SBI PO prelims 2017:

Memory Based Paper : General English

(1-10)Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions givenbelow it.

OVER a couple of days in February, hundreds of thousands of point-of-sale printers in restaurants around the world began behaving strangely. Some churned out bizarre pictures of computers and giant robots signed, “with love from the hacker God himself”. Some informed their owners that, “YOUR PRINTER HAS BEEN PWND’D”. Some told them, “For the love of God, please close this port”. When the hacker God gave an interview to Motherboard, a technology website, he claimed to be a British secondary-school pupil by the name of “Stackoverflowin”. Annoyed by the parlous state of computer security, he had, he claimed, decided to perform a public service by demonstrating just how easy it was to seize control.

Not all hackers are so public-spirited, and 2016 was a bonanza for those who are not. In February of that year cyber-crooks stole $81m directly from the central bank of Bangladesh—and would have got away with more were it not for a crucial typo. In August America’s National Security Agency (NSA) saw its own hacking tools leaked all over the internet by a group calling themselves the Shadow Brokers. (The CIA suffered a similar indignity this March.) In October a piece of software called Mirai was used to flood Dyn, an internet infrastructure company, with so much meaningless traffic that websites such as Twitter and Reddit were made inaccessible to many users. And the hacking of the Democratic National Committee’s e-mail servers and the subsequent leaking of embarrassing communications seems to have been part of an attempt to influence the outcome of the American elections.

Away from matters of great scale and grand strategy, most hacking is either show-off vandalism or simply criminal. It is also increasingly easy. Obscure forums oil the trade in stolen credit-card details, sold in batches of thousands at a time. Data-dealers hawk “exploits”: flaws in code that allow malicious attackers to subvert systems. You can also buy “ransomware”, with which to encrypt photos and documents on victims’ computers before charging them for the key that will unscramble the data. So sophisticated are these facilitating markets that coding skills are now entirely optional. Botnets—flocks of compromised computers created by software like Mirai, which can then be used to flood websites with traffic, knocking them offline until a ransom is paid—can be rented by the hour. Just like a legitimate business, the bot-herders will, for a few dollars extra, provide technical support if anything goes wrong.

The total cost of all this hacking is anyone’s guess (most small attacks, and many big ones, go unreported). But all agree it is likely to rise, because the scope for malice is about to expand remarkably. “We are building a world-sized robot,” says Bruce Schneier, a security analyst, in the shape of the “Internet of Things”. The IoT is a buzz-phrase used to describe the computerisation of everything from cars and electricity meters to children’s toys, medical devices and light bulbs. In 2015 a group of computer-security researchers demonstrated that it was possible to take remote control of certain Jeep cars. When the Mirai malware is used to build a botnet it seeks out devices such as video recorders and webcams; the botnet for fridges is just around the corner.

1. Which of the following statements is true?

a) The scope for cybersecurity is to expand greatly in the near future.

b) Computer security researchers have took control of drones many a times.

c) Video recorders and webcams aid Mirai software in creating various networks.

d) The IoT is a buzz-phrase used to describe the computerisation of everything from cars and electricity meters to children’s toys, medical devices and light bulbs.

1. Only a&b
2. only a,b & c
3.  Only c & d
4.  Only d
5. All of the above.

2)  Suggest a suitable title for the passage

1. Gadgets and gimmicks
2. Hail o’ Hackers
3. Bane of technical burglars
4. Warning malicious Content
5. Virus 2.0

3)   Which of the following is false?

a)The hacker God embezzled $81m directly from the central bank of Bangladesh

b) The hacker God first hacked into the motherboard of a public computer

c) The hacker God hacked into systems to create awareness about vulnerability in cyber world

d) Many big cyber attacks go unreported

1. Only a, b & c
2. b) Only a & b
3. c) Only c & d
4. d) Only b& c
5. e) All of the above

4)   Which of the following is true?

a) The author recommends softwares such as Mirai for better cyber security

b) In February 2016 cyber-crooks stole more than $81m directly from the central bank of Bangladesh and got away.

c) Botnets are special anti-virus softwares created by NSA

d) Buying ransom software has become easy nowadays.

