This practice set is created for IBPS PO aspirants to practice commonly asked English questions based on recent exam patterns.
{
“questions”: [
{
“id”: 1,
“question”: “Read the sentence and identify the error: ‘The manager, along with his assistants, have been working on the new audit report since early this morning.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “The manager, along with”,
“B”: “his assistants, have”,
“C”: “been working on the”,
“D”: “new audit report since”
},
“correct_answer”: “B”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Error Detection”,
“explanation”: “When ‘along with’ is used, the verb must agree with the first subject (The manager), which is singular. So, ‘have’ should be ‘has’.”
},
{
“id”: 2,
“question”: “Choose the most appropriate word to fill the blank: ‘The bank’s decision to increase interest rates was met with a ______ response from the industry specialists.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “lukewarm”,
“B”: “fervent”,
“C”: “tepid”,
“D”: “equivocal”
},
“correct_answer”: “D”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Vocabulary”,
“explanation”: “‘Equivocal’ means open to more than one interpretation; ambiguous. In complex financial contexts, specialists often have conflicting or multi-layered responses.”
},
{
“id”: 3,
“question”: “Sentence Improvement: ‘Hardly had he finished his work when the lights went out.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “No improvement needed”,
“B”: “Hardly he had finished”,
“C”: “Hardly had he finished his work than”,
“D”: “Hardly had he finished his work then”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Sentence Improvement”,
“explanation”: “The structure ‘Hardly…when’ is grammatically correct and requires inversion (had he).”
},
{
“id”: 4,
“question”: “Identify the part with the error: ‘Not only the students but also the professor are attending the international seminar held in Delhi.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “Not only the students”,
“B”: “but also the professor”,
“C”: “are attending the”,
“D”: “international seminar”
},
“correct_answer”: “C”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Error Detection”,
“explanation”: “In ‘Not only…but also’, the verb agrees with the nearest subject. ‘Professor’ is singular, so it should be ‘is attending’.”
},
{
“id”: 5,
“question”: “Fill in the blank: ‘The new policy aims to ______ the existing loopholes in the system to prevent fraud.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “exacerbate”,
“B”: “mitigate”,
“C”: “plug”,
“D”: “ignore”
},
“correct_answer”: “C”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Fillers”,
“explanation”: “‘Plug’ is the standard idiom for closing loopholes in a system.”
},
{
“id”: 6,
“question”: “Cloze Test: The committee’s report was so ______ that it left no room for any further debate.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “exhaustive”,
“B”: “vague”,
“C”: “scanty”,
“D”: “superficial”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Cloze Test”,
“explanation”: “‘Exhaustive’ means fully comprehensive, which naturally leaves no room for debate.”
},
{
“id”: 7,
“question”: “Twisted Error: ‘The data analyzed by the team suggests that the market volatility is a result of geopolitical tensions.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “The data analyzed by”,
“B”: “the team suggests that”,
“C”: “the market volatility is”,
“D”: “No error”
},
“correct_answer”: “D”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Error Detection”,
“explanation”: “This is a ‘No Error’ trap. ‘Data’ can be treated as collective singular or plural; ‘suggests’ is correct here as it refers to the data as a single body of evidence.”
},
{
“id”: 8,
“question”: “Double Filler: ‘The ______ of the situation was so intense that even the most seasoned officers were ______.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “gravity, perturbed”,
“B”: “levity, confused”,
“C”: “brevity, shocked”,
“D”: “magnitude, happy”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Fillers”,
“explanation”: “‘Gravity’ (seriousness) matches ‘perturbed’ (anxious/upset) in a professional context.”
},
{
“id”: 9,
“question”: “Phrase Replacement: ‘Despite of his best efforts, he could not qualify the exam.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “Despite his best efforts”,
“B”: “In spite his best efforts”,
“C”: “Despite of best efforts”,
“D”: “No correction required”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Phrase Replacement”,
“explanation”: “‘Despite’ is never followed by ‘of’. ‘In spite’ is followed by ‘of’.”
},
{
“id”: 10,
“question”: “Parajumble (Difficult): Which of the following should be the FIRST sentence after rearrangement? \n(P) This growth is driven by digital innovation.\n(Q) India’s economy is witnessing a significant shift.\n(R) However, challenges like inflation remain.\n(S) Most sectors are adapting to the new norm.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “P”,
“B”: “Q”,
“C”: “R”,
“D”: “S”
},
“correct_answer”: “B”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Parajumbles”,
“explanation”: “Q introduces the broad topic (India’s economy), making it the logical starting point.”
