Bank exams are getting tougher and tougher with time. High-level questions along with high cut-offs are making it a herculean task in clearing the exam. But for those candidates, who can perform pretty well in the English section, clearing the exam is like a cakewalk. In this article, some interesting tricks are discussed on how to solve the cloze test easily and accurately.
Cloze Test is one of the most important, as well as one of the easiest in the English Language section. This is the just the upgraded version of our regular ‘Fill in the blanks’. Anyone with a decent vocab can attempt most of the questions by simply understanding the theme and tone of the passage. You can expect a minimum of 5- 10 questions from this topic in your preliminary as well as mains examination. In this article, we are discussing some tricks that could help you score well in the Cloze test.
Difference between ‘Fill in the blanks’ and ‘Cloze test’
Fill in the blanks or in sentence completion test, a paragraph describing a particular topic would be given with some parts/words missing. Candidates are required to find suitable words from the option given. The word/words selected should follow the theme, tone and grammar of the paragraph given including tenses, part of speech etc.
Cloze test is an extensive variety of the Fill in the blanks or sentence completion test. Candidates are required to make a choice from the multiple alternatives for each blank in a sentence but in the passage. Unlike the fill in the blanks type questions, candidates may be asked to find a pair of words or a whole missing sentence in the cloze test.
Both cloze and sentence completion tests evaluate the candidate’s vocabulary power and his ability to judge the overall meaning of the passage even when some words are missing.
How to solve the Cloze test?
1. Understand the theme
Try to understand what the paragraph actually is. Read the paragraph thoroughly at least once, so that you get a clear idea about the topic. In banking exams, most of the topics are either related to social, environmental or financial issues. Quoting the keywords also helps in picking out the words that suit best.
eg: Education has been a problem in our country for (1). The lack of it has been blamed for all (2) of evil for hundreds of years. I
- (a) time (b) take (c) ever (d) long (e) so
- (a) possession (b) abundance (c)typical (d) much (e) sorts
In the (1) blank we understand that the passage is talking about the time, so the correct option is ‘long’ n the (2) blank, the theme is types, so, ‘sorts’
2. Understand the tone of the passage
In banking exams, close test passages are mainly of 4 types; description, critical, complaining and analytical. Understanding the tone of the passage is really helpful in eliminating the options. For example, in both descriptive and analytical most of the words used will have a positive tone while for complaining passages, you should choose words with negative tones. While for critical, both positive and negative words are used.
3. Nuances
The term ‘Nuances’ means better words. In the new pattern cloze tests, all the given options may have similar meanings and may seem fit. At this time, you an to select better words among them ie, a difficult and a different vocab. But while selecting the ‘nuance’ word, also make sure that the parts os speech is correct.
eg: If both ‘hate’ and’abhor’ are given in the options, both the words possess the same meaning we have to select the word ‘abhor’.
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4. Grammar
Grammar plays an important role while selecting the correct words. Like, we end up making errors by placing an adjective where the actual answer is an adverb. So having basic knowledge in Grammar will surely help you in fetching 1or 2 extra marks.
5. Elimination method
Mostly in the prelims examination, some of the options given will have a contradicting meaning with the theme of the passage. Eliminate such options at first. These types are asked rarely in questions, but somehow this technique can be used to filter out the options
eg: A recession is …(1)… by rising unemployment, increase in government unemployment, an increase in government borrowing …(2)…, of share and stock prices, and falling investment
1. (A) imagined (B)genuine (C) given (D) visualized (E) characterized
2. (A) hardly (B) variance (C) strengthens (D) decrease (E) volatile
In the (1) blank, it is trying to describe what recession means. So, option (E) characterized is used by eliminating all the other options have different meanings.
In the blank (2), the aftereffects of the recession are explained. So, option(D) decrease suit best.
6. Vocabulary & Reading Speed
If you are a person having a decent vocab, solving the close test is not a risk for you. These two tips help in solving the close test quickly. Continuous reading is the only way to mater this section. Reading newspaper is highly recommended as it increases the reading efficiency and develops the vocabulary. Most of the time, the paragraph given for close test is related to any current topics so having an advance idea about the topic helps very much in solving.
Tips to Score High in English for Bank Exams
Types of Cloze Test
A cloze test is asked as a set of 5-10 questions. There are two types of Cloze test questions: Old pattern and new pattern
Old Pattern
A passage with 5-10 blanks will be given. You are required to choose a word for each blank from the five options given in the question. These types of questions are usually asked in prelims level. The identification of choices would be rather easy as mostly the paragraph is given would be based on a story.
Example-1
Choose the appropriate words from the options given below.
