IBPS Clerk Mains English Sectional Mock Test 01

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given after it. When small towns first got bank branches, the branch manager was often one of the best-known people in the market. He knew which shopkeeper was reliable, which farmer had a bad season and which family was saving for a wedding. Lending decisions rested heavily on this personal knowledge, and while that made credit available to people with no formal records, it also left room for favouritism and error. Digital lending has changed this picture. Today a borrower can apply for a small loan on a phone, and an algorithm may approve it in minutes by reading bank statements, tax filings and payment histories. For many first-time borrowers this is a genuine gain: they no longer need to know the right person or make repeated trips to a branch. Lenders, for their part, can serve thousands of small customers at a cost that would have been impossible a decade ago. Yet speed brings its own risks. A borrower who can take a loan with a few taps may also take several, from different apps, without anyone seeing the full burden of his debt. Some apps have hidden fees in fine print or used aggressive recovery methods. Regulators have therefore insisted that the key terms of a digital loan, including its full annual cost, be shown clearly before the borrower agrees, and that loans be paid directly into the borrower's bank account rather than through third parties. The lesson is not that technology should be resisted. It is that the old virtue of the branch manager, knowing the customer well, must now be built into systems that never meet the customer at all.

   Q1.According to the passage, on what did lending decisions in small-town branches earlier depend heavily?

   • A.Instructions from the head office alone
   • B.The collateral offered by every borrower
   • C.Credit scores from a bureau
   • D.The branch manager's personal knowledge of local people
   • E.Algorithms that read tax filings

2. Q2.What weakness of the older system does the author point out?

   • A.It was controlled by foreign banks
   • B.It refused loans to all farmers
   • C.It needed smartphones
   • D.It left room for favouritism and error
   • E.It charged very high interest to everyone

3. Q3.Which of the following is mentioned as a benefit of digital lending for first-time borrowers?

   • A.They get loans without any information being checked
   • B.They no longer need to know the right person or visit a branch repeatedly
   • C.They can borrow unlimited amounts
   • D.They never have to repay their loans
   • E.They are guaranteed the lowest interest rate

Start the test to answer these. Correct answers and explanations are shown after you submit.