CLOZE TEST PARAGRAPH - FILL IN BLANKS -Exercises for Practice (Duly Solved)

                                                          

HERE FOLLOW SOME EXERCISES BASED ON COMPETITION EXAMINATION QUESTIONS

EXERCISE 

ONE

Directions (1-14)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

According to the World Bank 2010 report, black money 1…...... ….......about 23.2 percent of India’s GDP in 2007. Given such a state, the country cannot 2……………………… it to continue for long. Black money is 3……………………  in various forms such as Gold, Real estate, Overseas tax havens and Cash. Demonetizing currency notes of particular denominations is a step to curb black money that is in the form of physical/ hard cash..

Although there is an apparent 4…………………. to the common man initially, given the short span of time to get these currency notes exchanged or deposited in banks and post offices, but he/she is expected to 5……………….. to the new currency system in a reasonable time.

Rural area farmers have slightly more 6……………… …… keeping in mind the Rabi crop harvest season, where the farmer must have 7………………… cash for their harvest. Also, in rural areas the exchange and deposit system can be 8……………………… to take a long time in case there is a bank in the village and inconvenience in terms of transportation, additional expenses and time is easily 9…………………. in case there is no bank in the village and the people have to go to the city for this purpose.

In terms of the 10…………….. on the economy, there has been speculation about deflation in the economy by one set of people due to expected 11…………….. in corruption and black money while the other expects inflation to take place due to speculated increase in investment of Gold, real estate and foreign currency.

However, it is essential to note here that although it is an excellent move towards 12………………… corruption, the plan can by no means be a 13………………..   step. The government has to take further steps to stop 14…………………. of black money. Only then will this decision of demonetising currency hold the significance the government has intended it to.

(Adaptation- Source Internet)

OPTIONS :

1.produced, created, formed ,generated ,shaped.

2.manage, handle, find,cope,afford.

3.concealed, covered, dubbed, stored, implicit.

4.Inconvenience, hindrance , hurdle,snag,trouble.

5.follow, adapt,hold, use,embrace.

6.trouble,quandary, inconvenience. hitch, dilemma.

7.procured, produced,gained, earned ,amassed.

8.projected,expected,planned,intended,designed.

9.probable, undergone, apparent, foreseeable,experienced.

10.impact , burden, change, gain,growth.

11.effect,result,crash, drop, fall.

12.holding, averting, curbing ,preventing, foiling.

13.effective, conclusive,final, exhibit,definite.

14.production, collection, creation, generation,display.

 

TWO

Directions (1-14)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case

In pursuance of the recent demonetization of high value banknotes, there has been a lot of discussion on whether the  current situation can be utilized to 1.....................………………  India towards a cashless future. It is also strongly desirable 2..................................   Indian economy’s dependence on cash. India has one of the highest cash to gross domestic product ratios in the world. Besides switching over of  economic activity in India has a cost.

The government on its part is also making all efforts at various levels to reduce the 3……………................. on cash. Opening bank accounts for the unbanked areas  and adoption of direct benefit transfer is a part of the overall idea to reduce usage of cash and increase transparency.

RBI has also issued licences to open new small finance banks and payments banks which are expected to give a 4........…………. to financial inclusion and bring innovative banking solutions. Things are also falling in place in terms of technology for India. The recently launched Unified Payments Interface by National Payments Corporation of India makes digital transactions as simple as sending a text message. The post demonetization exercise to exchange currency notes and the ongoing currency crunch will be a decisive factor in making India a truly cashless economy but the actual shift will only be 5.................………….. after the cash crunch eases. There are still a number of 6…...........…………… in making India a cashless economy.

First, a large part of the population is still outside the banking net and not in a position to 7…..........………. its dependence on cash. Even for people with access to banking, the ability to use their debit or credit card is limited because there are fewer points of sale which accept payments through cards.

