Reading Comprehension for Bank Exams Online Preparation & Free Practice Questions – 2024

The reading comprehension for bank exams is a subset of questions designed to prepare you for these comprehensive tests and understanding them to give you the best opportunity to score high. These practice tests offer an insight into how questions are framed, and how case studies are presented.

To ensure the best results, you should work through many of these tests, which give you an idea of how to answer questions, whilst improving your reading capabilities. Once you are comfortable with these questions, it becomes easier to interpret questions and develop skills.

Essentially, it sets you up for the best results. So what do you need to know before starting:

What Is Reading Comprehension?

Reading comprehension is a sub-topic of verbal reasoning and is a term that can easily be defined as a passage given to the participant, which they need to read and understand. The passage would involve stories or specific news topics on the subject matter.

You must read the passage completely, avoiding any unnecessary confusion and gaining direct oversight into the context of the passage. Reading comprehension for bank exams would use common terminology found in the banking industry and these need to always be understood in context.

Reading comprehensions often involve numerous snippets, broken down into paragraphs. Each paragraph can be unrelated to the previous one, with the questions that follow being directly related to the specific paragraph.

You must make sure you fully understand the topic at hand and have clear insight into what the passage infers.

3 Tips For Mastering Reading Comprehension Exams for Banks

A 3-step process often works best when it comes to improving your comprehension test skills. For optimal results when attempting your reading comprehension tests you need to make sure that you master the following process.

• Fully Read Through The Passage – Instead of skimming through the passage and directly moving to the questions, it is essential to first read through the passage fully. Depending on the assessment, you might find one passage per question or one passage per 5 questions. However, it is essential that you read through the passage and fully comprehend the message inferred by the passage. The main benefit is that you will understand the passage in context, making the questions easier to understand.
• Read Through The Questions – The next step is to read through the questions one by one. Not only should you read the questions, but try to understand them. One way to know if you have understood the passage is to read through each question and give a mental answer to it. If you are comfortable with the passage, you should be able to fully understand each question and you should have a faint answer for each. If you do not yet have a detailed answer, do not worry, you can always refer back to the passage, but you should be able to understand it thoroughly.
• Answering The Questions To The Best Of Your Ability – If you feel comfortable with the questions and the passage you have just read, the next step would be to answer each question as detailed as possible. Depending on your test, this could be in the form of multiple choice, or you might need to write a detailed answer (Modern tests are mostly multiple choice). Whilst answering the questions, it is always best if you refer back to the passage to make sure that your answer is correct. Many multiple-choice answers might seem similar with a few small changes integrated, which could be the difference between right and wrong.

Now you should be able to easily beat a reading comprehension for banks!

Different Types of Reading Comprehension Tests You Can Find

Not all tests for bank exams are the same. Whilst preparing for your exam, you should be able to understand what you might encounter when you start one of these tests. Here are a few possible types you could find:

Primary Idea Questions

For the most part, you will find a single paragraph that is followed by a single question. The paragraph or passage would focus on a single idea that is often mentioned throughout the passage. A question that targets that idea would follow making it important to fully understand the idea presented.

Example Question:

“When opening a bank account, the individual will need to present their proof of identification in the form of a social security card or passport”

The question which follows might be; “What does someone need when opening a new bank account?”

Here the idea is opening a new bank account and you should focus on the keyword of opening a new bank account.

Factual Question

A factual question is usually a more direct question that needs to be answered with a fact from the passage. These questions are often more specific and would contain one fact that cannot be denied.

Example Question:

“Negative information and bad debt will stay on your credit report for 7 years, but bankruptcy stays on your credit score for between 7 and 10 years. During the period, the individual cannot make any new credit until they are fully rehabilitated”

“How long does negative information stay on the credit score?”

This is a factual question and the answer is directly given to you in the passage, but you also need to understand that negative credit and bankruptcy are not the same.

Question of Inference

A question of inference allows you to draw your conclusion and you get to rely on your knowledge to get the correct answer. For these questions, all the information might not be present and it can vary depending on the situation.

Example Question:

“If someone enters the bank with a vast amount of cash, the bank should be closed and the person should be helped with the utmost security and precautions being taken. All bankers should finish up with other clients and security should not let new clients into the bank”

“How do you deal with someone who enters the bank with $100,000 in cash they want to deposit?”

This is an inference question and would heavily depend on the current situation at the bank. You will need to follow protocol and close the bank, but this will vary depending on how many people are in the bank and the bank’s security.

How to Pass Reading Comprehension Tests for Banks?

To ensure you ace these comprehension tests, you should always prepare as diligently as possible. Relying solely on your general knowledge might drop you in some hot water. Here are a few ways you should go about preparing for these tests.

1. Practice Makes Perfect – One of the best things you can do is to practice and prepare diligently for the test. Doing practice questions will give you an idea of how questions are asked and how you should go about answering them when possible. You can find numerous online samples that should ensure you are prepared.
2. Understand the Vocabulary – If you are working or plan on working in the banking industry, you need to be aware of the common phrases used. Understanding what things like inflation, interest rates, debt, debt review, and credit score mean will be a great way to understand the context of these passages.
3. Do Self Study on The Topic – The internet is a wonderful place and you can find almost all the information you need with a simple Google search. If you are in the banking industry, we suggest you do some self-study to ensure you fully understand the responsibilities.

Practice Free Reading Comprehension Tests Questions

Whilst a reading comprehension test passage could be as long as an essay, with numerous questions that follow, you must have an idea of how this might look. Here are a few free practice questions with reading comprehension passages.

Sample Question 1:

“…10 minutes before the end of a shift, Mr. John, a bank regular enters the bank with a frustrated look on his face. Since he is popular inside the bank, one of the clerks immediately approaches him to ask if they can help him. Mr. John asks to speak to Ms. Agnes, who he often asks to assist him with large purchases. Unfortunately, Ms. Agnes is already at home. The new bank clerk asks whether they can help Mr. John, but he only gives a selfish shake of the head, asking her to call Ms. Agnes. According to protocol, the clerk should try to call the private banker, and if she does not answer, they can try to help and convince the client.”

What protocol should the clerk follow?

1. The clerk should tell him to come back later
2. The clerk should call the private banker and try to find out if they can assist
3. The clerk should give him the private number of Ms. Agnes
4. The clerk should call security

Sample Question 2:

“During a cold winter’s morning, Mr. Andrew enters the bank. Upon being helped, he asks for someone to help him take out a loan. A few minutes after looking through his financial history, it is easy to see that he is not a creditworthy individual. According to policy, the clerk explains to him that he cannot sustain more debt unless he finishes off his debt consolidation process. Angrily Mr. Andrew storms out of the bank and shouts at all the other customers whilst cussing the security.”

Once the clerk notices he is not creditworthy, should they tell him or explain the situation to him if the following policy?

1. The clerk should just refuse him the credit and chase him out
2. Cuss him back for cussing the security
3. The clerk should explain the situation to him and tell him he needs to follow the debt consolidation process.
4. Award him the desired credit

Sample Question 3:

“John is seen on the news and he is accused of fraud. Being part of the bank, the workers are bombarded by questions from the media asking to see their bank statements. Ms. Kingsley deals with the finances of John everyday and she has long suspected something wrong. According to the bank’s policy, no client information can be shared without a warrant, but the media constantly keeps on asking for his financial detail. The media eventually starts parading in front of the bank and continues to ask for these details…”

To whom should Ms. Kingsley give the financial details of John?

1. Tell the media personal information cannot be shared without a warrant or court order.
2. Make the info public to the reporters
3. Tell them to call him directly by giving his details
4. Ignore the media