PUNJAB NATIONAL BANK AO EXAM 2009

Punjab National Bank Agriculture Officers Exam 2009
English Language : Solved Paper
(Held on 16-8-2009)


Directions—(Q. 1–15) Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions given below it. Certain words/phrases have been printed in bold to help you locate them while answering some of the questions.

Despite the global slowdown, the online shopping in India has increased. The growing pace of online buying is because of the attractive discounted prices offered and the ability of the customers to research and compare the prices across several outlets.

The average frequency of online purchases in India grew up to 2•9 in the fourth quarter of 2008 from 2•6 during the same quarter in 2007, as reported by the survey of Master Card Worldwide.

“The economic meltdown has not affected our business”, said the CEO of an e-commerce portal which specializes in personalized gifting and merchandise space in India. He said, “Our business has increased up to five times this year despite the economic recession. Currently, we possess a database of 25,000 designs posted by a thousand designers so that the users can create their own merchandise by selecting the designs sitting at home”.

The CEO also said that with the rise in bandwidth penetration in India and the increasing awareness of internet among people, the online shoppers sense the convenience to click on the products they want to purchase.

Holding onto a similar conviction, the CEO of another company said, “With the convenience of online buying, customers can save their time and money to move across multiple outlets for a product.”

The online shoppers also plan their shopping in advance and conduct research on their planned purchases. It becomes easier for the customers to decide the price at which they want the products. Sharing views on this point, the Manager of the e-commerce portal says, “Through the online shopping, customers can attain the objective of value for money during these tough times.”

Today, India is the only country where the 18 to 29 years age group has the highest average spend on online shopping. In India, the popular online purchases include the home appliances and the electronic gadgets like cell phones, camera, laptops and so on. According to the survey, the epurchasing of electronic products has gone up by 51 per cent.

So to drive these online shoppers, e-commerce portals are adopting a networking culture by incorporating ‘social networking feature’ in their websites, so that people can discuss with their friends and relatives before buying the particular product. There are more startups, who are innovating their products to combat slowdown.

1. What does the phrase ‘value of money’ as used in the passage mean ?
(A) Get the best at optimum price
(B) Buy the cheapest possible product
(C) Pay a lot for the best product
(D) Get a lot of money in return for the purchase
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

2. Which of the following statements is not true in the context of the passage ?
(A) Purchases online have increased as the people buying these products are rich
(B) Online buying has increased because customers are getting a lot of discounts
(C) Customers have access to a number of outlets online thus online buying is more popular
(D) Online purchases have increased because the customers are able to compare prices easily
(E) All of the above are not true
Ans : (E)

3. What according to the CEO of ecommerce portal is the reason for increase in the number of online shoppers ?
1. Greater bandwidth is now available in India.
2. Internet is available at a cheap cost.
3. More people are aware of the internet.
(A) Only (1) and (2)
(B) Only (2)
(C) Only (3)
(D) Only (2) and (3)
(E) Only (1) and (3)
Ans : (E)

4. Which of the following statements is True in the context of the passage ?
(A) Cameras, laptops and mobile phones are popular online shopping products
(B) Customers find online shopping more convenient
(C) More people in the age group of 18 to 29 spend on online shopping
(D) Home appliances are a popular online product
(E) All the above are true
Ans : (E)

5. How can customers plan their purchases online in advance ?
(A) By looking at the product in a store and then searching for it online
(B) By waiting for discounts being offered by companies
(C) By creating their own websites and socially interacting
(D) By conducting research and then deciding the price at which they want to buy
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

6. What can possibly be the most appropriate title to the passage ?
(A) Innovation-the art of survival
(B) Online shopping-unaffected by recession
(C) Recession and its impact
(D) Customer is king
(E) Sale of Electronic Goods
Ans : (B)

7. Which of the following statements is true in the context of the passage ?
(1) People make purchases only through e-commerce portals.
(2) Online buying of electronic gadgets has increased by 51 per cent.
(3) E-commerce portals are finding it difficult to sell their products.
(A) Only (1)
(B) Only (2)
(C) Only (1) and (3)
(D) Only (2) and (3)
(E) All the three (1), (2) and (3)
Ans : (B)

8. How are e-commerce portals luring customers ?
(A) By innovating their products
(B) By offering free products with other products bought
(C) By creating an awareness about social networking
(D) By enabling customers through their website to interact with friends and relatives before buying a product
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)

Directions—(Q. 9–12) Choose the word/group of words which is most similar in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

9. Pace
(A) Walk
(B) Length
(C) Rate
(D) Tread
(E) Variety
Ans : (C)

10. Conviction
(A) Sense
(B) Culture
(C) Belief
(D) Value
(E) Worry
Ans : (A)

11. Drive
(A) Coax
(B) Show
(C) Dishearten
(D) Ride
(E) Implement
Ans : (A)

12. Innovating
(A) Researching
(B) Improvising
(C) Selling
(D) Measuring
(E) Deleting
Ans : (B)

Directions—(Q. 13–15) Choose the word/group of words which is most opposite in meaning to the word/group of words printed in bold as used in the passage.

