IBPS Bank Specialist Officers
Common Written Examination (CWE), March 2012
English Solved Paper
( Questions No. 1- 25 )
26. The Company aims (1) / to nearly double (2) / its revenues on the back (3) / of a strongest product pipeline. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (4)
27. The woman that had (1) / kidnapped a child has now (2) / been apprehended and is being (3) / held in the city's jail. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (4)
28. Rose growers in (1) / the city are waking up (2) / to the benefits (3) / of collective action. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (5)
29. The Minister will have (1) / a tough task on his hands (2) / where three different recommendations (3) / for this year's rate reach his desk. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (2)
30. The current economic scenario (1) / could possibly undo (2) / the growth that followed (3) / the economic liberalisation of 1991. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (5)
31. In a first of its kind study, (1) / a team of scientists have tried to (2) / "grow" new stem cells in (3) / the ear that get damage with age. (4) /No error (5)
Ans : (2)
32. If successful, the research could (1) / pave the way towards (2) / the prevention of untimely deaths (3) / due to fatal illnesses. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (2)
33. The Ministry has directed Banks (1) / to do away with their (2) / separate promotion policies, a move (3) / strongly opposed by the officers' unions. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (5)
34. After a complaint was filed, (1) / police teams was given the photograph (2) / of the accused from the CCTV footage (3) / recorded at the hotel. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (2)
35. Activists opposing the rail project said (1) / that the eleven new flyovers to be built (2) / would practically ring (3) / the death knell for the city. (4) / No error (5)
Ans : (3)
Directions (Qs. 36 to 50) : Read the following passage carefully and answer these questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
In India, innovation is emerging as one of the most important rubrics in the discourse on how to bring about greater and more consistent economic and social development. One observes steadily growing investments in R&D across the country, the setting up of national and state innovation bodies, as well as the introduction of government sponsored innovation funds. There have also been several conferences and debates on innovation and how to best promote and accomplish it in India, and a number of articles on the subject, written for newspapers and magazines, as well as more informal platforms like online forums and blogs.
Academic engagement and Indian authorship on the subject have also exploded in the last five years. Despite widespread agreement on the importance of innovation in India, there are wide gulfs between different conceptions of innovation and the path India should take towards securing benefits through investments in innovation.
Many Indian conversations around innovation begin by talking about jugaad, that uniquely Indian approach to a temporary fix when something complex, like an automobile or a steam engine stops working. However, many observers have pointed out that while jugaad is certainly innovative, it is a response to the lack of an innovation culture-more a survival or coping mechanism at a time of need than a systematic methodology to effectively address, a wide-ranging, complex set of problems.
Another specifically Indian approach to innovation that has entered into wide currency of late is so called 'frugal innovation', deemed by many to be the most appropriate for the Indian context. In its mid-term assessment of the 11th Five- Year Plan, the Planning Commission stressed the need for innovation in India in order to 'accelerate its growth and to make growth more inclusive as well as environmentally sustainable.' The document went on to say that 'India needs more frugal innovation that produces more frugal cost products and services that are affordable by people at low levels of incomes without compromising the safety, efficiency and utility of the products. The country also needs processes of innovation that are frugal in the resources required to produce the innovations. The products and processes must also have frugal impact on the earth's resources.'
Two people formulated a similar theory called the More-from-Less-for-More (MLM theory of innovation) theory of Innovation, which advocates a focus on innovations that allow for more production using fewer resources but benefit more people. Under this rubric come products that are more affordable versions of existing technologies. While both frugal innovation and the MLM theory are certainly valuable in terms of bringing affordable products and services to a greater number of people; and may even be considered a necessary first step on India's innovation path; they barely graze the surface of what innovation can accomplish. That is, innovation is capable of bringing about complete paradigm shifts and redefining the way we perceive and interact with the world.
Take the cell phone, for example: it revolutionised communication in a, previously inconceivable way, provided consumers with a product of unprecedented value and created an entirely new market. The cell phone was a result of years of directed, intentional innovation efforts and large investments, and would not have ever been created if the people responsible simply set out to make the existing telephone cheaper and more accessible to all.
While jugaad and frugal innovation may be indicative of the Indian potential for innovativeness, this potential is not utilised or given opportunity to flourish due to the lack of an enabling culture.
India's many diverse and complex needs can be met only through systematic innovation, and major shifts have to first take place in our educational institutions, government policies and commercial firms in order for such an innovation-enabling culture to come about.
