STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams

Dear students,
This time the topic for your understanding is syntax hope it will help you clear your concepts.
Keep learning!!!

This handout gives you several guidelines to help your subjects and verbs agree.
1. When the subject of a sentence is composed of two or more nouns or pronouns connected by and, use a
plural verb.
She and her friends are at the fair.
2. When two or more singular nouns or pronouns are connected by or or nor, use a singular verb.

The book or the pen is in the drawer.

3. When a compound subject contains both a singular and a plural noun or pronoun joined by or or nor, the
verb should agree with the part of the subject that is nearer the verb.
The boy or his friends run every day.
His friends or the boy runs every day.
4. Doesn't is a contraction of does not and should be used only with a singular subject. Don't is a contraction
of do not and should be used only with a plural subject. The exception to this rule appears in the case of
the first person and second person pronouns I and you. With these pronouns, the contraction don't should
be used.
He doesn't like it.
They don't like it.
5. Do not be misled by a phrase that comes between the subject and the verb. The verb agrees with the
subject, not with a noun or pronoun in the phrase.
One of the boxes is open
The people who listen to that music are few.
The team captain, as well as his players, is anxious.
The book, including all the chapters in the first section, is boring.
The woman with all the dogs walks down my street.
6. The words each, each one, either, neither, everyone, everybody, anybody, anyone, nobody, somebody,
someone, and no one are singular and require a singular verb.

Each of these hot dogs is juicy.

Everybody knows Mr. Jones.
Either is correct.
7. Nouns such as civics, mathematics, dollars, measles, and news require singular verbs.
The news is on at six.
Note: The word dollars is a special case. When talking about an amount of money, it requires a singular
verb, but when referring to the dollars themselves, a plural verb is required.
Five dollars is a lot of money.

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
Dollars are often used instead of rubles in Russia.
8. Nouns such as scissors, tweezers, trousers, and shears require plural verbs. (There are two parts to these
things.)
These scissors are dull.
Those trousers are made of wool.
9. In sentences beginning with "there is" or "there are," the subject follows the verb. Since "there" is not the
subject, the verb agrees with what follows.

There are many questions.

There is a question.
10. Collective nouns are words that imply more than one person but that are considered singular and take a
singular verb, such as group, team, committee, class, and family.

The team runs during practice.

The committee decides how to proceed.
The family has a long history.
My family has never been able to agree.
The crew is preparing to dock the ship.
This sentence is referring to the individual efforts of each crew member. The Gregg Reference Manual
provides excellent explanations of subject-verb agreement.
11. Expressions such as with, together with, including, accompanied by, in addition to, or as well do not
change the number of the subject. If the subject is singular, the verb is too.
The President, accompanied by his wife, is traveling to India.
All of the books, including yours, are in that box.
Although you are probably already familiar with basic subject-verb agreement, this chapter begins with a
quick review of basic agreement rules.
Subjects and verbs must AGREE with one another in number (singular or plural). Thus, if a subject is
singular, its verb must also be singular; if a subject is plural, its verb must also be plural.
In the present tense, nouns and verbs form plurals in opposite ways: nouns ADD an s to the singular form;
verbs REMOVE the s from the singular form.
A detailed analysis over some nouns:
In any scientific research one example is not enough to draw any conclusion. However, we can easily find
more words that behave like evidence:
Data Set : equipment
a. *We had hoped to get three new equipments every month, but we only had enough money to get an
equipment every two weeks.
b. *The equipment we bought last year was more expensive than the one we bought this year.
We thus extend Observation 1 a little bit further:
Observation :
c. evidence/equipment cannot be used in the plural.
d. evidence/equipment cannot be used with the indefinite article a(n).

