Foundation BATCH

Cloze test 1 (moderate)

In its October meeting, the monetary policy
committee of the RBI chose to maintain the
policy status quo, keeping the benchmark repo
rate at 4 per cent and continuing with its
accommodative _____ A _____, presumably as
long as is necessary to revive growth. But the
decision was not _____ B _____. MPC member
Jayanth Varma voted not only against
continuing with the accommodative stance, but
also argued in favour of raising the reverse repo
rate. Concerns over how long the MPC can
continue with its policy stance appear to be
gaining _____ C _____.
Even though the other members stuck to their earlier
positions, there appears to be a shift in the tone of the
commentary, with a member, Ashima Goyal, arguing that
"over-stimulus as after the global financial _____ D _____,
with delay resulting in sharp adjustment, has to be avoided."
So far, the MPC has continued to attach primacy to growth
considerations. In their most recent comments, most
members highlighted the uneven nature of the recovery - the
scarring of small business and the informal sector. According
to another MPC member, Mridul Saggar, of the 404 industries
for which data is available, 63.4 per cent are operating below
2018-19 levels. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also argued that
the "informal sector is likely to take even longer to _____ E
_____ as the impact of the second wave on this sector was
relatively more pronounced." But the space for continuing
with its current stance appears to be receding.
In its October meeting, the monetary policy
committee of the RBI chose to maintain the policy
status quo, keeping the benchmark repo rate at 4
per cent and continuing with its accommodative
_____ A _____, presumably as long as is necessary to
revive growth.

Which of the following can be placed at A to make

the sentence contextually and grammatically
correct?

1. Stayed
2. Glance
3. Twist
4. Stride
5. Stance
But the decision was not _____ B _____. MPC
member Jayanth Varma voted not only against
continuing with the accommodative stance, but
also argued in favour of raising the reverse repo
rate.

Which of the following can be placed at B to make

the sentence contextually and grammatically
correct?

1. Unanimous
2. Anonymous
3. Animated
4. Amorous
5. Nominated
Concerns over how long the MPC can
continue with its policy stance appear to
be gaining _____ C _____.

Which of the following can be placed at C to

make the sentence contextually and
grammatically correct?

1. Traction
2. Reduction
3. Reduce
4. Trace
5. Traverse
Even though the other members stuck to their
earlier positions, there appears to be a shift in the
tone of the commentary, with a member, Ashima
Goyal, arguing that "over-stimulus as after the
global financial _____ D _____, with delay
resulting in sharp adjustment, has to be avoided.“

Which of the following can be placed at D to

make the sentence contextually and
grammatically correct?

1. Cries
2. Crunched
3. Rice
4. Crises
5. Rises
RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also argued that
the "informal sector is likely to take even longer
to _____ E _____ as the impact of the second
wave on this sector was relatively more
pronounced." But the space for continuing with
its current stance appears to be receding.

Which of the following can be placed at E to

make the sentence contextually and
grammatically correct?

1. Regroup
2. Cope
3. Coup
4. Recoup
5. Recoil
After a year of teaching almost exclusively on Zoom, I made
my triumphant return to in-person instruction in August.
Except it wasn't so triumphant. Throughout the previous
academic year, I had assumed that teaching _____A_____ -
even in masks - was far, far easier than the education-by-video
conferencing that I was exhausting myself to provide. Within
five minutes of my first masked in-person class, however, I
discovered how very wrong that assumption had been. Now,
to be clear, I am not complaining about my institution's
masking policy. Masking makes the meeting of ____B____ in a
college classroom possible. Still, I hadn't perceived how hard
it is to read the responses of one's audience when the most
expressive part of the face is hidden. Were my students
grinning at me or glowering? Were they yawning under there?
Halfway through my first in-person session, I was certain that I
had lost my ____C____ during my year on the screen.
A few days later, I ____I____ these difficulties to
my spouse, a fellow professor and a veteran of
masked teaching, and was ____II____ with a
knowing smile (D). "Yeah," she said, "the rest of
the body has to compensate." She pointed me, in
particular, to the hands. So, I began to watch the
hands of my students, friends, and children when
they were engaged in masked conversation, and I
observed that the most effective communicators
delivered the most histrionic performances.
_____E_____. You might miss a few muffled
words, but you couldn't miss the point of what
they were saying.
Masking makes the meeting of ____B____ in
a college classroom possible. Still, I hadn't
perceived how hard it is to read the
responses of one's audience when the most
expressive part of the face is hidden. Were
my students grinning at me or glowering?