Second, a large part of the workforce, which produces nearly half of the output in the country, works in the unorganized sector. It will not be easy for the informal sector to become cashless, and this part of the economy is likely to be 8. ...........………… the most because of the ongoing currency swap.

Third, there is a general preference for cash transactions in India. Merchants prefer not to keep records in order to avoid paying taxes and buyers find cash payments more 9………...........

However, it all will depend on a number of factors. First, the availability and quality of telecom network will play an important role. Presently, people face difficulties in making electronic payments even in metro cities because of poor network.

Second, as one of the biggest beneficiaries of this 10…...........………..  banks and related service providers will have to constantly invest in technology in order to 11…........………… security and ease of transactions. People will only shift when it’s easier, certain and safe to make cashless transactions.

Third, the government will also need to play its part. It will have to find ways to make convenient cashless transactions and 12……..........…….. cash payments. Implementation of the goods and services tax, for example, should encourage businesses to go cashless. Government should also take steps to 13…….........….. the tax administration, as more than taxes, small businesses 14.................………… tax inspectors.

The government will have to create conditions—not necessarily by creating cash shortages— to make this switch over successful in all respects. India may not become a cashless economy in the foreseeable future, but it needs to reduce its unusually high dependence on cash to bring in much needed transparency and efficiency in the system.

(Adaptation- Source Internet)

OPTIONS :

1  drag, haul, convert, drift, Push
2. framing, drawing, reducing, shifting, handling.
3. support, dependence ,addiction, reliance, faith.
4.drive, motion,Push, force, direction.
5. complete, visible,durable, pliable, workable.
6. possibilities, utilities, deficiency, dearth.hurdles,  
7.hold, deprive, divert, Reduce, deflect.
8.curtailed, affected,truncated, hindered, stalled.
9. judicious, astute, convenient,, incisive, helpful.
10. transition, evolution, alteration, induction, nudge.
11.reset, refurbish, revamp,improve, restore.
12.discourage,dither,shovel, disarray, daunt.
13. restore, revamp,upgrade, reuse, reestablish.
 14.fear, control, undertake, abide, accept.

THREE

Directions (1-12)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

India is a country 1………………   for its cultural heritage, traditions, civilization, religion and geographical features from the ancient time. On the other hand, it is also popular as a male chauvinistic nation. Women are given first priority in India however on the other hand they were badly treated in the family and society. They were limited only for the household chores or understand the 2……………......   of home and family members. The percentage of illiterate population in India is mostly covered by the women. They were kept totally 3..............…………. of their rights and own development. Women 4……………… half power of the country so in order to make this country a fully powerful country, women empowerment is very necessary. It is empowering women to understand their rights to be independent in every area for their proper growth and development. Women empowerment is very necessary to make the bright future of the family, society and country. Women need fresh and more 5…………........ environment so that they can take their own right decisions in every area whether for themselves, family, society or country.

In order to make the country fully developed country, women empowerment is an essential tool to get the goal of development. Many programmes have been 6………….......... and run by the government such as International Women’s day, mother’s day etc in order to bring 7..........…………. in the society about the true rights and value of the women in the development of the nation. Women need to be progressed in the number of 8…………........... The real meaning of the women empowerment is to make them well educated and leave them 9……………...... so that they can be 10…………........ to take their own decisions in any field.

Though the ratio of female sex and female literacy both has increased yet India needs to take some advance steps to 11. ......………… the women position in the society through the proper health, higher education and economic participation. Women empowerment needs to take full speed in right direction instead of being in 12..............…………    stage.

(Adaptation-Source Internet)

OPTIONS :

1. familiar, strewn, spread, recognized known.
2. responsibility,burden, liability, loathe, drudge
3. conscious, cognizant, mindful,unaware, alert.
4. enshrine,preserve,constitute, dominate, govern.
5. durable,Capable, resilient, competent, proficient.
6. executed, accomplished, derived,implemented, originated.
7.  awareness, knowledge, familiarity, fluency,  expertise.
8. focus, issues, topics, centres, spheres.
9. free,open, independent, liberal, sure.
10. strong, capable, definite, certain, distinct.
11. upgrade, ascend, rise,improve, increase.
12. nascent,ancient,early, primitive, modern.

