Q&A: practice questions with answers

Concept: A punch made through folded layers appears in every layer; on unfolding, the holes are reflected across the fold line.

1. The square is folded once: the lower half is turned up onto the upper half, so there are 2 layers.
2. The punches (▷, rectangle, ◁) in one row go through both layers.
3. On opening, the upper half keeps the row and the lower half gets its mirror image about the horizontal fold — the same row again (these shapes look the same when flipped top-to-bottom).
4. So the unfolded sheet has two identical rows: ▷ rectangle ◁ above and below. That is option (B).

Trick: One fold = holes doubled; the copy is the mirror image across the fold line.

Answer: (B)

Concept: Compare letter by letter from the left.

1. All start with IN. 3rd letter: Indolent has D; Ineffable, Inefficient, Inert have E; Infamous, Infant have F → D, then E-group, then F-group.
2. E-group: Ineff- before Iner- (F < R); Ineffable vs Inefficient: A < I → Ineffable, Inefficient, Inert.
3. F-group: Infam- vs Infan-: M < N → Infamous, Infant.
4. Order: 2, 6, 5, 3, 4, 1.

Trick: When words share a long prefix (Ineff-), go to the first differing letter.

Answer: (A) 2, 6, 5, 3, 4, 1

Concept: Track how each symbol moves among the five positions (four corners + centre).

1. Every symbol moves one step along the route: centre → top-left → top-right → bottom-right → bottom-left → centre.
2. E.g. $: top-left → top-right → bottom-right → bottom-left; next centre. 9: top-right → bottom-right → bottom-left → centre; next top-left.
3. From Fig 4, the next figure has 9 top-left, 6 top-right, $ centre, % bottom-left and 0 bottom-right.
4. This is option (A).

Trick: Follow one symbol to find the route, then verify with a second symbol before checking the options.

Answer: (A)

Concept: With the mirror MN on the right, the image is left–right reversed: the order of characters reverses and each character is flipped sideways; top and bottom do not change.

1. The last character 7 appears first (reversed 7), then D reversed, then e reversed, then p becomes q, r is flipped, a is flipped and T stays T (symmetric).
2. Option (C) shows exactly this: every character flipped sideways and nothing turned upside down.
3. Option (A) leaves letters unflipped, (B) shows p unflipped, and (D) turns letters upside down (a water image).

Trick: Vertical mirror: p → q, b → d; letters never go upside down.

Answer: (C)

Concept: Look at the differences between consecutive terms.

1. $8-5=3$, $13-8=5$, $40-29=11$: the differences are consecutive odd numbers $3,5,7,9,11$.
2. Missing term $=13+7=20$.
3. Check: $20+9=29$ ✓.

Trick: Odd-number differences $3,5,7,9,11$ — fill the middle gaps and check both sides of the "?".

Answer: (D) 20

Concept: Look for the exact figure (same size, same orientation — no rotation) hidden inside an option.

1. The given figure has two vertical lines joined by a slanting line from the bottom of the left line to the top of the right line, with a hook-shaped curve below.
2. In option (A), the left edge of the inner triangle forms that slanting line between two vertical lines, and the curl inside the triangle matches the hook.
3. In (B) and (D) the slanting line runs the other way (top-left to bottom-right), and (C) has no such pair of verticals.

Trick: First check the direction of the slanting line — it eliminates the options with the mirror-type "N" shape.

Answer: (A)

Concept: Track each of the four letter positions separately.

1. 1st letters: D, G, ?, M → $+3$, so J.
2. 2nd letters: H, J, ?, N → $+2$, so L.
3. 3rd letters: M, K, ?, G → $-2$, so I.
4. 4th letters: X, U, ?, O → $-3$, so R.

Trick: The steps are symmetric: $+3,+2,-2,-3$ — first and last letters move by 3.

Answer: (C) JLIR

Concept: Decode the expression one symbol at a time and draw the family tree.

1. A ÷ B: A is the father of B. B − C: B is the brother of C, so C is also A's child.
2. C + D: C is the mother of D (so C is female). D − E: D is the brother of E, so C is also E's mother.
3. E × F: E is the wife of F (E is female).
4. A is the father of C, and C is E's mother → A is E's mother's father.

Trick: Go up the tree from E: E → mother C → C's father A.

Answer: (D) Mother’s father

Concept: Faces seen together are adjacent; when a face appears in both views, the one face never seen with it is its opposite.

1. X appears in both views. Its neighbours: H and Z (view 1), J and I (view 2).
2. So H, Z, J, I are all adjacent to X; the only face left, Y, is opposite X.
3. Hence the face opposite Y is X.

Trick: Common face in two views: list its four neighbours — the sixth face is opposite it.

Answer: (A) X

Concept: Faces seen together are adjacent; when a face appears in both views, the one face never seen with it is its opposite.

1. N appears in both views. Its neighbours: M and V (view 1), W and L (view 2).
2. So M, V, W, L are all adjacent to N; the only face left, X, is opposite N.
3. Hence the face opposite X is N.

