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R. Srinivasa Rao Senior Faculty, Indian School of Banking, Hyderabad.

The handwriting on the letter was..

Sentence Completion (Double Blanks) Model Questions Directions: (Q. No. 1 - 30): In each of the following sentences there are two blank spaces. Below each sentence there are five pairs of words denoted by numbers (1), (2), (3), (4) and (5). Find out which pair of words can be filled up in the blanks in the sentence in the same sequence to make the sentence meaningfully complete. 1. Public attitudes towards business ____ are deeply ____; most people resent intrusive government rules, yet they expect government to prevent business from defrauding, endangering or exploiting the public. 1) ethics, cynical 2) investment, divided 3) practices, emotional 4) regulation, ambiguous 5) leaders, hostile 2. Biologists have often gained special insights by examining the life forms that develop in ____ regions, as illustrated by Darwin's studies of evolution among the finches on certain ____ pacific islands. 1) arid, lush 2) harsh, tropical 3) typical, unusual 4) crowded, deserted 5) isolated, remote 3. Our latest battle plan ____ some projects ____ at saving the earth's biological diversity. 1) excludes, arriving 2) encompasses, looked 3) finances, looking 4) destroys, stirring 5) covers, aimed 4. His ____ speech has seriously ____ the young minds. 1) eccentric, questioned 2) audacious, delighted 3) irresponsible, misled 4) maiden, flattered 5) humorous, damaged 5. Transforming ____ bureaucracies into dynamic, customer -

Key with Solutions 1) The semicolon (;) shows that the part of the sentence after that restates the idea given in the part before it. Hence the first blank should be related to rules. Regulation in choice (4) is the best match. Ans: 4 2) This kind of organization states the idea in one part and the example in the other part. Both the blanks should be synonyms

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driven organisations is ____ under any circumstances. 1) inefficient, challenging 2) ideal, essential 3) civilised, ineffective 4) lazy, undesirable 5) lethargic, insurmountable In his ____ , he followed the ____ course. 1) agony, funny 2) ignorance, wrong 3) hurry, diversified 4) predicament, proper 5) bewilderment, appropriate Shalini's ____ in athletics yielded rich ____ as she got a scholarship. 1) performance, money 2) defeat, results 3) behaviour, appreciation 4) excellence, dividends 5) failure, disappointment ____ by long queues and bad weather the voters ____ their way to polling stations anyway they could. 1) Going, dropped 2) Satisfied, turned 3) Worried, lost 4) Undaunted, made 5) Encouraged, prepare The Deputy Manager ____ to resign because all his proposals were ____ down by his superiors. 1) offered, thrown 2) gave, held 3) began, kept 4) willing, knocked 5) threatened, turned It is indeed ____ that 40 years after independence we have failed to ____ a suitable education or examination system. 1) bad, produce 2) improper, create 3) sad, evolve 4) objectionable, present 5) shameful, improve The police arrested Sanjay on a ____ of theft but for lack of evidence ____ him. 1) crime, imprisoned 2) punished, complaint 3) left, condition 4) tip, absconding

or conveying the same idea. Ans: 5 3) covers, aimed is the right choice. The preposition after the second blank gives clue. The verb "aim" is usually associated with "at". Ans: 5 4) maiden = being the first of its kind. "maiden" is generally associated with "speech". eccentric with behaviour, clothes etc.; audacious with decision, sug-

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BANK POs, Clerks English Language

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5) charge, released He objected to the proposal because it was founded on a ____ principle and also was ____ at times. 1) faulty, desirable 2) imperative, reasonable 3) wrong, inconvenient 4) sound, acceptable 5) conforming, deplorable The criterion for ____ a player should be based on his recent performance; but unfortunately, the journalists are ____ to be carried away by earlier successes. 1) condemning, satisfying 2) judging, prone 3) revealing, reluctant 4) eager, acclaiming 5) criticising, clean For the last half century he ____ himself to public affairs ____ taking a holiday. 1) by, committed 2) after, offered 3) devoted, without 4) sacrificed, after 5) prepared, before You will see signs of ____ everywhere, which speak well for the ____ of these people. 1) decoration, senses 2) clear, debris 3) beauty, careful 4) industry, prosperity 5) repairs, extravaganza How people would ____ in a particular situation cannot be ____ with perfect accuracy. 1) think, observed 2) act, expected 3) behave, predicted 4) react, analyzed

