Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Decode the phrase from the end (my mother's father) inward.

1. Rekha's mother's father = maternal grandfather.
2. His only daughter = Rekha's mother.
3. The man's mother = Rekha's mother → he is her brother.

Trick: 'Only daughter of my mother's father' = my mother – replace the phrase directly.

Answer: (C) Brother

Concept: Apply both swaps, then evaluate each option.

1. A: $(25\times 2)+10=50+10=60$ ✓.
2. B: $(10\times 3)+25=55\ne 40$.
3. C: $(25\times 4)+10=110\ne 135$; D: $(10\times 1)+25=35\ne 40$.

Trick: Swap both pairs in one go while rewriting; then check from option A onwards.

Answer: (A) (10+2)×25=60

Concept: Decode symbols; a conclusion holds only if the signs point the same way.

1. P ∘ Q → P > Q; Q # R → Q ≤ R.
2. P > Q ≤ R: opposite signs, so P and R cannot be related.
3. Neither P > R nor P ≥ R follows.

Trick: Opposite-facing signs (> and ≤) on a common term = no definite relation.

Answer: (D) Neither I nor II is true

Concept: Substitute the signs and solve with BODMAS.

1. New expression: $25\times 10-18÷9$.
2. $18÷9=2$; $25\times 10=250$.
3. $250-2=248$.

Trick: Answer must be just below 250 (250 minus a small number) → 248.

Answer: (C) 248

Concept: Number = $10x+y$; reversing changes it by $9(y-x)$.

1. $10x+y=4(x+y)\to 6x=3y\to y=2x$.
2. $9(y-x)=27\to y-x=3$.
3. $x=3,y=6$ → number 36.

Trick: Test options: digit difference must be 3 ($27÷9$) and number = 4 × digit sum; $36=4\times 9$ ✓.

Answer: (C) 36

Concept: Mim Kut is a Mizo harvest festival linked with remembering the dead.

1. Celebrated in August–September after the maize harvest, mainly by the Mizo people.
2. 'Mim' is the year's final crop; its first produce is offered to departed family members – a sign of survival and love.
3. It is not a famine-store millet or a healing herb.

Yaad rakhein: Other Mizo festivals: Chapchar Kut (spring, after jungle clearing) and Pawl Kut (after the paddy harvest).

Answer: (B) The last harvest representing survival and love

Concept: Kharchi Puja honours the Chaturdasha (fourteen) deities of Tripura.

1. Held for seven days in July at the Chaturdasha Devata temple, Old Agartala.
2. 'Chaturdasha' literally means fourteen, so 14 deities are worshipped.

Trick: Link the name: Chatur-dasha = 4 + 10 = 14 gods.

Answer: (C) 14

Concept: Mughal style is an Indo-Islamic blend built mostly in red sandstone and white marble.

1. It mixed Persian (charbagh gardens, domes), Islamic, Turkish and local Indian elements → 1 correct.
2. Akbar favoured red sandstone (Fatehpur Sikri); Shah Jahan used white marble (Taj Mahal) → 2 correct.

Yaad rakhein: Humayun's Tomb, Delhi, is the first garden-tomb on a large scale and mixes red sandstone with white marble.

Answer: (D) Both 1 and 2 are correct

Concept: Know the basic time and dribbling rules of basketball.

1. Dribble ends when the player touches the ball with both hands at once → D true.
2. Shot clock is 24 s; 8 s is only to move the ball past half-court → A false.
3. Touching the boundary line means the player is out; an attacker may stay in the painted lane for at most 3 s → B, C false.

Yaad rakhein: Basketball numbers: 3 s (lane), 5 s (closely guarded/throw-in), 8 s (backcourt), 24 s (shot clock).

Answer: (D) A dribble is considered over when both hands touch the ball simultaneously.

Concept: India's compound mixed team bronze came from Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar.

1. The duo defeated Italy 156–155 in the bronze play-off.
2. Harvinder Singh won gold in men's individual recurve – a different event, so B and D are traps.

Yaad rakhein: Sheetal Devi, who shoots with her feet, became India's youngest Paralympic medallist (17 years).

Answer: (A) Sheetal Devi and Rakesh Kumar

Concept: NDB, the BRICS bank, is headquartered in Shanghai with regional offices in member countries.

