Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Two operations repeat in turn.

1. 12 ×2 = 24, −2 = 22, ×2 = 44, −2 = 42.
2. Next operation ×2: 42 × 2 = 84.

Yaad rakhein: In alternating series, write the operation under every gap – the pattern shows in pairs.

Answer: (A) 84

Concept: A responsible officer acts at once when lives are at risk.

1. Ignoring or waiting for complaints lets the danger continue.
2. Posting photos online is improper and does not fix the problem.
3. Strict enforcement of safety rules stops the overloading now.

Trick: In ethics questions pick the option that is prompt, lawful and within your own duty.

Answer: (D) Take immediate action and enforce safety rules strictly

Concept: Total cost − cost of books = cost of pens.

1. 4 books = 4 × ₹10 = ₹40.
2. 5 pens = ₹80 − ₹40 = ₹40.
3. 1 pen = 40 ÷ 5 = ₹8.

Trick: Check: 4 × 10 + 5 × 8 = 40 + 40 = 80 ✓ – plug options straight in.

Answer: (A) ₹8

Concept: Shift grows by 1 at each next letter.

1. CANDLE → EDRIRL: +2, +3, +4, +5, +6, +7.
2. Shifting F, R, I, E, N, D by +2 … +7 gives H, U, M, J, T, K.
3. So FRIEND is coded HUMJTK.

Trick: Options (A) and (B) both start HUM; 4th letter E+5 = J settles it – (B).

Answer: (B) HUMJTK

Concept: Find the 6th from right, then move 4 places left.

1. From right: G1, ?2, Y3, @4, *5, 4(6) → element '4'.
2. Left of '4': B, X, H, D → 4th is D.

Trick: Combine: 6 + 4 = 10th from the right end – count once: D.

Answer: (B) D

Concept: Each classical definition of economics is linked to one economist.

1. Lionel Robbins (1932, 'An Essay on the Nature and Significance of Economic Science') defined economics around unlimited wants and scarce means with alternative uses.
2. Adam Smith → wealth definition; Alfred Marshall → welfare definition; Samuelson → growth definition.

Trick: Remember W-W-S-G: Wealth (Smith), Welfare (Marshall), Scarcity (Robbins), Growth (Samuelson).

Answer: (A) Lionel Robbins

Concept: BAS is ISRO's plan for India's own space station.

1. It will be a modular station in low Earth orbit; the first module (BAS-1) is targeted around 2028.
2. It will host Indian astronauts for long microgravity experiments – not a Moon base or deep-space telescope.

Yaad rakhein: Target: full BAS by 2035 and an Indian on the Moon by 2040; Gaganyaan is the crewed-flight step before BAS.

Answer: (A) To build India's own orbital space station

Concept: Akbar's empire was organised into subas, each with a capital city.

1. Lahore, Allahabad and Ajmer were capitals of Akbar's subas of the same names.
2. Bidar was the capital of the Deccan Bahmani Sultanate and then the Barid Shahi kingdom – not one of these Mughal provincial seats.

Yaad rakhein: Akbar first set up 12 subas (e.g. Agra, Delhi, Lahore, Ajmer, Allahabad, Awadh, Bengal, Bihar, Gujarat, Malwa, Multan, Kabul).

Answer: (C) Bidar

Concept: DAY-NRLM mobilises rural poor women into Self-Help Groups and funds them.

1. It gives SHGs revolving funds, community investment funds and easy bank credit.
2. Mahila E-Haat = online selling platform; Jan Dhan = bank accounts for all; RMK lends via NGOs/intermediaries.

Yaad rakhein: NRLM was launched in 2011 and renamed 'Aajeevika' / DAY-NRLM; it comes under the Ministry of Rural Development.

Answer: (D) Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana - National Rural Livelihood Mission (DAY-NRLM)

Concept: Frequency stays fixed; v = f × λ.

1. Sound is faster in water (~1500 m/s) than in air (~340 m/s).
2. f does not change, so λ = v ÷ f also increases.
3. Both speed and wavelength increase.

Trick: Fixed f means v and λ always move together – pick the option where both change in the same direction.