The one thing that India's innovation theorists have not said is that the absence of a culture of innovation is intrinsically linked to many of the most intractable problems facing India as a nation. These include poor delivery of government services, inadequate systems of personal identification and absence of widely available financial services for rural poor, health and sanitation failures. This list can go on. Cumulatively, the inability of India as a nation, society and economy to adequately provide for its own population no longer reflects a failure of implementation, but rather of a failure of innovation, for there are not immediately-available of-the-shelf solutions that would make it possible for these grand challenges facing India to be redressed. Rather, we need to look at these intractable problems from the more sophisticated and empowering lens of innovation, for them to begin to be solved.
36. Which of the following depict/s the growing importance of innovation India ?
(A) Increased investment in research
(B) Initiation of Govt.-backed funds for innovation
(C) Increase in number of conferences arranged and articles written on innovation.
(1) Only (B)
(2) Only (1) and (B)
(3) Only (C)
(4) Only (B) and (C)
(5) All (A), (B) and (C)
Ans : (5)
37. Which of the following best describes the MLM theory of innovation ?
(1) Maximise output by using least number of resources and benefiting a small number of
people.
(2) Maximise resource utilisation and cost thereby benefit maximum number of people.
(3) Minimise output and resource utilisation, yet benefit the maximum number of people.
(4) Benefit most number of people through least usage of resources and maximum output.
(5) Benefit most number of people through maximum usage of resources and minimising cost.
Ans : (4)
38. Which of the following is possibly the most appropriate title for the passage ?
(1) Innovation at its Best
(2) India and the Elixir called Innovation
(3) Innovation around the World vis-a-vis India and other Neighbou-ring Countries
(4) Worldwide Developments in Innovation
(5) Innovation–The History
Ans : (2)
39. What tone is the author employing in the entire passage to get his message across ?
(1) Pessimistic (2) Sarcastic (3) Urgent
(4) Informative (5) Dubious
Ans : (3)
40. Why, according to the author, is India unable to adequately provide for its people ?
(1) Failure to implement schemes and initiatives meant for the Indian populace.
(2) Absence of regulatory authorities to oversee the implementation process.
(3) Failure to innovate in order to find solutions.
(4) Lack of governmental schemes and initiatives to redress the challenges faced by India.
(5) Hesitance of the Indian people in trying out different schemes provided by the Government for upliftment.
Ans : (3)
41. Why, according to some people is 'jugaad' not the answer to India's problems ?
(1) Many a times this methodology backfires leading to further complications.
(2) ‘jugaad’ provides only cheap solutions to all problems.
(3) It is reactive and not a proactive and organised method of finding solutions to problems.
(4) It can provide solutions to only simple problems and not complex ones.
(5) None of these
Ans : (3)
42 Which of the following is/ are true about the cell phone ?
(A) The innovation of the cell phone required investment of huge capital.
(B) The cell phone, when invented was meant to be affordable to all.
(C) The cell phone was made available to the public in a very short time from its ideation.
(1) Only (A)
(2) Only (A) and (B)
(3) Only (B) and (C)
(4) Only (B)
(5) All (A), (B) and (C)
Ans : (1)
43. What does the author mean by 'frugal impact on the earth's resources' as given in the passage ?
(1) The damage to the environment should be assessable.
(2) More consumption of natural resources as compared to manmade ones.
(3) Minimum impact on the environment in terms of pollution.
(4) The impact on the environment should be such that it is reversible.
(5) Minimum usage of earth's natural resources.
Ans : (5)
Directions (Qs. 44 to 48) : Choose the word / group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
44. REDRESSED
(1) addressed (2) equalised (3) restored
(4) redone (5) rearranged
Ans : (1)
45. CURRENCY
(1). notes (2) usage (3) money
(4) cash (5) value
Ans : (2)
46. INTRINSICALLY
(1) internally (2) whole-heartedly (3) fundamentally
(4) virtually (5) unavoidably
Ans : (3)
47. INDICATIVE
(1) causative (2) forthcoming (3) verbal
(4) abstract (5) suggestive
Ans : (5)
48. COMPROMISING
(1) co-operating with (2) reducing the quality (3) hampering the progress
(4) conciliating in order to (5) adjusting for the better
Ans : (2)
Directions (Qs. 49 & 50) : Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
49. LACK
(1) presence (2) sufficiency (3) charisma
(4) adequacy (5) dearth
Ans : (1)
50. INCONCEIVABLE
(1) visible (2) truthful (3) incredible
(4) apparent (5) complex
Ans : (4)
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