FOUR

Directions (1-12)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

The term “social security” has its 1………………  meanings  ranging  from country to country according to prevailing political ideologies. In a socialist country it implies complete 2……………..  to every citizen of the country during his or her life. In other countries it refers to the protection afforded to the needy citizens by means of schemes 3………………. by democratic processes in commensurate  with resources of the State.

In general terms, social security means the protection  a society provides to its people against natural happenings which are beyond their 4.………………… It implies that the State shall ensure a minimum standard of material welfare to all its citizens against all the main 5………………………. of life or state is to ensure a minimum level of material living to the needy or helpless ones of the society.

In an industrial economy, the workers are subjected to periodic unemployment due to upheavals in business, sickness, industrial accidents and old age. As the worker does not have 6……………….. required to face the risks caused by these, such a situation underlines the need for social security to be provided to such needy workers/people. Naturally, the Government has, then, the obligation to help the needy and helpless workers and provide them security to pass through in period of 7………………...

It is also an established fact that the need for social security is realized not only to afford the needy workers’ protection against the adversities of life, but also for the overall 8…………………  of the State. In this way, social security measures have two-told significance for every developing country. They constitute an important step toward the goal of a Welfare State, by improving living and working conditions and 9……………. the people protection against the uncertainties of the future. These measures are also important for every industrialisation  programme, for not only to enable workers to become more 10……………….. but they also reduce the wastage arising from industrial disputes. Lack of social security 11………………. production and prevents the formation of a stable and efficient labour force. Social security is, therefore, not a burden, but a wise investment in the long run.

Thus, the need for a 12………………. programme of  social security in India is so strong that it needs no more proof or evidence. It is must to ensure a minimum level of living for those who are helpless on various counts

(Adaptation-Source Internet)

OPTIONS :

1.  different, various, varied,mixed, assorted.
2. shelter,protection, cover, refuge, asylum.
3. evolved, generated, caused, created, shaped.
4.  power, jurisdiction, race, action.control.
5.  deficiency, shortages,contingencies,paucity, incidents.
6. resources, funds, property, wealth, assets.
7. scarcity,adversity,danger, hardships, shortage.
8. up gradation, progression, improvement, expansion,development.
9. affording,showing, enabling, drawing, shielding.
10. efficient, rich, safe, strong,secure.
11. controls,impedes,governs, undertakes, favours.
12. comprehensive,efficient, strong, durable, long lasting

FIVE

Directions (1-9)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Digital India is a project 1……………. by the government of India on 1^st of July, 2015  with a view to empower the people of the country digitally and to transform India into a complete digitally empowered as well as knowledgeable country of the world. It is an initiative planned to digitally empower Indian society by 2…………….. the government departments and leading companies (national or international level). The main purpose of digitizing this country is to make available all the government services at easy reach to the citizens of India.

The program  projected at Rs 1,13,000 crore  is interconnected by the various governmental departments such as IT, education, agriculture, etc  to 3…………………. the desired target. It is headed and planned by the ministry of communications and information technology

There are three key vision areas of this programme.

First it will make easy and fast 4…………......... of  high speed internet delivering all the government services to people. It will provide lifelong, unique, online and authenticable digital identity to the citizens. It will make easy access to any online services like 5…………......…. bank account, financial management, safe and secure cyber-space, education, distance learning, etc.

Secondly, high demand of good governance and online services will make available all the services in real time through digitization. Digitally transformed services will also 6……..…………….  people for doing online business by making financial transactions easy, electronic and cashless.

Thirdly digital empowerment of Indian people will really make possible of digital literacy through universally accessible digital resources. It will enable people to submit required documents or certificates online and not physically in the schools, colleges, offices or any organization.