Trick: Common face in two views: list its four neighbours — the sixth face is opposite it.

Answer: (A) N

Concept: The Kalidas Samman is a national arts award given by the Government of Madhya Pradesh in fields such as classical music, dance, theatre and visual arts.

1. The Kalidas Samman 2022 for Hindustani classical music went to Pandit Venkatesh Kumar, a celebrated vocalist from Karnataka.
2. K.G. Subramanyan was a painter (visual arts) and died in 2016.
3. Mallikarjun Mansur (died 1992) and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer (died 2003) were great musicians of earlier decades, so they could not receive a 2022 award.

Yaad rakhein: Kalidas Samman = Madhya Pradesh Government; check whether the person was alive in the award year.

Answer: (B) Pandit Venkatesh Kumar

Concept: A Suitable Boy (1993) is one of the longest single-volume novels in English, set in newly independent India.

1. It was written by Vikram Seth, also known for The Golden Gate.
2. Arundhati Roy – The God of Small Things (1997).
3. Kiran Desai – The Inheritance of Loss (2006).
4. David Davidar – The House of Blue Mangoes.

Yaad rakhein: Seth – Suitable Boy; Roy – Small Things; Desai – Inheritance.

Answer: (A) Vikram Seth

Concept: An atom has three fundamental particles; their charges decide the electrical nature of matter.

1. Electron (discovered by J.J. Thomson) – negative charge.
2. Proton (Goldstein's canal rays, Rutherford) – positive charge.
3. Neutron (Chadwick, 1932) – no charge (neutral).

Yaad rakhein: Order e, p, n → minus, plus, zero.

Answer: (A) negative, positive and neutral

Concept: Kojagiri Poornima is the Maharashtrian name for Sharad Poornima, the full moon of Ashwin month.

1. It is celebrated mainly in Maharashtra (also in parts of Gujarat and Goa).
2. Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped; people stay awake at night ('Ko Jagarti?' – who is awake?).
3. Spiced (masala) milk is cooled in moonlight and shared.

Yaad rakhein: Kojagiri = 'Ko Jagarti' – Lakshmi asks who is awake; Marathi festival.

Answer: (B) Maharashtra

Concept: Rainfall in India is highest on windward slopes facing the monsoon winds and lowest in deserts and rain-shadow areas.

1. Meghalaya has Mawsynram and Cherrapunji (Sohra), the wettest places on Earth; Bay of Bengal winds are trapped by the Garo–Khasi hills.
2. Ladakh is a cold desert (rain shadow of the Himalayas).
3. Rajasthan has the Thar desert; Delhi gets moderate rainfall.

Yaad rakhein: Wettest place on Earth = Mawsynram, Meghalaya.

Answer: (B) Meghalaya

Concept: Under Article 356, the President can impose President's Rule in a State on failure of constitutional machinery, usually on the Governor's report.

1. The proclamation must be approved by both Houses of Parliament within two months.
2. Once approved, it continues for six months at a time.
3. It can be extended by fresh approvals every six months up to a maximum of three years (with conditions after one year – 44th Amendment).

Yaad rakhein: 356 → 2 months to approve, 6 months per approval, 3 years maximum.

Answer: (B) six months

Concept: The first modern Olympics (Athens, 1896) had only male athletes.

1. Women first competed at the 1900 Paris Olympics.
2. Charlotte Cooper (Britain, tennis) became the first female Olympic champion.
3. 1896 was men-only; 1904 was held at St. Louis; 1916 was cancelled due to World War I.

Yaad rakhein: Athens 1896 – men only; Paris 1900 – women enter.

Answer: (A) 1900

Concept: The Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 lists animals in Schedules according to the level of protection they get.

1. Felis chaus is the jungle cat, the most common wild cat of India.
2. It was listed in Schedule II of the Act.
3. Schedule I holds the most endangered animals (tiger, lion, snow leopard) with the highest penalties.

Yaad rakhein: Common cat, lower list – jungle cat in Schedule II; big endangered cats in Schedule I.

Answer: (B) Schedule II

Concept: The Objectives Resolution laid down the basic philosophy of the Constitution and later became the Preamble.

1. It was moved by Jawaharlal Nehru on 13 December 1946 in the Constituent Assembly.
2. It was adopted on 22 January 1947.
3. The Assembly's first meeting was on 9 December 1946.

Yaad rakhein: 9 Dec first meeting → 13 Dec Objectives Resolution → 22 Jan 1947 adopted.

Answer: (B) 13 December 1946

Concept: Each classical dance has famous exponents who are often asked in exams.

1. Rukmini Devi Arundale revived Bharatanatyam and founded Kalakshetra (Chennai, 1936).
2. Kelucharan Mohapatra – Odissi.
3. Pandit Birju Maharaj – Kathak (Lucknow gharana).
4. Guru Bipin Singh – Manipuri.

Yaad rakhein: Rukmini – Kalakshetra – Bharatanatyam.

Answer: (B) Rukmini Devi Arundale