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
e. evidence/equipment cannot be referred to by the pronoun one.
It is usually necessary to find contrastive examples to understand the range of a given observation. For
instance, words like clue and tool act differently:
Data Set : clue
f. The professor gave Jonatthan some good clues for the question.
g. The student was hoping for a good clue.
h. The clue that John got was more helpful than the one that Smith got.
Data Set : tool
i. The teacher gave John some good tools for the purpose.
j. The student was hoping for a tool.
k. The tool that Jones got was more helpful than the one that Smith got.
Unlike equipment and evidence, the nouns clue and tool can be used in the test linguistic con- texts we set
up. We thus can add Observation 3, different from Observation :
(11) Observation 3:
a. clue/tool can be used in the plural.
b. clue/tool can be used with the indefinite article a(n).
c. clue/tool can be referred to by the pronoun one.

Forming a Hypothesis From the data and observations we have made so far, can we make any hypothesis
about the English grammar rule in question? One hypothesis that we can make is something like the
following:
(12) First Hypothesis:
English has at least two groups of nouns, Group I (count nouns) and Group II (non- count nouns), diagnosed
by tests of plurality, the indefinite article, and the pronoun one.

Checking the Hypothesis Once we have formed such a hypothesis, we need to check out if it is true of other
data, and also see if it can bring other analytical consequences.
A little further thought allows us to find support for the two-way distinction for nouns. For example, consider
the usage of much and many:
(13) a. much evidence, much equipment, information, much furniture, much advice
b. *much clue, *much tool, *much armchair, *much bags
(14) a. *many evidence, *many equipment, *many information, *many furniture, *many ad- vice
b. many clues, many tools, many suggestions, many armchairs
As observed here, count nouns can occur only with many, whereas non-count nouns can com- bine with
much. Similar support can be found from the usage of little and few:
(15) a. little evidence, little equipment, little advice, little information
b. *little clue, *little tool, *little suggestion, *little armchair
(16) a. *few evidence, *few equipment, *few furniture, *few advice, *few information
b. few clues, few tools, suggestions, few armchairs
The word little can occur with non-count nouns like evidence, yet few cannot. Meanwhile, few

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
occurs only with count nouns.
Given these data, it appears that the two-way distinction is quite plausible and persuasive. We can now ask
if this distinction into just two groups is really enough for the classification of nouns. Consider the following
examples with cake:
(17) a. The mayor gave John some good cakes.

b. The president was hoping for a good cake.

c. The cake that Jones got was more delicious than the one that Smith got. Similar behavior can be
observed with a noun like beer, too:
(18) a. The bartender gave John some good beers.
b. No one knows how to tell from a good beer to a bad one.
These data show us that cake and beer may be classified as count nouns. However, observe the following:

(19) a. My pastor says I ate too much cake.

b. The students drank too much beer last night.
(20) a. We recommend to eat less cake and pastry.
b. People now drink less beer.
The data mean that cake and beer can also be used as non-count nouns since that can be used with less or
much.

Revising the Hypothesis The examples in (24) and (25) imply that there is an- other group of nouns that can
be used as both count and non-count nouns. This leads us to revise the hypothesis as following:
(21) Revised Hypothesis:
There are at least three groups of nouns: Group 1 (count nouns), Group 2 (non-count nouns), and Group 3
(count and non-count).
We can expect that context will determine whether a Group 3 noun is used as count or as non- count.
As we have observed so far, the process of finding finite grammar rules crucially hinges on finding data,
drawing generalizations, making a hypothesis, and revising this hypothesis with more data.

Why Do We Study Syntax and What Is It Good for?

There are many reasons for studying syntax, from general humanistic or behavioral motivations to much
more specific goals such as those in the following:
. To help us to illustrate the patterns of English more effectively and clearly.
. To enable us to analyze the structure of English sentences in a systematic and explicit way.
For example, let us consider how we could use the syntactic notion of head, which refers to the essential
element within a phrase. The following is a short and informal rule for English subject-verb agreement.
(22) In English, the main verb agrees with the head element of the subject. This informal rule can pinpoint
what is wrong with the following two examples:
(23) a. *The recent strike by pilots have cost the country a great deal of money from tourism and so on.
b. *The average age at which people begin to need eyeglasses vary considerably.

