NABARD Grade ‘A’ exam 2018: Preparation guide for English

NABARD, one of the most reputed public sector banks, announced vacancies for Grade ‘A’ posts (assistant managers) recently. The Phase I preliminary exam is scheduled to be held on May 19. To assist aspirants in NABARD preparation, we bring you a preparation guide for English.

Let’s have a look at the NABARD Phase I exam pattern first.

The English section will have 40 multiple choice questions with 40 marks. There is a 1/4th negative marking for every wrong answer.

* Reading Comprehension
* Cloze Test
* Error Spotting
* Para Jumbles
* Objective General English by S P Bakshi
* High School Grammar and Composition by Wren and Martin
* Word Power Made Easy by Norman Lewis

The Reading Comprehension passages carry most marks in English language paper. You can expect questions from topics based on Agriculture, Economic and Social Issues and Banking. Ideally you should allot around 19 minutes for this section to complete the entire paper on time. However, time strategy varies from person to person. What works for some may not work for others. Hence, based on your strengths and weaknesses, you can change your strategy.

Reading comprehension

* 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 mostly gives the gist of the entire text. Also, the first question is generally derived from the first few sentences.

* Always stick to the passage while answering questions from RC.

Cloze test

* 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. Understand first if the sentence is in a humorous or an emotional tone and then pick answer accordingly.

* Get well-versed with grammar rules and sentence structuring.

Error spotting

* The verb and the sentence must comply with the subject of the sentence. For instance, a singular subject will go with singular verb and a plural subject with plural verb.

* Two or more singular subjects that is connected by ‘and’ usually goes with a verb in the plural.

* When the subjects are joined by ‘or’, ‘nor’ the verb agrees in person with the nearest one.

Para jumbles

* 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 sentences.

* Spot the central theme of the paragraph. This will help you gather pieces of the paragraph faster.

(Abhishek Patil is the CEO & Co-founder at Oliveboard, one of the leading online preparation portal for MBA, Banking and Government exams like CAT, SBI, RBI, IBPS, UPSC etc)