English: Cloze Test for upcoming exams – Set 75

Fill in the blanks choosing the word that is most appropriate in the context of the passage

When Narendra Modi became prime minister of India in 2014, opinion wasdivided as to whether he was a Hindu ___(1)__ disguised as an economic reformer, or the other way round. The past three years appear to have settled the matter. Yes, Mr Modi has ___(2)___ to religious sentiment at times, most notably by appointing a rabble-rousing Hindu prelate as chief minister of India’s most-populous state, Uttar Pradesh. But he has also presided over an acceleration in economic growth, from 6.4% in 2013 to a high of 7.9% in 2015—which made India the fastest-growing  big economy in the world. He has pushed through reforms that had ___(3)___ for years, including an overhaul of bankruptcy law and the adoption of a nationwide sales tax (GST) to replace a confusing array of local and national levies. Foreign investment has soared, albeit from a low base. India, cabinet ministers insist, is at last becoming the tiger Mr Modi promised. The GST, although welcome, is unnecessarily complicated and bureaucratic, greatly reducing its efficiency. The new bankruptcy law is a step in the right direction, but it will take much more to revive the financial system, which is dominated by state-owned banks weighed down by dud loans. The central government’s response to a host of pressing economic problems, from the difficulty of buying land to the reform of rigid labour laws, has been to pass them to the states. And at least one of the big reforms it has undertaken—the overnight cancellation of most of India’s banknotes in an effort to curb the black economy—was counterproductive, _____(4)___ legitimate businesses without doing much harm to ___(5)___ ones. No wonder the economy is starting to drag. In the first three months of the year it grew at an annualised rate of 6.1%, more slowly than when Mr Modi came to power.

  1. A) bigot
    B) dogmatist
    C) zealot
    D) partisan
    E) votary
    View Answer
      Option C
    Explanation:
    zealot = person fanatic in religious or political beliefs
  2. A) pandered
    B) cosseted
    C) provided
    D) secured
    E) purveyed
    View Answer
      Option A
    Explanation:
    pandered = indulge in religious/political matters
  3. A) stied
    B) spur
    C) sputtered
    D) wheeze
    E) stalled
    View Answer
      Option E
    Explanation:
    stalled = standstill
  4. A) reviving
    B) mutilating
    C) invigorating
    D) hamstringing
    E) galvanizing
    View Answer
      Option D
    Explanation:
    hamstringing= severly restricting the efficiency
  5. A) improper
    B) illicit
    C) abetted
    D) endorse
    E) sanctioned
    View Answer
      Option B
    Explanation:
    illicit = forbidden by law

Fill in the blanks choosing the word that is most appropriate in the context of the passage.

Cynics may regard the phrase “political morality” as an oxymoron. Nevertheless, many politicians ___(1)____ that their stated beliefs have a moral basis rather than a merely ___(2)____ one. And personal convictions aside, moralising has many benefits: past research suggests that leaders who make moral arguments are seen as having better characters, and that they are better at persuading waverers to their cause. But all power comes at a price. As Tamar Kreps of the University of Utah and her colleagues report, in a paper to be published soon in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, those who claim moral rather than pragmatic reasons for their policies may find themselves punished more ___(3)___ by voters if they later change their minds.

Dr Kreps’s research involved 15 separate experiments, conducted online through Amazon’s “Mechanical Turk” service, in which people are paid commissions for completing odd jobs. Each experiment followed a similar structure. Participants read a statement from a hypothetical politician either supporting or opposing some controversial policy—the death penalty, say, or same-sex marriage. In some cases the arguments were made pragmatically, by appealing to economics. In others they were made on moral grounds, citing reasons such as “justice” or “respect”. The participants were then invited to rate the politician on his ____(4)___ hypocrisy, his courage, his flexibility, his effectiveness and his worthiness of support. Finally, they read a second statement from the same politician saying that his or her position had now changed, and the rating ____(5)___ was repeated.

  1. A) counter
    B) confute
    C) repudiate
    D) negate
    E) insist
    View Answer
      Option E
    Explanation:
    insist= to state a fact forcefully
  2. A) irrational
    B) visionary
    C) quixotic
    D) pragmatic
    E) naive
    View Answer
      Option D
    Explanation:
    pragmatic = dealing with things sensibly and realistically
  3. A) severly
    B) grimmly
    C) harshly
    D) graciously
    E) gently
    View Answer
      Option C
    Explanation:
    harshly= unpleasant manner
  4. A) envisioned
    B) noticed
    C) perceived
    D) observed
    E) neglected
    View Answer
      Option C
    Explanation:
    perceived= become aware of something
  5. A) utilize
    B) retain
    C) exert
    D) exercise
    E) drilled
    View Answer
      Option D
    Explanation:
    exercise = activity requiring physical effort

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6 Thoughts to “English: Cloze Test for upcoming exams – Set 75”

  1. robin singh

    Sir this year ibps clerk will come or not due to merger??

    1. yes it will come

      No merger of PSUs right now. It might come later this year

  2. Sachin shukla( Banker 2018)

    7/10

  3. jaga

    THANK U MAM 🙂

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