Banking Exams English Essential Concepts, Practice Questions & Preparation Tips Free PDF

In banking exams English is quite an important section which includes three major concepts such as Vocabulary, Reading Comprehension and Grammar. As far as banking exams are concerned the examiner judges aspirant’s reading, writing, speaking and analytical skills. Here in this article we are providing Banking Exams English Essential Concepts, Practice Questions & Preparation Tips Free PDF. Mentioned below are few important concepts:

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Important English Concepts & Their Explanations

It is important to understand these critical concepts or topics for English section preparation especially for banking exams. Thus, it’s important for the candidates to prepare the below mentioned topics thoroughly. 

• Reading Comprehension
• Cloze Passage
• Error Detection
• Sentence Completion
• Contextual Usage
• Phrase Correction
• Para jumbles
• Grammar
• Connectors

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Reading Comprehension

Reading comprehension passages are very important for both Preliminary and Mains stages as they account for 25-50% of the weightage. You can expect one passage with 5 to 10 questions at the prelims level. Read the complete passage and try to understand not only the facts, but also what the whole passage is about.

It is important to pay attention to the beginning and the end of the passage.The first few lines give the background or set the mood of the passage. The last paragraph usually sums up the idea being discussed in the passage.Keep in mind what idea is being conveyed in different paragraphs. For instance, if the author talks about negative effects of globalisation in the second paragraph, you should keep in mind which paragraph lists negative effects. This will help you quickly refer to the passage in case you need to. This will also help you answer questions based on the central idea of a particular paragraph.
All questions should be answered based only on the information given in the passage. You should not let outside knowledge influence your answers.

Tips:

• You should approach reading comprehension questions after you have attempted other types of questions, which take considerably less time.
• Reading the questions before reading the passage can help you understand the passage better and help you attempt the questions faster.
• When attempting an RC, you should first attempt vocabulary-based questions as these usually take the least amount of time.
• Work on improving your vocabulary, this will not only help you understand the passage better, but also improve your accuracy in vocab-based questions.
• Read articles on different topics to improve your reading speed. This will also help you remember the contents of the passage.

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Cloze Passage

Directions (Qs. 1-5): In the following passage, some of the words have
been left out and replaced by a blank represented by a letter. First read the passage and try to understand what it is about. Then fill in the blanks as per the questions given.

Global environmental risks caused by human activities are becoming
increasingly complex and interconnected, with far-reaching (A) for
people, economies and ecosystems. We are now in the Anthropocene – a
geological epoch where humans are a dominant force of change on the
planet. The Anthropocene is characterized by a/an (B) interconnected
and accelerating world. This hyper interconnectivity and pace of (C)
demands that we reconceptualize risk. The architecture that connects crises causes their impacts to ripple out in (D) ways. This was widely seen in the 2008 financial crisis, which had (E) impact on food prices that ultimately drove land grabs in Africa, Asia and South America.
Question 1: (A)
A) repercussions
B) consequences
C) implications
D) ramifications
E) All of the above
Question 2: (B)
A) relentless
B) increasingly
C) reticent
D) demanding
E) None of the above

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Error Detection

Some common rules of grammar that must be followed when detecting
errors in such questions:

1. Subject-verb agreement: A singular subject needs a singular verb, and
   a plural subject needs a plural verb.
   Example 1: Jack is married to Penny.
   Example 2: The horses are galloping.
2. Adjectives and adverbs: An adjective always modifies a noun or a
   pronoun, and an adverb always modifies a verb, adjective or another
   adverb.
   Example 1: The girl (n.) is beautiful (adj.).
   Example 2: The team performed (v.) brilliantly (adv.).
3. Common verb constructions:
   Infinitive construction: TO + V1 (Example: She wants to play
   basketball.)
   Modal verb construction: Modal + V1 (Example: He must visit them.)
   (Note: Can, could, shall, should, must, will, would, may, might, do, did are
   all modal verbs).
4. Tenses:

Simple Continuous Perfect Perfect continuous

Present Go/
goes

Is/ are going Has/ have
gone

Has/ have been
going

Past Went Was/ were
going

Had gone Had been going

Future Will go Will be going Will have gone Will have been going

5. Common confusables:
   Few/ little/ many/ much: ‘Few’ and ‘many’ are for countable nouns, and
   ‘little’ and ‘much’ are for uncountable nouns.

Example 1: There were many boys present, but only a few of them knew
how to dance.
Example 2: There is much knowledge in the field of medicine, but I know
only little.
Since/ for: ‘Since’ is used to refer to a point in time, while ‘for’ is used to
refer to a period of time.
Example: We have lived here for five years, but it is only since Monday
that we have been receiving complaints about the noise.
That/ which: ‘That’ is used for restrictive clauses, while ‘which’ is used for
non-restrictive clauses that supply additional but unnecessary information.
Example 1: She got into the bus that was going to Kasol. (The sentence is
specifying the bus she boarded).
Example 2: She was watching TV, which was her favourite pastime. (The
sentence is giving additional information about her act of watching TV).