The U.S. is in the (___1__) of a cleanup of toxic financial waste that will (___2___) taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars at the very least. The primary manufacturers of these hazardous products (___3_) multimillion-dollar paychecks for their efforts. So why shouldn’t they (__4__) pay for their mop-up? This is, after all, what the U.S. Congress (___5__) in 1980 for (___6___) of actual toxic waste. Under the Superfund law (___7___) that year, polluters(___8_) for the messes they make. Environmental lawyer E. Michael Thomas sees no (___9__) lawmakers couldn’t demand the same of financial polluters and (__10___) them to ante up some of the bank bailout money
1. (a) range (b)depth (c) midst (d)essence (e) debate
2. (a) benefit (b) cost (c) earn (d)facilitate(e) save
3. (a)donated (b)demanded (c) dwindled (d) spent (e) pocketed
4. (a) hesitate (b) come (c) defy (d) have (e) admit
5. (a) decreed (b)refrained (c)commented (d)admonished (e)visualized
6. (a) consumers (b) advocates (c) exponents (d) producers (e) users
7. (a) revoked (b) forced (c) squashed (d) abandoned (e) enacted
8. (a) regain (b) claim (c) pay (d) demand (e) consider
9. (a) practice (b) reason (c) compensation (d) issue (e) wonder
10. (a) force (b) plead (c) appeal (d) dupe (e) follow
Answers
- (c) 2. (b) 3.(e) 4. (d) 5.(a) 6.(d) 7.(e) 8.(c) 9.(b) 10.(a)
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New Pattern
In recent times, there has been a change in the pattern of the Cloze test. Sometimes, the examiner includes an additional option of ‘None of these’ or ‘No correction required’ or the blanks in the passage already contain an option and you are asked to find the option that is grammatically and conceptually more feasible. Selecting combinations of words rather than a single word is also asked these days.
Along with each blank in the passage, a word is given in brackets. You need to find if the given word needs to be replaced or not with the given options. If it can be replaced, choose the suitable replacement from the options given, otherwise select “none of these”. IBPS may often surprise by clubbing cloze test along with error detection and para jumbles. You can also expect the cloze test in Reading comprehension question.
Example-2
Choose the correct pair of words from the options given.
Most of the global economy is now subject to positive economic trends: unemployment is falling, ……(1) gaps are closing, growth is picking up, and, for reasons that are not yet clear, inflation remains below the major central banks’ targets. On the other hand, productivity growth remains weak, income ……(2) is increasing, and less-educated workers are struggling to find attractive employment opportunities. After eight years of aggressive ……(3) , developed economies are emerging from an ……(4) deleveraging phase that naturally suppressed growth from the demand side. As the level and ……(5) of debt has been shifted, deleveraging pressures have been reduced, allowing for a ……(6) global expansion. Still, in time, the primary determinant of GDP growth – and the ……(7) of growth patterns – will be gains in productivity. Yet, as things stand, there is ample reason to doubt that productivity will pick up on its own. There are several important items missing from the policy mix that cast a shadow over the realization of both full-scale productivity growth and a shift to more inclusive growth patterns. First, growth potential can’t be realized without sufficient human capital. This lesson is apparent in the experience of developing countries, but it applies to developed economies, too. Unfortunately, across most economies, skills and capabilities do not seem to be keeping pace with rapid structural shifts in labor markets. Governments have proved either unwilling or unable to act aggressively in terms of education and skills ……(8) or in redistributing income. And in countries like the United States, the distribution of income and wealth is so ……(9) that lower-income households cannot afford to invest in measures to ……(10) to rapidly changing employment conditions. Second, most job markets have a large information gap that will need to be closed. Workers know that change is coming, but they do not know how skills requirements are evolving and thus cannot base their choices on concrete data. Governments, educational institutions, and businesses have not come anywhere close to providing adequate guidance on this front.
- (1) modify, alter (2) output, return (3) convert, transform (4) None of these
- ( 1) restyle, refashion (2) product, redesign (3) inequality, disproportion (4) None of these
- (1) manufacturing, making (2) stimulus, precipitant (3) yield, harvest (4)None of these
- (1) stimulant, encouragement (2) producing, construction (3) achievement, accomplishment (4) None of these
- (1) make, produce (2) writings, creation (3) composition, constitution (4) None of these
- (1) concoct, hatch (2) impetus, boost (3) synchronized, adjust (4) None of these
- (1) inclusivity, comprehensive (2) prompt, prod (3) build, construct (4) None of these
- (1) create, fabricate (2) retraining, comprehensive (3) incentive, inducement (4) None of these
- (1) configuration, structure (2) skewed, twisted (3) inspiration, fillip (4) None of these
- (1) askew, crooked (2)adapt, alter (3) motive, motivation (4)
- None of these
Answers
- (2) 2.(3) 3.(2) 4.(2) 5.(3) 6.(4) 7.(1) 8.(2) 9.(2) 10.(2)
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