SBI Clerk Prelims Full Mock Test 05

1. Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given after it. For years, the tomato growers of a small village in the Deccan faced the same painful choice every harvest. They could sell their crop immediately to the first trader who arrived, usually at a price far below what the city markets paid, or they could watch it rot in the heat while they waited for a better offer. Without any way to keep their produce fresh, they had no bargaining power at all. Things began to change when a group of fourteen women, members of a local self-help group, pooled their savings and took a small loan from a cooperative bank to install a solar-powered cold room near the village bus stop. The room could hold about five tonnes of vegetables at a steady low temperature without needing grid electricity, which in the village was available for only a few hours a day. The women charged farmers a modest daily fee for each crate stored. At first, few farmers were willing to pay for something they had never needed before. The group's leader, a former schoolteacher, went from field to field explaining that a tomato kept cool for a week could be sold when prices recovered, often for twice the amount. Once a handful of farmers tried it and earned more, word spread quickly. Within two seasons, the cold room was almost always full, and the group had repaid its loan ahead of schedule. More importantly, traders who once dictated terms now had to compete for produce. The women also began recording the prices offered in nearby markets on a blackboard outside the room, so that every farmer knew what a fair rate looked like. The experiment is small, but its lesson is large. Farmers are not always poor because they produce too little; they are often poor because they are forced to sell at the wrong time. Simple tools that give them the power to wait can matter as much as higher yields.

   Q1.Why did the tomato growers have no bargaining power before the cold room was installed?

   • A.They grew too few tomatoes to interest traders.
   • B.They had no way to keep their produce fresh, so they had to sell immediately.
   • C.City markets refused to buy from villages.
   • D.The cooperative bank had stopped lending to them.
   • E.They did not know how to grow tomatoes properly.

2. Q2.How did the self-help group finance the cold room?

   • A.By pooling their savings and taking a small loan from a cooperative bank
   • B.By borrowing from the traders
   • C.Through donations from the farmers
   • D.By selling their own tomatoes in advance
   • E.Through a grant from the city market

3. Q3.Why was a solar-powered cold room suitable for the village?

   • A.Solar panels were given free by the government.
   • B.It could store more than fifty tonnes.
   • C.Traders preferred solar-cooled tomatoes.
   • D.Grid electricity was available for only a few hours a day.
   • E.The village had no roads for trucks.

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