Hi Aspirants,
We are starting a New series on English for SBI, IBPS, RBI, SSC, LIC, NIACL and other exams based on latest pattern.Students have been facing a lot of problems in English and just giving answer does not seem a viable option for preparation. Keeping this in mind, we have taken the initiative to give reasoning for the answers as well to help students understand the concepts better and perform better in exam. We will daily upload 10 questions on different topics, along with SOLUTIONS.Keep visiting the Affairscloud.com on regular basis and still if the doubts linger, we will resolve all your queries in under 24 hours
Click Here to View Hand tips to attempt Cloze test
The following Cloze Test is based on the recent pattern introduced in SBI PO exam. Level of quiz is moderate.
Time: 5 minutes
No. of questions : 10
Par Score : 8
Directions: In the following passage, certain words have been omitted from the paragraph. The omitted words have been replaced with words in bold, some which are incorrectly used either contextually or grammatically. You are provided with five options for each blank, out of which only one can replace the word in bold in order to make the sentence coherent and meaningul. If the word in bold is correctly used in the paragraph and no correction is required, mark option 5 as answer.
The subject of taxation on farm income has once again taken centre stage not just because there have been some distinguished opinions ……..1……(maintained) on this subject but because this has been recognised as one area where money is channelled to avoid paying taxes. As the focus of the Government is on black money, looking at agriculture for enhanced tax collection appears a logical corollary. The solution is evidently not simple for were it so, it would have been ………2………(figured) by now. The major challenge is really political as any such tax would be interpreted as affecting the lives of 600-odd million people and can be perceived to be a ………..3……..(calamitous) during elections.
The arguments for taxing agriculture are compelling. If individuals and companies can be taxed, so should farmers, ………4……(including) they go beyond the exemption limit. All other reasons put forward for not taxing farmers are more emotion-based given that the majority is ……..5…….(classified) as socially and economically deprived. But then, this can hold for other sections too which are being taxed, especially at the lower-income level.
There are practical issues as well, which have been hard to ……6……(solve) so far. One of them being what can be taxed? Should it be the value of output or the net income …..7…..(distributed) by farmers? While the value of output sold can be gauged and tracked to the extent that it enters the market, this is not net income as there are expenses ……8…….(incurred) in growing crops which include seeds, fertilisers, water, and so on. Also for those owning equipment a depreciation value has to be imputed. Also there is a lot of under-reporting given the state of logistics in the country. There is hence an anomalous situation where there could be a considerable amount of money that is channelled here to escape tax by ………..9…………(converting) funds to agriculture on paper or showing property owned as farmland which may be used for a penthouse. This is what needs to be plugged. To begin with this is what should be targeted by the department to weed out …………10……….(prescription). This is akin to the amount siphoned out by the value-chain when it comes to food subsidy where ration shop owners sell grains in the open market and make fraudulent entries for this in their books.
- __________________
A.announced
B.shown
C.declared
D.voiced
E.No correction requiredAnswer – D.voiced
Explanation :
We need a verb here for the noun ‘opinions’. Opinions can either be voiced or expressed. All the other options do not collocate – ‘announce opinion’, ‘show opinion’ or ‘declare opinion’ are wrong collocations. - __________________
A.implemented
B.reproached
C.stifled
D.researched
E.no correction requiredAnswer – A.implemented
Explanation :
Read the line carefully – If there were a simple solution, it would have been implemented or put into action by now. Reproach (verb) – express disapproval of someone’s actions; Stifle – suffocate, choke, restrain, suppress etc. None of the words make sentence as meaningful as option A. - __________________
A.detrimental
B.harmful
C.regressive
D.disaster
E.no correctionAnswer – D.disaster
Explanation :
Cloze tests apeearing in SBI exam not only check the vocabulary but are also paying equal attention to grammatical concepts. Article ‘a’ has been used before the blank, hence only a noun can fit into it – a horse, a cylcone, a car, a man etc. All the options except D are adjectives, hence the answer D. If made noun – Calamity and Detriment, both would have been correct. - __________________
A.excluding
B.provided
C.expressing
D.signalling
E.no correctionAnswer – B.provided
Explanation :
We have to make sentence on the following lines – Farmers can be taxed, given they go beyond limit or provided they go beyond limit (as in their salary comes under taxable income). Provided is a conjuction (joins sentences – Farmers can be taxed + Their income is beyond exemption limit) meaning ‘on the condition that’.
Now you may cram the meaning of ‘provided’ from hereon but how many meanings can you cram!!! Read as much as you can to improve English to master the usage of such words. - __________________
A.opined
B.loathed
C.signified
D.stated
E.No correction requiredAnswer – E.No correction required
Explanation :
Majority of farmers are seen as or categorized as or classified as or regarded as or described as ‘socially and economically deprived’. None of the other option fit in the blank as option e. Opine – hold and state as one’s opinion, suggest, propose etc.; Loath – intense dislike or disgust, hate, detest, despise etc. - __________________
A.surmount
B.challenge
C.surmise
D.destroy
E.No correction requiredAnswer – A.surmount
Explanation :
There have been practical issues which have been hard to resolve (not solve). Issues can be resolved not solved. In the context of the sentence that we need to form, option B is wrong ‘issues have been hard to challenge/surmise’ does not bring out any meaning. ‘Destroy issues’ is another wrong collocation. Surmount – overcome (a difficulty or obstacle) – is the only word which provides same meaning as ‘resolve’.
Collocation can only be improved by reading. That way words also become easy to remember ulitmately helping improve vocabulary. - __________________
A.managed
B.earned
C.controlled
D.undisclosed
E.No correction requiredAnswer – B.earned - __________________
A.constituted
B.appraised
C.calculated
D.spent
E.No correction requiredAnswer – E.No correction required
Explanation :
Appraise – assess, evaluate, estimate, review etc. Ex- After the day’s work, manager came to appraise the work of staff. Do not mark the answer as D – Expenses is the amount spent on something, so ‘expenses spent’ is wrong collocation, whereas ‘expenses incurred’ is a very strong collocation. Now try to remember this collocation such that expenses are incurred. - __________________
A.trasforming
B.obliging
C.moving
D.diverting
E.no correction requiredAnswer – D.diverting
Explanation :
‘Converting money to agriculture’ does not bring out any meaning. Transform – change, alter, modify etc. Here the sentence talks of ‘escaping tax by diverting funds to ……………..’. Divert – reroute, redirect etc. People evade/escape tax by diverting their money to agriculutre sector. And since, agricultural money is non taxable, they evade tax. - __________________
A.deformities
B.measures
C.leakages
D.solutions
E.No correction requiredAnswer – C.leakages
Explanation :
Weed out – to remove that is not suitable or good enough. Hence there must be some bad thing which needs to be weed out. Deformity – deformed part of body – does not fit in the context of the passage. None of the options but C fits our requirement, hence the answer C.
(Do put in your score below. Detailed explanations have been provided for all the questions, but still if any query remains, scribble it down in the ‘Comments’ section and it will be resolved at the earlies.)