},
{
“id”: 11,
“question”: “Error Detection: ‘If I was the Governor of the RBI, I would have changed the repo rate policy immediately.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “If I was”,
“B”: “the Governor of the RBI”,
“C”: “I would have changed”,
“D”: “repo rate policy”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Error Detection”,
“explanation”: “In hypothetical/unreal situations (subjunctive mood), ‘were’ is used instead of ‘was’ regardless of the subject.”
},
{
“id”: 12,
“question”: “Vocabulary (Tricky): Choose the synonym of ‘Exacerbate’.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “Alleviate”,
“B”: “Aggravate”,
“C”: “Ameliorate”,
“D”: “Pacify”
},
“correct_answer”: “B”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Vocabulary”,
“explanation”: “‘Exacerbate’ means to make a problem or bad situation worse; ‘Aggravate’ has the same meaning.”
},
{
“id”: 13,
“question”: “Cloze Test (Difficult): The recent ______ in global oil prices has forced many emerging economies to rethink their budget allocations.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “fluctuation”,
“B”: “stabilization”,
“C”: “surge”,
“D”: “variation”
},
“correct_answer”: “C”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Cloze Test”,
“explanation”: “‘Surge’ implies a sudden and powerful forward or upward movement, which is the specific context that ‘forces’ a rethink.”
},
{
“id”: 14,
“question”: “Identify the error: ‘None of the two candidates who appeared for the interview was found suitable for the post.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “None of the”,
“B”: “two candidates who”,
“C”: “appeared for the interview”,
“D”: “was found suitable”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Error Detection”,
“explanation”: “When referring to ‘two’ things/people, ‘Neither’ should be used instead of ‘None’. ‘None’ is used for more than two.”
},
{
“id”: 15,
“question”: “Double Filler (Tricky): The manager’s ______ attitude was a major ______ to the team’s overall productivity.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “autocratic, hindrance”,
“B”: “benevolent, obstacle”,
“C”: “cavalier, boost”,
“D”: “dilatory, catalyst”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Fillers”,
“explanation”: “‘Autocratic’ (controlling) logically pairs with ‘hindrance’ (obstruction) in a negative productivity context.”
},
{
“id”: 16,
“question”: “Select the correct Part of Speech for ‘Underneath’ in: ‘The cat was hiding underneath the table.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “Adverb”,
“B”: “Preposition”,
“C”: “Conjunction”,
“D”: “Adjective”
},
“correct_answer”: “B”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Grammar”,
“explanation”: “It specifies the relationship between the cat and the table, making it a preposition.”
},
{
“id”: 17,
“question”: “Tricky Sentence Improvement: ‘No sooner had the whistle blown than the players ran out of the field.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “No sooner had the whistle blown when”,
“B”: “No sooner did the whistle blow than”,
“C”: “No sooner had the whistle blow than”,
“D”: “No improvement”
},
“correct_answer”: “D”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Sentence Improvement”,
“explanation”: “The ‘No sooner had … than’ structure is correct. Note ‘blown’ (V3) is used with ‘had’.”
},
{
“id”: 18,
“question”: “Error detection: ‘She is smarter than any other girl in her class, yet she remains humble.'”,
“options”: {
“A”: “She is smarter than”,
“B”: “any other girl in”,
“C”: “her class, yet”,
“D”: “No error”
},
“correct_answer”: “D”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Error Detection”,
“explanation”: “This is correct as it stands (‘than any other’ is the standard comparative form). A common trap.”
},
{
“id”: 19,
“question”: “Filler: The government is ______ a new scheme to provide financial assistance to small-scale industries.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “formulating”,
“B”: “making”,
“C”: “creating”,
“D”: “founding”
},
“correct_answer”: “A”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “moderate”,
“topic”: “Fillers”,
“explanation”: “In an official/policy context, ‘formulating’ is the most appropriate term for drafting a scheme.”
},
{
“id”: 20,
“question”: “Twisted Vocabulary: Choose the antonym of ‘Ambiguous’.”,
“options”: {
“A”: “Vague”,
“B”: “Obscure”,
“C”: “Lucid”,
“D”: “Equivocal”
},
“correct_answer”: “C”,
“marks”: 1,
“difficulty”: “difficult”,
“topic”: “Vocabulary”,
“explanation”: “‘Ambiguous’ means unclear or having dual meanings. ‘Lucid’ means very clear and easy to understand.”
}
],
“metadata”: {
“subject”: “English Language”,
“difficulty”: “Moderate to Difficult”,
“duration”: 20,
“totalMarks”: 20,
“exam”: “IBPS PO”
}
}