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Phrase Correction

Question 1: In the following question, a sentence is given with a phrase or idiom highlighted in bold. Select the option given below that can replace the highlighted phrase and mark that as your answer. I had no clue what to expect, and I certainly didn't know what I accounted for.

A) bore away

B) was in for

C) blown out

D) asked after

E) No improvement

Question 2: In the following question, a sentence is given with a phrase or idiom highlighted in bold. Select the option given below that can replace the highlighted phrase and mark that as your answer. She is defending her seat against the advancing Conservatives, who accounted through last year to take one of the ward's three seats.

A) wipe out

B) set out

C) wipe away

D) broke through

E) No improvement

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Sentence Completion

Question 1: In the question given below, a sentence is given with one blank, followed by five options, each having a word which may or may not fit in the blank. From the given options, choose the one that gives the correct word that fits in the blank.

Uncontrolled growth of cities at the expense of the environment will severely __________ the impacts of climate change.

A) exemplify

B) extol

C) experience

D) exacerbate

E) exude

Question 2: In the question given below, a sentence is given with one blank, followed by five options, each having a word which may or may not fit in the blank. From the given options, choose the one that gives the correct word that fits in the blank.

Nairobi is in the midst of an _________ demolition drive, uprooting thousands of buildings built on land that chokes the flow of water and contributes to severe annual floods.

A) extensive

B) exposure

C) comprehend

D) exhausting

E) conduct

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Para Jumbles

How to approach parajumbles:

• First, try to understand what the passage seeks to convey.
• Try to identify the first sentence – it is usually an independent
• sentence that introduces an idea.
• Try to identify mandatory pairs (a pair of sentences that clearly come together). They help us eliminate incorrect options.
• Look for sentences continuing or carrying forward an idea. For example, if the first sentence talks about benefits of globalisation, a sentence giving evidence to support globalisation will likely follow it.
• Maintain the chronological order of events (sentences describing events which happened earlier in time will come first).
• If a ‘fixed’ sentence is given, use it to find out which sentences canprecede or follow it.
• If the passage contains both abbreviation and its full form, the sentence with the full form will come first.
• Sentences beginning with pronouns (they, she, his, them etc.) generally don’t come first.

Grammar

Question 1: Match the statements from column 1 with column 2 and find which of the following pair of statements given in the options make contextually and grammatically correct sense.

Column 1	Column 2
A. Australia’s iconic Great Barrier Reef, now under threat from climate change,	D. asteroid strike that also killed off the dinosaurs.
B. No tree-dwelling birds survived the immense	E. has survived five environmental upheavals during the past 30,000 years.
C. Fossils shows that dogs with a ferocious bite roamed North America	F. 5 million years ago, crushing the skeletons of their prey in massive, muscular jaws.

A) A and F

B) B and D

C) A and D

D) C and E

E) B and F

Question 2: Match the statements from column 1 with column 2 and find which of the following pair of statements given in the options make contextually and grammatically correct sense.

Column 1	Column 2
A. Some of the most important decisions you will make	D. in your lifetime will occur while you feel stressed and anxious.
B. Research has shown that people are normally quite optimistic:	E. they will ignore the bad news and embrace the good.
C. When our ancestors found themselves in a habitat filled with hungry animals, they	F. benefited from an increased ability to learn about hazards so as to avoid predators.

A) A and F

B) B and D

C) C and E

D) C and F

E) A and E

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Connectors

Connectors are words or short phrases that link ideas or statements together. A connector should be chosen that retains the original meaning of the statements. The statements can exist without a connector, but using a connector helps define the relationship between them.

Cause-effect relationships – when one statement gives the result of the other statement.

Additionality – when one statements adds to what has been stated in the other.

Contradiction – when one statement states the opposite of what the other statement does.

Contrast – when one statement highlights something that is strikingly different from what has been stated in the other.

Conditionality – when one statement gives us the condition that needs to be fulfilled for the action/event stated in the second statement to take place.

Comparison – one statement equates the idea being conveyed by it with what has been stated in the other.

Parallel action – when the two statements mention different actions that take place simultaneously.

• Connectors showing contradiction/ contrast – although, though, but, even though, while, whereas, however, still, yet, unlike, conversely, despite, in spite of

I want to purchase this car but I don’t have 10 lakh rupees.

• Connectors showing additionality – also, in addition, and, besides, additionally, moreover, furthermore, on top of that
  • We want to build a new bridge and we want to repair the old one.

• Connectors showing a cause-effect relationship/ causation – because, since, as, for, therefore, thus, hence, consequently, as a result

He sold his car because he wanted to buy a new one.

• Connectors showing conditionality – if, unless, until, provided, whenever, hardly, barely, scarcely

I will let you go the party if you complete your homework first.

• Connectors showing comparison – similarly, while, likewise, equally, in the same way, as, as if, like, in the same way

While he is a chef, his brother is a police officer.

• Connectors showing parallel action – meanwhile, at the same time, while

He was watering the plants while his brother was cleaning the pool.

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This brings us to the end of the article. Download this English concepts free PDF and make sure to brush up your concepts along with practice questions with detailed solutions.