English Test for SBI PO 2018 Prelim Exam – Set 19

Hello Aspirants

State Bank of India (SBI) is going to conduct examination for its recruitment for the post of Probationary Officers (SBI PO 2018) for a total of 2000 vacancies.

Click here to know the details of the Examination

The examination will be held in three phases i.e. Preliminary Examination, Main Examination and Group Exercise & Interview. The Preliminary Exam is scheduled on 1st, 7th & 8th of July 2018. Details of the exam are as under:

Practice the questions so as to familiarize yourself with the pattern of questions to be asked in the exam. 

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the questions that follows.

Natural selection is a harsh interrogator at the best of times. But if you are a bird, it has an extra question, not asked so forcefully of animals that cannot fly: “is that extra gram of weight really necessary?” Contrary to the insult “bird-brained”, birds are not notably more stupid than mammals, but the pressure to keep organs light applies to the cerebrum as much as it does to anything else.
For the past century, though, birds have faced a new enemy that might require them to get smarter: the motor car. These days, cars and other motorised vehicles kill around 250m birds a year. That sounds like a significant selective pressure, so Anders Moller, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Paris-Sud, in France, decided to find out whether it really was.
Dr Moller’s hypothesis was that avoiding vehicles needs intelligence, and intelligence needs a big brain. The conclusion of this syllogism is that small-brained birds are more likely to be road-kill than large-brained birds are. To test this idea, though, he needed data on a lot of dead birds.
That serendipity plays a part in science is undeniable. Fleming’s chance observation of Penicillium mould on bacterial plates led to antibiotics. Kekulé’s dream of carbon atoms dancing in rings led to his model of the structure of benzene. Dr Moller’s serendipity was to meet, 30 years ago, a taxidermist called Johannes Erritzoe. Mr Erritzoe has, during his career, exhaustively recorded details of the specimens that have passed through his hands. These details include the weights of the internal organs, and likely cause of death, of 3,521 bird specimens of 251 species.
Since they met, Dr Moller and Mr Erritzoe have collaborated on many papers. This time, they asked whether there was a difference between the weights of the organs of birds killed by traffic and of those that had died of other causes. They found, as they report in Royal Society Open Science, that there was not—with a single exception. The smaller a bird’s brain, when controlled for its body size, the more likely it was to have been road-kill. Some 60% of the smallest-brained birds Mr Erritzoe handled had died this way. Among the largest-brained, death by traffic was unheard of.
All this suggests a selective pressure on birds in parts of the world with lots of traffic to acquire bigger brains, even at the cost of the extra energy required to keep those brains airborne. It also leads to a prediction, in a field of science—evolutionary biology—that is rarely in a position to make them. This is that the average weight of bird brains may rise over coming decades. Whether anyone with Mr Erritzoe’s enthusiasm for data collection will provide the means to test that prediction is, though, a different question.

1. What, according to the passage, is the prediction of biologists about the progeny of birds in the coming decades? a. selective pressure on birds will increase. b. average weight of bird brains may rise. c. extra energy will be required by the brain
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only b
   All are Correct
   Option D
   Last para.

    

2. What, according to the passage, is true about the report in ” Royal Society Open Science”?
   there was a difference between the weights of the organs of birds killed by traffic and of those that had died of other causes
   the larger a bird’s brain, when controlled for its body size, the more likely it was to have been road-kill
   largest-brained birds have least number of death by traffic.
   Both a & c
   All of these
   Option D
   Para-5

    

3. What, according to the passage, is the most appropriate antonym of “syllogism “:
   ratiocination
   continuance
   deduction
   synthesis
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

4. What, according to the passage, is true about Mr. Erritzoe? a. he recorded details of 251 species b. he was a taxidermist c. he was researching on birds
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only c
   All are Correct
   Option A
   Para-4

    

5. What, according to the passage, is true about Dr Moller’s hypothesis? a. to avoid traffic, birds need big brain b. birds are less smarter than mammals c. avoiding vehicles needs intelligence
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only c
   All are Correct
   Option D
   Para-3

    

6. What, according to the passage, is the most appropriate synonym of “serendipity “:
   zemblanity
   chance
   mishap
   design
   All are Correct
   Option B
   

    

7. Who, according to the passage, is the new enemy of birds? a. the motor cars b. the motorized vehicles c. the small sized brains
   Only a & b
   Only b & c
   Only c & a
   Only b
   All are Correct
   Option A
   Para-2

    

8. What is meant by “bird-brained”?
   who adheres to useful decisions
   stupid in an annoying way
   scattered person
   person regarded as humiliating
   All are Correct
   Option B
   Para-1

    

9. What is the tone of the passage?
   Didactic
   Idealistic
   Belligerent
   Grandiose
   All are Correct
   Option D
   Grandiose = elaborated

    

10. What is the most suitable title of the passage?
    Birds and road accidents
    Science and Birds
    Birds and their brains
    Bird brains and traffic accidents
    All are Correct
    Option D