Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Find one rule that fits both given examples.

1. 13 # 3: (13 + 3) × 10 = 160 ✓.
2. 7 # 7: (7 + 7) × 10 = 140 ✓.
3. 6 # 4 = (6 + 4) × 10 = 100.

Trick: Both answers end in 0 and equal 10 × (sum) — check the sum first in such puzzles.

Answer: (B) 100

Concept: Siblings share the same mother.

1. M, N and O are siblings (M sister, O brother of N).
2. Q is M's mother, so Q is mother of O too.
3. O is male → O is Q's son.

Trick: Gender of the person asked about (O = brother → male) removes 'Niece' and 'Wife' at once.

Answer: (A) Son

Concept: Each term is formed from the previous one by a fixed operation.

1. Rule: double the term, then add 3 (8 → 19 → 41 → 85 all fit).
2. Double 85 and add 3: 170 + 3 = 173.
3. Verify the last term: 346 + 3 = 349 ✓.

Trick: Terms roughly double each time → think ×2 ± something.

Answer: (D) 173

Concept: Form an equation from the present-age condition.

1. Let present age = x. Then x = 3(x − 14).
2. x = 3x − 42 → 2x = 42 → x = 21.
3. Age after 1 year = 22.

Trick: Gap between 'now' and '14 years ago' = 3 − 1 = 2 parts = 14 → 1 part = 7, now = 21.

Answer: (A) 22

Concept: Each term = previous × n + n, with n = 1, 2, 3, 4.

1. (4 + 1) × 1 = 5, (5 + 1) × 2 = 12, (12 + 1) × 3 = 39 — pattern holds.
2. Fifth term should be (39 + 1) × 4 = 160.
3. Given 163 → wrong.

Trick: ×n + n is the same as (previous + 1) × n — one bracket, one multiplication.

Answer: (C) 163

Concept: Nuakhai ('nua' = new, 'khai' = eat) is the rice-harvest festival of western Odisha.

1. The new rice (nabanna) is first offered to Maa Samaleswari, the presiding goddess of Sambalpur.
2. Only after this offering do families eat the new crop together.
3. Maa Mangala (Kakatpur) and Budhi Thakurani (Berhampur) belong to other parts of Odisha.

Trick: Sambalpur → Samaleswari: the city's name itself comes from the goddess.

Answer: (C) Maa Samaleswari

Concept: Each temple style is linked to a specific region of India.

1. Vesara (mix of Nagara + Dravida) — Deccan under Chalukyas ✓.
2. Rekha-deul (curved tower) — Odisha ✓; Bhumija — Malwa, Madhya Pradesh ✓.
3. Kalinga style is Odisha's style, not Tamil Nadu's ✗ (Tamil Nadu = Dravida).

Trick: Kalinga is the ancient name of Odisha — so Kalinga style can never be Tamil Nadu.

Answer: (D) 1, 2 & 3 only

Concept: Gupta officials had specific titles for local administration.

1. Gramika / Gramadhyaksha was the head of a village — correct pair.
2. Talavataka was a village-level accounts official, not an army paymaster.
3. Prathamakulika was the chief of artisans/guilds; Pustapala maintained land-record documents.

Trick: 'Grama' = village, so Gramika/Gramadhyaksha = village head. Vishayapati headed a district (vishaya).

Answer: (A) Gramika / Gramadhyaksha - Head of the Village Administration

Concept: Match each folk form to its state.

1. Domkach — Jharkhand (also Bihar); sung mostly by women at weddings with group dance and acting.
2. Baul — West Bengal; Lavani — Maharashtra; Bhavai — Gujarat/Rajasthan.
3. Only Domkach belongs to Jharkhand.

Yaad rakhein: Domkach is sung at the groom's house on the wedding night when women stay back after the baraat leaves.

Answer: (C) Domkach

Concept: Singles and doubles courts differ only in width.

1. Length of court = 13.40 m (same for both).
2. Doubles width = 6.10 m; singles width = 5.18 m (side alleys not used).
3. So singles width = 5.18 m.

Yaad rakhein: Shuttle net height at centre = 1.524 m (5 ft); at posts = 1.55 m.

Answer: (B) 5.18 metres

Concept: Gangaikonda Cholapuram was the new capital founded by Rajendra Chola I.

