Dear Readers, Here we have given Practice English Reading Comprehension quiz and questions for RBI Grade B 2018 Exams with detailed explanation. Candidates those who are preparing for Upcoming Bank Exams can make use of it.
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Directions (1-10): Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it
In recent months, several places in north India experienced unseasonal dust and thunderstorms, followed by unseasonal rains. This has cost lives and led to extensive crop damage. With freak weather events becoming more common, protection of farmers against these risks figures prominently in the government’s agricultural policy. From the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (1985) through the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (1999-2000), Modified National Agriculture Scheme (2010) and on to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) (2016), India’s agricultural insurance schemes have undergone several changes in their approaches. Mitigating risk in the agricultural sector has a direct implication for agricultural productivity and farmer welfare. It also intersects with some of the key sustainable development goals such as ending poverty, achieving food security and curbing hunger. Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by following ways: Providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events, stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming, encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices, Ensuring flow of credit to the agriculture sector which contributes to food security, crop diversification and enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector besides protecting farmers from production risks. This scheme covers following crops, Food crops (Cereals, Millets and Pulses), Oilseeds, Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops. The scheme covers yield loss, post-harvest loss and localized calamities. Following risks leading to crop loss are to be covered under the scheme: Yield Losses which includes Natural Fire and Lightning; Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado etc.; Flood, Inundation and Landslide; Drought, Dry spells; Pests/ Diseases etc. in post-Harvest Losses coverage is available upto a maximum period of 14 days from harvesting for those crops which are kept in cut & spread condition to dry in the field after harvesting, against specific perils of cyclone, cyclonic rains, unseasonal rains throughout the country. Localised Calamities which includes loss resulting from occurrence of identified localized risks i.e. hailstorm, landslide, and Inundation affecting isolated farms in the notified area.
In spite of the government’s good intentions, assessments of the PMFBY face several challenges that make processing and verification of insurance claims error-prone and time-consuming. Payouts do not reach farmers at the right time and in amounts commensurate with their losses. Many experts and organizations working in this area are now recommending the use of information and communication tools to help farmers regain faith in crop insurance schemes and make them more efficient and transparent. The International Initiative for Impact Evaluation has funded a number of studies that explore the feasibility of using ICTs in the field of agricultural risk mitigation. A 3ie-funded study conducted by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute demonstrates how to capitalize on the availability of low-cost internet and the rising use of smartphones. The novel picture-based insurance product welds technology with weather index based insurance. Farmers are asked to take pictures from the same site with the same view frame two to three times a week throughout the cropping season. The series of images thus created helps insurance agencies examine the condition of the crops. Based on the assessment, payments for losses are directly issued to the farmers’ bank accounts. Additionally, the application also provides customized agricultural advisory to farmers by experts, ensuring continual interaction. Initial findings have been promising. Another study by the Centre for Budget and Policy Studies examines the PMFBY in Karnataka, which incorporates the use of mobile technology to record and upload the crop-cutting experiments, a mechanism to determine the overall yield of the village. An Android-based mobile application records and transmits the CCE data using smartphones. This data is transferred to the central crop insurance portal, making it available in real time to government officials and insurance companies.
The smartphone data improves data quality as it contains vital information, such as photos and videos of the particular area, geo-tagging and time stamping crop area, probable harvest date, net weight of the produce obtained after harvesting and weight of the wet yield. The use of ICT is expected to quicken compilation of data, verification and faster settlement of claim. The use of mobile-based technology can also help allied activities. Throughout India, the adoption of livestock insurance is much lower than crop insurance. This study by the Institute of Financial Management and Research corroborated the importance of having sufficient infrastructure and network to roll out the product. ICTs can address not only supply side and process-related bottlenecks but also influence behaviour change on the demand side. For example, ICTs such as the PBI that require farmers to participate may induce farmers to develop a vigilant attitude towards any loss of crop. Indeed, a number of farmers reported that visiting their fields more, even if it was to take photographs, made them more aware of the state of their crops. This may outweigh the commonly assumed risk that farmers may wilfully neglect their farms once these are insured. An encouraging finding from a formative evaluation of the PBI shows that farmers in a randomly assigned treatment group that received PBI were no more likely to report lower yields than a control group that received a regular WBI. Formative and process evaluations of ICT-based programmes, usually done at the beginning of a programme spanning over a few months, can help policymakers take prompt programme-specific decisions. These evaluations typically have small sample sizes. By identifying various challenges, such evaluations can lead to better programme selection and design that are cost-effective. However, policymakers often demand more rigorous evidence to take informed decisions to scale up ICT-based programmes that aid agricultural insurance schemes. Impact evaluations that are based on counterfactuals with a large sample size, and conducted over a longer period, can surely inform scaling up and replicability of such programmes. And in turn, the resultant socioeconomic impact will help farmers across India.