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams

model paper (english language) -IBPS BCL PRE

Q.1-8. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below. Certain words
have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions
PARA- 1 Schools expect textbooks to be a valuable source of information for students. My research
suggests, however, that textbooks that address the place of Native Americans within he history of
the. United States distort history to suit a particular cultural value system. In some textbooks, for
example, settlers are pictured as more humane, complex, skillful, and wise than Native American.
In essence, textbooks stereotype and deprecate the numerous Native American cultures while
reinforcing the attitude that the European conquest of the New World denotes the superiority of
European cultures. Although textbooks evaluate Native American architecture, political systems,
and home making. I contend that they do it from an ethnocentric, European perspective without
recognizing that other perspectives are possible.
PARA- 2 One argument against my contention asserts that, by nature, textbooks are culturally
biased and that I am simply underestimating children’s ability to see through these biases. Some
researchers even claim that by the time students are in high school, they know they cannot take
textbooks literally. Yet substantial evidence exists to the contrary. Two researchers, for example,
have conducted studies that suggest that children’s attitudes about particular culture are strongly
influenced by the textbooks used in schools. Given this, an ongoing, careful review of how school
textbooks depict Native American is certainly warranted.
Q.1. Which of the following would most logically be the topic of the paragraph immediately following the
passage?
(1) Specific ways to evaluate the biases of United States history textbooks
(2) The centrality of the teacher’s role in United States history courses
(3) Nontraditional methods of teaching United States history
(4) The contributions of European immigrants to the development of the United States
(5) Ways in which parents influence children’s political attitudes
Q.2. The primary purpose of the passage is to
(1) describe in detail one research study regarding the impact of history textbooks on children’s
attitudes and beliefs about certain cultures
(2) describe revisions that should be made to United States history textbooks
(3) discuss the difficulty of presenting an accurate history of the United States
(4) argue that textbooks used in schools stereotype Native Americans and influence children’s
attitudes
(5) summarize ways in which some textbooks give distorted pictures of the political systems
developed by various Native American groups
Q.3. As per Para 2, the author mentions two researchers’ studies most likely in order to -
(1) suggest that children’s political attitudes are formed primarily through textbooks
(2) counter the claim that children are able to see through stereotypes in textbooks
(3) suggest that younger children tend to interpret the messages in textbooks more literally than
do older children
(4) demonstrate that textbooks carry political messages meant to influence their readers
(5) prove that textbooks are not biased in terms of their political presentations
Q.4. The author’s attitude toward the content of the history textbooks discussed in the passage is best
described as one of -
(1) indifference (2) hesitance (3) neutrality
(4) amusement (5) disapproval

