SBI CLERKS EXAM 2009

General English

Directions—(Q. 1–12) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Keshava, the washerman had a donkey. They worked together all day, and Keshava would pour out his heart to the doneky. One day, Keshava was walking home with the donkey when he felt tired. He tied the donkey to a tree and sat down to rest for a while, near a school. A window was open, and through it, a teacher could be heard scolding the students. ‘Here I am, trying to turn you donkeys into human beings, but you just won’t study !’ As soon as Keshava heard these words, his ears pricked up. A man who could actually turn donkeys into humans ! This was the answer to his prayers. Impatiently, he waited for school to be over that day. when everyone had gone home, and only the teacher remained behind to check some papers, Keshava entered the classroom.

‘How can I help you ?’ asked the teacher. Keshava scratched his head and said, ‘I heard what you said to the children. This donkey is my companion. If you made it human, we could have such good times together.’ The teacher decided to trick Keshava. He pretended to think for a while and then said, ‘Give me six months and it will cost you a thousand rupees.’ The washerman agreed and rushed home to get the money. He then left the donkey in the teacher’s care.

After the six months were up, Keshava went to the teacher. The teacher had been using the donkey for his own work. Not wanting to give it up, he said, ‘Oh, your donkey became so clever that it ran away. He is the headman of the next village.’ When Keshava reached the next village he found the village elders sitting under a tree, discussing serious problems. How surprised they were when Keshava marched up to the headman, grabbed his arm and said, ‘How dare you ? You think you are so clever that you ran away ? Come home at once !’

The headman understood someone had played a trick on Keshava. ‘I am not your donkey !’ he said. ‘Go find the sage in the forest.’ Keshava found the sage sitting under a tree with his eyes closed, deep in meditation. He crept up and grabbed the sage’s beard. ‘Come back home now !’ he shouted. The startled sage somehow calmed Keshava. When he heard what had happened, he had a good laugh. Then he told the washerman kindly, ‘The teacher made a fool of you. Your donkey must be still with him. Go and take it back from him. Try to make some real friends, who will talk with you and share your troubles. A donkey will never be able to do that !’ Keshava returned home later that day with his donkey, sadder and wiser.

1. Which of the following can be said about the teacher ?
(A) He had the ability to transform animals into human beings
(B) He took advantage of Keshava’s simple nature
(C) He had plotted with the village headman to cheat Keshava
(D) He enjoyed teaching children though he was poorly paid
(E) He was honest and used Keshava’s money to care for the donkey
Ans : (B)

2. Why did Keshava talk to his donkey while working ?
(A) He wanted to practise his communication skills because he wanted to make friends
(B) To entertain himself because he found his work monotonous
(C) The donkey helped him to find answers to his problems
(D) He regarded the doneky as his friend and confided in him
(E) He believed the donkey to be a human being in disguise
Ans : (E)

3. How did Keshava get his donkey back ?
(A) He threatened to take the teacher to the village elders
(B) The sage forced the teacher to release the donkey
(C) He asked the village headman for help
(D) The teacher returned it on learning that Keshava had learnt his lesson
(E) None of these
Ans : (E)

4. Which of the following is NOT true in the context of the passage?
(a) The donkey was over burdened by the teacher.
(b) The teacher was cunning by nature.
(c) The sage laughed at Keshava and treated him unkindly.
(A) Both (a) & (c)
(B) Both (b) & (c)
(C) Only (b)
(D) All (a), (b) & (c)
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

5. Why was Keshava keen to meet the teacher one day ?
(A) Keshava wanted to ask the teacher how to make his donkey a better companion
(B) He wanted to learn more prayers as he was devout
(C) He had been reliably informed that the teacher had changed donkeys into human beings
(D) He heeded the teacher’s words of advice and wanted to study
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

6. Why did Keshava interrupt the discussion among the village elders ?
(A) He did not agree with their views on different issues
(B) To confront the headman who had cheated him out of one thousand rupees
(C) He wanted them to get justice for him
(D) He was looking for the donkey and wanted to ask for directions
(E) None of these
Ans : (E)

7. What made Keshava pull the sage’s beard ?
(A) He wanted to wake up the sage who was a sleep under the tree
(B) The headman requested him to move the sage from under the tree
(C) He wanted the sage to explain what had happened to the donkey
(D) He misunderstood the village headman and took the sage to be his donkey
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

8. Why did the teacher ask Keshava to leave the donkey with him for six months ?
(a) He realised that the donkey would require a lot of training.
(b) To reduce Keshava’s dependence on the donkey.
(c) He wanted to rescue the donkey from Keshava who did not know to treat the donkey properly.
(A) None
(B) Only (b)
(C) Both (a) & (b)
(D) Only (c)
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

Directions—(Q. 9–10) Choose the word which is MOST SIMILAR in MEANING to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

9. trick
(A) joke
(B) skill
(C) mislead
(D) technique
(E) lunny
Ans : (C)

10. remained
(A) pending
(B) waited
(C) lasted
(D) survived
(E) continued
Ans : (D)

Directions—(Q. 11–12) Choose the word which is MOST OPPOSITE in MEANING to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.

11. real
(A) false
(B) imitated
(C) dishonest
(D) imagine
(E) genuine
Ans : (A)

12. deep
(A) low
(B) distracted
(C) flat
(D) awake
(E) sleep
Ans : (B)

Directions—(Q. 13–17) Which of the phrases (A), (B), (C) and (D) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct ? If the sentence is correct as it is given and ‘No Correction is Required’, mark (E) as the answer.