In the digital India there would be easy digitization of data which will help in making things much 7………………… and fast in the future. It will reduce paper work, save man power and save time as well. This project will take a speed by tying the knot between government and private sectors. A large number of villages interconnected with high speed network will really undergo a huge 8…………….........   from backward regions to complete digitally 9……………....…. areas. All the cities, towns and villages in India will get more tech savvy. This project has been planned to be completed by 2019 with the investment of leading companies (national or international). It has been declared by a single private company to invest around 2.5 lac crore in the digital India project.

(Adapted : Source Internet)

OPTIONS :

1.  organized, prepared, shortlisted, promoted.launched,
2. integrating,joining, incorporating, amalgamating, mingling.
3.  realize,achieve,receive, collect, accept.
4. show,delivery,distribution,access, sharing.
5. Handling,governing,managing, gathering, controlling.
6. enable, promote,consider,support , uphold.
7. more efficient,faster, cheaper, attractive,helpful.
8. alteration, modification,change, variance, revolution.
9. equipped,favored, preferred, privileged, saved.

SIX

Directions (1-14)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Britain will 1……………………the European Union's single market when it 2…………………… …… the bloc, Prime Minister Theresa May said in a decisive speech that 3………………………. speculation she would seek a compromise deal to stay inside the world's biggest trading bloc.

Since May was 4…………………………….into the premiership after Britain voted to leave the EU last June, she has refused to spell out precisely what arrangement she would seek.

That left the country speculating on whether she would opt for a “soft Brexit” that would 5…………………….. benefits of membership in return for keeping Britain still subject to some EU rules, or pursue a cleaner break. Businesses 6…………………… of uncertainty.

For months May has 7………………………….  criticism that she has been too silent about her plans, arguing that giving too much detail would weaken Britain's negotiating stance.

May said she would not 8…………………………….. models already used by other countries that have free trade agreements with the bloc, a clear rejection of arrangements seen as templates for a hypothetical “soft Brexit”. Norway, for example, is outside the EU but a member of the wider European  Economic Area, giving it 9…………………………..  to the single market but subjecting it to many EU rules.

Setting out a vision that could chart Britain's future for generations, May answered criticism that she has been 10……………………. about her plans with a direct pitch for a clean break, widely known in Britain as a “hard Brexit”.

May promised to seek the greatest possible access to European markets. But she also said Britain would aim to establish its own 11………………………..  trade deals with countries far beyond Europe, and to impose limits on immigration from the continent.

“I want to be clear: What I am proposing cannot mean membership of the single market,” May told an 12…………………………. of foreign diplomats and Britain's own Brexit negotiating team at a mansion house in London. “Instead we seek the greatest possible access to it through a new comprehensive,   bold and ambitious free trade agreement.

She outlined twelve negotiating priorities, including limiting immigration, exiting jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, and ending full membership of the customs union that sets external 13……………………….  for goods imported into the bloc.

Full membership in the customs union 14…………………………………Britain making its own trade deals, May said, but she still wanted a deal to keep trade with Europe as “frictionless as possible”.

(Adapted- Source news item Reuters)

OPTIONS :

 1. step down, retire, quit cease, depart.

2.  discards, lays off, denounce, forsake, exits.

3. dropped, outplayed, hindered, quashed, drove away.

4.  catapulted cast, inducted, drawn, hailed.

5. gain, retain, hold, carry ,manage.

6.  favoured, showed, complained, seized, disdained.

7.weathered, enjoyed, condemned,suffered, avoided.

8. favour, govern, adopt, hold, project.

9.  reach, hold, control, passage, access

10. bold, ambiguous, coy, uncertain, clear.

11. open, wide,free, restricted, direct.

12. gallery, cluster, audience, listeners, masses.

13. tariffs, payments, charges, controls,restrictions.

14. halted, dropped, banned, plummeted, prevented.

