SSC CPO Quiz : English Language | 06-12-2020

Dear Readers,

As SSC  CPO notification is out and candidates have started their preparation for this exam. Mahendras also has started special quizzes for this examination. This series of quizzes are based on the latest pattern of the SSC  CPO examination. Regular practice of the questions included in the quizzes will boost up your preparations and it will be very helpful in scoring good marks in the examination. 

1-10. Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions. Certain words have been given in bold to help you locate them while answering some questions.

The cyber-world is ultimately ungovernable. This is alarming as well as convenient; sometimes, convenient because alarming. Some Indian politicians-use it to great advantage. When there is an obvious failure in governance during a crisis they deflect attention from their own incompetence towards the ungovernable. So, having failed to prevent nervous citizens from fleeing their cities of work by assuring them of proper protection, some national leaders are now busy trying to prove to one another, and to panic-prone Indians, that a mischievous neighbour has been using the internet and social networking sites to spread dangerous rumours. And the Centre’s automatic reaction is to start blocking these sites and begin elaborate and potentially endless negotiations with Google, Twitter and Facebook about access to information. If this is the official idea of prompt action at a time of crisis among communities, then Indians have more reason to fear their protectors than the nebulous mischief-makers of the cyber-world. Wasting time gathering proof, blocking vaguely suspicious websites, hurling accusations across the border and worrying about bilateral relations are ways of keeping busy with inessentials because one does not quite know what to do about the essentials of a difficult situation. Besides, only a fifth of the 245 websites blocked by the Centre mention the people of the Northeast or the violence in Assam. And if a few morphed images and spurious texts can unsettle an entire nation, then there is something deeply wrong with the nation and with how it is being governed. This is what its leaders should be addressing immediately, rather than making a wrongheaded display of their powers of censorship.

It is just as absurd, and part of the same syndrome, to try to ban Twitter accounts that parody despatches from the Prime Minister’s Office. To describe such forms of humour and dissent as “misrepresenting” the PMO — as if Twitterers would take these parodies for genuine despatches from the PMO — makes the PMO look more ridiculous than its parodists manage to. With the precedent for such action set recently by the chief minister of West Bengal, this is yet another proof that what Bengal thinks today India will think tomorrow. Using the cyber-world for flexing the wrong muscles is essentially not funny. It might even prove to be quite dangerously distracting.

1 According to the passage, the cyber-world is

A. beyond the imagination of people

B. outside the purview of common people

C. not to be governed

D. ungovernable

2 The author is of the opinion that

A. the centre should start negotiations with Google, Twitter and Facebook

B. the centre should help the citizens evacuate their city

C. the centre should not block the sites

D. the centre should arrest the guilty

3 Which of the following is closest to the meaning of 'nebulous'?

A. Confused

B. Vague

C. Iridescent

D. Glowing

4 The author's seriousness regarding the situation can best be described in the following sentences. Pick the odd one out.

A. Our leaders should display their powers of censorship when needed.

B. If this is the official idea of prompt action at a time of crisis among communities, then Indians have more reason to fear their protectors than the nebulous mischief-maker of the cyber-world

C. The politicians deflect attention from their own incompetence.

D. If a few morphed images and spurious texts can unsettle an entire nation, then there is something deeply wrong with the nation.

5 The word ‘spurious’ means.

A. genuine

B. authentic

C. substantial

D. fake

6 The author warns us against

A. not playing false with the citizens.

B. dangers inherent in the cyber-world.

C. not using the cyber-world judiciously.

D. not protecting the citizens from dangerous politicians.

7 ‘Parody’ means

A. twist

B. jeopardize

C. ridicule

D. immitate

8 What is the opposite of ‘wrong headed’?

A. silly

B. sane

C. insane

D. dumb

9 The passage suggests different ways of keeping the public busy with ‘inessentials’. Pick the odd one out.

A. By blocking websites which are vaguely suspicious

B. By blaming neighbouring countries across the border

C. By turning the attention of the people to violence in Assam

D. By getting involved in a discourse on bilateral relations

10 The following is a list of statements made by the author of the above passage. Pick the odd one out.

A. It is absurd to ban Twitter accounts that parody despatches from the Prime Minister’s Office

B. Twitterers take these parodies for genuine despatches from the PMO.

C. To describe such forms of humour as ‘misrepresenting’ the PMO makes the PMO look more ridiculous

D. The precedent for such action was set recently by the chief minister of West Bengal

Answers:-

Q.1 (4)

Q.2 (3)

Q.3 (3)

Q.4 (2)

Q.5 (4)

Q.6 (2)

Q.7 (2)

Q.8 (2)

Q.9 (3)

Q.10 (2)