English Language Practice test for Bank PO and Clerk Exams

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Directions (Q.No. 1 - 10) : Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions. Certain words / phrases are given in BOLD to help you locate them while answering some of the questions. 

The Arctic is the canary in global-warming. Canaries expired in contact with gases such as carbon monoxide and methane, warning miners to leave the area. The Arctic sea is similarly sensitive to changes which might otherwise not be obvious as the Earth warms up in response to more of another gas, carbon dioxide. The area of the Arctic Ocean covered by ice at the height of summer has been shrinking by 11% a decade for the past 35 years. But the details are obscure because gathering data in the Arctic Ocean is hard. But, a systematic approach to that gathering has begun. The Marginal Ice Zone (MIZ) programme, paid for by the United States Navy, has laid dozens of devices. These measure the thickness of the icy layer, and also the salinity, temperature, oxygen concentration, organic-matter com-position and movement of the seawater beneath. With luck, the MIZ's researchers

with their elaborate network of sensors and instrument-laden robots known as Sea gliders will gather the largest quantity of data yet collected on the seasonal melting of the Arctic ice sheet and thus find out exactly what song the Arctic canary is singing.

Monitoring sea ice is a fairly recent activity. It began seriously in the 1950s, from aboard nuclear submarines. Satellite monitoring started in 1979. Since then the summer sea ice has shrunk by 12% a decade. That is consistent with the trend predicted by climate-change models over the past three decades, an indication that their mathematical simulations of global warming are roughly right. Scientists have constructed a record of the Arctic past suggests that the summer sea ice that is at its lowest level for at least 2,000 years. Six of the hottest years on record-going back to 1880-have occurred since 2004. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the last time the polar regions were significantly warmer was about 125,000 years ago. This transformation is in fact happening faster than anyone had predict-ed. According to the scientists, the aver-age thickness of the pack ice has fallen by roughly half since the 1970s, probably for two main reasons. In the summer of 2007, coastal parts of the Arctic Ocean rose to 7° C -bracingly swimma-ble. The other was a prolonged eastward shift in the early 1990s in the Arctic's prevailing winds, known as the Arctic Oscillation. This moved a lot of ice into the Atlantic and has not been replaced.


Attention has recently also been focussed on lesser-known greenhouse gases, including ozone and methane, and on soot from diesel exhaust and forest fires. These are known as "short-lived climate forcers". Though they linger in the atmosphere for a relatively short time, they can have a powerful greenhouse effect. Soot, or black carbon, stays in the atmosphere for an average of six days, whereas carbon dioxide lasts for centuries, even millennia. Yet black carbon has an unusually potent warming effect in the snowy Arctic because the dark soot, after being rained or snowed onto bright snow or ice, continues to absorb heat. The UN's Environment programme estimates that reducing black carbon and methane emission could cut Arctic warming by two-thirds over the next three decades. That would not prevent the disappearance of the summer sea ice, but it might delay it by a decade or two.

1. What do the statistics regarding the Arctic climate cited in the passage indicate?

1. This year is the hottest in1,25,000 years
2. Of late temperatures have been rising
3. Arctic temperatures have remained stable for about two decades
4. The Arctic is heating up ten times more quickly than mathematicians predicted
5. There is not much change in Arctic temperature over the millennia 

2. What is the author's view regarding the MIZ's programme ?

1. He is dissatisfied as it is funded by only one country and its findings are likely to be biased
2. He wishes it to be successful as it will provide valuable in-formation about climate change
3. It is too costly a venture and these resources should be invested elsewhere.
4. It utilises cutting edge techno-logy and will be very useful for military operations in the region
5. Other than those given as options 

3. Which of the following can be said about short lived climate forcers ?

1. Their impact on the climate is very brief
2. These are responsible for delaying the loss of Arctic ice
3. These are very harmful to the environment
4. These have helped ensure relatively stable climate patterns
5. These are responsible for delaying the process of Arctic Oscillation 

4. Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning to the word FAIRLY given in bold as used in the passage

1. Honestly
2. Equally
3. Impartially
4. Quite
5. Favourably

5. Choose the word which is OPPOSITE in meaning to the word HARD given in bold as used in the passage.

1. Delicate 
2. Undemanding
3. Sensitive 
4. Flexible
5. Durable 

6. What does the phrase "The Arctic is the canary in global-warming" conveys?

1. The Arctic has a varied bird life yet to be discovered
2. Global warming has been responsible for the extinction of canaries in the Arctic
3. Warm temperatures have made it explore the Arctic
4. Canaries surprisingly have proved very useful in exploring the Arctic
5. The Arctic is sensitive to changes in climate 

