Practice Reading Comprehension Quiz 13

Reading comprehension is an important part of the English Language section in any Bank PO and Government exam. Here’s Reading Comprehension Quiz 13 from our series of Practice Reading Comprehension Quiz. Take the Reading Comprehension Quiz 13 and share your scores in the comment section below.

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

Reading Comprehension Quiz 13

Directions for Questions 1 to 15: Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

The modern world requires us to repose trust in many anonymous institutions. We strap ourselves in a flying tin can with two hundred other people not because we know the pilot but because we believe that airline travel is safe. Our trust in these institutions depends on two factors ; skills and ethics. We expect that the people who run these institutions know what they are doing, that they build and operate machines that work as they are supposed to and that they are looking out for our welfare even though we are strangers.

When one of these factors Is weak or absent, trust breaks down and we either pay a high price in safety- as in the Bhopal tragedy -or a large ‘welfare premium’ such as the elaborate security measures at airports. Trust-deficient environments work in the favor of the rich and powerful, who can command premium treatment and afford welfare premiums. Poor people can command neither; which is why air travel is safer than train travel, which in turn is safer than walking by the road side.

Every modem society depends on the trust in the skills and ethics of a variety of institutions such as schools and colleges, hospital and markets. If we stopped believing in the expertise of our teachers, doctors and engineers, we will stop being a modern society.

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

As the Institution among institutions, it is the duty of the state to ensure that all other institutions meet their ethical obligations. The Indian state has failed in its regulatory role. Consequently, we cannot trust our schools to turn out good graduates, we cannot ensure that our colleges turn out well trained engineers and we cannot guarantee that our engineers will turn out to be good products.

Last year, I was invited to speak at an undergraduate research conference. Most of the participants in this conference were students at the best engineering colleges in the State. One student who was driving me back and forth recounted a story about the previous year’s final exam. One of his papers had a question from a leading textbook to which the textbook’s answer was wrong. The student was in a dilemma: should he write the (wrong) answer as given in the textbook or should he write the right answers using his own analytical skills. He decided to do the latter and received a zero on that question. Clearly, as the student had suspected, the examiners were looking at the textbook answer while correcting the examination papers instead of verifying its correctness.

The behavior of these examiners is a breakdown of institutional morals, with consequences for the skills acquired by students. I say institutional morals, for the failure of these examiners Is not a personal failure. At the same conference I met a whole range of L liege teachers, all of whom were drafted as examiners at some time or the other. Without exception, they were dedicated individuals who cared about the education and welfare of their students. However, when put in the institutional role of evaluating an anonymous individual, they fail in fulfilling their responsibilities. When some of our best colleges are run in this fashion, is it any wonder that we turn out unskilled engineers and scientists? If, as we are led to expect, there is a vast increase in education at all levels and the regulatory regime is as weak as it is currently, isn’t it likely that the trust deficit is only going to increase ?

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

We are all aware of the consequences of ignoring corruption at all levels of society. While institutional failures in governance are obvious, I think the real problem lies deeper, in the failure of every day institutions that are quite apart from institutions that impinge on our lives only on rare occasions. It is true that our lives are made more miserable by government officials demanding bribes for all sorts of things, but what about the everyday lying and cheating and breaking of rules with people who are strangers?

Let me give you an example that many of us have experienced. I prefer buying my fruits and vegetables from roadside vendors rather than chain stores. To the vendor, I am probably an ideal customer, since I do not bargain and I do not take hours choosing the best pieces, instead, letting the vendor do the selecting. The market near my house is quite busy; as a result, most vendors are selling their wares to strangers. It takes a while before a particular vendor realizes that I am a repeat customer. In such a situation trust is crucial. I have a simple rule: if a vendor palms off a bad piece whose defects are obvious, I never go back to that person again. It is amazing how often that happens.

In my opinion, the failure of institutional ethics is as much about these little abuses of trust as anything else. Everyday thievery is like roadside trash; if you let it accumulate the whole neighborhood stinks.

1. What is the meaning of the phrase ‘palms off’ as used in the passage?

(1) steals from

(2) hides away from

(3) buys quickly

(4) acquires a good price for

(5) passes on by deception

For more Reading Comprehension Quiz,Take Oliveboard’s Free RC Test Here

2. Why, according to the author, do people repose trust in Institutions they do not know?

(1) The marketing strategies adopted by these institutions make them trustworthy in the eyes of the public.

(2) Many other people before them have done the same thing thus they feel safe.

(3) People learn from the experiences of their richer counterparts who have availed of the services of these institutions.

(4) They believe that these institutions have the requisite knowledge and will act only in favor of the general public.

