SBI Clerk Previous Year Question Paper on English Language - SBI Clerk recruitment exam 2009 (8.11.2009)

SBI Clerk Previous Year Question Paper on English Language

SBI Clerk recruitment exam 2009 (The exam held on 8.11.2009)

Solved Paper on ENGLISH  LANGUAGE

Also Read:

 Ø  SBI Clerk Previous Year Question Paper on General Awareness  - 2009

 Ø  SBI Clerk Previous Year Question Paper on Quantitative Aptitude  - 2009

 Ø  SBI Clerk Previous Year Question Paper on Marketing and Computer Knowledge - 2009

 Ø  SBI Clerk Previous Year Question Paper on Reasoning Ability - 2009

Directions (41-52): Read the fol-lowing passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while an-swering some of the questions. Long ago there was a poor Brah-min named Krishnan. He could not find enough work to do. Sometimes, he and his family had to go without food. At last Krishnan decided to leave his vil-lage in search of work. Early next morning, he left the house. He walked the whole day until he came to a thick jungle. He was tired, thirsty and hun-gry. While looking around for water to drink, he found a well. He went to the well and looked in. There he saw a jag-uar, a monkey; a snake and a man. They had all fallen into the well. "0, noble Brahmin," the jaguar called out to him, "Please help me out, so that Ican go back to my family." "But you are a jaguar," said Krishnan. "How do I know you will not kill me ?" "Don't be afraid of me, I promise I will not do you any harm,' replied the jaguar. Krishnan reached into the well and pulled out the jaguar. The jaguar thanked him and said, "I'm Shersingh. I live in a cave in the mountain. I shall be most delighted if I can repay my debt to you someday." Krishnan then heard the monkey calling out to him from the well. The Brahmin at once pulled the monkey out. The monkey thanked the Brahmin. "If you are ever in need of food, just drop in at my place below that big mountain. Bali is my name." Now the snake called out to him for help. "Help you 1 "exclaimed Krish-nan. "You are a snake. What if you bite me ?" "I shall never bite you," said the snake. So Krishnan pulled the snake out of the well. The snake said, "Re-member, if you are ever in any difficul-ty, just call out my name —Naagesh, and wherever you are, I shall find you." The jaguar, the monkey and the snake took leave of the Brahmin. But before t^iey left, they spoke to him about the man in the well. "Please do not help him," said Shersingh. "If you do," said Naagesh, "you will be in trouble your-self ." As soon as they left, the man in the well began to call out for help. Krishnan felt sorry for the man and pulled him out of the well. Thank you for your kindness," said the man. "I am Seth Ghanshyamdas. I am a gold-smith. If you ever need my help, don't hesitate to visit my humble house near the city." The goldsmith then left for home. After some time, the Brahmin con-tinued his journey. But he could not find any work. He then remembered Shersingh, Bali, Naagesh and Seth Ghanshyamdas. He thought it was time to seek their help. He first went to Bali. The monkey was overjoyed to see him. He gave him a warm welcome and of-fered him some really delicious fruits. The Brahmin told him how grateful he was. Now Krishnan went to see Shers-ingh, the jaguar. As soon as Shersingh saw Krishnan coming, he ran out to welcome him. He gave Krishnan a beautiful gold necklace and other pre-cious jewellery. Krishnan thanked Shersingh for the jewellery and part-ed. His journey had at last brought him luck, he thought. He would be able to sell the ornaments for a good price.
But who could help him Jo sell the or-naments ? He then remembered Seth Ghanshyamdas. He went to him. The goldsmith was glad to see Knshnan. i have come to ask for your help," saH Krishnan. "Here are some ornaments. Please give me a good price for them." Seth Ghanshyamdas took the jewellery and examined it carefully. "I shall cer-tainly help you," he said, "But let me show them to another goldsmith. Please wait here, I will be right back." He then went out with the ornaments. Seth at once rushed to the Palace of the King. He-said. "A man brought these orna-ments to me and asked me to sell them. But they are the ornaments I made for the Prince who is missing." "Who is this man ? Where is he ?" thundered the King. This rogue must have murdered my little Prince and robbed his jewels !" "He is a Brahmin named Krishnan, Your Majesty," replied the goldsmith, "and he is there, in my house." The King called for his most dreaded sol-diers. "Arrest the Brahmin who is in the goldsmith's house and throw him into the darkest dungeons of the king-dom," roared the King. The King's guard stormed into the goldsmith's house and seized Krishnan. Krishnan was thrown into a dark dungeon to await his execution. He then remem-bered the words of Naagesh, the snake. So he called out to him. Suddenly, al-most like magic, Naagesh slithered his way down a narrow window into the dingy cell. "O, Lord !" hissed Naagesh, "how did you manage to get yourself arrested ?" Krishnan cried and then told the snake what had happened. "I have a plan," hissed Naagesh. "I shall creep into the Queen's room and bite her," said Naagesh. "She will faint. No matter what they do, she will remain asleep. The poison will remain in her body until you place your hand on her forehead," explained Naagesh. He then left Krishnan and went to the palace. He crept into the Queen's room and bit her. The Queen fainted. The sad news that the Queen