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
Q.5. It can be inferred from the passage that the researchers mentioned in paragraph 2 would be most
likely to agree with which of the following statements?
(1) Students form attitudes about cultures other than their own primarily inside the school
environment.
(2) For the most part, seniors in high school know that textbooks can be biased.
(3) Textbooks play a crucial role in shaping the attitudes and beliefs of students.
(4) Elementary school students are as likely to recognize biases in textbooks as are high school
students.
(5) Students are less likely to give credence to history textbooks than to mathematics textbooks.
Q.6. The author implies that which of the following will occur if textbooks are not carefully reviewed?
(1) Children will remain ignorant of the European settlers’ conquest of the New World.
(2) Children will lose their ability to recognize biases in textbooks.
(3) Children will form negative stereotypes of Native Americans.
(4) Children will develop an understanding of ethnocentrism.
(5) Children will stop taking textbooks seriously.
Q.7. As per para-1, what does the word ‘humane’ mean?
(1) good natured (2) kindly (3) sympathy
(4) emotional (5) logical
Q.8. As per para-2 what is the opposite of the word ‘contention’ as used in the passage?
(1) dispute (2) allegation (3) plea
(4) agreement (5) harmony
Q.9-10. In the following questions a blank is given and below are given alternatives which can be filled to
make the sentence meaningfully complete. Choose the best alternative and mark your answer.
Q.9. The Supreme Court’s direction to the Centre to set up fast track courts to prosecute pending cases
against legislators is welcome. The apex court has given the Centre six _____________ .
(1) to be more discerning in their choices
(2) to focus on improving the manner in which courts are staffed
(3) to submit a scheme of fast-track courts
(4) to treat criminal cases against politicians as a distinct and special category
(5) to consult with political parties
Q.10. The government will reportedly nudge public sector undertakings (PSUs) to invest their surplus
funds in the Rs 1.35 lakh crore recapitalisation bonds meant to shore up the public sector banks’
capital,____________________.
(1) it would help if the recapitalisation of public sector banks is properly sequenced
(2) so that greater capitalisation makes for higher valuation and a better price for fresh share
issuance
(3) so that the banks would be in a stronger position to tap the market to issue fresh shares
(4) so that they can write off bad loans as part of resolving them and start lending again
(5) so that additional borrowing required to recapitalise banks would come down
Q.11-15. In the following question FOUR statements are given which may or may not be correct.
You need to choose which of the following statements is/are CORRECT in all aspects
and mark your answer from the following five options. In case all are correct and need no
correction mark (5) as your answer.
Q.11. A. The Centre’s move to appoint a special representative to initiate and carry out a dialogue with a
broad swathe of individuals and organisations in Kashmir is a welcome step.

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
B. Even the security forces, leave alone political parties in the state, including the BJP’s partner
PDP in the government of Jammu and Kashmir, has been arguing that mere use of force is not
enough to find a solution to the unrest in Kashmir.
C. Prime Minister had, in his Independence Day address this year, indicates a change of tack, by
stating that neither bullets nor abuse but a warm embrace could solve the problem.
D. It is clear that the government does not see talks as an alternative to cracking down on militancy.
(1) Both A and B (2) Both C and D
(3) Both A and D (4) Both B and C
(5) All are correct
Q.12. A. It is unfortunate that the government of Rajasthan and at least one member of the Union council
of ministers are defended the Rajasthan Bill that effective gags the media and politicises the
working of the criminal justice system in an explicit manner.
B. The Criminal Law (Rajasthan Amendment Bill) 2017, meant to give an Ordinance to the same
effect statutory force, seeks to amendment two sections of the Code of Criminal Procedure, as
it applied to Rajasthan.
C. Under these changes, no magistrate can order an investigation nor can an investigation be
carried out against any current or former public servant without the sanction of the government
D. And anyone who writes about or reveals the identity of a person for whose prosecution permission
has been sought will be fined and jailed.
(1) Both A and B (2) Both C and D
(3) Both A and D (4) Both B and C
(5) All are correct
Q.13. A. The minutes of the last Monetary Policy Committee meeting reveal virtual consensus between
five out of its six members, that inflation is likely to exceed 4% in the second half of this year.
B. MPC members are careful not to criticise demonetisation, listing it, at best, as one among
several factors slowing the economy down.
C. The external environment is seen as benign, even if there is some risk in the financial sector
from normalisation of extra-accommodative monetary policy in the US and the EU.
D. Recapitalise the banks is seen as an essential task and the government must allow its stake to
be diluted below majority.
(1) Both A and B (2) Both C and D
(3) Both A and D (4) Both B and C
(5) All are correct
Q.14. A. The goods and services tax and resolving the banks’ bad loans are welcome structural changes
in effect in the medium term.
B. The needs is for more reforms to spur investment.
C. Closing the infrastructure gap, restarted stalled investments and simplification of GST are some
ways to enhance investment.
D. The government must removing institutional bottlenecks that include clearances that plague
infrastructure projects, and create viable PPP projects in infrastructure.
(1) Both A and B (2) Both C and D
(3) Both A and D (4) Both B and C
(5) All are incorrect
Q.15. A. The security forces has been ferreting out militants and killing them in ever larger numbers.
B. Raids has been carried out on people suspected of financing the militants or helping Pakistan
funnel funds to their proxies in the Valley.

