Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Find the rule a ∗ b = a × (a + b).

1. $5\times (5+3)=40$ ✓; $4\times (4+2)=24$ ✓.
2. 6 ∗ 3 = $6\times 9=54$.

Trick: Result is a multiple of the first number – test 'a × something'.

Answer: (C) 54

Concept: $\text{Average}=\frac{\text{sum}}{2}$.

1. Sum = $8+14=22$.
2. Middle = $\frac{22}{2}=11$.

Trick: Average of two numbers lies exactly halfway: $8+\frac{14-8}{2}=11$.

Answer: (B) 11

Concept: Replace symbols, then apply BODMAS.

1. + → ÷, − → ×, × → −, ÷ → +.
2. $36\times 6÷9+3-5\to 36-6+9÷3\times 5$.
3. $=36-6+3\times 5=30+15=45$.

Trick: Rewrite the whole expression first; don't convert while calculating.

Answer: (D) 45

Concept: Decode letters into operations and solve.

1. $120+30÷6\times ?=150$.
2. $120+5\times ?=150\to 5\times ?=30$.
3. ? = 6.

Trick: Move 120 across first: $150-120=30=5\times ?$

Answer: (A) 6

Concept: Peacock has 2 legs, deer 4; heads give the total count.

1. If all 40 were peacocks: legs = 80.
2. Extra legs = $100-80=20$; each deer adds 2 → deer = 10.
3. Peacocks = $40-10=30$.

Trick: Deer = $\frac{\text{Legs}-2\times \text{Heads}}{2}=\frac{100-80}{2}=10$.

Answer: (C) 30

Concept: The temple is designed as the Sun god's chariot, and its wheels mark time.

1. Konark (Odisha) was built in the 13th century by King Narasimhadeva I of the Eastern Ganga dynasty.
2. Its 24 carved stone wheels can be read as sundials – the shadow of the spokes shows the time of day.
3. Thus they symbolise divisions of time, not planets or festivals.

Yaad rakhein: The chariot is pulled by 7 horses (7 days of the week); Konark is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Answer: (A) Time divisions

Concept: Jawa is the part of Karam celebrated by unmarried girls.

1. During Karam, unmarried tribal girls sow grains in small baskets (jawa) and nurture the sprouts, praying for fertility and a good harvest.
2. Sohrai is a cattle/harvest festival and Sarhul a spring (sal blossom) festival – different occasions.
3. 'Karma' is just another name for the main festival itself.

Yaad rakhein: Karam is celebrated on Bhado Ekadashi by the Oraon, Munda and other tribes of Jharkhand.

Answer: (B) Jawa

Concept: Rajasthani music is a living folk tradition tied to everyday desert life.

1. Communities like Manganiyars and Langas sing of rain, harvest, love, heroes and folk legends.
2. It uses folk instruments (kamaicha, morchang, algoza) – not electronic sounds.
3. It is not limited to temples or to pure classical ragas.

Trick: Words like 'solely', 'exclusively', 'mainly electronic' signal extreme options – eliminate them.

Answer: (B) Deeply connected with nature, daily life, and folk tales

Concept: Players may not snatch or hit the ball out of an opponent's hands.

1. Pulling or punching the ball from an opponent's grip is a foul (free throw to the other side).
2. Legal: two-hand catches, dribbling, and using the torso above the knees to block.

Yaad rakhein: Handball team: 7 players per side; a player may hold the ball for max 3 seconds and take max 3 steps.

Answer: (B) Pulling or punching the ball from an opponent's grip

Concept: The Act separated political control from the Company's commercial work.

1. A Board of Control (6 members) in Britain was set up to supervise and direct the Company's civil, military and revenue administration in India.
2. The Court of Directors handled trade – this created 'dual government'.

Yaad rakhein: Pitt's India Act first used the term 'British possessions in India'.

Answer: (B) Directing both civil and military administration in British India

Concept: India's earliest Olympic medals came at Paris 1900.

