English Test for IBPS PO Prelims 2020 Exam set – 3

Directions(1-5): In the given question, a part of the sentence is given in brackets. Below the sentence, alternatives to the bracketed part are given as (A), (B), (C) and (D), which may help improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative out of the given five options. In case the given sentence is correct, your answer will be option (E), i.e., “No correction required”.

1. Several ministers (have been questioned) the legality of the ban.
   Are questioned
   Had been questioned
   Questioning
   Have questioned
   No correction required
   Option D
   The sentence is not in the passive voice, so using the passive construction ‘have/had+been+V3’ is wrong. So, option B and the given sentence is wrong. We simply need the present perfect tense.

    

2. (Scarcely we started the party, when) it started raining cats and dogs.
   Scarcely had we started the party, than
   Scarcely had we started the party, then
   Scarcely we started the party, than
   Scarcely had we started the party, when
   No correction required
   Option D
   Note that we can use scarcely at the beginning of a sentence before an auxiliary, to emphasize that one thing happens very soon after another thing. When adverbs such as ‘scarcely’, ‘hardly’, ‘no sooner’ are used in the beginning of a sentence, they are always followed by a helping verb. Here, “Scarcely had we started” should be used in place of “scarcely we started”. Also remember, that the adverbs ‘barely’, ‘hardly’, ‘scarcely’ are followed by ‘when’ while, ‘No sooner’ is always followed by ‘than’.

    

3. That small room contained the sum (totally of the family) possessions.
   Total of the family’s
   Total family of the
   Complete of the family’s
   Completely family’s
   No correction required
   Option A
   Since the “possessions” belong to the “family”, we need to use apostrophe + s, after it (family’s). The phrase ‘sum total’ means ‘the whole of something after all the different features or parts that it consists of are taken into account’. Hence, the correct answer is A.

    

4. (The Governor of Bengal absented himself from) the Press Conference at Netaji Indoor Stadium in Kolkata.
   The Governor of Bengal had absented from
   The Governor of Bengal absented from
   The Governor of Bengal was absentingly from
   The Governor of Bengal absented at
   No correction required
   Option E
   Words such as enjoy, pride, avail, reconcile, adjust, acquit, amuse, resign, exert, apply etc. are always followed by an object. If they are not followed by an object in the sentence, we use reflexive pronouns as their object.

    

5. (Jinia as well as her parents, want the guests) to stay for the annual function.
   Jinia as well her parents, will wants the guests
   Jinia as well as her parents, wanting the guests
   Jinia as well as her parents, do want the guests
   Jinia as well as her parents, wants the guests
   No correction required
   Option D
   Whenever, two subjects are connected by as well as, together with, nothing but, rather than etc, then the verb agrees with the first subject only.

    

Directions(6-10): A sentence divided into four parts (A), (B), (C) and (D) is given. The errors are in two parts of the sentence. Determine the parts which require correction and mark it as your answer. If the sentence is correct as it is, mark the answer as ‘No error’.

6. UMAMI, from the Japanese words for “delicious taste”, (A)/ was first described until (B)/ chemist Kikunae Ikeda in 1907, but it took a while(C)/ for the rest of the world to catch out. (D)
   A-B
   B-C
   C-D
   B-D
   No error
   Option D
   In part B, the preposition ‘until’ refers to how long a situation continues. But we need a preposition that would identify the agent performing the action of describing. Thus, ‘by’ is the correct preposition here.
   In part D, the phrasal verb ‘catch out’ is incorrect as it means to discover or prove that someone is lying. The correct phrasal verb here is ‘catch on’ which means to become popular.

    

7. I have had a career that has spanning investment banking, public policy, and academia, (A)/ in the early phase of my working life (B)/ and you can imagine, academia was the lesser, (C)/ and investment banking the most, posh. (D)
   A-B
   B-D
   C-A
   D-B
   No error
   Option C
   In part A, instead of the present continuous tense ‘spanning’, the past tense ‘spanned’ should be used as it talks about the previous exploits of the writes. (in the early phase of my working life).
   In part C, the use of the comparative adjective ‘lesser’ is incorrect as it cannot be used to compare three topics (investment banking, public policy, academia). The correct adjective here is the superlative ‘least’.

    

8. Films and other media depicts concussion (A)/ as a brief jolted to the head (B)/ and the victims who don’t die “see stars” (C)/ quickly recovering from the injury. (D)
   A-B
   B-C
   C-D
   D-A
   No error
   Option A
   In part A, when two subjects – one singular and one plural are joined by ‘and’ (films and other media), the verb used should be plural (depict instead of depicts) to maintain subject-verb agreement.
   In part B, instead of the past tense ‘jolted’ we need to use the present tense form ‘jolt’ to make the sentence correct.

    

9. Climate loss and damage in poor countries should be met by those (A)/ who contributed the greatest to the stock of greenhouse gases (B)/ and such a device exists; (C)/ it is called the Warsaw International Mechanism on Loss and Damage. (D)
   A-C
   C-B
   B-D
   A-D
   No error
   Option E
   

    

10. Birds carrying radar sensors (A)/ has been used to spy on fishing boats, (B)/ revealing that a quarter of vessels in the Indian Ocean (C)/ are operating illegal. (D)
    A-B
    B-D
    A-D
    C-D
    No error
    Option B
    In part B, instead of the third person ‘has been’, we need to use the second person ‘have been’ to make the sentence correct.
    In part D instead of the adjective ‘illegal’ we need an adverb ‘illegally’ to modify the verb ‘operating’.