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
C. The appointment of an interlocutor does not mean any letting up on the ongoing crackdown on
militancy was underlined by a money-laundering case.
D. The interlocutor represents an option given to the separatists to sue for peace, if they find the
pressure too hard to bear, not a policy shift to remove the pressure on them.
(1) Both A and B (2) Both C and D
(3) Both A and D (4) Both B and C
(5) All are incorrect
Q.16-18. In the below question a paragraph is split into five parts and is jumbled up. You need to
rearrange the sequence of the paragraph so that it gives a coherent meaning, keeping part
(A) position UNCHANGED and arranging rest of the parts in the correct sequence, then
answer from the options given below.
Q.16. As the US courts India, building on shared concerns over (A)/ India’s goal is to widen its space (B)/
into the superpower’s clasp. (C)/ for autonomous action, not to swoon (D)/ Chinese expansionism
and state sponsorship of terror, (E)/
(1) BECD (2) DECB (3) CEDB
(4) EBDC (5) None
Q.17. Calibrate and accommodate their respective national interests. (A)/ The import of the exchange
is clear: India and US have common end-goals (B)/A successful partnership will require both
countries to navigate, (C)/ but divergent interests and paths to the goal. (D)/ Clearly, it is reflected
in his response that US is not alarmed by India developing the Chabahar port in Iran, even as
Washington and Tehran are at odds. (E)
(1) DCBA (2) ABCD (3) CADB
(4) BDCA (5) None
Q.18. Infosys’ founder and iconic corporate leader would be well advised to end his campaign against
(A)/ when the traditional business is being disrupted (D)/Indian information technology industry
is going through a challenging phase, (C)/ and companies have to identify their own path to non-
linear growth. (E)/ the alleged wrongdoings of the company’s previous board and chief executive
officer. (B)/
(1) ABDE (2) AEBD (3) AEDB
(4) ADBE (5) None
Q.19-23. Which of the Phrases (1), (2). (3) and (4) given below each sentence should replace the
phrases 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.
Q.19. New Delhi has been able to steer clear of the pitfalls; it is yet another indication of the level of
Washington’s interest in secured a strong partnership with New Delhi.
(1) to secured a stronger partnership with
(2) in securing a stronger partnership against
(3) in securing a strong partnership with
(4) from securing a strong partnership with
(5) No correction required
Q.20. India’s foreign policy establishment has to keep its eyes peeled all the more, on account of the
unstable nature of US policy as articulated by that country’s president.
(1) India’s foreign policies establishments has to keep its eyes peeled
(2) India’s foreign policy establishing had to keep its eyes peeled
(3) India’s foreign policy establishment have to keep it’s eyes peeled
(4) India’s foreign policies establishments have to keep its eyes peeled

