English Reading Comprehension Questions
Reading Comprehension Practice Test. Reading Comprehension based on different editorial like; The Hindu, Economics Times, Times of India etc. Welcome to the Let’s Study Together online English section. If you are preparing for Banking and Insurance Exams, you will come across Reading Comprehension Test in English language section. Here we are providing you English Reading Comprehension Test for Banking Exams , based on the latest pattern of your daily practice.
Reading Comprehension Test will help you learn concepts on important topics in English Section. This “English Reading Comprehension Test for Banking Exams” 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.
Reading Comprehension Test for Banking Exams | Set –5
Direction (1-10) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below them. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
Paragraph 1: Rudyard Kipling once described Shimla as a “centre of power and pleasure”. The power faded with the Raj. Now, pleasure is at a premium. Shimla is struggling with a water crisis that is an echo of Cape Town’s distress earlier this year. It has run out of municipal drinking water supply during peak tourist season. Citizens are being forced to queue up to collect water from tankers. Schools have been shut down for 10 days. This crisis is a reflection of a wider problem confronting India.
Paragraph 2: India has adequate freshwater. The problem is inefficient and wasteful use. According to the Central Water Commission, agriculture consumed about 85.3% of total freshwater in 2000. This is likely to decrease only by a meagre 2% by 2025. Water usage for major crops in India—paddy and maize, for instance—is two to four times that in other large farming nations thanks to wasteful flood irrigation, mostly in northern India. This can be traced to the subsidy regime. The Economic Survey, 2015-16 noted that the present subsidy structure “encourages using more inputs such as fertilizer, water and power, to the detriment of soil quality, health and the environment”. Most states provide electricity either for free or at a flat rate. This inevitably leads to wasteful water extraction. Both the Economic Survey and a 2015 International Monetary Fund (IMF) study have noted that these subsidies disproportionately benefit rich and large farmers. A number of economists have recommended tapering off electricity and water subsidies. The Aadhaar and financial inclusion drives have laid the foundations for the Centre and states to do just that via targeted direct benefit transfers.
Paragraph 3: Concurrently, irrigation infrastructure must be upgraded and research and development efforts focused on improving agricultural productivity with lower water usage. There have been some promising developments here. Punjab Agriculture University, for example, has recently come up with a new water-saving variety of rice that matures one to five weeks earlier than other varieties without compromising on the yield. The government is also collaborating with Israel—an established leader in water-management techniques—to promote drip irrigation; Asia’s largest such project took off in Karnataka earlier this year.
Paragraph 4: About 80% of drinking water needs are sustained by groundwater. Look no further than today’s centre of power to see the problems here. In 2001, India’s groundwater authority banned private water extraction in Delhi due to the looming fear of groundwater depletion. However, the black market persists. Here’s how dire the situation is: According to scientists at the National Geophysical Research Institute, Delhi could dry up in a few years.
Paragraph 5: It’s worth noting here that water is a state subject and states have kept water-pricing rates stagnant for about three decades now. Pair this with the subsidy burden—the IMF study reckoned that it “amounted to 0.6% of global gross domestic product in 2012”—and authorities are left with little financial means to invest in the water- management practices that would provide sustainable, long-term solutions. These range from the construction of reservoirs to building water treatment and recycling infrastructure. Putting in place viable water-pricing policies and ending subsidies will be tricky given the political optics. But these are essential changes. Others are needed as well. India has an antiquated legal framework to regulate groundwater. Since it is considered a part of land and gives landowners unrestricted entitlement to it, the government is left with little leeway to act. Legislative change is important.
1. According to the passage, which of the following sentences portray the crisis(es) in Shimla?
(I) There is irregular Electricity supply in Shimla.
(II) Educational institutes have been shut down.
(III) People are struggling for water accessibility.
(IV) Shortage of municipal drinking water supply in Shimla.
A. Only (I)
B. Only (I) and (II)
C. Only (II), (III) and (IV)
D. Only (I), (II) and (III)
E. All are correct
2. According to the passage, what is/ are the component (s) of unnecessary use of water?
A. Excess supply of water to other states.
B. Excess use of groundwater for personal use.
C. Large consumption of freshwater in agriculture.
D. Both (B) and (C)
E. All are correct.
3. How can we justify “water is a state subject” stated by the author?
A. As water affects every state of economy.
B. As a particular country can decide the future of water availability in their country.
C. As state of a country is responsible for any water crises occurred.
D. As different states have different water procurement process.
E. None of these
4.What efforts should India make to prevent itself from going dry?
(I) Research and development efforts should be focused on improving agricultural productivity with lower water usage.
(II) India should provide water- management awareness to its citizens.
(III) India should collaborate with other countries for learning water management techniques.
A. Only (I)
B. Both (I) and (III)
C. Both (II) and (III)
D. Only (III)
E. All are correct
5. The appropriate title of the passage is-
A. India and Israel collaboration
B. The Aadhaar and financial inclusion
C. Improving irrigation infrastructure
D. India to the brink of a water crisis
E. No Error
6. Which of the following alternatives among the five options provides the most similar meaning(s) of the word given in BOLD as used in the passage? “Dire “
A. devour
B. revoke
C. unprecedent
D. appalling
E. extraneous
7. Which of the following alternatives among the five options provides the most similar meaning(s) of the word given in BOLD as used in the passage? “Tapering off “
A. tenable
B. Abate
C. ameliorate
D. repudiate
E. inundate
8. Which of the following alternatives among the five options provides the most similar meaning(s) of the word given in BOLD as used in the passage? “Inevitable”
A. testimony
B. allude
C. inexorable
D. fester
E. eerie
9. Which of the following alternatives among the five options provides the most opposite meaning(s) of the word given in BOLD as used in the passage? “Looming”
A. punitive
B. humongous
C. ambiguous
D. inimitable
E. receding
10. Which of the following alternatives among the five options provides the most opposite meaning(s) of the word given in BOLD as used in the passage? “Detriment”
A. exacerbate
B. farthing
C. privilege
D. covet
E. nuance
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