SBI PO Prelims English Language Quiz -44

09/06/2022

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SBI PO English Language Quiz

English Language is a part of almost all major competitive exams in the country and is perhaps the most scoring section also. Aspirants who regularly practice questions have a good chance of scoring well in the English Language Section. So here we are providing you with the SBI PO English Language Quiz to help you prepare better. This RRB PO English Language Quiz includes all of the most recent pattern-based questions, as well as Previous Year’s Questions. This SBI PO English Language Quiz is available to you at no cost. Candidates will be provided with a detailed explanation of each question in this SBI PO English Language Quiz. Candidates must practice this SBI PO English Language Quiz to achieve a good score in the English Language Section.

Directions (1- 5): 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.

Jon Clark’s study of the effect of the modernization of a telephone exchange on exchange maintenance work and workers is a solid contribution to a debate that encompasses two lively issues in the history and sociology of technology: technological determinism and social constructivism.

Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization. Clark believes this possibility has been obscured by the recent sociological fashion, exemplified by Braverman’s analysis, that emphasizes the way machinery reflects social choices. For Braverman, the shape of a technological system is subordinate to the manager’s desire to wrest control of the labor process from the workers. Technological change is construed as the outcome of negotiations among interested parties who seek to incorporate their own interests into the design and configuration of the machinery. This position represents the new mainstream called social constructivism.

The constructivists gain acceptance by misrepresenting technological determinism: technological determinists are supposed to believe, for example, that machinery imposes appropriate forms of order on society. The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.

Clark refutes the extremes of the constructivists by both theoretical and empirical arguments. Theoretically he defines “technology” in terms of relationships between social and technical variables. Attempts to reduce the meaning of technology to cold, hard metal are bound to fail, for machinery is just scrap unless it is organized functionally and supported by appropriate systems of operation and maintenance. At the empirical level Clark shows how a change at the telephone exchange from maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches to semi-electronic switching systems altered work tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration, and organization of workers. Some changes Clark attributes to the particular way management and labor unions negotiated the introduction of the technology, whereas others are seen as arising from the capabilities and nature of the technology itself. Thus, Clark helps answer the question: “When is social choice decisive and when are the concrete characteristics of technology more important?”

The primary purpose of the passage is to

(a) advocate a more positive attitude toward technological change

(b) discuss the implications for employees of the modernization of a telephone exchange

(d) challenge the position of advocates of technological determinism

(e) suggest that the social causes of technological change should be studied in real situations

Answer & Explanation

Ans. c

Exp. The primary purpose of the passage is to consider a successful challenge to the constructivist view of technological change. The passage discusses how Jon Clark’s technological determinism has countered successfully the postulates of social constructivism.

Which of the following statements about the modernization of the telephone exchange is supported by information in the passage?

(a) The new technology reduced the role of managers in labor negotiations.

(b) The modernization was implemented without the consent of the employees directly affected by it.

(d) Some of the maintenance workers felt victimized by the new technology.

(e) The modernization gave credence to the view of advocates of social constructivism.

Answer & Explanation

Ans. c

Exp. Refer the last paragraph of the passage “At the empirical level Clark shows how a change at the telephone exchange from maintenance-intensive electromechanical switches to semi-electronic switching systems altered work tasks, skills, training opportunities, administration, and organization of workers.”

Which of the following most accurately describes Clark’s opinion of Braverman’s position?

(a) He respects its wide-ranging popularity.

(b) He disapproves of its misplaced emphasis on the influence of managers.

(d) He is concerned about its potential to impede the implementation of new technologies.

(e) He is sympathetic to its concern about the impact of modern technology on workers.

Answer & Explanation

Ans. b

Exp. Refer the first few lines of second paragraph “Clark makes the point that the characteristics of a technology have a decisive influence on job skills and work organization. Put more strongly, technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization.”

The information in the passage suggests that which of the following statements from hypothetical sociological studies of change in industry most clearly exemplifies the social constructivists’ version of technological determinism?

(a) It is the available technology that determines workers’ skills, rather than workers’ skills influencing the application of technology.

(b) All progress in industrial technology grows out of a continuing negotiation between technological possibility and human need.

(d) Most major technological advances in industry have been generated through research and development.

(e) Some industrial technology eliminates jobs, but educated workers can create whole new skills areas by the adaptation of the technology.

Answer & Explanation

Ans. a

Exp. Refer the third paragraph of the passage “The alternative to constructivism, in other words, is to view technology as existing outside society, capable of directly influencing skills and work organization.”

The information in the passage suggests that Clark believes that which of the following would be true if social constructivism had not gained widespread acceptance?

(a) Businesses would be more likely to modernize without considering the social consequences of their actions.

(b) There would be greater understanding of the role played by technology in producing social change.

(d) Modernization would have occurred at a slower rate.

(e) Technology would have played a greater part in determining the role of business in society.

Answer & Explanation

Ans. b

Exp. Refer the second sentence of the second paragraph “technology can be a primary determinant of social and managerial organization.”

Directions (6-10): In each of the questions given below a sentence is given with a blank. Below each of

the question five options are given. Choose the phrase which fits the blank most appropriately.

I ____________that he was being promoted, but I don’t know anything further.

(a) heard on the grapevine

(b) give the benefit of the doubt

(d) sit on the fence

(e) see eye to eye

Answer & Explanation

Ans. a

Exp. Option (a) is the correct choice. ‘heard on the grapevine’ is an idiom which means to hear some news from someone who heard it from someone else. ‘give the benefit of the doubt’ means Believe someone’s statement, without proof. ‘hit the sack’ means to go to bed. ‘sit on the fence’ means this is used when someone does not want to choose or make a decision. ‘see eye to eye’ means this idiom is used to say that two (or more people) agree on something.

My partner _________________when he told the professor that he did all the work on the presentation

(a) burned the boat

(b) stole my thunder

(d) threw up the sponge

(e) painted the town red

Answer & Explanation

Ans. b

Exp. Option (b) is the right choice. ‘stole my thunder’ means to take credit for something that someone else did. ‘burned the boat’ means do something which makes it impossible to return to an earlier state. ‘face the music’ means be confronted with the unpleasant consequences of one’s actions. ‘threw up the sponge’ means to give up a contest; to acknowledge defeat. ‘Painted the town red’ means go out and enjoy oneself flamboyantly.

I have read the article, but I_______________.

(a) to keep the wolf away from the door

(b) take it with a grain of salt

(d) to break the ice

(e) yeoman service

Answer & Explanation

Ans. b

Exp. Option (b) is the correct choice. ‘to take it with a grain of salt’ means to view something with skepticism or not to interpret something literally. ‘to keep the wolf away from the door’ means to maintain oneself at a minimal level. ‘yeoman service’ means efficient or useful help in need.

From the plane we had ______________of Manhattan.

(a) speak and expand

(b) a bird’s eye view

(d) dark horse

(e) to be at sea

Answer & Explanation

Ans. b

Exp. Option (b) is the correct choice. ‘a bird’s eye view’ means an elevated view of an object from above, with a perspective as though the observer were a bird, often used in the making of blueprints, floor plans, and maps. It can be an aerial photograph, but also a drawing.

I know you didn’t mean to break my phone, so there’s no use in _______________now.

(a) going through the whole hog

(b) green horn

(d) missing the boat

(e) Dutchman’s courage

Answer & Explanation

Ans. c

Exp. Option (c) is the correct choice. ‘to cry over spilt milk’ means to dwell pointlessly on past misfortunes. ‘Dutchman’s courage’ refers to courage gained from intoxication with alcohol. ‘green horn’ is referred to a person who is new to or inexperienced at a particular activity.

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