(5) These institutions charge a very high price for the services they provide which leads people to trust them.

3. Why, according to the author, is the behavior of examiners a breakdown of institutional morals?

(1) As the institution encourages examiners to give as little marks to students as possible.

(2) As the institution is responsible for not encouraging examiners to venture outside the rote process.

(3) As the examiners are told to discourage students from being creative by the institution.

(4) As the institution fails to provide adequate compensation to these hardworking examiners.

(5) As the institution does not have information regarding right answers with it.

For more Reading Comprehension Quiz,Take Oliveboard’s Free RC Test Here

4. Which of the following is possibly the most appropriate title for the passage?

(1) Modifications in Institutional Ethics

(2) Lite Deceptions Add to Larger Trust-Deficit

(3) India-A Country without Ethics

(4) Failure of the Government

(5) College-As an Institution

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

5. Which of the following is NOT TRUE in the context of the passage?

(A) Despite, being aware of the fact that clients will not return, fruit and vegetable vendors sell bad goods.

(B) Examiners are devoted to their jobs.

(C) Examiners deliberately mark correct answers as incorrect ones.

(1) Only (A) and (C)

(2) Only (B)

(3) Only (A)

(4) Only (B) and (C)

(5) Only (C)

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

6. What, according to the author, happens when there is a breakdown of trust?

(A) Less affluent people have to compromise on quality.

(B) Our wellbeing is compromised.

(C) We pay a higher price for services.

(1) Only (A)

(2) Only (A) and (C)

(3) Only (B) and (C)

(4) Only (B)

(5) All (A) (B) and (C)

7. Which of the following reasons, make/s the author an ideal customer to a fruit and vegetable vendor?

(A) He/she remains a regular customer of the same vendor.

(B) He/she does not haggle for prices.

(C) He/she finishes the selection of goods in a short time.

(1) Only (B)

(2) Only (B) and (C)

(3) Only (C)

(4) Only (A) and (B)

(5) All (A) (B) and (C) are true

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

8. Why according to the author, do institutional failures in governance not matter on a larger scale?

(1) The general public does not care about the failures of these institutions as they do not feature in their lives at all.

(2) Such institutional failures are almost non-existent and do not occur often to matter to the public.

(3) These intrude in our lives only under exceptional circumstances whereas the everyday lies contribute to much more.

(4) These are a part of every country’s problems and are taken with a pinch of salt by the public.

(5) These institutional failures do not hamper the functioning of the country in any manner and are hence less important.

Answer Key

Q1.	Q2.	Q3.	Q4.	Q5.	Q6.	Q7.	Q8.
5	4	2	2	1	5	2	3

Take Free English Vocabulary Test Here

Directions for Questions 09 to 12: Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/ group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

9. OBLIGATION

(1) responsibility

(2) dependability

(3) compulsion

(4) debt

(5) force

Take Oliveboard’s Free New Pattern English Language Test

10. EXPERTISE

(1) proficiency

(2) authenticity

(3) inability

(4) power

(5) reality

11. PREMIUM

(1) monetary

(2) extra

(3) biased

(4) finest

(5) demarcated

Take Free English Vocabulary Test Here

12. RECOUNTED

(1) distinguished

(2) recalculated

(3) narrated

(4) remembered

(5) communicated

Take Free English Vocabulary Test Here

Directions for Questions 13 to 15: Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

13. REPEAT

(1) copied

(2) original

(3) new

(4) duplicate

(5) replicated

14. UNSKILLED

(1) civilized

(2) enlightened

(3) amateur

(4) trained

(5) cultured

15. MISERABLE

(1) despondent

(2) energetic

(3) dynamic

(4) vigorous

(5) joyous

Answer key

Q9	Q10	Q11	Q12	Q13	Q14	Q15
1	1	2	3	3	3	5

Practiced Reading Comprehension Quiz 13? Take Oliveboard’s More Free RC Test Here

Also Check

Reading Comprehension Quiz 01	Reading Comprehension Quiz 06
Reading Comprehension Quiz 02	Reading Comprehension Quiz 07
Reading Comprehension Quiz 03	Reading Comprehension Quiz 08
Reading Comprehension Quiz 04	Reading Comprehension Quiz 09
Reading Comprehension Quiz 05	Reading Comprehension Quiz 10
Reading Comprehension Quiz 11	Reading Comprehension Quiz 12

That’s all from us. Hope you liked the Reading Comprehension Quiz 13 from our series of Practice Reading Comprehension Quiz. Still Having Doubt? Connect Directly with the English Faculty on our Telegram Group. Install Telegram and join https://t.me/obbanking.