IBPS PO examination is just 90 days away. Hence you should start your preparation as soon as possible. You can refer to our 90-day plan for IBPS PO to make the max out of the remaining 90 days. You can also refer to previous years papers of IBPS PO to get an idea about the difficulty level of the exam. In this post, we will discuss the topic cloze test for IBPS PO.Â
CLOZE TEST FOR IBPS PO 2017
Cloze test is a very important topic for IBPS PO exam. There are 5 questions from this topic in the prelims examination and 6-7 questions in the mains examination. Hence, any serious aspirant should be well prepared with this topic. In cloze test, you are given a paragraph and some of the words are missing in the paragraph. You have to fill these blanks with appropriate choices. We will discuss some tips and tricks which can be useful in solving cloze test questions with good accuracy.
Cloze test questions are much easier than the normal fill in the blank questions. This is basically because the given paragraph forms a continuous story. Hence you have the context for every blank. The context can help you in eliminating the options.
So let us discuss some important points which can help you prepare cloze test for IBPS PO exam.
READING THE PARAGRAPH CAREFULLY
The first and most important point is to read the given paragraph very carefully. This will give you a good idea about the essence of the paragraph. It will give you an idea about the context of the paragraph. This will be a great help while solving the questions. Read books and newspapers. This will help you develop good comprehension skills. It will also help you in improving your reading speed.
LINKING THE SENTENCES
You need to develop the skill to link the two sentences. It will help you in getting the context of a particular blank. Do not make the mistake of reading a particular sentence from a standalone perspective. You will miss out on the context of the blank and can easily make a mistake. Linking of sentences will give you context and you can easily identify whether the word in the blank should have positive connotation or a negative connotation. You can easily eliminate using this technique. Hence, it is important to read the paragraph as a coherent story rather than several standalone sentences. For more, learn about how to solve parajumble questions for IBPS PO exam.
IDENTIFYING THE WORD
Read the given sentences carefully. Keep an eye on the articles which have been used prior to the blank. This can help you eliminate wrong option choices. For example, if the word prior to the blank is ‘an’, then it is obvious that the word in the blank should be one which begins with a vowel sound. Reading the sentence carefully will give you an idea about whether the word in the blank should be a ‘noun’, an ‘adjective’ or an ‘article’. Hence, read the sentences carefully and identify the type of word which should come in the blank.
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GRAMMAR AND TENSE
You can eliminate one to two options just by checking the tense and grammar of the sentence. If the sentence is written in the past tense, then the word in the blank ought to be in past tense. Similarly, if the sentence is in present tense then the word in the blank should also be in present tense. Thus, it is important to keep an eye on the grammar and tense of the sentence.
TONE OF THE PASSAGE
Identifying the tone of the passage is another important thing. It can be helpful in eliminating the wrong choices. It is very likely that the tone of the passage is uniform throughout. If there is sudden aberration then there should be words to justify the change in author’s stance. Hence, understanding the tone of the passage is also very important. Cloze test for IBPS PO or any other banking exam are generally taken from some book or article. Hence, they will always be coherent in nature.
ELIMINATING OPTIONS
In all our discussion till now, we have laid huge emphasis on option elimination. Remember that you don’t have to find the word which originally existed in the blank. You have to choose the most appropriate word from the given choices. Thus, it is very important to eliminate the wrong choices. You can use the techniques which we have discussed to eliminate options. Always approach the cloze test in this manner. Don’t approach them by looking for the correct answer. Option elimination will help in improving your accuracy in this section.
PRACTICE IS THE KEY
Reading tips and tricks is a good thing but they are of no use unless you can use them in the exam. The skill to apply these tips will only come with practice. Hence, please practice questions on cloze test for IBPS PO. Practice will improve your accuracy in such questions and also help you in avoiding common traps. You should also take full-length mock tests to plan your test taking strategy. You can find free mock tests for IBPS PO on our website. The thing that you should remember is that almost everyone studies the same books and concepts. It is the practice which differentiates the successful candidates from the unsuccessful ones. Hence, please practice to succeed in the exam. Best of luck for your IBPS PO 2017 Exam. For more read about tips to improve English section of IBPS exam.
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