Every year Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducts assistant preliminary examination to recruit candidates for the posts of assistant. The RBI assistant prelim exam 2017 is scheduled for November 27 and 28, 2017. Going by the IBPS PO 2017 prelims examination in which English language paper took the candidate by surprise, as it was comparatively tough. Similarly, the English language section has been one of the many challenges for the aspirants of RBI assistant prelim exam. However, according to experts, if a candidate work on basics, they can crack this section easily.
English language section will have 30 questions of 30 marks. As per last year paper, they usually cover – Reading Comprehension – 8 questions; Cloze Test – 7 questions; Error spotting, sentence Improvement – 10 questions; Fill in the blanks – 5 questions and Para-jumbles – 5 questions. By in large the section remain same but number of question asked may varies.
According to Abhishek Patil, CEO and co-founder, Oliveboard, following are the few tips that candidates can master upon for improving their chance of solving more questions in English language section in the upcoming RBI assistant prelim exam 2017.
RBI assistant prelim exam 2017: Reading comprehension
This section is likely include passages related to banking and economy, finance, business, demonetisation, financial policies, economy and more. The level of questions is moderate to tough. Last year, the passage was story-based. If that is the case this year as well, it would be slightly easier for candidates. Few tips for reading comprehensions are mentioned below that will come handy:
- Choose the topic you are most comfortable with
- Work out synonym-antonym questions first as these are straightforward and less time-consuming
- The first few sentences of RC passage gives the major hint for the entire text. Also, the first question will be from the first few sentences and so on.
- Always stick to the passage while answering questions from RC.
RBI assistant prelim exam 2017: Cloze test
Could have tricky questions. The options given could be quite confusing so here are a few tips to sort things out:
- Use eliminate options to attempt these questions. List out all the options and use the one that seems most suitable. Think of words that fit the context of the entire passage.
- Pick questions with commonly used words so that you can build a connect and attempt the question.
- Concentrate on the tone while attempting the answer – does it have humour? Pick the answer accordingly.
- Get well versed with grammar rules and sentence structuring.
RBI assistant prelim exam 2017: Error spotting and sentence improvement
Error spotting and sentence improvement are both based on grammar rules and its usage in sentences. Few tips for this topic are:
- The verb and the sentence must comply with the subject of the sentence. For example: a singular subject will go with singular verb and a plural subject with plural verb.
- Two or more singular subjects connected by ‘and' usually go with a verb in the plural.
- When the subjects are joined by ‘or', ‘nor' the verb agrees in person with the nearest one.
- Try elimination option here as well. Read the sentence and eliminate parts that require no improvement to reach the correct answer.
RBI assistant prelim exam 2017: Fill in the blanks
You can get a good score in this section if your answers are correct. Here's what you need to do:
- Recognise the logical structure of a sentence and pay attention to what is required.
- Basic grammar rules come handy. Example: If the article ‘an' comes before the blank, the answer must begin with a vowel.
- At times, the answer might not be a commonly used word but a synonym. Example: She is reticent to express herself in front of her family. (reticent is a synonym of reluctant).
- Read between the lines. This can be mastered with practice.
RBI assistant prelim exam 2017: Para-jumbles
Though considered difficult, this section can actually help you score well. There is no straightforward approach to solving para-jumbles. However, here are few tips that will be helpful.
- Look for the introductory sentence where a person, place, concept is being introduced. This will be the opening sentence of the paragraphs.
- Use articles to spot the opening sentence. While the article ‘a' or ‘an' will be used to introduce a subject, ‘the' will be used for something that is already introduced and therefore, cannot be the opening sentence.
- Spot connectives like although, though, if, until etc. Sentences with these words will never be opening sentence.
- Spot the central theme of the paragraph. This will help you gather pieces of the paragraph faster.
RBI assistant prelim exam 2017: General tips to ace the English section
Read English newspapers every day to improve your vocabulary. You can rely on ‘The Hindu' as recommended widely by experts.
- Play word games and word search puzzles. This will also improve your command of the language.
- Brush up your grammar.
- Attempt topic-wise tests from online preparation platforms and analyse performance.
- Time management is important. Allot 10-15 minutes to attempt the English section in the exam.
