Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A past participle (V3) phrase describing what was done to the subject is passive.

1. 'established' (V3) describes ISRO.
2. Full form: ISRO was established to foster space technology.
3. ISRO receives the action → passive.

Trick: Add 'was/were' before the V3 — if it makes sense, the phrase is passive.

Answer: (B) Passive voice

Concept: Frugal = using money/resources carefully, avoiding waste.

1. Passage links 'frugal engineering' with 'cost-effective' missions.
2. So frugal = economical and thrifty.
3. 'Extravagant and wasteful' is the exact opposite.

Trick: Look for a clue word nearby — 'cost-effective' points straight to economical.

Answer: (B) Economical and thrifty

Concept: Ingenuity = cleverness in inventing or solving problems.

1. Passage: startups hone their 'technical ingenuity' with scientists → inventive skill.
2. Endurance, honesty and engine are unrelated meanings.

Yaad rakhein: Ingenious = clever/inventive; ingenuous = innocent, simple — don't mix them up.

Answer: (A) Cleverness and inventiveness

Concept: Fact-based RC: find the line that answers the question directly.

1. Paragraph 3: 'Private sector participation has further accelerated technological innovation'.
2. Aryabhata and ancient texts are historical points; reduced funding is never mentioned.

Trick: Search the passage for the question's key words 'further accelerated' — the answer sits right before them.

Answer: (B) Private sector participation

Concept: Descent = a downward slope/going down; Dissent = disagreement.

1. Blank 1: 'steep ___ down the mountain path' → descent.
2. Blank 2: 'not a single word of ___' → objection → dissent.
3. Order: descent, dissent.

Trick: descent goes down (like descend); dissent = disagree.

Answer: (B) descent, dissent

Concept: Use $(a+b{)}^2=(a-b{)}^2+4ab$.

1. Difference = 20, so $(\text{difference}{)}^2=400$.
2. $\text{Product}+400=1200$ → $\text{product}=800$.
3. $(a+b{)}^2=400+4\times 800=3600$ → $a+b=60$.
4. Larger = $(60+20)÷2$ = 40 (smaller = 20).

Trick: Test options: $40-20=20$ and $40\times 20+400=1200$ ✓ — done in 5 seconds.

Answer: (C) 40

Concept: $\text{Sum}=\text{Average}\times \text{Count}$.

1. Total of 5 = $82\times 5=410$.
2. Known four = $75+85+90+80=330$.
3. Fifth = $410-330$ = 80.

Trick: Deviation method: from 82 → $-7,+3,+8,-2=+2$; fifth must be $82-2=80$.

Answer: (D) 80

Concept: Same time period → profit is shared in the ratio of investments.

1. $5000:3000:2000=5:3:2$ (total 10 parts).
2. 1 part = $2000÷10$ = ₹200.
3. $Q=3\times 200$ = ₹600.

Trick: Q invested 3000 out of 10000 = 30%; 30% of ₹2000 = ₹600.

Answer: (B) ₹600

Concept: $\text{Average}=\text{Sum}÷\text{Count}$.

1. Sum = $14+20+34+32+46=146$.
2. Average = $146÷5$ = 29.2.

Trick: Dividing by 5 = multiply by 2 then ÷ 10: $146\times 2=292$ → 29.2.

Answer: (C) 29.2

Concept: $\text{Speed}=\text{Distance}÷\text{Time}$.

1. Speed = $220÷5$ = 44 km/hr.

Trick: $220÷5=440÷10=44$ (double and drop a zero).

Answer: (C) $44\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{hr}$

Concept: Net change for +a% then −b% = $a-b-\frac{ab}{100}$.

1. Start with 100 → +20% → 120.
2. $-20\%\text{ of }120=24$ → 96.
3. Change = $96-100=-4$ → 4% decrease.

Trick: Same % up then same % down always gives a loss of $\frac{x^2}{100}\%$ = $\frac{400}{100}=4\%$.

Answer: (B) 4% decrease

Concept: Left rank + Right rank = Total + 1; items between = difference of same-side ranks − 1.

1. Red: 20 + 41 = 61 = 60 + 1 ✓; Blue: 15 + 46 = 61 ✓ → arrangement is valid.
2. From left: Red 20th, Blue 15th.
3. Between = 20 − 15 − 1 = 4 (positions 16–19).

Trick: Always first check L + R = N + 1 — that kills the 'impossible' option at once.

Answer: (A) 4

Concept: $\text{SP}=\text{MP}\times \frac{100-\text{discount}\%}{100}$.

1. 20% off → SP = 80% of MP.
2. $\text{MP}=800\times \frac{100}{80}=800\times \frac{5}{4}$ = ₹1000.
3. Check: $1000-200=800$ ✓.

Trick: 20% discount ↔ multiply SP by $\frac{5}{4}$ to get MP.

Answer: (B) ₹1000

Concept: Equal walks in opposite directions cancel each other.

1. 18 km West and 18 km East cancel out.
2. Only 24 km North remains.
3. He is 24 km North of the start.

Trick: Strike off equal opposite moves; whatever is left is the answer direction.

Answer: (A) North

Concept: Cancel equal and opposite movements.

1. 16 km North and 16 km South cancel.
2. Remaining: 18 km West.
3. Final position: West of the start.

Trick: N–S pair cancels, so only the E–W leg decides the direction.

Answer: (D) West

Concept: Find the gap between letter positions (A = 1 … Z = 26).

1. F(6) → C(3) → Z(26) → W(23): each −3 (after A it wraps to Z).
2. Next: 23 − 3 = 20 = T.

Trick: Use EJOTY: T = 20 instantly.

Answer: (C) T

Concept: Each term = sum of the previous two.

1. 55 + 89 = 144; 89 + 144 = 233; 144 + 233 = 377.
2. Next = 233 + 377 = 610.

Yaad rakhein: Fibonacci terms: 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, 233, 377, 610 — ratio approaches 1.618.

Answer: (B) 610

Concept: Split the series into odd-place and even-place terms.

1. Even places: 18 → 36 → 108 → 432 (×2, ×3, ×4).
2. Odd places: 22 → 44 → 132 → ? (×2, ×3, ×4).
3. ? = $132\times 4$ = 528.

Trick: Each odd-place term pairs with the next one: $\frac{22}{18}$, $\frac{44}{36}$, $\frac{132}{108}$ — so ? = $432\times \frac{22}{18}=528$.

Answer: (A) 528

Concept: Divisible by both 11 and 17 ⇔ divisible by $11\times 17=187$.

1. $187\times 1=187$, $\times 2=374$, $\times 3=561$, $\times 5=935$ → all fine.
2. $198=11\times 18$ → not a multiple of 17.
3. So pair (198, 374) fails.

Trick: Odd-even digit test for 11 works on all; then just check which number is not in the 187-table.

Answer: (D) $(198,374)$

Concept: Fill blanks so the string forms repeating/shifting blocks.

1. String: k_lmml_mk_mmk_lkkl_m (20 letters) → 4 blocks of 5.
2. With k, l, k, l, m: kklmm | llmkk | mmkll | kklmm.
3. Each block shifts k→l→m→k; last block repeats the first ✓.

Trick: Try options blank by blank: 1st blank must make 'kk' start; eliminate quickly.

Answer: (C) k, l, k, l, m