Dear Aspirants find Here Practice Test 5 : SBI Clerk English Practice Test 5
Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words are given in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.
ABOUT 1.3 billion people use one or other version of Microsoft’s Windows operating systems, and well over a billion have downloaded Mozilla’s Firefox web browser. Minor variations aside, every copy of these products—like all other mass-market software—has exactly the same bits in it. This makes such software a honeypot for hackers, who can write attack code that will cause precisely the same damage to, say, every copy of Windows 7 it infects. Worse, the bad guys can hone their attacks by practising on their own machines, confident that what they see will be what their victims get.
This computing monoculture—which also extends to the widespread use of particular pieces of hardware, such as microprocessors from Intel and ARM—has long been the bane of technologists. In the face of a near constant onslaught from hackers, antivirus software is frequently several steps behind the foe. Symantec, one of the commercial pioneers of online security, estimates that antivirus software now stops only 45% of attacks. The firm recently declared that this approach was “dead” and a new one was needed.
Michael Franz, a computer scientist at the University of California, Irvine, agrees. And he believes the answer is to learn from nature. Lots of species are composed of individuals which are, the occasional set of identical twins apart, all slightly different genetically from each other. Sexual reproduction ensures this. Indeed, it is probably the reason sex evolved in the first place, for it means that no bacterium or virus can wipe out an entire population, since some are almost certain to be genetically immune to any given pathogen.
Applying the idea of genetic diversity to software is not a new idea. High-security systems, such as the fly-by-wire programs used in aeroplanes, are designed from the outset with code that differs between installations. But this approach is too costly for large-scale use. Some mass-market software companies have instead introduced modest diversity to deter attackers, such as randomly choosing the starting addresses of big blocks of memory, but this is not enough to defeat a determined hacker.
Dr Franz is therefore taking a novel approach by tweaking the programs, called compilers, that convert applications written in languages such as C++ and Java into the machine code employed by a computer’s processor. Most compilers are designed to optimise things such as the speed of the resulting machine code. That leads to a single answer. Dr Franz’s “multicompiler” trades a bit of this
optimality for diversity in the compiled code. This leeway, which diminishes the code’s speed of execution by an amount imperceptible to the user, enables a multicompiler to create billions of different, but functionally identical, interpretations of the original program. When a user requests a specific application from a cloud-based “app store”, the appropriate multicompiler in the store generates a unique version for him, thus making a hacker’s task nigh impossible.
Which is the most suitable title for the passage?
Explanation :
Here the title “Divided we stand” is more potent. As mentioned in the passage, Dr. Franz’s multicompiler trades a bit for diversity in the code to secure the software from being hacked.
What is the author’s tone in the passage?
Explanation :
Here the author’s tone is impersonal as he is concerned about computer’s security.
According to the passage, how the Dr.Franz’s multicompiler makes hacker’s task impossible?
(i) By converting the applications written in languages into the machine code.
(ii) By creating billions of different interpretations of the original program.
(iii) By extending the code’s speed of execution.
Explanation :
Refer to the second last line of last paragraph, “This leeway …………… of the original program.”
According to the passage, what makes the software easily attacked by hackers?
Explanation :
Refer to the second line of first paragraph, “Minor variations aside, every copy of these products—like all other mass-market software—has exactly the same bits in it. This makes such software a honeypot for hackers.”
Which of the following is false in context of the passage?
Explanation :
Refer to the last paragraph, “Dr Franz’s “multicompiler” trades a bit of this optimality for diversity in the compiled code. This leeway, which diminishes the code’s speed of execution by an amount imperceptible to the user, enables a multicompiler to create billions of different, but functionally identical, interpretations of the original program.” Hence only option 1 is incorrect in context of the passage.
Which efforts of software companies are found unsuccessful to secure the software from being hacked?
(i) Antivirus Symantec is one of the unsuccessful efforts which stop only 45% of the attacks.
(ii) Randomly choosing the starting addresses of big Block of memory is one such effort.
(iii) Optimising the things such as speed of resulting machine code.
Explanation :
Refer to the last sentence of second last paragraph, “Some mass-market software companies have instead introduced modest diversity to deter attackers, such as randomly choosing the starting addresses of big blocks of memory, but this is not enough to defeat a determined hacker”.
Refer to the last sentence of the second paragraph, “Symantec, one of the commercial pioneers of online security, estimates that antivirus software now stops only 45% of attacks. The firm recently declared that this approach was “dead” and a new one was needed.” Hence both statements (i) and (ii) are correct in context of the passage.
Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in passage.
