Cloze Test for Banking Exams, Download PDF

English is considered one of the most underrated sections in banking and insurance exams by students. But if prepared strategically can actually make your game very strong. One of the most important topics under the English section, after reading comprehension, is the Cloze test. It is given in the exam to test the comprehension ability of candidates, how much they understand, and what they interpret from a particular passage. In this blog, we are going to discuss what a cloze test is and provide a few examples with some tips to solve it easily. 

What is a Cloze test?

As already mentioned above, a cloze test is a passage given with some fill-in-the-blank; you have to comprehend and fill in the right words that interpret the right meaning. In banking exams, a cloze test is used to examine the candidates’ comprehension ability. Is he/ she able to understand the passage or write the words accordingly? The best practice to master comprehension skills is to read a newspaper’s editorial or articles on a daily basis.

Some examples of Cloze test and PDF

Here is an example of a cloze test that is asked in banking and insurance exams. The answers are given in the PDF, the link to which is given in the blog below. 

Directions: In the following passage, some of the words have been left out and replaced by a blank represented by a letter. First, read the passage and try to understand what it is about. Then fill in the blanks as per the questions given.

 Fifty-five years ago, on March 16, 1966, the Gemini VIII astronauts made the world’s first space docking, quickly ___(A)___ by the first life-threatening, in-flight emergency in the short history of the U.S. human spaceflight program. Gemini VIII, joined to its Agena target vehicle, began spinning and gyrating; when the astronauts undocked, Gemini’s rotation ___(B)___ to the point where the crew could black out and die. Neil Armstrong led the mission, which was to demonstrate space docking, a ___(C)___ essential to the Apollo lunar landing program. Forty months later, he would become the first human to set foot on the Moon as commander of Apollo 11. His Gemini crewmate was David Scott, who would be the command module pilot of Apollo 9 and the commander of Apollo 15, the first lunar landing to carry a roving vehicle. Their cool ___(D)____ of the Gemini VIII crisis ____(E)____ their leading roles in the Apollo program.

(A) 

a) allowed

b) followed

c) prevented

d) pervaded

e) hinted 

(B) 

a) decided

b) applied

c) accessed

d) accelerated

e) considered

(C) 

a) commotion

b) felony

c) technique

d) commitment

e) agony 

(D) 

a) handling

b) implying

c) yielding

d) hampering

e) appeasing 

(E) 

a) faded

b) aided

c) announced

d) executed

e) ensured

Tips to solve the Cloze test effectively

Here are some tips to solve the cloze test effectively, given below-

Read and solve at least 100 Reading Comprehension questions

You might have a question about what we are talking about, solving reading comprehension for the cloze test. But if you have solved this many long-form passages, then you develop a habit of reading and understanding what the comprehension is trying to interpret. This will, in turn, help you to solve cloze test questions easily. It will also help with reading comprehension and will also increase your reading speed.

Start with easy passages first and then raise the difficulty level

Practice easy passages first and then move to difficult ones. This will help you get the speed with accuracy while solving. If you jump to difficult words at the start, you will lose interest and then ultimately may not prepare the topic thoroughly. 

Enhance Grammatical Accuracy and Vocabulary

You have to determine which word is the most suitable to be fit in fill in the blanks in the cloze test. For these, you need to have a good command of grammar and vocabulary. Start developing your grammar by learning tenses. Make sure that you observe if the passage follows the same form of tense or if it changes in between. To develop vocabulary, reading a newspaper and making a list is the best possible way. To enhance your vocabulary, you can use our daily The Hindu editorial blog. 

Develop a sense of basic understanding of various topics

Whenever you are solving a cloze test, the first thing you do is read the first 2-3 lines and get a basic idea of what this passage is about. Is it talking about banking or economics, or the environment? You will get the theme if you’ve basic knowledge regarding these topics, and for this reading newspaper is considered one of the best ways. This development of basic knowledge will help you with the descriptive test and personal interview stages.

Check the tone of the Passage

Make sure that you use the words that do not change the tone of the passage. For example, if the passage is written in a positive formal tone, then maintain it by choosing those words that show this tone only. There are several other tones in which passages can be given they are narrative-descriptive, jovial, sarcastic, critical or cynical, nostalgic, angry and apologetic, biased, and interrogative.

Conclusion

In this article, we have given some sample questions of a cloze test for practice along with a PDF. We have also mentioned the tips to follow while solving the cloze test. To practice more such questions, you can subscribe to our Mock test series, and for more such amazing tips, you can join our banking courses, where we provide video lectures along with PDF courses. The link is given below. 

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