Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: Plural amounts of distance, time, money or weight seen as one whole take a singular verb.

1. 'Ten miles' here means one total distance.
2. So the verb is singular: 'Ten miles is a long distance…'.
3. 'has' changes the meaning; 'were' is plural past.

Trick: Test with 'a distance of ten miles' – it obviously takes 'is'.

Answer: (B) is a long distance

Concept: Present perfect active (has/have + V3) → passive: has/have + been + V3.

1. Object 'a new subatomic particle' (singular) becomes subject → 'has'.
2. have discovered → has been discovered; 'recently' sits after has.
3. A changes tense (was), B misses 'been', D changes tense (is).

Trick: Passive of perfect tense always contains 'been' – only C has 'has been'.

Answer: (C) A new subatomic particle has recently been discovered in their advanced laboratory by the brilliant scientists.

Concept: To go back to direct speech, reverse the tense shift: was → is, had been → have been.

1. Drop 'that' and put the expert's words in quotes.
2. Clause 1: was → is (still true).
3. Clause 2: had been … revealing → have been … revealing. Only D carries both changes.

Trick: Reverse each tense one step forward; check both clauses – A, B, C each fix only one or none.

Answer: (D) Option D – uses 'is' and 'have been'

Concept: The sentence naming the person comes first; pronoun sentences follow in logical order.

1. Q gives the full name 'Dr. Aris Thorne' → opener.
2. S states his research goal (biosignatures) – what he aimed for.
3. R describes how he worked (nights at the observatory), and P praises the skill used in that work → Q S R P.

Trick: Only options starting with Q survive (A, B); S must follow Q to define the research, so A.

Answer: (A) QSRP

Concept: Steps of producing a play follow time order: script → rehearsal → guiding actors → performance.

1. R: writing the script – first step.
2. P: rehearsing the scenes repeatedly, then S: guiding actors and correcting timing during those rehearsals.
3. Q: the final performance and praise – last. Order R P S Q.

Trick: Fix first (R) and last (Q); only P/S order remains – P introduces rehearsals that S refers to.

Answer: (C) R, P, S, Q

Concept: Total = (one share ÷ its ratio part) × sum of ratio parts.

1. Ratio parts: $4+8+9=21$.
2. B's 8 parts = ₹1600 → 1 part = $\frac{1600}{8}=$ ₹200.
3. Total = $21\times 200=$ ₹4200.

Trick: Total = $1600\times \frac{21}{8}=200\times 21=$ ₹4200 in one line.

Answer: (C) ₹4200

Concept: For the same work, men × days stays constant ($M_1{D}_1=M_2{D}_2$).

1. Total work = $12\times 9=108$ man-days.
2. Men for 6 days = $108÷6=18$.

Trick: Days fall from 9 to 6 ($\times \frac{2}{3}$), so men rise $\times \frac{3}{2}$: $12\times \frac{3}{2}=18$.

Answer: (C) 18 men

Concept: Each letter of the word is moved a fixed number of places forward.

1. B→D, A→C, T→V: every letter +2.
2. GOAT: G→I, O→Q, A→C, T→V.
3. Code = IQCV.

Trick: Check only the first two letters: G+2 = I, O+2 = Q → A or B; last letter T+2 = V → A.

Answer: (A) IQCV

Concept: Find the gap at each letter; here it is a constant +3.

1. O→R, R→U, A→D, N→Q, G→J: all +3.
2. MANGO: M→P, A→D, N→Q, G→J, O→R.
3. Code = PDQJR.

Trick: ORANG and MANGO share A, N, G – their codes D, Q, J can be copied straight from RUDQJ.

Answer: (A) PDQJR

Concept: When shifts differ, apply the same shift pattern position by position.

1. Compare TRAIN with UTBJP letter by letter: shifts are +1, +2, +1, +1, +2.
2. Apply the same shifts to the letters of BOARD.
3. B, O, A, R, D become C, Q, B, S, F → CQBSF.

Trick: Both words have A in 3rd place: A→B, so the 3rd letter must be B – only option A.

Answer: (A) CQBSF

Concept: The code is the word written backwards.

1. HOUSE read from right: E S U O H.
2. TRAIN backwards: N I A R T.

Trick: Option's last letter must be the word's first letter (T) and first must be N → only A.

Answer: (A) NIART

Concept: $\text{Share}=\frac{\text{own ratio}}{\text{total ratio}}\times \text{amount}$.

1. Total ratio = $3+4+3=10$.
2. $Q=\frac{4}{10}\times 1800=$ ₹720.

Trick: Ratio total is 10 → 1 part = ₹180, Q = $4\times 180=$ ₹720.

Answer: (D) ₹720

Concept: Substitute values carefully; a negative number squared is positive.

1. $3A^2=3\times (-4{)}^2=3\times 16=48$.
2. $4B=4\times 5=20$.
3. $48-20+10=38$.

Trick: Square first, then multiply: $(-4{)}^2=+16$, never $-16$.

Answer: (B) 38

Concept: Second number = sum of the digits of the first.

1. 374 → 3 + 7 + 4 = 14 ✓.
2. 441 → 4 + 4 + 1 = 9.

Trick: When the second number is much smaller, first test the digit sum.

Answer: (A) 9

Concept: Second number is half of the first.

1. $312÷2=156$ ✓.
2. $412÷2=206$.

Trick: $156\times 2=312$ is visible at a glance; halve 412 → 206.

Answer: (A) 206

Concept: $n=\frac{\text{last}-\text{first}}{d}+1$.

1. First term 25, common difference 5, last term 215.
2. $n=\frac{215-25}{5}+1=\frac{190}{5}+1=38+1=39$.

Trick: Don't forget the '+1' – counting gaps gives 38, terms are 39.

Answer: (A) 39

Concept: Terms are multiples of 5 starting at 5, so term number = value ÷ 5.

1. nth term = 5n.
2. 5n = 130 → n = 26.

Trick: Series 'k, 2k, 3k…' → position = term ÷ k.

Answer: (C) 26th

Concept: Separate 2-D art from 3-D art.

1. Painting, drawing, sketching are done on a flat surface (2-D).
2. Sculpture is carved or moulded in three dimensions → odd.

Trick: Ask 'can you walk around it?' – only a sculpture.

Answer: (D) Sculpture

Concept: Three names are countries; one is a hill range.

1. Australia, India, Japan – nations.
2. Nilgiri – hills in the Western Ghats (Tamil Nadu–Kerala–Karnataka) → odd.

Yaad rakhein: Yaad: Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve was India's first biosphere reserve (1986).

Answer: (D) Nilgiri

Concept: Renewable vs non-renewable energy.

1. Solar, wind and biomass are renewable.
2. Coal is a fossil fuel – non-renewable → odd.

Yaad rakhein: Fossil fuels (coal, petroleum, natural gas) = non-renewable.

Answer: (A) Coal