Hone
Explanation :
Hone means sharpen or refine. Hence it has opposite meaning to ’wreck’.
Onslaught
Explanation :
Onslaught means a destructive attack. Hence it has opposite meaning to ’defense’.
Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in passage.
Bane
Explanation :
Bane means a cause of great distress. Hence it has same meaning as scourge.
Nigh
Explanation :
Nigh means near. Hence it has same meaning to nearly.
Which of the phrases 1,2,3 and 4 given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold letters to make the sentence grammatically correct? If the sentence is correct as it is, mark 5 i.e., "No correction required" as the answer.
In Castle town, Rose met the doctor who wanted to know if Freddie was managing to keep off her ankle.
Explanation :
’Keep off’ means to avoid encroaching on or touching hence option 5 is the correct choice for the given question.
Don’t give it into despair just because you didn’t get into the college that was at the top of your wishlist.
Explanation :
’Give in’ means to cease fighting or arguing; admit defeat therefore it is most appropriate in context of the sentence and is the correct choice for the given question.
It was dominated by Franklin Roosevelt, the cunning, determined, good-natured president called forth by the crisis of the Depression.
Explanation :
There is no error in the statement as ’called forth’ means to cause (something) to come into action or existence.
Shah Rukh Khan has expressed his disappointment for being detained by US authorities at Los Angeles International Airport.
Explanation :
Disappointed ’at’ is the correct usage here.
The teacher asked the pupils to get going at some work quietly as she had to leave the classroom.
Explanation :
’get on with’ means to continue or resume doing (something); make progress regarding hence option 3 is the correct choice for the given question.
After our month-long trip, it was time to get along with the neighbors and the news around town.
Explanation :
’Catch up with’ is the correct usage as it means succeed in reaching a person who is ahead of one. It is also the most appropriate option if you consider the context of the sentence hence option 4 is the correct choice for the given question.
Good instructors will look upon early signs of failure in their students
Explanation :
’look out for’ means be vigilant and take notice hence option 2 is the correct choice for the given question as other options change the meaning of the sentence.
If you talk towards someone in authority such as a parent or teacher, you answer them in a rude way
Explanation :
’Talk back’ means reply defiantly or insolently hence option 3 is the correct choice for the given question.
Before we take this farther, let’s consider something the Internet has taught us about ourselves.
Explanation :
The use of ’further’ which means additional to what already exists or has already taken place, been done, or been accounted for is correct and the first form of ’take’ should be used therefore option 4 is the correct choice for the given question.
It was great to think back of not just that experience, but on why that film still resonates with people.
Explanation :
’Think back on’ means to recall and is the most appropriate choice for the given question.
In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered and one word has been suggested alongside the blank. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five options are given. In four options, one word is suggested in each option. Find out the appropriate word which fits the blank appropriately. If the word written alongside the blank fits the passage, choose option ’e’ (No correction required) as the correct choice.
CHINA has long ___(21)____[moved] between the urge to ____(22)____[enrich] its elite with foreign knowledge and skills, and an opposing instinct to turn inward and rebuff such __(23)_____[importance]. In the 1870s the Qing imperial court ended centuries of educational isolation by sending young men to America, only for the Communist regime to shut out the world again a few decades later. Today record numbers of Chinese study abroad: over half a million people left in 2015 alone, many for America. The Communist Party officially endorses international exchanges in education while at the same time preaching the dangers of Western ideas on Chinese campuses.
A new front in this battlefield is ____(24)_____[emerging], as the government cracks down on international schools catering to Chinese citizens. Only holders of foreign passports used to be allowed to go to international schools in China: children of expat workers or the foreign-born offspring of Chinese returnees. Chinese citizens are still ___(25)_____[illicit] from attending such outfits, but more recently a new type of school has proliferated on the mainland, ___(26)___ [proposing] an international curriculum to Chinese nationals planning to study at foreign universities. Their number has more than doubled since 2011, to over 500. Many are clustered on the wealthy eastern seaboard, but even poor interior provinces such as Gansu, Guizhou and Yunnan have them.
Some international schools are ___(27)_____[privately run], including offshoots of famous foreign institutions such as Dulwich College in Britain or Haileybury in Australia. Even wholly Chinese ventures often __(28)___ [taken up] foreign-sounding names to increase their appeal: witness “Etonkids”, a Beijing-based chain which has no link with the illustrious British boarding school. Since 2003 some 90 state schools have _____(29)____[enabled] international programmes too, many of them at the top high schools in China, including those _____(30)____[acquainted] with Peking.
Q
Explanation :
S
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