1) According to the passage what does International Initiative for Impact Evaluation funded study conducted by researchers demonstrates?
i) How to gain on the availability of low-cost internet
ii) How to to scale up ICT-based programmes
iii) How to capitalize on the rising use of smartphones.
a) i and ii
b) ii and iii
c) Only i
d) i and iii
e) None of these
2) According to the passage what kind of losses is not covered under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana?
a) Natural Fire and Lightning
n) Inundation and Landslide
c) Cyclone and Typhoon
d) Unseasonal rains throughout the country
e) Grazed or destroyed by domestic or wild animals
3) According to the passage which of the following statements have been mentioned correct about information and communication tools?
i) The use of ICT is expected to quicken compilation of data, verification and faster settlement of claim.
ii) The use of ICTs can influence behaviour change on the demand side.
iii) With the help of ICT Payouts reach farmers at the right time
a) ii and iii
b) i and iii
c) i and ii
d) Only i
e) None of these
4) Which of the following is true in the context of the passage?
i) Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme was launched in 1985 while National Agriculture Insurance Scheme was launched in 1998
ii) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana scheme covers Food crops such as Cereals, Millets and Pulses
iii) Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana covers three types of losses such as yield loss, post-harvest loss and localized calamities.
a) i and iii
b) ii and iii
c) i and ii
d) Only ii
e) None of these
5) Which of the following sustainable development goal is not mentioned in the passage?
a) Achieving food security
b) Clean water and sanitation
c) Curbing hunger
d) Ending poverty
e) Both a) and b)
6) According to the passage which of the following statements are mentioned as a motives of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana?
i) The scheme aims at Providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss arising out of unexpected events
ii) The scheme aims at preserving the income of farmers to their continuance in farming
iii) The scheme aims at urging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices
a) ii and iii
b) i and ii
c) Only ii
d) i and iii
e) All are correct
7) Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word “corroborated” printed in bold as used in the passage
a) Refute
b) Substantiate
c) Abrogate
d) Annihilate
e) Revoke
8) Choose the word which is most nearly the same in meaning as the word “commensurate” printed in bold as used in the passage
a) Proportionate
b) Jarring
c) Antipodal
d) Factious
e) Conflicting
9) Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word “inundation” in bold as used in the passage.
a) Downpour
b) Cascade
c) Spate
d) Deluge
e) Dearth
10) Choose the word which is most opposite in meaning of the word “freak” in bold as used in the passage.
a) Conceit
b) Quirk
c) Prevalent
d) Mutant
e) Anomaly
Answers:
1) Answer: d)
It is mentioned in para 2- A 3ie-funded study conducted by researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute demonstrates how to capitalize on the availability of low-cost internet and the rising use of smartphones.
2) Answer: e)
It is clearly mentioned in para 1- Following risks leading to crop loss are to be covered under the scheme: Yield Losses which includes Natural Fire and Lightning; Storm, Hailstorm, Cyclone, Typhoon, Tempest, Hurricane, Tornado etc.; Flood, Inundation and Landslide; cyclonic rains, unseasonal rains throughout the country.
3) Answer: c)
It is mentioned in para 3- The use of ICT is expected to quicken compilation of data, verification and faster settlement of claim. ICTs can address not only supply side and process-related bottlenecks but also influence behaviour change on the demand side.
4) Answer: b)
It is mentioned in para 1- From the Comprehensive Crop Insurance Scheme (1985) through the National Agriculture Insurance Scheme (1999-2000) and on to the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (2016), India’s agricultural insurance schemes have undergone several changes in their approaches. This scheme covers following crops, Food crops (Cereals, Millets and Pulses), Oilseeds, Annual Commercial / Annual Horticultural crops. The scheme covers yield loss, post-harvest loss and localized calamities.
5) Answer: b)
It is mentioned in para 1- Mitigating risk in the agricultural sector has a direct implication for agricultural productivity and farmer welfare. It also intersects with some of the key sustainable development goals such as ending poverty, achieving food security and curbing hunger.
6) Answer: e)
It is clearly mentioned in para 1- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana aims at supporting sustainable production in agriculture sector by following ways: Providing financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events, stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming, encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices.
7) Answer: b)
The meaning of corroborated is to confirm or give support to something
8) Answer: a)
The meaning of commensurate is corresponding in size or degree; in proportion
9) Answer: e)
The meaning of inundation is an overwhelming abundance of people or things.
10) Answer: c)
The meaning of freak is unusual or abnormal
Daily Practice Test Schedule | Good Luck
| Topic | Daily Publishing Time |
| Daily News Papers & Editorials | 8.00 AM |
| Current Affairs Quiz | 9.00 AM |
| Quantitative Aptitude “20-20” | 11.00 AM |
| Vocabulary (Based on The Hindu) | 12.00 PM |
| General Awareness “20-20” | 1.00 PM |
| English Language “20-20” | 2.00 PM |
| Reasoning Puzzles & Seating | 4.00 PM |
| Daily Current Affairs Updates | 5.00 PM |
| Data Interpretation / Application Sums (Topic Wise) | 6.00 PM |
| Reasoning Ability “20-20” | 7.00 PM |
| English Language (New Pattern Questions) | 8.00 PM |
English New Pattern Questions