1. Only b & d
2. b) Only a & b
3. c) Only d
4. d) a, b & d
5. e) None of the above

5) Choose the word which is nearest to ‘bizzare’ as used in the passage

1. Strange
2. b) cumbersome
3. c) awkward
4. d)Intangible
5. e) Replicate

6) Choose the word which is farthest to ‘ Parlous’ as used in the passage

1. Precarious
2. b) Dire
3. c) appaling
4. d) Insecure
5. e) fortify

7) What is the author’s perspective according to the passage?

1. The affluent are able to afford high range of security packs whereas the common folks are usually vulnerable
2. Enhancing breeds of robots at all levels is the need of the hour
3. Top bureaucrats’ ignorance is a major thorn in the flesh for cyber security
4. Patch up work for malware attacks is not an original remedy
5. The wizards of technology are no more watch dogs of the field.

8) Which of the following is False?

a)The shadow brokers’ hacks have largely affected the outcome of the U.S general elections.\

b) The software Mirai was used by hackers to leak personal photos and videos which made an impact in the U.S presidential Elections.

c) Highly sophisticated coding skills are required to hack into someone’s computer.

d) Botnets can be used to create unwanted traffic and demand money.

1. Only C & d
2. b) Only a, b & c
3. c) Only c & d
4. d) Only d
5. e) All of the above

9) Choose the word which is farthest to ‘ obscure’ as used in the passage

1. Dubious
2. b) hazy
3. c) Vague
4. d) unambiguous
5. e) oblivion

10) Choose the word which is nearest to ‘malice’ as used in the passage

1. Benevolence
2. b) proclivity
3. c) Spite
4. d) Renegade
5. e) Inclination

(11-20)In the passage given below there are 5 blanks, each followed by a word given in bold. Even blank has four alternative words given in options (A),(B),(C) and (D). You have to tell which word will best suit the respective blank. Mark (E) as your answer if the work given in bold after the blank is your answer i.e “No change required”.

TRAVELLERS sometimes have to show their travel documents five times when (11)flying a flight: at check-in, at security, then occasionally at outbound immigration, before another check when boarding. Finally there is passport control at the destination. Each is a potential queue. So regular flyers will be interested in anything that might speed up the process.

One answer could be facial-recognition technology. In the past few weeks, a number of airports have begun to introduce a system that will (12)adapt faces, match them with electronic passport photos, and allow those passengers it (13)rectifies to skip lines.

In Tokyo, the government has been (14)releasing facial-recognition technology in two airports since 2014. It hopes to introduce the system in full in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In France, Groupe ADP, which operates Charles De Gaulle airport in Paris, began testing similar software in February. Queues at the airport have doubled since new security measures were introduced after terrorist attacks in 2015; this, thinks ADP, might be one way to(15)ease the pain. In Canada, meanwhile, plans are in place to start rolling out facial-recognition kiosks this spring. Similar trials have also been(16)promoted in Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.

Australia, though, has the most ambitious plans. In 2015, the government unveiled its  “Seamless Traveller” initiative, which set a target of automating 90% of passenger processing by 2020, and offered A$93.7m ($71.9m) to help bring it about. Brisbane Airport recently(17) launched a new system that could allow passengers to undergo a single biometric check-in and have no further need to produce documents before boarding the plane.

Such technology is not yet (18)culpable. An earlier trial in Japan had to be scrapped in 2012 because it failed to identify passengers correctly 18% of the time. Success rates will surely improve. Even so, they will not be a queue-panacea. Facial recognition can confirm your identity, but it cannot scan your bag. Nor will it shorten the wait to board your flight or ease the bottleneck when passengers jostle simultaneously to put bags in overhead lockers. (And in any case, anyone who has tried existing, cumbersome automated passport kiosks may argue that little time is actually saved.)

Travellers might raise two further questions. The first is whether the introduction of face-recognition technology is more about cutting security jobs than creating a seamless passenger experience. And if so, what happens when things at the airport go wrong. Then there is privacy. Must passengers accept that ever more data will be collected on them and shared between airports, airlines and immigration officials? Some commentators argue that it is difficult to see what extra data could be garnered from a facial-recognition kiosk than from any other method of passing through security. Still, flyers are entitled to ask whether such systems could be open to abuse from marketers, hackers or (19)scrupulous government entities. Not that passengers will be given any choice in the matter. As with many things in the unfolding age of big data,(20)luxury might come at the cost of privacy.

