IBPS SO | Preliminary Examination (IT, Agriculture, Marketing and HR posts)

IBPS SO: 27-question practice mock

A compact, single-clock IBPS SO practice mock: 27 original questions across English Language, Reasoning Ability and Quantitative Aptitude, each with a worked solution. One fourth of a mark is deducted for a wrong answer.

Before you start

27 questions in 27 minutes on a single clock — a short drill, not a full-length paper.
Each question carries one mark; one fourth of a mark is deducted for a wrong answer, and unanswered questions carry no penalty.
Every question is original, written to the IBPS SO pattern, with a worked solution shown after you submit.

Sections in this test

Section	Questions
English LanguageEnglish Language	9
Reasoning AbilityReasoning Ability	9
Quantitative AptitudeQuantitative Aptitude	9

Sample questions with worked solutions

A few questions from this test, with the answer key and the method behind it. The full set of 27 runs under a timer, and every solution is on the analysis screen once you submit.

English Language · solved example

Pick the pair of words that best fills the two blanks. Although the scheme was launched with great ____, its impact on the ground remained ____.

fanfare / negligibleCorrect
secrecy / enormous
reluctance / significant
fanfare / overwhelming
caution / visible

Solution

'Although' signals a contrast: a loud launch ('fanfare') set against a small result ('negligible'). Option D keeps 'fanfare' but 'overwhelming' removes the contrast, and the other pairs do not form the launch-versus-impact opposition.

Reasoning Ability · solved example

In these questions the symbols are used with the following meanings: A @ B means A is greater than B. A # B means A is greater than or equal to B. A $ B means A is smaller than B. A & B means A is smaller than or equal to B. A * B means A is equal to B.

Statements: A $ B, B & C, C @ D. Conclusions: I. A $ C. II. D @ B.

Only conclusion I is trueCorrect
Only conclusion II is true
Either I or II is true
Neither I nor II is true
Both I and II are true

Solution

Decoding: A < B, B is at most C, and C > D. From A < B and B at most C, A < C - conclusion I is true. For II, C > D and B at most C leave D and B unordered, so D > B is not established. Only I is true.

Quantitative Aptitude · solved example

Find the difference between the compound interest and the simple interest on Rupees 20,000 at 10% per annum for 2 years, compounded annually.

Rupees 180
Rupees 200Correct
Rupees 210
Rupees 220
Rupees 240

Solution

Simple interest = 20000 x 10 x 2 / 100 = 2000 x 2 = 4000. For compound interest, the amount is 20000 x 1.1 x 1.1 = 24200, so the interest is 4200. The difference is 200. There is a shortcut worth memorising: for 2 years the difference is P x r squared over 100 squared, which here is 20000 x 100 / 10000 = 200.

English Language · solved example

India's shift to digital payments has been fastest where it was least expected: among small merchants who once dealt only in cash. A vegetable seller who a decade ago would have waved away anything but coins now displays a printed code and is paid in seconds. The convenience is real, but so is a quieter change in behaviour. Because every digital rupee leaves a record, a seller who accepts them builds, without meaning to, a history of sales that a lender can read. For the first time, a trader with no property to pledge has something a bank will look at. Yet the same visibility cuts both ways. A record that can earn a loan can also attract a tax notice, and many small sellers, sensing this, keep one foot in cash. The state gains an unprecedented view of the informal economy; the citizen weighs the benefit of credit against the cost of being seen. What looks like a simple story of technology spreading is really a negotiation, still unsettled, over how much of a small trader's life the system should be able to observe.

Why, according to the passage, do many small sellers 'keep one foot in cash'?

Because digital payments are technically unreliable
To save on the cost of printing payment codes
To avoid the tax scrutiny that a visible record can inviteCorrect
Because their customers prefer to pay in cash

Solution

The passage notes that a record which can earn a loan can also attract a tax notice, and sellers "sensing this" stay partly in cash.

English Language · solved example

Arrange the four sentences into a coherent paragraph. A. The result was a scheme that reached far fewer households than its budget allowed for. B. The subsidy was designed to be claimed at the point of purchase. C. Many of the intended beneficiaries, however, bought from sellers who were not registered to process claims. D. That required every participating seller to be enrolled on the payments platform.

BDCACorrect
BCDA
DBCA
BDAC
CBDA

Solution

B is the only sentence that introduces its subject without pointing back at anything, so it opens. D begins with 'That', which can only refer to the design described in B, so D follows. C then supplies the contrast with 'however', explaining that beneficiaries used unregistered sellers, which is a problem only because D established the enrolment requirement. A closes with 'The result was', which needs a cause already stated. That gives BDCA. Note that A cannot precede C, because a result has to come after the thing it results from.

How this test is marked

Correct answer

Wrong answer

-0.25

Unanswered

Because a blank carries no penalty, guessing only pays when you can eliminate at least two options. The analysis screen after the test shows you exactly where guessing cost you marks.