Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
Banking
sector reforms in India were introduced in order to improve efficiency
in the process of financial intermediation. It was expected that banks would
take advantage of the changing operational environment and improve their performance.
Towards this end, the Reserve Bank of India initiated a host of measures
for the creation of a competitive environment. Deregulation of interest rates
on both deposit and lending sides imparted freedom to banks to appropriate price
their products and services. To compete effectively with non-banking entities,
banks were permitted to undertake newer activities like investment banking,
securities trading and insurance business. This was facilitated through
amendments in the relevant acts which permitted PSBs to raise
equity from the market up to threshold limit and also enabling the entry
of new private and foreign banks. This changing face of banking led to
an erosion of margins on traditional banking business, promoting banks
to search for newer activities to augment their free incomes. At
the same time, banks also needed to devote focused attention to operational
efficiency in order to contain their transaction costs. Simultaneously with
the deregulation measures prudential norms were instituted to strengthen the
safety and soundness of the banking system. Recent internal empirical
research found that over the period 1992-2003, there has been a
discernible improvement in the efficiency of Indian banks. The
increasing trend in efficiency has been fairly uniform, irrespective of
the ownership pattern. The rate of such improvement has, however, not
been sufficiently high. The analysis also reveals that PSBs and private
sector banks in India did not differe significantly in terms of their
efficiency measures. Foreign banks, on the other hand, recorded higher
efficiency as compared with their Indian counterparts.
1.
Prudential norms were initiated in the banking sector with a view to
a)
Increase operational efficiency
b)
Contain the non-performing assets
c)
Strengthen the soundness of banking system
d)
Improve the custome service
e)
None of these
2.
Banking sector reforms in India were introduced for the purpose of
a)
Giving more and more employment opportunities to the educated unemployed
b)
Taking care of the downtrodden masses
c)
Increasing efficiency in the banking activities
d)
Giving better return to the Central Government
e)
None of these
3.
Banks can control their transaction costs by
a)
Restricting their lending activities
b)
Undertaking more and more non-banking activities
c)
Encouraging the customers to bank with other banks
d)
Devoting more attention to operational efficiency
e)
None of these
4.
The recent internal empirical research conducted by the RBI found that
a)
There is cut-throat competition in banking industry
b)
The rate of return is not commensurate with the operational cost
c)
The rate of improvement has not been high
d)
Nationalised banks and private sector banks did differ in the efficiency measures
e)
None of these
5.
Which of the following statements recognising improvement in efficiency is true
in the context of the passage?
a)
There is no discremible difference in efficiency parameters
b)
The foreign banks recorded higher efficiency
c)
The efficiency of foreign banks is not comparable with Indian banks
d)
The rate of such improvement in efficiency was very high
e)
None of these
Directions
(Q. 6-7) Choose
the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word printed in bold as
used in the passage.
6.
Relevant
a)
Recorded b) Opposite c) Appropriate
d)
Stringent e) Germane
7.
Augment
a)
Make b) Become c) Enlarge
d)
Increase e) Envelop
Directions
(Q. 8-9) Choose
the word that is most opposite of the word printed in bold as used in the
passage.
8.
Improve
a)
Retard b) Disprove c) Prove
d)
Accelerate e) Degenerate
9.
Reveal
a)
Show b) Conceal c) Secretive
d)
Exhibit e) None of these
Read
the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it.