7. Which of the following is TRUE in the context of the passage ?

1. The US has made efforts to study the Arctic
2. International bodies are not taking interest in studying climate change
3. Arctic ice is shifting not melting according to the latest scientific evidence
4. Increased exploration in the Arctic is posing a danger to its marine life
5. None of the given statements is true in the context of the passage 

8. Which of the following factor (s) is / are factor (s) which have impacted data gathering in the Arctic ? 

• A) High concentrations of carbon monoxide and methane. 
• B) Conflicts among countries over exploratory rights.
• C) Lack of interest in the Arctic.

1. Only (A)
2. Only (B)
3. All (A), (B) and (C)
4. Only (A) and (B)
5. None of the given options (A), (B) and (C)

9. What does the author suggest regarding monitoring of sea ice ? 

• A) It is too time consuming and therefore of not much use. 
• B) It provides an exaggerated picture of global warming and should be done away with. 
• C) It has provided insight into climate patterns both past and future.

1. Only (A)
2. Only (B)
3. Only (C)
4. All (A), (B) and (C)
5. None of the given options (A), (B) and (C)

10. Which of the following is the central idea of the passage ?

1. Efforts to understand the Arctic are important as it is an indicator of global warming.
2. Scientists need to co-operate among themselves to better understand global warming.
3. The Arctic is proof that Climate change is a cycle that scientists are unnecessarily alarmed.
4. Warmer Arctic temperatures will provide scientists and explorers wonderful opportunities.
5. None of these 

Directions (Q.No. 11 - 15) : In ea-ch of the following questions, each sentence has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank that best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

11. Forensic experts have   __________ samples from the spot to __________  whether there are any traces of explosives.

1. picked, ensure 
2. left, verify
3. marked, gather
4. lifted, ascertain
5. released, detection 

12. Researchers have __________  that increased body fat is __________ with greater sensitivity to sweet taste.

1. found, associated
2. established, accounted
3. published, accumulate
4. written, secreted
5. segmented, amounted

13. The organisation __________ midday meals to __________  one million school children.

1. provides, over
2. supplies, equal
3. leaves, about
4. ascribes, limited
5. distributed, amount

14. __________ of the work on the new colleges will go a long way in__________  the shortage of engineers in the State.

1. Starting, requesting
2. Completion, addressing
3. Finishing, establishing
4. Absolution, overcoming
5. Surpassing, limiting 

15. The actor is set to return to the big screen in a movie that  __________  contrasting __________  of horror and comedy.

1. amalgamates, films
2. blends, genres
3. involve, issues
4. featuring, depictions
5. celebrates, visual

Directions (Q.No. 16 - 20) : Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B), (C), (D), (E) and (F) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph and then answer the questions given below. 

(A) By 2009, New Delhi had built a 218-km-long highway from Zaranj to Delarm, connecting northern Iran to Afghanistan.

(B) India and Iran have signed a $ 500-million agreement to build a port in Chabahar, on Iran southern coast.

(C) Yet, hobbled by many things, including American sanctions on Iran and New Delhi's lethargy, the crucial connecting link - a seaport in Chabahar - languished.

(D) This is a project hanging fire from 2003, when India, Iran and Afghanistan signed a three-party agreement to construct a port - and a road - that would connect India to Iran, and thereafter, to energy-rich central Asia.

(E) This connects to the Kandahar -Herat highway and, for a while, was imagined to be a connecting link between western India and Iran's southern coast and thereafter to the heart of central Asia.

(F) Well done, now go ahead and just do it.

16. Which of the following should be the FIRST sentence after rearrangement ?

1. E
2. A
3. D
4. B
5. C 

17. Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence after rearrangement?

1. B
2. F
3. E
4. D
5. A 

18. Which of the following should be the THIRD sentence after rearrangement ?

1. F
2. B
3. A
4. C
5. D 

19. Which of the following should be the FOURTH sentence after rearrangement? 

1. A
2. D
3. C
4. B
5. F 

20. Which of the following should be the LAST (SIXTH) sentence after rearrangement?

1. D
2. A
3. C
4. F
5. E

KEY

1. 2
2. 2
3. 3
4. 4
5. 2
6. 5
7. 1
8. 5
9. 3
10. 1
11. 1
12. 1
13. 1
14. 2
15. 2
16. 4
17. 2
18. 5
19. 1
20. 3

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