Which of the following phrases will fill blank

B?

1. notable people
2. well known strangers
3. relative strangers
4. absolutely strangers
5. relatively strangers
Were my students grinning at me or
glowering? Were they yawning under there?
Halfway through my first in-person session, I
was certain that I had lost my ____C____
during my year on the screen.

Select the pair of synonyms for the word that

will fill blank C.

1. aura, obnoxiousness
2. cerebral, rational
3. obnoxiousness, appeal
4. distastefulness, offensiveness
5. mystique, glamour
After a year of teaching almost exclusively on Zoom, I
made my triumphant return to in-person instruction
in August. Except it wasn't so triumphant. Throughout
the previous academic year, I had assumed that
teaching _____A_____ - even in masks - was far, far
easier than the education-by-video conferencing that I
was exhausting myself to provide.

Which of the following phrase will NOT fit in blank A?

1. in-person
2. in the flesh
3. one-to-one personally
4. learned person
5. in propria persona
So, I began to watch the hands of my students, friends, and children when they were engaged in
masked conversation, and I observed that the most effective communicators delivered the most
histrionic performances. _____E_____.
Consider the following jumbled up sentences.
I. and discoursing gestures thereof (A) / the natural language of the hand (B) /
composed of the speaking motions (C)
II. grief and resignation; they cut their hands across the air in defiance (M) /
forward in supplication; they threw their hands down at their sides in (N) / they
threw their hands up to signify exaltation and despair; they thrust their hands
(O)
III. in the world and expect to converse freely (P) / thus one could, on this
account, travel anywhere (Q) / and immediately by hand alone (R)
Which of the above-mentioned sentences will fill blank E?
1. Only I
2. Only II
3. Only III
4. Both I & II
5. Both I & III
A few days later, I ____I____ these difficulties to
my spouse, a fellow professor and a veteran of
masked teaching, and was ____II____ with a
knowing smile (D).

A Sentence is labelled as D as it contains two

blanks. Select the right pair of words that will
fill both its blank?

1. reported, greeted
2. describes, hailed
3. outlined, ignored
4. shared, address
5. reveals, welcome
To get everybody on the same page, I called a
meeting with my economic team. We spent a long,
exhausting day hearing from Treasury Secretary Tim
Geithner about how the stress tests were going,
___(A)___ out various alternatives, and pushing
every idea to its logical conclusion to see if it might
work. By evening, I left the meeting to have dinner
and get a haircut and told my team that I expected
a/an ___(B)____ upon my return. But the truth was
that, through that ___(C)___ process, I had already
reached my decision to let the stress tests bear out.
Within six months, the economy would start growing
again. And by the next year, the biggest banks had
paid back every dime of taxpayer money - plus
interest.
To get everybody on the same page, I called a meeting
with my economic team. We spent a long, exhausting day
hearing from Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner about how
the stress tests were going, ___(A)___ out various
alternatives, and pushing every idea to its logical
conclusion to see if it might work.

Which of the following can fit in blank A?

i) hashing
ii) eliminating
iii) ignoring

1. Only i)
2. Only ii)
3. Onlyiii)
4. Both i) and ii)
5. Both ii) and iii)
By evening, I left the meeting to have dinner and get
a haircut and told my team that I expected a/an
___(B)____ upon my return.

Which of the following can fit in blank B?

i) defeat
ii) unison
iii) consensus

1. Only ii)
2. Only iii)
3. Both ii) and iii)
4. Only i)
5. Both i) and iii)
But the truth was that, through that ___(C)___
process, I had already reached my decision to let the
stress tests bear out. Within six months, the
economy would start growing again.

Which of the following can fit in blank C?

i) gruelling
ii) alliteration
iii) assonance

1. Only i)
2. Both i) and ii)
3. Both ii) and iii)
4. Both i) and iii)
5. All i), ii) and iii)