.
(c) The
profits may be reinvested to increase economic growth through ecoefficiency.
(d) The
profits may be used as investment capital for industries that are not
ecoefficient.
(e) The
profits may encourage companies to make further innovations in reducing
production waste.
Q3. The
passage implies that which of the following is a possible consequence of a
company’s adoption of innovations that increase its ecoefficiency?
(a) Company
profits resulting from such innovations may be reinvested in that company with
no guarantee that the company will continue to make further improvements in
ecoefficiency.
(b) Company
growth fostered by cost savings from such innovations may allow that company to
manufacture a greater number of products that will be used and discarded, thus
worsening environmental stress.
(c) A
company that fails to realize significant cost savings from such innovations
may have little incentive to continue to minimize the environmental impact of
its production processes.
(d) A
company that comes to depend on such innovations to increase its profits and
growth may be vulnerable in the global market to competition from old-style
eco-inefficient industries.
(e) A
company that meets its ecoefficiency goals is unlikely to invest its increased
profits in the development of new and innovative ecoefficiency measures.
Directions
(4-8): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of a
passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on the
basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question, select
the best answer of the choices given.

A recent study has provided clues to predator-prey dynamics in the late
Pleistocene era. Researchers compared the number of tooth fractures in
present-day carnivores with tooth fractures in carnivores that lived 36,000 to
10,000 years ago and that were preserved in the Rancho La Brea tar pits in Los
Angeles. The breakage frequencies in the extinct species were strikingly higher
than those in the present-day species.
In
considering possible explanations for this finding, the researchers dismissed
demographic bias because older individuals were not overrepresented in the
fossil samples. They rejected preservational bias because a total absence of
breakage in two extinct species demonstrated that the fractures were not the
result of abrasion within the pits. They ruled out local bias because breakage
data obtained from other Pleistocene sites were similar to the La Brea data.
The explanation they consider most plausible is behavioral differences between
extinct and present-day carnivores-in particular, more contact between the
teeth of predators and the bones of prey due to more thorough consumption of carcasses
by the extinct species. Such thorough carcass consumption implies to the
researchers either that prey availability was low, at least seasonally, or that
there was intense competition over kills and a high rate of carcass theft due
to relatively high predator densities.
Q4. The
primary purpose of the passage is to
(a) present
several explanations for a well-known fact
(b) suggest
alternative methods for resolving a debate
(c) argue in
favor of a controversial theory
(d) question
the methodology used in a study
(e) discuss
the implications of a research finding
Q5. According
to the passage, compared with Pleistocene carnivores in other areas,
Pleistocene carnivores in the La Brea area
(a) included
the same species, in approximately the same proportions
(b) had a
similar frequency of tooth fractures
(c) populated
the La Brea area more densely
(d) consumed
their prey more thoroughly
(e) found it
harder to obtain sufficient prey
Q6. According
to the passage, the researchers believe that the high frequency of tooth
breakage in carnivores found at La Brea was caused primarily by
(a) the
aging process in individual carnivores
(b) contact
between the fossils in the pits
(c) poor
preservation of the fossils after they were removed from the pits
(d) the
impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of their prey
(e) the
impact of carnivores’ teeth against the bones of other carnivores during fights
over kills
Q7. The
researchers’ conclusion concerning the absence of demographic bias would be
most seriously undermined if it were found that
(a) the
older an individual carnivore is, the more likely it is to have a large number
of tooth fractures
(b) the
average age at death of a present-day carnivore is greater than was the average
age at death of a Pleistocene carnivore
(c) in
Pleistocene carnivore species, older individuals consumed carcasses as
thoroughly as did younger individuals
(d) the
methods used to determine animals’ ages in fossil samples tend to misidentify
many older individuals as younger individuals
(e) data
concerning the ages of fossil samples cannot provide reliable information about
behavioral differences between extinct carnivores and present-day carnivores
Q8. According
to the passage, if the researchers had NOT found that two extinct carnivore
species were free of tooth breakage, the researchers would have concluded that
(a) the
difference in breakage frequencies could have been the result of damage to the
fossil remains in the La Brea pits
(b) the
fossils in other Pleistocene sites could have higher breakage frequencies than
do the fossils in the La Brea pits
(c) Pleistocene
carnivore species probably behaved very similarly to one another with respect
to consumption of carcasses
(d) all
Pleistocene carnivore species differed behaviorally from present-day carnivore
species
(e) predator
densities during the Pleistocene era were extremely high
Directions
(9-11): Each of the reading comprehension questions is based on the content of
a passage. After reading the passage answer all questions pertaining to it on
the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. For each question,
select the best answer of the choices given.

