Expected Reading Comprehension for SBI Clerk. Welcome to the www.letsstudytogether.co online English section. If you are preparing for SBI Clerk 2018 exam, you will come across a section on the English language. Here we are providing you Expected Reading Comprehension for SBI Clerk, IDBI Executive and Syndicate PO based on the latest pattern of your daily practice.
Important Reading Comprehension for SBI Clerk will help you learn concepts on important topics in English Section.This “Expected Reading Comprehension for SBI Clerk” is also important for other banking exams such as SBI Clerk, IDBI Executive and Syndicate PO, IBPS PO, IBPS Clerk, SBI Clerk, IBPS RRB Officer, IBPS RRB Office Assistant, IBPS SO, SBI SO and other competitive exams.
Expected Reading Comprehension for SBI Clerk: Set – 56
Directions:(1-10) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions. Certain words are in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
For many contemporary Indians, religious ritual is simply a part of daily life. On the other hand, many won’t want to be caught performing a ritual; they feel uneasy. An impression that rituals are entirely redundant, optional extras at best, is a pervasive feature of modernist consciousness that treats them as vestiges of a premodern, archaic past, to be left behind as we become more educated and rational. This is partly because of the association of rituals with religion, but also because of the belief that they can’t survive the test of reason — they are meaningless, empty of content, needlessly repetitive and time-consuming. They sprout superstition, involve nonsensical mumbo jumbo. Moreover, they seem to reinforce a collectivist mentality that gives little room for individual freedom and innovation. This critique of ritual is not without precedents. Indeed, it has a long history.
In ancient India, even dissenting Brahmins questioned rituals when they became elaborate and expensive; the loss of simplicity and economy derailed them from their original purpose. Later, Upanishadic thinkers indicted them for their inanity; they were vacuous unless they related to knowledge hidden from common sense, i.e. the deeper relationship between Brahman and Atman. An even more radical critique of Vedic ritual was launched by Jains and Buddhists who questioned the materialist motivations behind them. Two of India’s greatest sons – Gautam Buddha and Ashoka – shifted the moral axis away from rituals to kindness and compassion towards all living beings. Proponents of bhakti challenged the ethical centrality of rituals and even social reformers such as Dayanand rejected the excessive ritualism in Hinduism.
Two things follow from this. First, if a rational critique of ritual was already present in the ancient world, then we can no longer divide our social universe as being ritual-oriented in the past and reason-oriented in the present. Second, this long history of critique shows that rituals survive criticism. No matter how hard we try, they can’t be jettisoned.
Consider this: We are not satisfied with receiving our university degree certificates by post or by simply an SMS. We voluntarily take part in a highly theatrical ceremony with differently codified dress for those who bestow university degrees and those who receive them. We reiterate our resolve to keep our country independent by unfurling the national flag every August 15, celebrate our Constitution through the Republic Day parade. We have memorials to not forget our loved ones when they are no longer with us. We continue to have rituals of healing, rituals to mark rites of passage such as attaining puberty or getting married, death rituals, rituals to mark the entry into the country’s Test team, as when a cap is handed over by a senior cricketer to one making the debut. We even have simple rituals of ordinary social interaction such as rituals of greeting.
It is because we are not mere machines or biological organisms but expressive creatures, and because we do not express ourselves only in oral and written speech but directly in bodily performances, that we continue to abide by existing rituals — the Hindu wedding ritual of going around the fire has been prevalent virtually uninterrupted for over 3,000 years — or invent or adopt new ones.
All these formal acts and utterances are reiterated and performed publicly, theatrically, so that all relevant people can participate in them. Many rituals break away from the routine of daily life to emphasize that certain events are special. But most of all, it is because rituals are the most economical way of reducing the fragility of social life, of establishing and consolidating social facts that we continue to have them. Neither words nor rational argumentation can do this job as efficiently as rituals can.
Furthermore, even skills learned with meticulous attention to rules soon assume the form of ritual-resembling habits. By virtue of reduplicative practices — consider how tennis strokes are perfected by constant repetition — they become unavailable to consciousness, and precisely for that reason become far more efficient. It is their very thoughtlessness that helps achieve this. Ironically, we ignore the importance of rituals only when we shut our eyes to our daily life. We can throw out one ritual for good reason, but soon enough, for a different and equally good reason, another one occupies the space left vacant by its departure.
So, rituals and ceremonies, involving skills and modes of action learnt painstakingly by our ancestors and transmitted inter-generationally to become part of collective memory and cultural repertoire, are necessary. The question then is not whether or not to have rituals but what kind of rituals to have. I suggest all rituals must meet two criteria: ethical and aesthetic. The aesthetic requires us to align our rituals as close as possible to other forms of memetic activities — dance, music, drama.
1. What do the examples quoted by the author in paragraph 4 suggest?
A. Different rituals performed in India
B. How rituals cannot be performed as private affairs
C. Why celebrating an event in India involves high expenditure
D. Importance of rituals in human life
E. From where have the rituals originated
2.How is practicing skills similar to performing rituals?
A. How is practicing skills similar to performing rituals?
B. both aim at maintaining discipline
C. both neglect the role of rationality
D. both are related to habits
E. All of the above
3.What role did Jains and Buddhists play in propagating rituals?
A. they presented a different perspective towards rituals
B. they raised questions on the acceptability of rituals as a symbol of morality
C. they replaced rituals with kindness and compassion towards all living beings
D. they turned the moral axis towards the believing in one’s own abilities
E. they encouraged kindness and compassion towards all living beings as a part of performing rituals.
4. For which job are the words and rational arguments considered inefficient?
A. nurturing the social life with beliefs
B. showing the complexity of speech and expression
C. encouraging freedom of expression
D. reducing the fragility of social life
E. increasing acumen of the representatives of the society
5. What can be understood from the history of criticism against rituals?
A. rituals can survive criticism
B. past was ritual-oriented
C. past cannot be differentiated from present on reason-orientation
D. present is reason-oriented
E. criticism of rituals has instead strengthened them
A. Both D and E
B. Both A and D
C. Both B and C
D. A, C and D
E. All of A, B, C, D and E
6.What is aesthetic criteria suggested by the author for evaluating rituals?
A. the message propagated by them
B. their closeness to memetic activities
C. their people-friendly nature
D. their acceptability in the past.
E. their support for ethical values
7.Which of the following do not explain the fading acceptability of rituals?
A. they stifle individual freedom and innovation
B. they are associated with religion
C. they cannot survive the test of rationality
D. they encourage fragmentation of society
E. they are redundant in nature
8. What is the main reason behind the long survival of rituals and adoption of new ones?
A. due to the expressive nature of humans
B. due to the expressive nature of humans
C. due to the expressive nature of humans
D. due to the tendency of humans of following the crowd
E. due to the low esteem of humans
9. As per the author, for which section of people it is easy to be positive?
A. For those who live in India
B. For those who have a good heart
C. For those who live in foreign countries
D. For those who were born in India
E. For a living soul
10. Which of the following facts can be followed about the author from the passage?
A. Which of the following facts can be followed about the author from the passage?
B. He belongs to a nuclear family
C. He is a journalist
D. He lives in the Southern region of the country
E. All of the above
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