1. Norman Pritchard won silver in the 200 m and the 200 m hurdles while representing India.
2. K.D. Jadhav won wrestling bronze in 1952; Dhyan Chand was a hockey legend; Mihir Sen was a swimmer (English Channel).

Yaad rakhein: K.D. Jadhav (1952) was independent India's first individual Olympic medallist.

Answer: (A) Norman Pritchard

Concept: The name splits into foot (Tae) + fist (Kwon) + way (Do).

1. Tae → strike with the feet (iii); Kwon → strike with the hand (ii).
2. Do → discipline/way (i); Dojang → training hall (iv).
3. Code: 1-iii, 2-ii, 3-i, 4-iv.

Trick: Once Tae = feet is known, only option (A) has 1-iii.

Answer: (A) 1-iii, 2-ii, 3-i, 4-iv

Concept: A road link from Northeast India to Southeast Asia.

1. Route: Moreh (Manipur) → Myanmar → Mae Sot (Thailand).
2. It is a key project under India's Act East Policy, linking India to ASEAN.

Trick: 'Southeast Asian' – Afghanistan, Iran, China, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh are not Southeast Asian; only Myanmar–Thailand fits.

Answer: (B) Myanmar and Thailand

Concept: The book by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar is on India's place in the world.

1. It explains India's foreign policy and its rising cultural and economic weight globally.
2. It is non-fiction – not a biography, mythology collection or rural novel.

Yaad rakhein: Jaishankar's earlier book: 'The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World' (2020).

Answer: (B) India's growing cultural and economic relevance

Concept: Subroto Cup is India's major inter-school football tournament.

1. It is named after Air Marshal Subroto Mukherjee and is conducted by the Indian Air Force.
2. Matches are held in New Delhi.

Yaad rakhein: Durand Cup (Kolkata now) is India's oldest football tournament, also run by the armed forces.

Answer: (A) New Delhi

Concept: PM Modi made his first visit to Namibia in July 2025.

1. Namibia's top civilian award – 'Order of the Most Ancient Welwitschia Mirabilis' – was conferred on him during the visit.
2. The other options did not make this visit.

Yaad rakhein: The award is named after the Welwitschia, a desert plant unique to Namibia.

Answer: (B) Narendra Modi

Concept: Lohit is an eastern tributary of the Brahmaputra.

1. It rises in Tibet and flows through Arunachal Pradesh.
2. Near Sadiya (Assam) it joins Siang and Dibang to form the Brahmaputra.

Trick: Rivers of Arunachal (Siang, Dibang, Lohit, Subansiri) → think Brahmaputra; Gomti/Yamuna are Ganga system, Indus is in the west.

Answer: (A) Brahmputra

Concept: Chandrayaan-3's Vikram lander carried one foreign payload.

1. The passive Laser Retroreflector Array was supplied by NASA (USA).
2. It reflects laser beams back to their source, letting orbiters measure distance to the lander precisely.

Yaad rakhein: Chandrayaan-3 landed near the Moon's south pole on 23 August 2023 – now National Space Day.

Answer: (B) NASA

Concept: Right side handles impure blood, left side pure blood.

1. Body → right atrium → right ventricle → lungs (via pulmonary artery).
2. Lungs → left atrium → left ventricle → whole body (via aorta).

Trick: Each side goes Atrium → Ventricle; Right side first, then Left: RA, RV, LA, LV.

Answer: (B) Right atrium → Right ventricle → Left atrium → Left ventricle

Concept: Article 254(2) lets a State law prevail if it has Presidential assent.

1. Statement 1: a State law reserved for the President and assented to prevails in that State – correct.
2. Statement 2: the proviso allows Parliament to later add to, amend or repeal that State law – correct.

Yaad rakhein: Normal rule (254(1)): on Concurrent subjects, Union law prevails over a repugnant State law.

Answer: (D) Both 1 and 2