Cloze Test New Pattern Questions : Set 1

D.1-10): In the following passage there are words highlighted, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, four words are suggested marked as (a), (b), (c) and (d) out of which only one word fits in. If the given word itself is appropriate mark your answer as (e).

 Manual trading has all but disappeared in much of finance. Most stock exchanges no longer have (1) whispering floor traders; anyone from retail investors to the largest asset managers can buy and sell shares through easy, automated, electronic systems. The (2) dividend markets are even further along: for some types, nine-tenths of volume is traded electronically. Yet more than 80% of corporate bonds trading still happens over the phone. Why does buying into the corporate bond market, a $50trn market globally, with $1.5trn in issuance last year in America alone, still require calling up a trading desk most of the time?  The corporate bond market has certain unique characteristics that make it different. A firm typically issues at most two types of shares (common and preferred), but may have dozens of bonds outstanding that (3) coincide by maturity, issue date and the degree of seniority in the firm’s capital structure. Given the (4) dizzying variety of bonds, any individual one is traded only (5) correctly. In fact, 90% of corporate bonds trade fewer than five times a year.  The traditional way to overcome this illiquidity has been through trading desks at investment banks, who act as market-makers. They name their price, buy up bonds from interested sellers, and hold them as (6) debt on their balance-sheet until a buyer comes along. This dealer-based system, relying on personal relationships, has remained unchanged for several decades; the phone calls have therefore (7) endure as well. Indeed, looking just at phone trades understates the continuing importance of dealers. Even of the 20% of trading that is electronic, nearly all takes place on so-called “request-for-quote” platforms where dealers are still the only ones with the right to quote prices, and to buy or sell. The result is an (8) opaque market where investors lose out. Dealers retain a lot of power, even in basic matters like pricing. Change is coming, but slowly: the regulatory requirement to report prices of completed transactions, starting in Europe from January 2018, and already in place in more limited form in America, has helped bring some transparency. But most of the (9) serenity is technological. Some platforms, like Market Axess, have set up “all-to-all” trading, which allows any participant on a network, such as an asset manager, to trade directly with any other one, bypassing dealers. Others, like Algomi, have come up with products that help keep track of interest in buying and selling over time, allowing dealers to move from risk-taking to matchmaking. If these technologies catch on at a large scale, expect few phone calls with trading (10) agenda.

1)

a) maffling

b) shouting

c) muttering

d) vanishing

e) No improvement required.

2)

a) derivatives

b) instruments

c) money

d) commodities

e) No improvement required.

3)

a) clash

b) resemble

c) differ

d) favour

e) No improvement required.

4)

a) fizzing

b) buzzing

c) jazzing

d) razzing

e) No improvement required.

5)

a) ably

b) frankly

c) rarely

d) abjectly

e) No improvement required.

6)

a) reference

b) inventory

c) hardly

d) catalogue

e) No improvement required.

7)

a) persisted

b) disclaimed

c) abandon

d) renounced

e) No improvement required.

8)

a) explicit

b) plain

c) unambiguous

d) apparent

e) No improvement required.

9)

a) accord

b) consensus

c) disruption

d) conformity

e) No improvement required.

10)

a) Desks

b) regime

c) bench

d) reforms

e) No improvement required.

Answer Key:

1) b 2) a 3) c 4) e 5) c 6) b 7) a 8) e 9) c 10) a.

Cloze Test new pattern Questions : Set 2

Cloze Test new pattern Questions : Set 3

Cloze Test new pattern Questions : Set 4

Cloze Test new pattern Questions : Set 5