Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Find the shift for each position and repeat it.

1. Pattern from CLOUD → DKRVC, position-wise: +1, −1, +3, +1, −1.
2. Apply to LIGHT: (L→M), (I→H), (G→J), (H→I), (T→S).
3. Code = MHJIS.

Trick: After the 2nd letter (I−1 = H), only (A) remains — options (B), (C), (D) all have I or J there.

Answer: (A) MHJIS

Concept: Decode the statement from the speaker outward.

1. Manoj's uncle's only son = Manoj's cousin (brother).
2. The woman is this cousin's wife.
3. A cousin's wife is a sister-in-law (bhabhi) to Manoj.

Trick: Uncle's son/daughter = cousin; spouse of a brother/cousin = sister-in-law.

Answer: (C) Sister-in-law

Concept: Replace the symbols first, then solve.

1. 6 × 5 + 2 − 3 becomes $6+5-2\times 3$.
2. Multiplication first: $2\times 3=6$.
3. $6+5-6=5$.

Trick: Rewrite the full expression before calculating — mixing old and new signs is the usual mistake.

Answer: (C) 5

Concept: Follow the order stated in the question.

1. $17+39=56$.
2. $56\times 2=112$.

Trick: Doubling can be done separately: $17\times 2+39\times 2=34+78=112$.

Answer: (B) 112

Concept: Differences should be 7, 14, 21, 28, 35 (multiples of 7).

1. 25 + 7 = 32 ✓, 32 + 14 = 46 ✓.
2. 46 + 21 = 67, but 66 is given ✗.
3. 67 + 28 = 95 ✓, 95 + 35 = 130 ✓ → 66 is wrong.

Trick: Test the pattern from both ends: 95 and 130 fit from the back, so the error is the term just before them.

Answer: (D) 66

Concept: Each ISRO centre has a specific job; VSSC is the rocket (launch vehicle) centre.

1. VSSC, Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), leads the design and development of launch vehicles like PSLV, GSLV and LVM3.
2. Launches happen at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota — so (A) is wrong.
3. Satellite operations are handled by other units (e.g. ISTRAC), not VSSC.

Trick: VSSC = Vehicles (rockets); URSC, Bengaluru = Satellites; SDSC-SHAR = Launch pad.

Answer: (C) Designs and manufactures launch vehicles

Concept: AIM is NITI Aayog's flagship for innovation; its best-known school programme is Atal Tinkering Labs.

1. Atal Tinkering Labs give school students hands-on tools — robotics, electronics, 3D printing — to build ideas.
2. PMKVY is a skill-training scheme; Startup India Seed Fund and Stand-Up India are separate schemes of other departments.

Yaad rakhein: Other AIM programmes: Atal Incubation Centres (AIC) and Atal Community Innovation Centres (ACIC).

Answer: (C) Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs)

Concept: People's movements inside the states pushed rulers towards India.

1. Praja Mandal-type agitations demanded democratic rule and union with India, isolating rulers who wanted independence.
2. Britain did not back independent princely states — Mountbatten urged them to join India or Pakistan, so (B) is wrong.
3. Economic isolation made independence unattractive, not attractive — (D) wrong.

Yaad rakhein: The integration was steered by Sardar Patel with V. P. Menon through the Instrument of Accession.

Answer: (A) Popular movements within the states favoring accession to India

Concept: BNS is one of three new laws replacing colonial-era criminal codes.

1. BNS replaced the Indian Penal Code, 1860; it came into force on 1 July 2024.
2. BNSS replaced CrPC and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam replaced the Indian Evidence Act.
3. Labour, trade and finance (A–C) are unrelated.

Trick: Match the pairs: BNS ↔ IPC, BNSS ↔ CrPC, BSA ↔ Evidence Act.

Answer: (D) Modernization and decolonization of India's criminal justice system

Concept: Digboi, Moran, Sivasagar and Naharkatiya are all in Assam.

1. Assam lies in North-East India, in the upper Brahmaputra valley.
2. Digboi is India's oldest oil field; its refinery (1901) is among the oldest operating in the world.

Yaad rakhein: Other big oil areas: Mumbai High (offshore), Ankleshwar & Kalol (Gujarat), Barmer (Rajasthan).

Answer: (C) North-Eastern India

Concept: Svaravalis are basic practice exercises of Carnatic music.