11)

1. Board
2. b)catching
3. c) Stepping
4. d) entering
5. e) No change is required

12)

1. Scan
2. b) Replicate
3. c) Analyse
4. d) Identify
5. e) No change is required

13)

1. Looks
2. b) Recognises
3. c) Checks
4. d) Scrutinises
5. e) No change is required

14)

1. Welcoming
2. b) Observing
3. c) Relishing
4. d) Trialling
5. e) No change is required

15)

1. Release
2. b) Rejuvenate
3. c) Relate
4. d) Denounce
5. e) No change is required

16)

1. Advertised
2. b) Opposed
3. c) Announced
4. d) Telecast
5. e) No change is required

17)

1. Projected
2. b) Transferred
3. c) Connected
4. d) Rectified
5. e) No change is required

18)

1. Placatable
2. b) Reasonable
3. c) Infallible
4. d) Incorrigible
5. e) No change is required

19)

1. Unscrupulous
2. b) Mellifluous
3. c) harmonious
4. d) reticent
5. e) No change is required

20)

1. Leisure
2. b) convenience
3. c) connivance
4. d) cumbersome
5. e) No correction is required

(21-30)In questions given below, a part of the sentence is italicised and underlined. Below alternatives  are given to the italicised part which may improve the sentence. Choose the correct alternative. In case no improvement is needed.

21) The attacks on African nationals in Greater Noida should be investigated by the Human Rights Council (HRC) of the United Nations, the African envoys said in an unprecedented collective statement on Monday.

1. should be investigate
2. should be investigating
3. should investigate
4. Must investigate
5. No improvement is required

22) Release the rankings, Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government would give more grants to the institutions ranked higher.

1. Releasing the rankings
2. Releasing the rank
3. Released the rankings
4. Releasing the ranking
5. No improvement is required

23) The property here was bought alleged by routing funds through shell companies. This is the second attachment of assets in the money-laundering case.

1. brought allegedly
2. buyed allegedly
3. buying allegedly
4. bought allegedly
5. No improvement is required

24) The bustling marriage palace industry of Punjab is on tenterhooks as the State’s Excise and Taxation Department  asking halls located on highways not to serve liquor.

1. is asked
2. Has asked
3. having asked
4. was asked
5. No improvement is required

25) The four-month-long ordeal of a tusker, whose foot got stuck  a scooter tyre, ended on Monday when forest department personnel tranquillised the jumbo and removed the tyre.

1. got stuck on
2. Get stick in
3. Got sticked on’
4. got stuck in
5. No improvement is required

26) The elephant had hobbling around in Chandaka and Athagarh forest divisions for past four months.

1. has hobbling
2. Was hobbling
3. had been hobbling
4. had been hobble
5. No improvement is required

27)  To prevent such incidents in future, there is an urgent need for tightening enforcement of the Explosives Rules 2008 by district authorities.

1. tightening of
2. tightened for
3. Tighten at
4. tightening in
5. No Improvement is required

28) After nearly three years of dithering the part of the National Democratic Alliance government, there is hope now that we will see action in respect of Indian banks’ bad loans.

1. dithering in
2. ditherred on
3. dithering out
4. dithering on
5. No improvement is required

29) What worked for Manipur may not necessarily works in the other States of the region, each with their sets of tribes, different cultures, eating habits and social mores.

1. necessary work
2. necessarily work
3. necessarily worked
4. necessarily working
5. No improvement is required.

30)  Banks must develop the discipline of keeping thorough minutes of the proceedings related to resolution of bad loans.

1. keeping thoroughly
2. keep thorough
3. keeping through
4. keeping throughly
5. No improvement is required

ANSWERS

1. 4
2. 4
3. 2
4. 3
5. 1
6. 5
7. 5
8. 2
9. 4
10. 3
11. 2
12. 1
13. 2
14. 4
15. 5
16. 3
17. 5
18. 3
19. 1
20. 2
21. 5
22. 1
23. 4
24. 2
25. 4
26. 3
27. 1
28. 4
29. 2
30. 5

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