13. Attractive
(A) Dark
(B) Ugly
(C) Slim
(D) Insignificant
(E) Striking
Ans : (D)

14. Rise
(A) Finish
(B) Improve
(C) Reduction
(D) Heighten
(E) Stop
Ans : (C)

15. Tough
(A) Soft
(B) Delicate
(C) Comfortable
(D) Difficult
(E) Simple
Ans : (C)

Directions—(Q. 16–20) Which of the phrases (A), (B), (C) and (D) given below each sentence should replace the phrase printed in bold in the sentence to make it grammatically correct ? If the sentence is correct as it is given and ‘No correction is required’, mark (E) as the answer.

16. The traders’ community is up to in arms against the police on their failure for not ensuring the arrest of wanted criminals.
(A) Up in arming
(B) Up arm
(C) Up in arms
(D) Up to arms
(E) No correction required
Ans : (C)

17. Chief Justice announced that a total of 30 evening courts will be started in all the five district courts of the city by the end of December.
(A) Will be start
(B) Is started
(C) Will starting
(D) Is being started
(E) No correction required
Ans : (E)

18. If you are planning on getting admission forms to enroll your child in school, you might as well forgetting about it.
(A) Forgets with it
(B) Forget in it
(C) Forgetting it
(D) Forget about it
(E) No correction required
Ans : (D)

19. Police said that basis on secret information, a trap was laid and the criminal was arrested near the station.
(A) As basis of
(B) That based on
(C) As base on
(D) That base in
(E) No correction required
Ans : (B)

20. With order to help outstation candidates planning to move to the city, a few colleges load their application forms online.
(A) In order to
(B) As order in
(C) Alongwith order to
(D) In ordering to
(E) No correction required
Ans : (A)

Directions—(Q. 21–25) Each question below has two blanks, each blank indicating that something has been omitted. Choose the set of words for each blank which best fits the meaning of the sentence as a whole.

21. The petitioner had ……… an immediate stay from the court on allotment of the flats till ……… of investigation into the alleged irregularities.
(A) asked, process
(B) sought, completion
(C) propagated, finish
(D) demanded, course
(E) granted, end
Ans : (B)

22. Modern music doesn’t lend ……… to longevity; sometimes it is hard even to remember what the biggest hit from a ……… of years ago was.
(A) itself, couple
(B) much, few
(C) money, some
(D) matter, spatter
(E) substance, variety
Ans : (A)

23. Opportunities ……… when they are seized and ……… when they are not.
(A) gather, evade
(B) needed, reflect
(C) create, disperse
(D) shout, calm
(E) multiply, die
Ans : (E)

24. At the sound of the bell we are ……… to pause, relax our body and become gently ……… of our in-breath and out-breath.
(A) asked, thoughtless
(B) requested, wishful
(C) invited, aware
(D) forced, meaningful
(E) braced, calm
Ans : (C)

25. ………… to listen to the sounds of nature, we find that we can afterwards carry on with whatever we were doing in a more ……… and loving way.
(A) feeling, helpful
(B) waiting, rough
(C) dreaming, dramatic
(D) pausing, attentive
(E) hurting, creative
Ans : (A)

Directions—(Q. 26–35) In the following passage there are blanks, each of which has been numbered. These numbers are printed below the passage and against each, five words are suggested, one of which fits the blank appropriately. Find out the appropriate word in each case.

Since …26… times, people have …27… that human activity could affect the environment. The discovery of past ice ages shows that Earth’s climate is in constant …28… and that …29… history, scientists have …30… for the cause of these changes. Though scientists discovered the greenhouse effect in the late 19th century, the theory of global warming wasn’t …31… as a scientifically proven fact until 1992 when the United Nations held a Conference on Environment and Development. Today, global warming is a …32… accepted reality and …33… about its effects ranges from the hysteria to the acceptance. Newspapers chronicle the slowly changing climate and the actions that have …34… that change. From developing nations to industrial countries, global climate affects …35…

26. (A) Long
(B) Great
(C) Urgent
(D) Ancient
(E) Stone-age
Ans : (D)

27. (A) Believed
(B) Succeeded
(C) Wished
(D) Lost
(E) Wanted
Ans : (A)

28. (A) Hot
(B) Flux
(C) Fight
(D) Changes
(E) Reality
Ans : (B)

29. (A) With
(B) For
(C) To
(D) Throughout
(E) As
Ans : (D)