had been bitten by a snake spread all over the ICing-dom. Vaidyas came from far and near, but their medicines had no effect. No one could revive the Queen. Finally, the King declared that anyone who could cure the Queen would be hand-somely rewarded. Many people went to the palace but all of them failed, can cure the Queen," Krishnan told the guards. At once they took him to the palace and the King took him to the Queen. Krishnan sat beside the Queen and placed his hand on her forehead. Soon, she opened her eyes and sat up. The King was overjoyed and shed tears of happiness. He embraced Krishnan and thanked him. "Your Maj-esty," said Krishnan, «i was sent to prison for a crime I did not commit." Krishnan told the King the whole sto-ry. The King was fuming with rage when he heard what the goldsmith had done. He at once had the goldsmith arrested. The King then presented Krishnan with a large house and a thou-sand pieces of gold. Krishnan sent for his family and they all lived happily ever after.
41. Why was Krishnan afraid to save Naagesh from the well ?
(1) As Naagesh had threatened him with dire consequences.
(2) As he thought Naagesh would eat him.
(3) As he thought Naagesh would bite him once he was out of the-well
(4) As he thought that Naagesh would capture him as soon as he got out of the well.
(5) None of these
42. What did the King do to save the Queen after even the Vaidyas failed to revive her ?
(1) He punished the snake for having harmed the Queen
(2) He announced a reward to anyone who could cure the Queen
(3) He immediately called for Krishnan to cure the Queen
(4) He asked his guards to imme-diately look for someone who could cure the Queen
(5) None of these
43. What did Seth Ghanshyamdas tell the King about Krishnan ?
(1) That Krishnan had brought fake ornaments for selling
(2) That Krishnan was an honest Brahmin who had left his vil-lage
(3) That Krishnan had killed the Prince
(4) That Krishnan had brought those ornaments for selling which had been made for the missing Prince
(5) None of these
44. What did the King do on learning the truth about Krishnan and Seth Ghanshyamdas ?
(1) He put Krishnan back in the dungeon as he still held Krish-nan responsible for the Prince's death
(2) He called for Krishnan's wife and family
(3) He presented gold to Krishnan and also a house to live in
(4) He congratulated the snake on his efforts to save Krishnan
(5) None of these
45. What plan did Naagesh have to' save Krishnan from the dungeon?
(1) That he would sneak Krishnan out of the dungeon without anyone noticing.
(2) That he would bite the King and make him unconscious.
(3) That he would bite Krishnan and make everyone believe that he was dead.
(4) That he would enter the Queen's chamber and scare her.
(5) None of these
46. What did Bali do after seeing Krishnan at his house ?
(A) He gave Krishnan directions to Shersingh's house.
(B) He welcomed Krishnan to his house.
(C) He offered tasty fruits to Krish-nan.
(1) Only (A)
(2) Only (B)
(3) Only (C)
(4) Only (B) and (C)
(5) Only (A) and (C)
47. Why did the jaguar, the monkey and the snake tell Krishnan not to save the man in the well ?
(1) As the man in the well was a goldsmith
(2) As the man in the well had cheated the snake, the mon-key and the jaguar
(3) As the man in the well was a thief
(4) As the snake the monkey and the jaguar hated the man as they had known him for a very longtime
(5) None of these
48. Why did Krishnan go to meet Seth Ghanshyamdas ?
(1) As he thought that Seth Ghan-shyamdas could help him in selling the ornaments gifted to him by Shersingh
(2) As he knew that Seth Ghan-shyamdas had contact with the King which could prove to be beneficial
(3) As Seth Ghanshyamdas had requested Krishnan to sell or-naments only to him
(4) As Krishnan was extremely fond of Seth Ghanshyamdas
(5) None of these
49. Why did Krishnan decide to leave his village ?
(1) As he could not find much work in his own village and his family had to starve sometimes because of it.
(2) As his family had requested him to do so.
(3) As his village people had asked him to leave their village and look for work somewhere else.
(4) As he wanted to search for food in a village different from his own.
(5) None of these
50. What can possibly be the moral of the story ?
(1) Trust oneself before trusting others
(2) A good deed never goes unre-warded
(3) You cannot change people but you can change yourself
(4) Try and try until you succeed
(5) One must be the change one wishes to see in this world
Directions (51- 53): Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
51. HUMBLE
(1) elegant (2) polite (3) modest (4) real (5) vast
52. SEEK
(1) hunt for (2) watch for (3) mention (4) ask for (5) force
53. GO
(1) report (2) live (3) send (4) leave (5) depart
Directions (54 - 55): Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.
54. HANDSOMELY
(1) meagerly
(2) tidily
(3) ugly
(4) raggedly
(5) plenty
55. CONTINUED
(1) remanded
(2) presented
(3) rested
(4) carried on
(5) stopped
Directions ( 56 - 60): Rearrange the following six sentences (A), (B), (C). (D), (E) and (F) in the proper sequence to form a meaningful paragraph; then answer the questions given below them.
(A) On touring the whole world and finding no couple who was perfectly happy, the young couple understood that it is very difficult to find perfect happiness anywhere in the world.
(B) There was a young couple who led a very happy life together.
(C) One day, they heard that a wise old man had come to town; he could solve all kinds of problems and guide people.