Archaeology as a profession faces two major problems. First, it is the poorest
of the poor. Only paltry sums are available for excavating and even less is
available for publishing the results and preserving the sites once excavated. Yet archaeologists deal with
priceless objects every day. Second, there is the problem of illegal
excavation, resulting in museum-quality pieces being sold to the highest
bidder.
I would like
to make an outrageous suggestion
that would at one stroke provide funds for archaeology and reduce the amount of
illegal digging. I would propose that scientific archaeological expeditions and
governmental authorities sell excavated artifacts on the open market. Such
sales would provide substantial funds for the excavation and preservation of
archaeological sites and the publication of results. At the same time, they
would break the illegal excavator’s grip on the market, thereby decreasing the
inducement to engage in illegal activities.
You might
object that professionals excavate to acquire knowledge, not money. Moreover,
ancient artifacts are part of our global cultural heritage, which should be
available for all to appreciate, not sold to the highest bidder. I agree. Sell
nothing that has unique artistic merit or scientific value. But, you might
reply, everything that comes out of the ground has scientific value. Here we
part company. Theoretically, you may be correct in claiming that every artifact
has potential scientific value. Practically, you are wrong.
I refer to
the thousands of pottery vessels and ancient lamps that are essentially
duplicates of one another. In one small excavation in Cyprus, archaeologists
recently uncovered 2,000 virtually indistinguishable
small jugs in a single courtyard. Even precious royal seal impressions known as
I’melekh handles have been found in abundance-more than 4,000 examples so far.
The
basements of museums are simply not large enough to store the artifacts that
are likely to be discovered in the future. There is not enough money even to
catalog the finds; as a result, they cannot be found again and become as
inaccessible as if they had never been discovered. Indeed, with the help of a
computer, sold artifacts could be
more accessible than are the pieces stored in bulging museum basements. Prior
to sale, each could be photographed and the list of the purchasers could be
maintained on the computer. A purchaser could even be required to agree to
return the piece if it should become needed for scientific purposes.
It would be
unrealistic to suggest that illegal digging would stop if artifacts were sold
on the open market. But the demand for the clandestine product would be
substantially reduced. Who would want an unmarked not when another was
available whose provenance was known, and that was dated stratigraphically by
the professional archaeologist who excavated it?
Q9. The
primary purpose of the passage is to propose
(a) an
alternative to museum display of artifacts
(b) a way to
curb illegal digging while benefiting the archaeological profession
(c) a way to
distinguish artifacts with scientific value from those that have no such value
(d) the
governmental regulation of archaeological sites
(e) a new
system for cataloging duplicate artifacts
Q10. The
author implies that all of the following statements about duplicate artifacts
are true EXCEPT
(a) a market
for such artifacts already exists.
(b) such artifacts
seldom have scientific value
(c) there is
likely to be a continuing supply of such artifacts
(d) museums
are well supplied with examples of such artifacts
(e) such
artifacts frequently exceed in quality those already cataloged in museum
collections
Q11. Which
of the following is mentioned in the passage as a disadvantage of storing
artifacts in museum basements?
(a) Museum
officials rarely allow scholars access to such artifacts.
(b) Space
that could be better used for display is taken up for storage.
(c) Artifacts
discovered  in one excavation often
become separated from each other.
(d) Such
artifacts are often damaged by variations in temperature and humidity.
(e) Such
artifacts often remain uncatalogued and thus cannot be located once they are put
in storage.
Directions
(12-15): Choose the word which is most similar in meaning to the word printed
in bold as used in the above passages.
Q12. excavate
(a) precise
(b)
discernible
(c)
explanatory
(d)
enumerate
(e) bore
Q13. outrageous
(a)
alternatives
(b) distracters
(c) answers
(d) atrocious
(e)
directions
Q14. indistinguishable
(a)
longitude
(b)
depletion
(c) identical
(d)
replenishment
(e)
reclamation
Q15. inducement
(a) single
(b) alone
(c) lonely
(d) stimulus
(e) multiple
Solutions
S1. Ans.(c) 
Sol. present a concern about the possible
consequences of pursuing a particular business strategy

S2. Ans.(d) 
Sol. The profits may be used as investment capital
for industries that are not ecoefficient.


S3. Ans.(b) 
Sol. Company growth fostered by cost savings from
such innovations may allow that company to manufacture a greater number of
products that will be used and discarded, thus worsening environmental stress.

S4. Ans.(e) 
Sol. discuss the implications of a research
finding

S5. Ans.(b) 
Sol. had a similar frequency of tooth fractures

S6. Ans.(d) 
Sol. the impact of carnivores’ teeth against the
bones of their prey

S7. Ans.(d) 
Sol. the methods used to determine animals’ ages
in fossil samples tend to misidentify many older individuals as younger
individuals

S8. Ans.(a) 
Sol. the difference in breakage frequencies could
have been the result of damage to the fossil remains in the La Brea pits

S9. Ans.(b) 
Sol. a way to curb illegal digging while
benefiting the archaeological profession

S10. Ans.(e) 
Sol.  such
artifacts frequently exceed in quality those already cataloged in museum
collections


S11. Ans.(e) 
Sol.  Such
artifacts often remain uncatalogued and thus cannot be located once they are put
in storage.

S12. Ans.(e) 
Sol.  excavate-remove earth carefully
from (an area) in order to find buried remains.

S13. Ans.(d) 
Sol.  outrageous-shockingly bad or
excessive.

S14. Ans.(c) 
Sol.  indistinguishable-not able to be
identified as different or distinct.

S15. Ans.(d) 
Sol.  inducement-a thing that persuades
or leads someone to do something.

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