1. After his army reached the Ganga, Rajendra I took the title 'Gangaikonda' and built this city and its Brihadisvara temple (c. 1035 CE).
2. His father Rajaraja I built the Brihadisvara temple of Thanjavur.
3. Both temples are part of the UNESCO 'Great Living Chola Temples'.

Yaad rakhein: Rajaraja → Thanjavur; Rajendra → Gangaikonda; Rajaraja II → Airavatesvara (Darasuram).

Answer: (D) Rajendra Chola I

Concept: The 1793 Act (with Cornwallis Code) moved British India toward rule of law.

1. It required regulations to be written and codified, and courts were to interpret them — Statement II true.
2. So it did bring legal and structural change; Statement I is false.
3. It also extended the Company's trade monopoly for 20 years.

Yaad rakhein: 1793 is also the year of the Permanent Settlement of Bengal by Lord Cornwallis.

Answer: (B) Only II is true

Concept: Know the basic equipment rules of high jump.

1. The approach runway has to be at least 15 m — so the first statement holds.
2. The crossbar is a thin bar roughly 3 cm (30 mm) thick; a 15–20 cm figure is false — so the second statement fails.

Trick: Common sense check: a 15–20 cm thick bar would be as wide as a log — impossible for high jump.

Answer: (A) Only 1 is correct

Concept: ECTA is a trade pact that came into force on 29 December 2022.

1. In its first years, India's exports to Australia grew by about 14% (2022-24), with new product categories gaining.
2. It does not remove all agricultural tariffs one-sidedly, and it has no defence clause — it is purely economic.
3. Gains were not limited to old sectors like cotton.

Trick: Eliminate options that sound extreme ('all tariffs', 'defence') — trade pacts are rarely absolute.

Answer: (C) The agreement spurred about 14% export growth during 2022-24 and opened up new export categories.

Concept: An Area of Darkness (1964) is a travel book on India.

1. It was written by V. S. Naipaul, a Trinidad-born British writer of Indian origin.
2. It opens his trilogy of non-fiction books on India.
3. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001.

Yaad rakhein: Vikram Seth → A Suitable Boy; R. K. Narayan → Malgudi Days; Raja Rao → Kanthapura.

Answer: (A) V. S. Naipaul

Concept: Fencing has three weapons: épée, foil and sabre.

1. In the 2022 Asian Junior & Cadet Fencing Championships, Prachi Lohan won bronze in Women's Cadet Épée.
2. Bhavani Devi is a senior sabre fencer, so she does not fit a cadet épée event.

Yaad rakhein: Bhavani Devi was India's first fencer to qualify for the Olympics (Tokyo 2020).

Answer: (D) Prachi Lohan

Concept: Check each statement about the 2023 edition of KIYG.

1. The meet lasted 13 days and was held across 15 venues — correct.
2. It was hosted in Tamil Nadu (Chennai, Madurai, Tiruchirappalli, Coimbatore), not Maharashtra.
3. It had more than 20 disciplines, including a demonstration sport, and thousands more than 4,000 athletes.

Trick: Statements with 'only', 'just', 'did not include any' are usually the false ones.

Answer: (C) The multi-sport meet spanned 13 days and was conducted across 15 venues.

Concept: Zonal Councils are statutory bodies, created in 1956 by the law that reorganised states.

1. The Union Home Minister is the chairman of all five Zonal Councils by virtue of his office — i.e., ex-officio.
2. Chief Ministers of member states become vice-chairman by rotation (one year each).

Trick: Ex-officio = 'by virtue of the post'. Rotation applies to the vice-chairman, not the chairman.

Answer: (D) Ex-officio

Concept: There are five antibody classes: IgG, IgA, IgM, IgE, IgD.

1. IgG — about 75% of blood antibodies; the most abundant; also crosses the placenta ✓.
2. IgE — triggers histamine release from mast cells in allergy ✓.
3. IgA — main antibody in saliva, tears, colostrum/breast milk ✓.

Trick: Mnemonic 'GAMED' — G is the most, A in secretions, M is the first made, E for allergy, D on B-cells.

Answer: (D) 1, 2 and 3 are correct

Concept: Place each event in its year.

1. Sarkaria Commission (formed 1983) submitted its report in 1988.
2. Inter-State Council set up in 1990 under Article 263, on Sarkaria's advice.
3. Punchhi Commission constituted in 2007.
4. Order: C → B → A.

Trick: The Inter-State Council came from Sarkaria's report, so the report must come before it.

Answer: (A) C → B → A