1. They are note patterns built from the seven swaras: Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Dha Ni.
2. They train voice and pitch; they are not instruments (A), compositions in a tala (B) or dance (D).

Yaad rakhein: Carnatic learning order (Purandara Dasa's system): Svaravali → Janta varisai → Alankaras → Geetham.

Answer: (C) A melody composed using the seven basic notes of the scale

Concept: The old, block-faulted peninsular plateau shows spurs, block mountains and tors.

1. Block mountains: e.g. Satpura, standing between rift valleys of Narmada and Tapi.
2. Tors: weathered granite rock piles common on the plateau; spurs project from its hill ranges.
3. Hoggar is a highland in the Sahara (Algeria), not in India → exclude 1.

Trick: Eliminate the 'foreign' item first: removing Hoggar leaves only options (B), (C), (D); since tors are typical of the plateau, (D).

Answer: (D) 2, 3 and 4

Concept: Purana Qila is a 16th-century fort (Humayun / Sher Shah Suri).

1. Its walls and the Qila-i-Kuhna mosque are of red sandstone with white marble (and coloured stone) decoration.
2. Concrete-steel, glass are modern; wood-bamboo don't make a stone fort.

Yaad rakhein: Sher Shah Suri's Sher Mandal inside Purana Qila is said to be where Humayun fell from the stairs and died.

Answer: (A) Sandstone and marble

Concept: Solung is the agricultural festival of the Adi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh.

1. Apong is a home-brewed rice beer of the Adi and other Arunachal tribes.
2. Sharing apong is part of the festival's rituals and hospitality.
3. Soma is a Vedic ritual drink — a distractor.

Yaad rakhein: Other Arunachal festivals: Losar (Monpa), Dree (Apatani), Nyokum (Nyishi).

Answer: (D) Apong

Concept: Harappan cities had a planned underground-style drainage network.

1. House drains joined street drains made of burnt bricks.
2. Street drains were covered with bricks/stone slabs and had inspection holes for cleaning.

Yaad rakhein: Mohenjodaro also had the Great Bath and the Great Granary; it lies on the Indus in Sindh (Pakistan).

Answer: (B) A covered street drain

Concept: Know what each card means and how a tie is broken.

1. Cards: Green = warning, Yellow = temporary (2-min) suspension, Red = sent off. So (B) and (C) are wrong.
2. A tie after extra time goes to 5 raids each; if still tied, a fresh toss decides who takes the Golden Raid → (D).
3. Golden Raid is only a tie-breaker, not 'three per match' → (A) wrong.

Trick: Card colours rise like traffic signals: Green (go easy/warning) → Yellow (pause) → Red (stop/out).

Answer: (D) A fresh toss is taken if the match is tied even after 5-5 raids.

Concept: Chola farming depended heavily on irrigation in the Kaveri delta.

1. Rain was seasonal, so assured water was the key problem.
2. Cholas built tanks, wells, canals and the Kaveri embankments to store and divert water.

Yaad rakhein: The Grand Anicut (Kallanai) on the Kaveri is attributed to Karikala Chola (early Chola ruler).

Answer: (B) Availability of irrigation water

Concept: Both statements match the reported results.

1. 74th Senior National (Men): Tamil Nadu champions; Punjab runner-up; Indian Railways third → 1 is correct.
2. 39th Youth National: Rajasthan won the boys' title and Karnataka the girls' title → 2 is correct.

Yaad rakhein: For 'both' type sports questions, check winner + position of each team named — one wrong name makes the statement false.

Answer: (C) Both 1 and 2 are correct

Concept: Kaladan links Kolkata to Mizoram through Myanmar.

1. Sea route: Kolkata port → Sittwe port (Rakhine, Myanmar).
2. Then river (Kaladan) to Paletwa and road to Zorinpui in Mizoram.
3. It bypasses the narrow Siliguri ('Chicken's Neck') corridor.

Yaad rakhein: India–Myanmar–Thailand Trilateral Highway is another link to South-East Asia under the Act East Policy.

Answer: (C) Myanmar

Concept: 'The Namesake' (2003) is by Jhumpa Lahiri.

1. It tells the story of a Bengali immigrant family and their son Gogol in America.
2. Lahiri won the Pulitzer Prize for 'Interpreter of Maladies'.

Yaad rakhein: Chetan Bhagat – Five Point Someone; Anita Desai – Fire on the Mountain; Ruskin Bond – The Room on the Roof.

Answer: (D) Jhumpa Lahiri