SEVEN

Directions (1-10)  : In the following passage, there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. Against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Art, like most human beings, is temperamental; it is no secret that artists, poets and musicians work when they get the requisite 1……………………………. It is impossible to separate art, or the arts, from life; they are a part and parcel of it. The idea can also be expressed by saying that when life declines and the standards of living 2.………………………….., art also declines. On the other hand, when life marks an upward swing and shows all-round improvement, such a swing inevitably gets reflected in the arts. The effect of art is much more varied and complex; no matter how we 3.………………………… art, we always discover that it involves something different from a simple transmission of feelings. Whether or not we agree that art is a concentration of life, we must realize that it 4………………………… from certain live feelings and works upon those feelings, a fact not to be ignored. This process is called catharsis – the 5………………………… of these feelings into opposite ones and their subsequent resolution. This view of course 6……………………………. perfectly with the principle of  antithesis in art. To understand this we must look at the problem of the biological 7…………………………… of art, and realize that art is not merely a means for infection but something immeasurably more important in itself. The ancient singing and playing  8………………………………… from a complex need for catharsis. A chorus sung during hard and exhausting work 9……………………………….. muscular effort by its rhythm, and apparently aimless play responds to the subconscious requirement of training and regulation of physical or intellectual effort. This is also the requirement of psychophysical catharsis formulated by Aristotle for the drama; it 10…………………….. itself in the unsurpassed mastery of women to shed tears at will. The phenomenon is the same; the difference lies only in expression and understanding. Rhythm in poetry is something artistic and has its primitive psychophysical origins. In fact, art releases and processes some extremely complex human organismic urges.

(Adapted :Source Internet)

OPTIONS :

1. (a) perception, (b) inspiration,(c) emotions, (d) sensations, (e) feeling.

2.(a) weaken, (b) depreciate, (c) deteriorate,(d)  recover,(e)  develop.

3.(a) accost, (b) tackle,(c)  handle,(d)  approach,(e) attempt.

4. (a) continues, (b)  grows,(c)  pursues,(d)  flows,(e) proceeds.

5.(a) transformation, (b) movement,(c)  progress,(d)  exhibit, (e) appearance. 

 6. (a) derives, (b) agrees,(c)  treats,(d)  depends, (e) goes.

7.(a)meaning,(b) consequence,(c) significance,(d) reference, (e)  worth.     

8.(a) grown, (b) developed, (c) progressed, (d) improved, (e) emanated.

9.(a) regulates,(b)  soothes,(c)  maintains, (d) draws, (e) displays.

10.(a) contains,(b)  manifests,(c)  abounds, (d)  holds,(e)  shows.

ANSWERS WITH EXPLANATIONS 

1.b.

Poetry or music are  concerned with heart. So perception and sensation are not correct words. Out of the remaining three words, inspiration is the correct word.

2. c.

Here recover and develop have opposite meanings. For certain conditions depreciate and weaken do not suit well. Deteriorate is the correct word.

3. d.

Accost means to meet some person, tackle and handle mean to control something, attempt means to try. These all do not fit here well. Approach is the correct word.

4. e.

Continues, grows and pursues show continuity of some action. Flows also gives a similar meaning. Proceeds is the correct word.

5. a.

Here a word is required which means to change. Out of the given options transformation is the correct word.

 6. b.

Derives means to reach at some conclusion.Treats and depends have no sense here. Out of goes and agrees, agrees is the correct word.

7. c 
With word biological meaning, consequence and reference do not go. Out of worth and significance the latter is better option.

 8.e.
Words progressed, improved and grown do not fit well according to the meaning of the sentence. Out of developed     and emanated the latter is appropriate.

9.a.
Words maintains, draws and displays do not go well with hard and exhaustive work. Soothes means to ease or calm It also does not give a sense. Regulates is the correct option.

10.b.

Manifests means to appear something to be revealed clearly. Out of the given options manifests is the correct word.