1. Africa Regional Centre – Johannesburg (first regional office).
2. Americas Regional Office – São Paulo, Brazil (with a sub-office in Brasília), announced in 2018.

Yaad rakhein: NDB's first president was India's K.V. Kamath; Dilma Rousseff now heads it.

Answer: (A) São Paulo

Concept: The book is a collection of thoughts/quotes of Kailash Satyarthi.

1. Satyarthi (Nobel Peace Prize 2014) is known for fighting child labour.
2. The book shows how words and language can drive social change and justice → D.

Yaad rakhein: Satyarthi shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai; he founded Bachpan Bachao Andolan.

Answer: (D) Language's role in social justice

Concept: A rockslide is a rapid sliding of bedrock along a planar weakness, involving deep material.

1. The rock mass slides down bedding or joint planes, so the whole thickness above that plane moves → affects considerable depth (C).
2. Backward rotation is typical of a slump, not a slide (A wrong).
3. Moving only the top layer describes soil creep/debris movement (B wrong).

Yaad rakhein: Slump = rotational; slide = planar; fall = free drop through air.

Answer: (C) It affects material to considerable depth.

Concept: Neeraj Chopra won the 2025 Paris Diamond League javelin with his first throw.

1. His opening throw of 88.16 m (June 2025) was the best of the field.
2. No one beat it in later rounds, so he finished first, not second.

Yaad rakhein: In May 2025 at Doha Diamond League Neeraj crossed 90 m for the first time (90.23 m).

Answer: (D) He won with his opening throw of 88.16 m at the event.

Concept: V. Narayanan became ISRO Chairman in January 2025.

1. He took charge on 13 January 2025, succeeding S. Somanath.
2. He is a rocket and cryogenic propulsion expert who earlier led LPSC.
3. K. Sivan was the chairman before Somanath (2018–22).

Yaad rakhein: ISRO chairmen in order: K. Sivan → S. Somanath → V. Narayanan.

Answer: (A) V. Narayanan

Concept: A dam is any barrier (concrete, masonry, earth or rock-fill) that holds back water.

1. Statement 1 says 'always concrete' – wrong, since earthen and rock-fill dams exist.
2. Spillways release extra water, either now and then or continuously → 2 correct.
3. Dams are classified by structure, purpose and height → 3 correct.

Trick: Words like 'always' or 'only' in a statement are usually the error.

Answer: (A) Both 2 and 3

Concept: Aditya-L1 is India's first space solar observatory, studying the Sun's outer layers.

1. Placed in a halo orbit around Lagrange point L1, about 1.5 million km from Earth.
2. Its main payload VELC studies the corona (outermost layer), along with the chromosphere.
3. Regolith and craters relate to Moon/planets; magnetosphere is around Earth.

Yaad rakhein: Aditya-L1 was launched on 2 September 2023 by PSLV-C57 and reached L1 in January 2024.

Answer: (C) Corona

Concept: Non-ferrous metallic minerals contain no iron; India has limited reserves of most of them.

1. Copper, zinc and lead are non-ferrous and scarce in India, so they are largely imported.
2. Manganese and iron are ferrous; coal, limestone, mica, dolomite are non-metallic or fuel.
3. Bauxite is non-ferrous but India has large reserves.

Trick: Ferrous = iron, manganese, chromite, nickel, cobalt; Non-ferrous = copper, lead, zinc, bauxite, gold.

Answer: (C) Copper, Zinc, Lead

Concept: Zonal Councils are statutory bodies created by the States Reorganisation Act, 1956.

1. Five councils (North, Central, East, West, South) were set up under this Act.
2. The Union Home Minister chairs each council.
3. They are not constitutional bodies.

Yaad rakhein: North-Eastern Council is separate – set up by the North-Eastern Council Act, 1971.

Answer: (B) States Reorganisation

Concept: Article 256 makes States follow Union laws and lets the Union give them directions.

1. Union List subjects belong only to Parliament → A and D wrong.
2. On Concurrent List, Parliament needs no State consent; its law prevails in conflict (Art. 254) → B wrong.
3. Art. 256 allows the Union to direct States → C correct.

Yaad rakhein: Art. 256 – compliance with Union laws; Art. 257 – Union control over States in certain cases.

Answer: (C) The Union can direct the States under Article 256.