30. (A) Contribute
(B) Talked
(C) Resigned
(D) Visited
(E) Searched
Ans : (E)

31. (A) Accepted
(B) False
(C) Real
(D) Greeted
(E) Expected
Ans : (A)

32. (A) Rarely
(B) Widely
(C) Wrongly
(D) Leisurely
(E) Faithfully
Ans : (B)

33. (A) Principles
(B) Various
(C) Measurement
(D) Idea
(E) Speculation
Ans : (E)

34. (A) Meaning
(B) Worked
(C) Affected
(D) Cause
(E) Witness
Ans : (C)

35. (A) One
(B) Much
(C) Everyone
(D) More
(E) Singular
Ans : (C)

Punjab National Bank Agriculture Officers Exam., 2009
Professional Knowledge (Economics) : Solved Paper
(Held on 16-8-2009)


1. Say’s Law of Markets states that—
(A) Demand creates its own supply
(B) Supply creates its own demand
(C) Demand creates its own demand
(D) Supply creates its own supply
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

2. Malthusian theory of population is based on—
(A) Harmonic progression of population
(B) Geometric progression of food production
(C) Arithmetic progression of population
(D) Geometric progression of population
(E) All of the above
Ans : (D)

3. Gresham’s Law states that—
(A) Good money drives bad money out of circulation
(B) Bad money drives good money out of circulation
(C) Both good money and bad money may co-exist
(D) Neither bad money nor good money may be long in circulation
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

4. The on-going melt down had its origin in—
(A) The real sector
(B) The financial sector
(C) The service sector
(D) The textile sector
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

5. A competitive firm maximizes its profit when—
(A) MR = AR
(B) MR = MC
(C) MC = AC
(D) MC = AR
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

6. ‘Supernormal’ profit may exist in a market due to—
(A) Asymmetry of information
(B) Restriction of information
(C) Quantity restriction
(D) Price restriction
(E) All the above
Ans : (A)

7. Profit is caused by—
(A) Dynamic element in the economy
(B) Innovation
(C) Windfall
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

8. Interest is paid—
(A) To compensate for inflation
(B) Due to superiority of present over future goods
(C) Because demand for money outstrips its supply
(D) To ensure the growth of the real sector
(E) All the above
Ans : (B)

9. Investment is defined as a—
(A) Deployment of a sum in business operations
(B) Purchasing an interest bearing bond
(C) Change in the stock of capital
(D) All the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)

10. The unproductive expenditure of the rich is—
(A) Necessary to the employment of the poor
(B) An impediment to the growth of an economy
(C) Having no bearing on the economy
(D) Having bearing only on the economy of the rich
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

11. Heckscher-Ohlin theory explains—
(A) Pattern of trade in terms of relative factor endowments of countries
(B) Why a country may import products which use extensively the country’s scarce factor
(C) The law of comparative cost
(D) The concept of reciprocal demand
(E) All the above
Ans : (A)

12. ‘Quasi-rents’—
(A) Are in the nature of free gifts
(B) May be applicable to all factors of production
(C) Comprise of all the returns to the firm in excess of the returns of the marginal firm
(D) All the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)

13. The indifference curve technique is essentially—
(A) A cardinal approach
(B) An ordinal approach
(C) A quasi-ordinal approach
(D) All the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

14. The slope of an indifference curve expresses—
(A) The marginal rate of substitution of two goods
(B) A ratio of marginal utility of one good to another
(C) Both (A) and (B)
(D) A ratio of total utility of one good to another
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

15. ‘Pass through’ effect in international trade theory refers to—
(A) The proportion of an exchange rate change that is reflected in export and import price change
(B) Exports and imports not facing any tariff barrier
(C) Exports and imports not facing any technical barrier
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

16. Uruguay Round of multilateral trade negotiations—
(A) Started in 1986 and completed at the end of 1993
(B) Aimed at reversing the rising trend of non-tariff trade barriers
(C) Replaced the GATT with WTO
(D) Brought services and agriculture into WTO
(E) All of the above
Ans : (E)

17. Product Cycle Model in international trade theory (Vernon, 1966)—
(A) Is an extension of technological gap model
(B) Is an extension of Heckscher-Ohlin model
(C) Explains dynamic comparative advantage of new products and new processes of production
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (E)

18. Hedging and speculation in forex markets—
(A) Are opposite activities
(B) Parallel activities
(C) Same activities
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

19. A currency swap refer to—
(A) A spot sale of currency combined with a forward repurchase of the same currency—as part of single transaction
(B) A forward sale of currency combined with a forward repurchase of the same currency—as part of a single transaction
(C) A forward sale of currency combined with a forward repurchase of the same currency—in two different transactions
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

20. Public-Private Partnership projects in India are mostly related to—
(A) Airports
(B) Ports
(C) Railways
(D) Roads
(E) Urban development
Ans : (D)