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 STUDY NOTEs FOR Banking & Other Competitive Exams
(5) No correction required
Q.21. The elected government of the state should focus of any political dialogue with the disaffected
sections of the populace.
(1) be the focus off political dialogue with
(2) be the focus of any political dialogue with
(3) being the focus in any political dialogue with
(4) focus of any political dialogue from
(5) No correction required
Q.22. The gag order on the media violate the right to free speech and prevent the press from
discharging its duty of creating a public discourses that holds the government to account.
(1) violates the right to free speech and prevents the press from discharging its duty of creating a
public discourse
(2) violated the right to free speech and prevents the press from discharge its duty of creating a
public discourse
(3) violates the right of free speech and prevents the press against discharging its duty of creation
a public discourse
(4) violate the right of free speech and preventing the press in discharging its duty of creating a
public discourse
(5) No correction required
Q.23. External Affairs Minister’s recent visit to Bangladesh for the fourth Joint Consultative Committee was
opportunity for the two countries to review, strengthen, and deepening their partnership.
(1) were an opportunity for the two countries to reviewing, strengthening, and deepening their
partnership.
(2) was an opportunity for two countries to review, strengthen, and deepen its partnership.
(3) was an opportunity for the two countries to review, strengthen, and deepen their partnership.
(4) was opportunity of two countries to review, strengthen, and deepen their partnership.
(5) No correction required
Q.24-30. In the following passage there are blanks each of which has been numbered as well as filled
with a word which may be appropriate in context of the passage or maybe not. If the word
highlighted is incorrect and needs improvement then choose any one option suggested given
below. But if the given word is correct and requires no change then mark (5) i.e. no change
required as your answer.
The NK Singh committee on fiscal responsibility and budget management had recommended
setting up an independent fiscal council to keep tabs on and better manage public debt. The
demonstration (24) has recently been endorsed by the International Monetary Fund. We concur.
With a complex polity and manifold development challenges, India needs institutional mechanisms
for prudent fiscal practices. An international (25) fiscal council can bring about much needed
funds (26) and accountability in fiscal processes across the federal polity.
International experience suggests that a fiscal council improves the quality of debate on public
finance, and that, in turn, helps build public opinion favourable to fiscal discipline. In a globalised
world of enormous capital flows, market volatility (27) across the world and especially in emerging
markets, in response to monetary policy changes in major economies, and geopolitical tensions
that ebb and flow, causing currencies and commodity prices to swing, countries like India need
macroeconomic management as an active function round the year.
It cannot be left entirely to monetary policy, as regular monetary policy statements themselves
testify, with their articulation of how vigilant (28) their decisions are on what the government does.
Monetary policy has received wider public attention, after investigating (29) of the Monetary Policy
Committee.

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A fiscal council could do the same for fiscal policy, with regular meetings that produce assessments.
Further, the working of a fiscal council would help harmonise fiscal policy with monetary policy.
The N K Singh panel stressed the quality of fiscal data. We clearly need better reporting of the
finances of state power utilities, for example.
What are the trade-offs in raising the fiscal deficit to recapitalise the banks, or in continuing with a
divisible pool of central taxes for devolution to the states devised before the Centre and the states
started sharing a common, non-Customs tax base under GST? A fiscal council would help arrive
at answers and give them legitimacy in public perception.
Q.24. (1) gains (2) proposal (3) fiscal
(4) approval (5) No correction required
Q.25. (1) irrevocable (2) irreversible
(3) independent (4) irredeemable
(5) No correction required
Q.26. (1) transparency (2) documentation
(3) procedures (4) required
(5) No correction required
Q.27. (1) minority (2) mechanism (3) quality
(4) disruptions (5) No correction required
Q.28. (1) stiff (2) violent (3) regulating
(4) contingent (5) No correction required
Q.29. (1) removal (2) setting up (3) rejuvenating
(4) implementing (5) No correction required
Q.30. (1) shift (2) cling (3) smoothen
(4) mixing (5) No correction required

EXPLANATION / MODEL PAPER (ENGLISH LANGUAGE)

Q.1.(1) Q.2.(4) Q.3.(2) Q.4.(5) Q.5.(2) Q.6.(3) Q.7.(1)
Q.8.(4) Q.9.(3) Q.10.(4)
Q.11.(3) B- have been arguing
C- indicated a change
Q.12.(2) A- defending the Rajasthan Bill that effectively gags
B- seeks to amend
Q.13.(4) A- among five out of six members
D- recapitalizing
Q.14.(5) Q.15.(1) Q.16.(4) Q.17.(4)
Q.18.(2) Q.19.(3) Q.20.(5) Q.21.(2)
Q.22.(1) Q.23.(3) Q.24.(2) Q.25.(3)
Q.26.(1) Q.27.(5) Q.28.(4) Q.29.(2)
Q.30.(5)

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