English: Cloze Test for upcoming exams – Set 80

Directions: In the passage given below there are 6 blanks, each followed by a word given in bold. Every blank has four alternative words given in options (A),(B),(C) and (D). You have to tell which word will best suit the respective blank. Mark (E) as your answer if the work given in bold after the blank is your answer i.e “No change required”.

This week, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank became the latest banking giants to finalize multi-billion dollar settlements with American authorities over misdeeds in the mortgage market in the _(1)__(running to) the financial crisis. But other, less publicized settlements have _(2)__ (told) of the _(3)__(lowering) Obama administration like a series of slow punctures: with Moody’s, a leading credit-rating agency; with Citadel Securities, a critical component of America’s equity-trading system; and with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. High-profile defendants all, but the most striking characteristic of the deals is how gently their tyres were let down.

The Moody’s deal, about high ratings _(4)__(accordingly) securities that crashed during the crisis, was announced late on January 13th, the Friday before a holiday weekend. The other cases were resolved almost as discreetly. Admittedly the amounts involved were comparatively small (Moody’s will pay $864m, Citadel $23m, and the Port Authority a mere $400,000). But the cases were bigger than the _(5)__(counts) suggest.

The Moody’s settlement will inflame suspicions that Wall Street is _(6)__(filled) with conflicts of interest. As part of it, the firm admitted that it vitiated its stated standards for evaluating securities in an area where those standards put in question its ability to win business. It could still assert, however, that the “settlement contains no finding of any violation of law.”

A) run towards
B) going to
C) move-up to
D) run-up to
E) No Correction required

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Option D
A) spelt out
B) spoken out
C) hissed out
D) given out
E) No Correction required

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Option C
A) waning
B) failing
C) receeding
D) hiking
E) No Correction required

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Option A
A) contracted
B) accorded
C) concurred
D) permitted
E) No Correction required

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Option B
A) figures
B) data
C) Numbers
D) information
E) No Correction required

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Option C
A) crowded
B) harrased
C) infested
D) plaqued
E) No Correction required

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Option C

The Citadel settlement, which was revealed on January 13th, revolved around charges that unfavorable prices were used to _(1)__(hype) trades from retail customers on orders routed from other brokers. Clients, the SEC concludes, _(2)__(intimidated). That is a particularly _(3)__(painful) revelation: investors have little or no control over where their trades are filled and little ability to detect such problems on their own. Citadel neither admitted nor denied guilt.

The business prospects of none of the defendants seem to have suffered _(4)__(intensive) harm from these investigations. Citadel remains a huge factor in its business. The Port Authority keeps borrowing. Moody’s, along with S&P Global Ratings, still dominate their industry, accounting for 84% of all ratings issued in 2015, according to a report _(5)__(broadcasted) by the SEC in December. Revenues have _(6)__(going high) for years. The large agencies have had the heft to comply with a costly regulatory framework imposed after the crisis. Smaller ones struggle.

A) excellent
B) utter
C) consummate
D) dupe
E) No Correction required

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Option C
A) were fooled
B) were misled
C) were cheated
D) were tricked
E) No Correction required

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Option B
A) rasping
B) distubing
C) irritaing
D) jarring
E) No Correction required

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Option D
A) enough
B) more
C) extreme
D) much
E) No Correction required

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Option D
A) published
B) issued
C) imparted
D) released
E) No Correction required

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Option B
A) been rising
B) kept rising
C) has rose
D) keep going
E) No Correction required

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Option B