General Studies Previous Year Questions (page 17)

Explanation

The product is (3/2)(4/3)(5/4)…(121/120), which telescopes to 121/2 = 60.5.

Explanation

120 km at 90 km/h takes 4/3 h = 1 h 20 min; the remaining 80 km at 40 km/h takes 2 h; total 3 h 20 min.

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Let SP = 100; loss = 10, so CP = 110. Loss on CP = 10/110 × 100 = 100/11 = 9 1/11 %.

Explanation

Reading the garbled day-3 figure as 9/16: 2/5 = 0.40, 3/4 = 0.75, 9/16 ≈ 0.56. Starting with the same number each day, day 2 has the largest fraction.

Explanation

Carpet length = 810/4.50 = 180 m; area = 180 × 0.75 = 135 m²; breadth = 135/18 = 7.5 m.

Explanation

B's one-day work = 1/15 − 1/20 = (4 − 3)/60 = 1/60, so B alone takes 60 days.

Explanation

Let the fraction be n/d with n + d = 11. (n + 1)/(d − 2) = 2/3 gives 3n + 3 = 2d − 4. Using d = 11 − n: 5n = 15, so n = 3, d = 8, giving 3/8.

Explanation

An isotropic source emits into the full solid angle 4π sr, so flux = 4π × I = 4π × 2 = 8π lumen.

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Fast-moving air over the tube top lowers pressure there (Bernoulli's principle), so the liquid is pushed up and sprayed out.

Explanation

Basic lead carbonate, 2PbCO₃·Pb(OH)₂, is called white lead and was used as a white pigment. Red lead is Pb₃O₄ and litharge is PbO.

Explanation

Atomic radius decreases across a period as nuclear charge increases, so in Li, Be, B the largest is lithium.

Explanation

W. W. Garner and H. A. Allard discovered photoperiodism in 1920 while studying flowering in tobacco (Maryland Mammoth).

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Silent Valley National Park is protected for its rare, undisturbed tropical evergreen rainforest and endangered species such as the lion-tailed macaque.

Explanation

At rest (expiration) the diaphragm is dome-shaped or arched; during inspiration it contracts, flattens and is lowered. Normal respiration involves both, so more than one option is correct.

Explanation

Lymphocytes (B and T cells) give specific immunity by making antibodies and killing infected cells. Platelets help clotting and RBCs carry oxygen.

Explanation

Gyan Deepak was written by Dariya Saheb, an 18th-century saint-poet of Bihar (Dharkandha, Rohtas) who founded the Dariyapanthi sect.

Explanation

The UGC launched the UTSAH (Undertaking Transformative Strategies and Actions in Higher Education) portal in 2019 to improve quality in higher education.

Explanation

The Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Students Satellite Launch Vehicle Mission was launched on 19 February 2023 from Pattipulam near Chennai, carrying 150 student-built PICO satellites.

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India's first 99.999% pure green hydrogen plant was commissioned by Oil India Ltd at Jorhat, Assam in April 2022, a city not among the options.

Explanation

The UN General Assembly declared 2023 the International Year of Millets, on a proposal by India.

Explanation

The 2022 Nobel Peace Prize went to Belarusian activist Ales Bialiatski with the organisations Memorial (Russia) and the Center for Civil Liberties (Ukraine). Nadia Murad won in 2018 and Maria Ressa in 2021.

Explanation

As per the official key, retired Justice Sanjay Kumar was appointed Chairman of the Bihar State Commission for Backward Classes in January 2022.

Explanation

'Ganga Maiya Tohe Piyari Chadhaibo' (1963), encouraged by Dr. Rajendra Prasad, was the first Bhojpuri film. 'Nadiya Ke Paar' (1982) came much later.

Explanation

From east to west: Namrup (Assam), Obra (Sonbhadra, UP), Parichha (Jhansi, UP), Kota (Rajasthan), i.e. 2, 3, 4, 1.

Explanation

As per the official key, India's climate under Trewartha's scheme is described as the subtropical monsoon type (humid subtropical with dry winter, Caw, over much of the north).

Explanation

According to IMD normal withdrawal dates, the south-west monsoon withdraws from the Hyderabad region around 15 October.

Explanation

As per Census 2011, Goa is the most urbanised state, with about 62% urban population, ahead of Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Explanation

Malnad is the hilly, heavily forested western part of the Karnataka Plateau along the Western Ghats; the eastern part is the Maidan.

Explanation

The Peninsular plateau is a stable block of the ancient Gondwana landmass, which split from Africa, Australia and Antarctica.

Explanation

Census 2011: Bihar's population of about 10.4 crore is about 8.58-8.6% of India's 121 crore.

Explanation

Vaishali lies north of the Ganga, so Patna–Vaishali is not a south-of-Ganga pair. Patna, Munger, Gaya and Arwal are all south of the river.

Explanation

Raja Ram Mohan Roy, founder of the Brahmo Samaj and a pioneer of social reform, is called the 'Prophet of New India' and 'Father of the Indian Renaissance'.

Explanation

Bankim Chandra's Anandamath (1882), which contains 'Vande Mataram', is set against the Sannyasi Rebellion in late-18th-century Bengal.

Explanation

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar founded Abhinav Bharat (1904) and took it to London while staying at India House.

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The Ghadar Party was founded in 1913 by Indians on the Pacific coast of the USA (San Francisco), led by Lala Har Dayal and Sohan Singh Bhakna.

Explanation

The official BPSC key marks None of the above for this question, so none of the listed Munda leaders is accepted as the commander-in-chief appointed by Birsa Munda.

Explanation

The Bihar Socialist Party was formed in 1931 by Phulan Prasad Varma, with Jayaprakash Narayan among its leading figures.

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The Bihar Provincial Congress Committee was formed in 1908 with headquarters at Patna, after the first Bihar Provincial Conference held that year.

Explanation

Revolutionary Sachindra Nath Sanyal set up a branch of the Anushilan Samiti in Patna in 1913, drawing students mainly from B. N. College.

Explanation

Area of four walls = 15000/10 = 1500 m². Wall area = perimeter × height, so 250 × h = 1500 and h = 6 m.

Explanation

Negative integers like −3 are not whole numbers, so 'every integer is a whole number' is false. The other two statements are true.

Explanation

Official BPSC answer key: (A). By calculation the 7 consecutive numbers are 17, 18, …, 23 (average 20), so the largest is 23, option (C).

Explanation

A quadratic has two distinct real roots when the discriminant b² − 4ac > 0; = 0 gives equal roots and < 0 gives no real roots.

Explanation

Together per day: 1/25 + 1/20 = 9/100; in 5 days 45/100 is done. The remaining 55/100 at Sohan's rate 1/20 per day takes 55/100 × 20 = 11 days.

Explanation

X = (a + b)(a − b) = 15(a − b). If a = b, X = 0 < 30 = Y, so (A) and (C) are both true. If a > b, X can still be less than 30 (e.g. a − b = 1), so (B) is not always true.

Explanation

A non-leap year has 365 days = 52 weeks + 1 day. That one extra day must be a Sunday, probability 1/7.

Explanation

49 = 7², so 12x + 6 = 2(3x + 12) = 6x + 24, giving 6x = 18 and x = 3.

Explanation

In myopia (short-sightedness) the image of distant objects forms in front of the retina, so distant objects look blurred; it is corrected with a concave lens.

Explanation

Heredity, the passing of traits from parents to offspring, is studied in genetics.

Explanation

Zinc is more reactive than tin and would react with acids in food to form harmful compounds, so the less reactive tin is used.