(D) The wise old man told them; Travel around the world and seek a man and a woman who are perfectly happy as a couple."
(E) So the couple decided to visit the wise old man and tell him their worry.
(F) The only thing that they wor-ried about was, whether their happi-ness would last forever or would they too have to face problems.
56. Which of the following should be the LAST (SIXTH) sentence after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2)B (3) D (4) E (5)F
57. Which of the following should be the THIRD sentence after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2)B (3) C (4) D (5)E
58. Which of the following should be the FOURTH sentence after rearrangement ?
(1) B (2)C (3) D (4) E (5)F
59. Which of the following should be the SECOND sentence after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2)B  (3) C (4) D (5)F
60. Which of the following should be the FDXST sentence after rearrangement ?
(1) A (2)B (3) C (4) D (5)E
Directions (61- 65): Which of the phrases (1 ), (2), (3) and (4) given be-low each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is given and no correction is required, mark (5) as the answer.
61. He told his employer of his plans to leave the business to lead a more leisure life.
(1) more leisurely life
(2) many leisurely life
(3) many leisured life
(4) more leisurely live
(5) No correction required
62. All she could think about was the beautiful dress and how she could earn enough money to buy it.
(1) All she can think
(2) All she could thought
(3) All she can thought
(4) All she can thinking
(5) No correction required
63. A young and successful executive was travelling down a neighbour-hood street, going a bit to fast in his new car.
(1) a bit too fastly
(2) a bit as fast
(3) a bit to fastly
(4) a bit too fast
(5) No correction required
64. Padma could convince anyone with her talks as she had the gift of the gabbing.
(1) gifting of the gabbing
(2) gift of the gab
(3) gifting of the gab
(4) gift off the gab
(5) No correction required
65. For countries undergoing a reces-sion, large cuts in public spend-ing seerri to be the ordering of the day.
(1) betle ordering of days
(2) being the order of the day
(3) be the order of the day
(4) being the ordering of days
(5) No correction required
Directions (66-70): In each question below, a sentence with four words printed in bold type is given. These are numbered as (1 ), (2), (3) and (4). One of these four words printed in bold may be either wrongly spelt or inap-propriate in the context of the sen-tence. Find out the word which is wrongly spelt or inappropriate, if any. The number of that word is your an-swer. If all the words printed in bold are correctly spelt and also appropri-ate in the context of the sentence, mark (5) i.e. 'All correct' as your answer.
66. When the young artist returned (D/to his village, his family held a festive (2)/dinner on its lawn to celebrate his triumpant (3)/ homecoming. (4)/ All correct (5).
67. She trusted Mira with all her heart (1)/ and thus handled (2)/ over her life's (3)/ savings to her in-stantly. (4)/ All correct (5)
68. It is difficullt (1)/ to see the pic-ture \2)/ when you are inside (3)/ the frame. (4)/ All correct (5)
69. Had she not suppressed (1)/ all the details of her Company's project, (2)/her Company would have bagged (3)/ the contract. (4)/ All correct (5)
70. The whole (1)/ time she walked with her child in her arms the only thing (2)/ that worried (3)/ her was her son's feature. (4)/ All cor-rect (5).
Directions (71-80): In the follow-ing passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These num-bers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggest-ed, one of which fits the blank appro-priately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.
One day a father of a very wealthy family (71) his son on a trip to the coun-try with the purpose of (72) his son how the poor people live so he could be thankful for his wealth. They spent a (73) of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a (74) poor family. On their (751 from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip ?" "It was great, Dad." "Did you see how poor people can be ?" the father asked. "Oh yeah" said the son. "So what did you (761 from the trip ?" asked the father. The son answered, "1 saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that (771 to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end." "We have imported lanterns in our gar-den and they have the stars at night."Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the (781 horizon" "We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight." "We have (791 who serve us, but they serve others." "We buy our food, but they grow theirs." "We have walls around our (80) to protect us; they have friends to protect them." With this the boy's father was speech-less. Then his son added, Thanks dad for showing me how poor we are."
71. (1) mould (2) showed (3) took (4) beat (5) drag
72. (1) trusting (2) showing (3) presenting (4) requestir (5) tell
73. (1) few (2) many (3) two (4) couple (5) much
74. (l)very (2) astutely (3) major (4) some (5) sorrow
75. (1) return (2) walking (3) lane (4) journey (5) leave
76. (1) believe (2) learn (3) reveal (4) think (5) saw
77. (l)leak (2) watery (3) stands (4) reaches (5) swims
78. (l)last (2) lucky (3) more (4) scene (5) whole
79. (1) relatives (2) man (3) servants (4) mother (5) computers
80. (1) pillars (2) country (3) minds (4) selves (5) property