King
Hutamasan felt he had everything in the World not only due to his riches and
his noble knights, but because of his beautiful queen, Rani Matsya. The rays of
the Sun were put to shame with the iridescent light that Matsya illuminated, with
her beauty and brain. At the right hand of the king, she was known to sit and aid
him in all his judicial probes. You could not escape her deep-set eyes, when
you committed a crime as she always knew the victim and the culprit. Her
generosity preceded her reputation in the kingdom and her hands were always
full to give. People in the kingdom revered her because if she passed
by, she always gave to the compassionate and poor. Far away from the kingly
palace lived a man named Raman with only ends to his poverty and no means to
rectify it. Raman was wrecked with poverty as he had lost all his land to the
landlord. His age enabled him little towards manual labour and so begging was
the only alternative to salvage his wife and children. Every morning, he went
door to door for some work, food or money. The kindness of people always got
him enough to take home. But Raman was a little selfcentered. His World began
with him first, followed by his family and the rest. So, he would eat and drink
to his delight and ret urn home with whatever he found excess. This routine
followed and he never let anyone discover his interests as he always put on a
long face, when he reached home. One day as he was relising the bowl of rice he
had just received from a humble home, he heard that Rani Matsya was to pass
from the very place he was standing. Her g enerosity had reached his ears and
he knew if he pulled a long face and showed how poor he was, she would hand him
a bag full of gold coins – enough for the rest of his life, enough to buy food
and supplies for his family. He thought he could keep some coins for himself
and only reveal a few to his wife, so he can fulfil his own wishes. He ran to
the chariot of the Rani and begged her soldiers to allow him to speak to the
queen. Listening to the arguments outside Rani Matsya opened the curtains of
her chariot and asked Raman what he wanted. Raman went on his knees and praised
the queen. I have heard you are most generous and most chaste, show this beggar
some charity. Rani narrowed her brows and asked Raman what he could give her in
return, surprised by such a question, Raman looked at his bowl full of rice.
With spite in him he just pricked up a few grains of rice and gave it to the queen.
Rani Matsya counted the 5 grains and looked at his bowl full of rice andsaid,
you shall be given what is due to you. Saying this, the chariot galloped away. Raman
abused her under his breath. This he never thought would happen. How could she
ask him for something in return, when she hadn’t given him anything? Irked with
anger he stormed home and gave his wife the bowl of rice. just then he saw a
sack at the entrance. His wife said men had come and kept it there. He opened
it to find it full of rice. He put his hand inside and caught hold of a hard
mental only to discover it was a gold coin. Elated he upturned the sack to find
5 gold coins in exact for the five rice grains. If only I had given my entire
bowl, thought Raman, I would have had a sack full of gold.
10.
According to the passage, which of the following is definitely true about
Rani
Matsya?
A.
She was beautiful.
B.
She was intelligent.
C.
She was kind.
a)
Only A b) Only B c) Only C
d)
A and B e) All the three
11.
What does the phrase ‘pulled a long face’ as used in the passage mean?
a)
Scratched his face
b)
Looked very sorrowful
c)
Disguised himself
d)
Put on makeup
e)
None of these
12.
What can possibly be the moral of the story?
a)
Do onto others as you would want others to do to you
b)
Patience is a virtue
c)
Winning is not everything, it is the journey that counts
d)
Change is the only constant thing in life
e)
Teamwork is more we and less me
13.
Why was begging the only option for Raman to get food?
a)
As Raman belonged to a family of beggars
b)
As begging was the easiest way for him to obtain food
c)
As Raman’s family had forced him to beg
d)
As he had lost all his property and was too old to do manual work
e)
None of these
14.
Which of the following words can be used to describe Raman?
A.
Deceitful
B.
Selfish
C.
Timid
a)
Only A b) Only B c) A and B
d)
B and C e) All the three
15.
What did Raman find after he returned home from his meeting with Rani Matsya?
a)
The Rani’s soldiers
b)
An empty house
c)
The five grains of rice that he had given to Rani Matsya
d)
A sack full of rice and five gold coins
e)
None of these
Directions
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.
16.
Galloped
a)
Hurtled b) Stumbled c) Slumbered
d)
Jumped e) Ran
17.
Revered
a)
Remembered b) Feared c) Talked about
d)
Embraced e) Respected
Directions
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.
18.
Reveal
a)
Stop b) Conceal c) Present
d)
Pending e) Tell
19.
Elated
a)
Afraid b) Poor c) Happy
d)
Depressed e) Grounded
ANSWERS:
1. Option C
2. Option C
3. Option D
4. Option C
5. Option B
6. Option A
7. Option D
8. Option A
9. Option B
10. Option E
11. Option B
12. Option A
13. Option D
14. Option C
15. Option D
16. Option A
17. Option E
18. Option B
19. Option B
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