13. The company has set up a foundation which helps students who do not have the necessary funds to study ahead.
(A) further to study
(B) of studying more
(C) to study onward
(D) for higher studies
(E) No Correction Required
Ans : (D)

14. If this land is used to cultivate crops it will be additionally source of income for the villagers.
(A) a source of additional
(B) an additionally source
(C) an additional source
(D) additionally the source
(E) No Correction Required
Ans : (C)

15. Belonged to this cadre, you are eligible for facilities such as free air travel and accommodation.
(A) since you belong to
(B) whoever belongs
(C) for belonging to
(D) to belong in
(E) No Correction Required
Ans : (A)

16. The bank has hired a consultant who will look into any issues which arise during the merger.
(A) is looking over
(B) will be looked after
(C) will look out
(D) looks down on
(E) No Correction Required
Ans : (E)

17. I had severe doubts about if I successfully run a company, but my father encouraged me.
(A) if I am successful in
(B) how should I successfully
(C) whether I could successfully
(D) that I would succeed to
(E) No Correction Required
Ans : (C)

Directions—(Q. 18–22) In each question below a sentence with four words printed in bold type is given. These are lettered as (A), (B), (C) and (D). One of these four words printed in bold may be either wrongly spelt or inappropriate in the context of the sentence. Find out the word which is wrongly spelt or inappropriate if any. The letter of that word is your answer. If all the words printed in bold are correctly spelt and also appropriate in the context of the sentence, mark (E) i.e. ‘All Correct’ as your answer.

18. RBI has attempted (A) to spend (B) financial (C) awareness (D) through this programme. All Correct (E)
Ans : (B)

19. In order to succeed (A) it is crucial (B) for an organisation to constantly (C) improve. (D) All Correct (E)
Ans : (E)

20. With some assistance (A) from her son she was enable (B) to settle (C) her debts (D) on time. All Correct (E)
Ans : (B)

21. Though the government initiated (A) a large sum (B) of money in the scheme (C) it was a failure. (D) All Correct (E)
Ans : (A)

22. We have prepared a detailed (A) report giving various (B) solutions (C) to resort (D) the problem. All Correct (E)
Ans : (D)

Directions—(Q. 23–27) Rearrange the following six sentences (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph; then answer the questions given below them.
(a) I was pleased by their reaction.
(b) Writing my speech was easy, but I was unsure if I could motivate the employees to donate to those affected by the earthquake.
(c) Instead of throwing out their unusable articles, they had transferred them to my office in the name of donations.
(d) When a reputed company invited me to deliver a lecture on Corporate Social Responsibility, I agreed.
(e) It was an affluent company and the well dressed employees who met me afterwards promised to send lots of donations to my office.
(f) What I saw however when I opened the bags of ‘donations’ they had sent shocked me.

23. Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence after rearrangement ?
(A) (b)
(B) (c)
(C) (d)
(D) (e)
(E) (f)
Ans : (A)

24. Which of the following should be the THIRD sentence after rearrangement ?
(A) (a)
(B) (b)
(C) (c)
(D) (d)
(E) (e)
Ans : (E)

25. Which of the following should be t h e FOURTH sentence after rearrangement ?
(A) (a)
(B) (b)
(C) (c)
(D) (d)
(E) (e)
Ans : (A)

26. Which of the following should be the LAST (SIXTH) sentence after rearrangement ?
(A) (b)
(B) (c)
(C) (d)
(D) (e)
(E) (f)
Ans : (B)

27. Which of the following should be the FIRST sentence after rearrangement ?
(A) (a)
(B) (b)
(C) (c)
(D) (d)
(E) (e)
Ans : (D)

Directions—(Q. 28–32) Read each sentence to find out whether there is any grammatical error or idiomatic error in it. The error, if any, will be in one part of the sentence. The letter of that part is the answer. If there is no error, the answer is (E).
(Ignore errors of punctuation, if any.)

28. He has travelled (A) / all over the world (B) / yet he speaks (C) / several languages fluently. (D) No error (E)
Ans : (C)

29. A successful company is (A) / any that makes a good (B) / profit and provides (C) / high returns to its shareholders. (D) No error (E)
Ans : (B)

30. The agreement on (A) / which all of us have (B) / worked so hard will (C) / be sign tomorrow. (D) No error (E)
Ans : (D)

31. It is necessarily to maintain (A) / a record of all transactions (B) / in case the auditors (C) / want to see it. (D) No error (E)
Ans : (A)

32. Very few young trainees (A) / willingly undertake (B) / a posting to a branch (C) / located in a rural area. (D) No error (E)
Ans : (E)

Directions—(Q. 33–40) In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Today, twenty-two years after the bank …(33)…, it has over a thousand branches all over the country and the staff …(34)… about twentythree lakh borrowers. We decided to operate …(35)… from conventional banks who would ask their clients to come to their office. Many people in rural areas found this …(36)…. Our bank is therefore based on the …(37)… that people should not come to the bank but that the bank should go to the people. Our loans are also …(38)… we give them for activities from candle making to tyre repair. We also keep …(39)… checks on the borrower through weekly visits. We do this to make certain that the family of the borrower is …(40)… from the loan.

33. (A) origin
(B) commence
(C) existed
(D) began
(E) inaugurated
Ans : (E)

34. (A) assemble
(B) cope
(C) interact
(D) deal
(E) handle
Ans : (E)

35. (A) differently
(B) similar
(C) reverse
(D) opposite
(E) identically
Ans : (A)

36. (A) worried
(B) upset
(C) panicking
(D) anxious
(E) threatening
Ans : (D)

37. (A) principle
(B) discipline
(C) opportunity
(D) chance
(E) advantage
Ans : (A)

38. (A) worth
(B) vary
(C) disburse
(D) contrast
(E) diver
Ans : (B)

39. (A) consistently
(B) regular
(C) often
(D) frequently
(E) daily
Ans : (B)

40. (A) benefiting
(B) serving
(C) welfare
(D) obliged
(E) progress
Ans : (A)