Answer: (A) Wavelength increases, speed increases

Concept: A shot that drops through touching only the net is a 'swish'.

1. The name comes from the soft sound of the net.
2. Layup = close shot often off the board; slam dunk = ball forced down through the hoop; alley-oop = mid-air catch and finish.

Yaad rakhein: Basketball was invented by James Naismith (1891); a regular field goal is 2 points, beyond the arc 3 points.

Answer: (C) Swish

Concept: The Red Fort was Shah Jahan's palace-fort in his new capital Shahjahanabad.

1. Built 1638–1648 under Shah Jahan; architect Ustad Ahmad Lahori.
2. Shah Jahan also built the Taj Mahal and Jama Masjid (Delhi).

Yaad rakhein: The Red Fort became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007; the PM hoists the flag here on Independence Day.

Answer: (B) Shah Jahan

Concept: The cytoskeleton is the protein scaffold inside a eukaryotic cell.

1. Made of microtubules, microfilaments (actin) and intermediate filaments.
2. Gives shape, holds organelles, helps movement and cell division.
3. ER and Golgi deal with making and packaging molecules; nucleolus makes ribosomes.

Trick: 'Skeleton' in the name = support and shape – the word itself gives the answer.

Answer: (B) Cytoskeleton

Concept: NADA is India's national anti-doping body.

1. Set up in 2005 (registered as a society) under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.
2. It implements anti-doping rules in line with the WADA code.

Yaad rakhein: The National Anti-Doping Act was passed in 2022, giving NADA statutory backing; WADA was founded in 1999.

Answer: (B) 2005

Concept: Measures meant for control and surveillance are police/intelligence reforms.

1. On the Police Commission (1902) report, Curzon reorganised the police and set up the CID.
2. This tightened British watch over people and political activity.
3. ASI revival, agriculture research and the Universities Act (1904) were cultural/administrative, not control tools.

Yaad rakhein: Curzon is best remembered for the Partition of Bengal (1905), which sparked the Swadeshi movement.

Answer: (A) The creation of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and police reorganisation

Concept: Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam, 2023 replaced the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

1. It clearly treats electronic and digital records (emails, server logs, messages, location data) as evidence.
2. So its aim is to make modern digital evidence acceptable in courts – the other options say the opposite.

Yaad rakhein: Three new laws from 1 July 2024: BNS (replaced IPC), BNSS (replaced CrPC), BSA (replaced Evidence Act).

Answer: (B) To ensure the acceptance of modern and digital forms of evidence in courts

Concept: The Solicitor General is India's second-highest law officer after the Attorney General.

1. Tushar Mehta has held the post since 2018 and was reappointed in 2023.
2. R. Venkataramani is the Attorney General; Harish Salve and Gopal Subramanium are former SGs.

Yaad rakhein: The Attorney General is the only constitutional law officer (Article 76); the SG post is statutory/administrative.

Answer: (B) Tushar Mehta

Concept: Yakshagana is the traditional theatre of coastal Karnataka.

1. It mixes dance, music, dialogue and grand costumes with huge headgear.
2. Stories come mainly from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Puranas.

Yaad rakhein: Match: Kathakali – Kerala, Therukoothu – Tamil Nadu, Tamasha – Maharashtra, Yakshagana – Karnataka.

Answer: (C) Karnataka

Concept: Jainism has 24 Tirthankaras; the first is Rishabhadev (Adinath).

1. Rishabhadev's emblem is the bull.
2. Ajitanath was 2nd, Neminath 22nd, Parshvanath 23rd and Mahavira 24th.

Yaad rakhein: Parshvanath's symbol is the snake and Mahavira's is the lion.

Answer: (B) Rishabhadev

Concept: Road density = road length per 100 km² of area; it is high in plains and developed regions.

1. A is correct: terrain and economic development shape road networks.
2. C is correct: Kerala's road density is among the highest, well above the national average.
3. B is wrong: hilly, forested North-East has lower density than the southern states.

Trick: Hills + forests = fewer roads; any statement giving the North-East 'higher' density is the odd one.

Answer: (D) B only