gestion etc.; irresponsible with attitude, behaviour etc.; humorous with thing, account etc. Ans: 4 5) The first blank requires a negative word. So, (2) ideal and (3) civilised discarded. (4) lazy, (5) lethargic give the same meaning, so, they can also be discarded. The correct answer is inefficient, challenging. Ans: 1 6) It is due to ignorance, one fol-

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5) feel, resolved When the mob turned ____, the police opened fire to control the ____ situation. 1) away, burning 2) up, untoward 3) around, devastating 4) quietly, aggravate 5) hostile, rioting The Government ____ down the opposition ____ for a joint parliamentary committee probe. 1) boiled, proposal 2) shot, demand 3) put, leaders 4) whipped, portfolio 5) struck, party The handwriting on the letter was very ____ , none could ____ it. 1) legible, write 2) illegible, read 3) original, recognize 4) faint, notice 5) shabby, identify The delay in completing the task ____ can be attributed to their ____. 1) expeditiously, lethargy 2) fully, punctuality 3) economically, rigidity 4) religiously, strictness 5) carefully, perfectionism He ____ for having caused ____ to the residents. 1) questioned, authenticity 2) apologized, impatience 3) regretted, inconvenience 4) wondered, disappointment 5) pressurised, discomfort The new ____ in the defence field are quite ____ and hence appreciable. 1) ideas, novel 2) studies, substandard 3) incentives, diplomatic 4) appointments, sensitive 5) inventions, admirable He admitted having ____ about the ____ of the documents. 1) questioned, authenticity 2) regard, truth 3) aware, possession 4) predicted, correctness 5) enquired, preparation Despite ____ of resources, the financially underprivileged stu-

lows the wrong course. Ans: 2 7) The two blanks require positive words/expressions. rich money (1) don't go together. defeat (2) and failure (5) are negative words. behaviour (3) in athletics is not important. So, 4th choice is the correct choice. Ans: 4 8) Make your way to something is to get somewhere without help, a ride etc ___ Ans: 4 9) threatened, turned is the correct choice.

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dents ____ in their endeavour. 1) plenty, failed 2) availability, gave 3) want, surrendered 4) lack, succeeded 5) extremity, excelled The work assigned to me is not ____ though it is very ____. 1) voluminous, careful 2) challenging, easy 3) impossible, stupendous 4) exceptional, ordinary 5) meagre, difficult He was ____ of playing ____ and loose with the sentiments of his dearest friends. 1) innocent, false 2) guilty, fast 3) accused, tight 4) complained, thick 5) proper, right Raising ____ over the funding to media houses, Zee group chairman sought ____ of media licences before they are issued. 1) burden, opinion 2) concern, scrutiny 3) matter, opinion 4) charges, regulation 5) worry, security Everyone even ____ familiar with serious theatre is familiar with the effort that it takes to process Shakespearean language ____ live. 1) remotely, performed 2) comically, restrained 3) hardly, directing 4) so, bring 5) similarly, spoken The government has decided not to make any ____ changes in the country's tax ____ . 1) sweeping, regime 2) transparent, hike 3) drastically, net 4) constitutional, revenue 5) existing, structure If criminals are ____ to join electoral fray, ____ is likely to increase. 1) compelled, brotherhood 2) encouraged, harmony 3) allowed, extortion 4) deterred, corruption 5) invited, voting

proposals thrown down (1) is meaningless. gave to resign (2) began to resign (3) make no sense. Proposals knocked down (4) is again absurd. Ans: 5 10) evolve a system is the suitable collocation. So, sad, evolve (3) is the right choice. Ans: 3 11) 5 12) 3 13) 2 14) 3 15) 4 16) 3 17) 5 18) 2 19) 2 20) 1 21) 3 22) 5 23) 5 24) 4 25) 3 26) 2 27) 2 28) 1 29) 1 30) 3