Read the passage and answer the questions. Some words may be highlighted. Read carefully.
Technology. Whether you find that you embrace every new update, or struggle to keep up with the changes,
its effect on our day-to-day lives is unmistakable. Recent technological developments are vastly changing the
way we live, and in particular, the way we work. With the job market a competitive and ever-evolving arena,
determining your career path is more than just following your passions and skills, it’s about being adaptive
in this digital age and understanding what skills and jobs are in high demand, and which are facing potential
extinction. It’s important to try not to feel disorientated or uncomfortable with these rapid changes, but
instead, change your mindset and embrace the opportunities technology brings and focus on the right skills to
increase your employability and succeed in the new tech-savvy work scene. Although technological
innovation offers many new and exciting opportunities and career paths, there is also the downside of careers
becoming obsolete, leaving people without a job. This is not a recent issue either, we’ve experienced years of
machines replacing muscle power as the routine, autonomous tasks are taken over by technology. With the
internet serving a plethora of information, jobs like the traditional travel agent have been almost wiped out
entirely in favour of online websites that allow us to find the cheapest deals for flights and accommodation
with just a click of a button. We are seeing an increase in ‘self-service’ with grocery store check-outs and
airport check-ins opting for automation over employees. It’s these entry-level and part-time jobs where we
are seeing technological systems making the greatest impact. We’ve also witnessed other societal issues
emerging, such as businesses going bust with technology replacing products. Remember going down to the
local video store to rent a few DVDs? Or when libraries were a place people actually went to rent a book? In
order to keep up to date with the latest trends in IT, businesses are beginning to embrace technology in
recruitment, operations, marketing and production. With new IT commodities like Netflix, iTunes and
eBooks, products are moving from the tangible to the digital at an alarming rate, causing numerous stores to
go out of business. Newspapers and magazines are struggling to sell copies, with many people preferring to
use their iPhone or tablet to get the latest headlines and gossip. The music industry has also taken a hit, with
the amount of illegal piracy that goes on, resulting in a dramatic decrease in compact disc sales.
However, there are conflicting opinions on this. Study of census results in England and Wales since 1871
finds the rise of machines has been a job creator rather than making working humans obsolete. In the 1800s it
was the Luddites smashing weaving machines. These days retail staff worry about automatic checkouts.
Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars. The battle between man and machines
goes back centuries. Are they taking our jobs? Or are they merely easing our workload? A study by
economists at the consultancy Deloitte seeks to shed new light on the relationship between jobs and the rise
of technology by trawling through census data for England and Wales going back to 1871. Their conclusion
is unremittingly cheerful: rather than destroying jobs, technology has been a “great job-creating machine”.
Findings by Deloitte such as a fourfold rise in bar staff since the 1950s or a surge in the number of
hairdressers this century suggest to the authors that technology has increased spending power, therefore
creating new demand and new jobs. “Machines will take on more repetitive and laborious tasks, but seem no
closer to eliminating the need for human labour than at any time in the last 150 years.”- analysts at Deloitte
conclude.
Q1. How can we increase our chances of employability and succeed in this new age?
1. By changing our mindset and embracing new opportunities
2. By changing the way we live
3. By focusing on the right skills
4. Both 1 and 3
5. Both 1 and 2
Q2. Which brand/company/organization has not been mentioned in the passage?
1. Netflix
2. eBooks
3. Deloitte
4. iPhone
5. None of these
Que. 3 Determine a suitable title for the passage.
1. Technology and its Effects
2. Man and his Relationship to Technology
3. Technological Innovations in the 21st Century
4. Technology- Boon or Bane?
5. The Dark Side of Technology
Que. 4 What is the synonym of ‘plethora’?
1. Dearth
2. Growth
3. Myriad
4. Destruction
5. Fruition
Que. 5 What is the antonym of the word ‘adaptive’?
1. Elementary
2. Egregious
3. Flexible
4. Adoptive
5. Stubborn
Que. 6 What is the meaning of the emboldened phrase given below?
Sooner or later taxi drivers will be fretting over self-driving cars.
1. Selling the cars off
2. Feel anxious or concerned regarding someone on something
3. Brood over
4. Both 2 and 3
5. None of these
Que. 7 Which of the following meanings properly explains the word ‘trawling’?
1. Trawl: to pull a large, cone-shaped net through the sea at a deep level behind
a special boat in order to catch fish
2. Trawl: move a lawnmower across a green lawn
3. Trawl: to search among a large number or many
different places in order to find people or information you want
4. Both 2 and 3
5. Both 1 and 3
Que. 8 What is the overall tone of the passage?
1. Optimistic
2. Analytical
3. Acerbic
4. Lampooning
5. Descriptive
Answers
Que. 1 Correct Option – 4
Que. 2 Correct Option – 5
Que. 3 Correct Option – 4
Que. 4 Correct Option – 3
Que. 5 Correct Option – 5
Que. 6 Correct Option – 4
Que. 7 Correct Option – 5
Que. 8 Correct Option – 2
Tags: SBI PO English, SBI PO English 2024, SBI PO Comprehension, SBI PO English Comprehension, English Comprehension