21. The largest share in the short term money market of India in recent times belonged to the segment—
(A) Collaterised Borrowing and Lending Obligation (CBLO)
(B) Traditional repo
(C) Clearcorp Repo Over Matching System (CROMS)
(D) Call
(E) Others
Ans : (D)

22. As per the revised estimate of CSO, the GDP in India at factor cost during 2008-09 was—
(A) Rs. 28,71,120 crore
(B) Rs. 31,29,717 crore
(C) Rs. 33, 39,375 crore
(D) Rs. 44,82,436 crore
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)

23. Mid Day Meal Scheme—
(A) Is a centrally funded and largest school meal scheme in the world
(B) Provides each child in government and government aided school a minimum of 300 calories and 8–12 gm of protein each day of school for a minimum of 200 days
(C) Provides lunch to about 120 million children
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)

24. Insurance penetration is defined as the—
(A) Ratio of premium underwritten in a year to GDP
(B) Ratio of premium underwritten in a year to total population
(C) Ratio of insurance subscribers in a year to total population
(D) Ratio of total number of policy holders in a year to total population
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

25. Insurance density is defined as the—
(A) Ratio of premium underwritten in a year to GDP
(B) Ratio of premium underwritten in a year to total population
(C) Ratio of insurance subscribers in a year to total population
(D) Ratio of total number of policy holders in a year to total population
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

26. Minimum Support Prices of crops are recommended by—
(A) Planning Commission of India
(B) Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP)
(C) Finance Commission of India
(D) Farmers’ Commission of India
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

27. The Electricity (Amendment) Act 2007—
(A) Dispensed with licence requirement for sale from captive units
(B) Provided for joint effort by the Central and State governments for providing access to all areas including villages and markets
(C) Expanded the definition of theft to cover the use of tampered meters
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

28. In times of slowdown of the economy, the fiscal policy influences aggregate demand through—
(A) Discretionary element
(B) Non-discretionary element
(C) Lowering of tax rates
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (C)

29. Thirteenth Finance Commission is headed by—
(A) Dr. Rangarajan
(B) Dr. Vijay L. Kelkar
(C) Dr. Suresh Tendulkar
(D) Dr. C. H. Hanumantha Rao
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

30. A constitutionally recognized body is—
(A) Planning Commission
(B) Finance Commission
(C) Forward Commission
(D) Farmers Commission
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

31. Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana was launched by GOI in August 2007 with the objective(s) of—
(A) To incentivise the states to increase public investment in agriculture and allied sectors
(B) To ensure that local needs/crops/priorities are better reflected
(C) To achieve the goal of reducing the yield gaps in important crops
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

32. The Buffer Stock of foodgrains at the beginning of February 2009 stood at—
(A) 16•2 million tonnes
(B) 20•0 million tonnes
(C) 37•4 million tonnes
(D) 36•2 million tonnes
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

33. Public Private Partnership came to be introduced in India to—
(A) Mitigate the financial burden of the governments
(B) Respond to the technological change that allow unbundling of infrastructure
(C) Alter the character of goods and services from pure public to private ones
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

34. Heteroscedasticity in econometric analysis means—
(A) The variance for each disturbance term (Vi) is the same for all i’s
(B) The variance for each disturbance term (Vi) is not the same for all i’s
(C) The co-variance for each pair of disturbance term is the same
(D) The co-variance for each pair of disturbance term is not the same
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

35. Autocorrelation in econometric analysis refers to—
(A) The correlation between the values of different variables
(B) The correlation between the values of alternative variables
(C) The correlation between successive values of the same variable
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

36. Durbin-Watson Test is applied in econometric models to test—
(A) Presence of heteroscedasticity in a model
(B) For autocorrelated errors in the sample data
(C) For multicorrelinearity
(D) For autoregressive disturbances
(E) None of these
Ans : (B)

37. A weakly stationary stochastic process is so called, if—
(A) Its mean and variance are constant over time
(B) The value of covariance between two time periods depends only on lag between two time periods
(C) The value of covariance does not depend on the actual time at which the covariance is computed
(D) All the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (D)

38. Dummy variables are used in regression models—
(A) To represent important variables that are not qualitatively measurable
(B) To capture the effect of specific attributes
(C) As binary variables
(D) To distinguish between two groups of population
(E) All of the above
Ans : (C)

39. Principal components in econometric analysis—
(A) Are linear combinations
(B) Help to increase the degrees of freedom
(C) Help to reduce high degree of multicorrelinearity
(D) All of the above
(E) None of these
Ans : (A)

40. If world population grows at 2•6 per cent, then it will double in—
(A) 44•34 years
(B) 36•92 years
(C) 29•32 years
(D) 26•66 years
(E) None of these
Ans : (E)