English: Sentence Fillers — Set 58 (IBPS PO 2017 Pattern)

Directions: In each question a sentence is given followed by a blank. Each blank is followed by three options and you have to determine which option can be used in place of blank to make it a meaningful sentence and mark it as your answer.

1. Tolstoy had said that all happy families are the same, but unhappy families are unhappy in their unique ways. In terms of its economy, India is quite unique, even among developing countries. Only China has a population of a comparable size. Before it ___________________, it was also similar to India in terms of per capita income. China, however, has pulled itself out of poverty and is an economic (and political) power to reckon with, whereas India, notwithstanding delusions of grandeur, is nowhere in the picture.
   a. put on
   b. took off
   c. belly up
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only b
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

2. The RBI has _________________ a regime of inflation targeting. Why? That is not clear but it seems to be following the “best-practices” internationally – this is a euphemism for following what is fashionable. Inflation targeting is supposed to be the “savior of the human race”, no doubt because it has “proved efficacious in every case”! Notwithstanding the fact that agriculture looms large on the Indian economy and that with specific problems confronting that sector, there is very little that monetary policy can do.
   a. break off
   b. take up
   c. gone in for
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only a
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

3. There is another big problem, viz., unlike in the advanced economies, it is not the case that the exchange rate is determined by the market and that external balance is not a problem. All developing economies with open capital accounts are worried about capital flows—_______________________ both cause (different) problems. India’s capital account is not fully open, so any change in the interest rate that the RBI’s policy entails (e.g. in fighting inflation) has implications for capital flows.
   a. inflows and outflows
   b. intakes and effusions
   c. flocks and effluxes
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only a
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

4. Demand for the domestic output (our exports) fell and a larger trade balance deficit ensued. Capital inflows were self-perpetuating because not only was the Indian interest rate high, it was accompanied by an appreciating exchange rate (that made investment in Indian financial assets even more attractive from a foreigner’s perspective). Of course, these “carry trades” do not last forever. Any rise in the foreign interest or the price of imported crude or Trump’s erratic behavior will turn off the music and end the party. Suddenly we will realize that the tap of capital inflows that helped us ignore current account deficits has been _______________. This will cause a depreciation of the exchange rate.
   a. ravish
   b. turned off
   c. put out
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only a
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

5. The open economy dimensions are treated in a cavalier manner. For instance, the previous finance minister (UPA 2) repeatedly told the Parliament about how the current account was a problem and always got the definition of current account wrong (for him, undoubtedly, the current account was a problem!). The present government’s Principal Economic Advisor says (with ba straight face) that over the longer run, the ministry looks at real exchange rates. And pray what do you do when you find a problem? What policy arrows do you __________________ to tackle the 20% overvaluation?
   a. prevail on shudder
   b. insist quaver
   c. have in quiver
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only b
   All are Correct
   Option C
   

    

6. Exports lost competitiveness primarily because the rupee had been strengthening in the past few years. The disruptions and glitches _____________________ demonetisation and the rollout of the Goods and Services Tax added to the weakness. Now, small exporters say they are no longer in a position to take advantage of the depreciating rupee that ideally should have been good news for the competitiveness of the sector.
   a. resulting from
   b. on account of
   c. in consideration of
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only b
   All are Correct
   Option E
   

    

7. This “unfairness” ___________________ since 2005 by its southern neighbour; a powerful metropolis that projects itself as modern, progressive and technologically accomplished. The local protests did not register until 2014 in administrative and political circles with any salience. Such is the level of obscurity with all forms of hegemony.
   a. was transacted
   b. was perpetrated
   c. was labored
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only c
   All are Correct
   Option E
   

    

8. A reasonable basis for fairness in international efforts to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is that each country is entitled to a part of the atmosphere’s finite carbon absorption space (a global commons), in proportion to the population of that country, on a certain ___________________ date. If this criteria were applied, the US and the EU exceeded their fair share of entitlement to the atmosphere’s ability to absorb GHGs long ago and are squatting on someone else’s atmospheric space.
   a. agreed upon
   b. ascend
   c. decide upon
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only b
   All are Correct
   Option C
   

    

9. If the leading GHG polluters of the world were effectively sanctioned over 20 years ago by the UN for failing to live within their legitimate atmospheric spaces, climate change would be less of a pressing concern than it is today. Leading polluters would have adjusted their economies and lifestyles to __________________________ the atmospheric space that is rightfully theirs. They would also have become exemplars of sustainability for other countries.
   a. go along with
   b. blink at
   c. live within
   Both a & b
   Both b & c
   Both c & a
   Only c
   All are Correct
   Option D
   

    

10. Instead of difficult to comprehend “futures we want”, environmental governance should proceed by modifying the above quote from HDR (2011) to ‘we _____________________ environmental sustainability because of the fundamental injustice of a few people living at the expense of many others, right here, right now.’ Concern for the future need not be discarded, but immediate concern for fairness in the present is imperative.
    a. care about
    b. be concerned about
    c. dig at
    Both a & b
    Both b & c
    Both c & a
    Only c
    All are Correct
    Option A