Banking General English - Substitutions

Substitutions

'Substitution' means finding out an alternative if necessary to improve the sentence. A candidate is supposed to spot the error and improve the sentence by choosing the correct option from amongst the given alternatives. Its purpose is to test the candidate's knowledge on

1 ) Basic rules of grammar

2) Usage of parts of speech3) Idioms and phrases

4) Command ov er language

In this  ty pe  of questions, a sentence  is  giv en with a  word or  a  phrase  in bold letters. T he candidate is required to examine this bold part in accordance with the rules of grammar, usage and v ocabulary  and decide upon its correctness. Some substitutes to the bold part are giv en below the sentence. T hen the candidate chooses the alternativ e which, when substitutes the bold part, the sentence becomes grammatically correct. If the bold part is already correct, then the correct option is No correction required.

1 . A successful manager is one  who can  adapt to different situations.

Ans: No correction required.

2. As a famous orator he has trav elled around the world giv ing lectures on rare subjects. Ans: No correction required

3. I shall make you  realise y our mistake. Ans: No correction required

Explanation: With the v erb 'make' plain - infinitiv e must be used.

4. A master should nev er impose his servants too  much work. Ans: too much work on his serv ants

Explanation: T he v erb 'impose' is followed by the preposition 'on'. T he correct arrangement 'too much work on serv ants'.

5. A dam was proposed to be build at that site. Ans: built at that site

Explanation:  After  'to be' the  v erb  takes  past  participle  form  (V3). Hence  'build' should  be replaced with 'built'. Moreov er 'sight' means 'v ision' and 'cite' means 'to quote something'. 'Site' means the place where the construction work takes place.

6. I would accept the offer, if I were you. Ans: No correction required

Explanation: In this sentence, the use of 'would' tells about imaginary ev ent. So 'Past subjectiv e' should be used for such an 'if - situation'. Generally 'were' is used in such ty pe of questions.

7 . I complimented him for his success. Ans: on

Explanation: 'Compliment' which means 'congratulate' should be followed by the preposition 'on'.

8. Income tax rates are usually associated to one's annual income

Ans: related to one's

Explanation: Income tax is related to income. T he difference between 'associate' and 'relate' is that 'associate' means 'to link people or things together' whereas 'relate' means 'to establish a connection between ideas, rules or ev ents'. Here the amount of income tax is related to one's annual income. Hence 'relate to' is correct.

9. As he is a philosopher, his mind is preoccupied by philosophical thoughts

Ans: is preoccupied with

Explanation: T he v erb 'occupy ' should be followed by  with'.

1 0.  One   of  the   function of  a  bank  is  to  help  farmers  buy ing  sophisticated  agricultural implements.

Ans: One of the functions of

Explanation: After 'one of ' a plural noun is used. Hence it should be 'one of the functions'.

1 1 . I leav e in hurry because it was getting dark. Ans: left hurriedly

Explanation: T o giv e a sense of 'hurry ', the adv erb 'hurriedly ' is used. Although option 'c' has

'hurriedly ', it is not correct since the position of 'left' is not proper.

1 2. He has no alternativ e to buy a v ehicle howev er costly it might be. Ans: no alternativ e but

Explanation: T he part in bold letters does not giv e complete sense. Hence it should be replaced with 'no alternativ e but'.

13. Had he known more about the policies of the company , he might not hav e accepted the offer.

Ans: No correction required

Explanation: In unfulfilled condition, 'If he had known' can be expressed as 'Had he known'.

1 4. Because of his smart work, he is in the best books of his employ er. Ans: in the good books.

Explanation: If y ou are "in someone's good books" means he is pleased with y ou.

1 5. Newspapers hav e great power because their enormous circulation. Ans: because of

Explanation: T he correct phrases are because of, on account of, as a result of and owing to.

1 6. Why does he worry ov er triv ial matters is not known. Ans: he worries

Explanation: T he giv en sentence is an assertiv e sentence. 'Does' is used when y ou want to make the sentence 'emphatic' one.

1 7 . She will not attend the meeting until she is asked to. Ans: unless

Explanation: 'Until' means 'the time when something happens and not after it', while 'unless' means 'if not' or 'on the condition that'. More precisely , 'until' is related to 'time'.

1 8. Girish took charge of the project within a few day s of having appointed. Ans: being appointed

Explanation: 'T o appoint' is a v erb which is used either independently or with an auxiliary . Here, the appropriate auxiliary is 'being' not 'hav ing'. Moreov er after 'hav ing' V3 is used. So 'appoint' should be replaced with 'appointed'.

1 9. T he meeting was postponed due to lack of time. Ans: No correction required

Explanation: T o express reason due to, because of, for  are used. Here the use of 'due to' is correct.

20. He didn't pay any heed to their superior's instructions. I did neither. Ans: Nor did I

Explanation: T o join two negativ e  clauses, the  conjunction 'neither... nor' is used. Sometimes

'neither' is replaced by another compound negativ e word. Here it is 'didn't' in the normal part of the sentence. Further, the remaining part of the abov e conjunction is 'nor'. Hence we can replace the phrase printed in bold with 'Nor did I'.

21 . No sooner the adv ertisement appeared in the newspaper than there was a heav y rush on the booking window.

Ans: No sooner did the advertisement appear

Explanation: 'No sooner' takes 'had + subject + V3' or "did + sub + V1 ... than..."

22. Being a pleasant morning, he went out for a walk along the seashore. Ans: It being a pleasant morning.

Explanation: T he giv en sentence is a combination of two simple sentences. (i) Being a pleasant morning and (ii) he went out for a walk along the seashore. T he first sentence does not hav e a subject for the adjectiv e 'pleasant'. T he absence of the subject creates an 'unattached participle' (ing form v erb). Hence 'It' should be used as an appropriate subject.

23. She opened the door as she know the person v ery well. Ans: as she knew

Explanation: 'She opened the door' denotes the phrase to be in simple past tense. T herefore the correct form should be 'knew'.

24.  When I studied engineering forty y ears ago,there was less than fifteen girl students in my class.

Ans: were fewer than

Explanation: T o express a countable noun 'few' is used. 'T han' used in the sentence suggests a comparativ e degree. Hence 'few' should be replaced with 'fewer'. 'Less' denotes quantity , 'few' denotes number.

25. He did not ask for a hike in salary since he had  fear to lose his job. Ans: was afraid to

Explanation: T o express the emotion of 'fear', we hav e the word ' afraid'. T his word has been used in options c & d only . As the sentence is in simple past, only c is the correct option.

26. If sense permits, it is safe to use  short sentences than long ones. Ans: is safer to use

Explanation: In the giv en sentence, a word 'than' has been used. T he use of 'than' suggests the sentence to be in comparativ e degree. Hence 'safe' should be 'safer'.

27 . Since there is plenty of time, they will be able to fulfil the assign target. Ans: assigned target

Explanation: T he word 'assign' is a v erb, while the word 'assignment' is a noun. Both are not the same, hence option (a) is rejected. T he 'assigned' target is the correct option.