GS: Hindi / English · Language questions stay in their original language.
150 questions · 150 marks · 2 hours 30 minutes
Choose one option per question.
Tap an option to check it, or open “See answer”.
Correct answer: (B) Aditi Swami
At the World Archery Championships at Berlin in August 2023 Aditi Swami won the individual compound gold and became the youngest ever senior world champion.
Correct answer: (B) Jayaprakash Narayan
During the Quit India Movement Jayaprakash Narayan, working underground, organised the ‘Azad Dasta’, which carried out secret actions against British rule.
Correct answer: (A) अप्रैल 1930
The Salt Movement began in Bihar in April 1930, right after Gandhiji's Dandi march; Champaran and Saran were its main centres.
Correct answer: (C) ओडिशा
The ‘Mission Shakti Scooter Yojana’ was approved by the Government of Odisha for the women of self-help groups.
Correct answer: (B) Mercalli scale
The Richter scale measures the magnitude of an earthquake, while its intensity—how much damage was done where—is judged on the Mercalli scale.
Correct answer: (D) More than one of the above
In leaching the rainwater carries the soluble minerals of the topsoil down with it. That ties the process both to regions of heavy rainfall and to minerals and soil, so more than one option is correct.
Correct answer: (E) None of the above
Pakistan's border touches Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu & Kashmir, while Bangladesh's touches West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. No state borders both countries, so none of the options given is correct.
Correct answer: (A) राजस्थान
Rajasthan stands first in the production of millets; bajra is grown there on a large scale because it does well even with little rain.
Correct answer: (C) जैसलमेर
The driest place in India is taken to be Jaisalmer, which gets only about 150–200 mm of rain a year. Bikaner gets somewhat more. Leh gets less still, but it is a cold desert and is not usually counted as the answer to this question.
Correct answer: (C) तरबूज
Zaid crops are grown in the hot months, March to June—watermelon, muskmelon and cucumber among them. Moong and urad are mainly kharif crops.
Correct answer: (B) Middle Ganga Valley
The Magadha and Anga plains lie in Bihar, which is part of the middle valley of the Ganga. The lower valley falls in West Bengal and the upper in Uttar Pradesh.
Correct answer: (A) rare species
The Himalayan brown bear, the wild Asiatic buffalo and the desert fox have grown very few in number but are not extinct, so they are counted among the rare species.
Correct answer: (E) None of the above
It was on Raj Kumar Shukla's repeated urging that Mahatma Gandhi came to Champaran in 1917. All three names given are wrong, so the answer is ‘None of the above’.
Correct answer: (B) राजेंद्र प्रसाद
‘India Divided’ was written by Dr Rajendra Prasad in 1946, in which he examined the question of the country's partition.
Correct answer: (E) None of the above
There were two Home Rule Leagues—Bal Gangadhar Tilak's, begun in April 1916, and Annie Besant's in September 1916. Neither was started in 1915, the year the question gives, so the answer is ‘None of the above’.
Correct answer: (D) More than one of the above
Not one but several women were active in the Salt Satyagraha in Bihar, so more than one of the names given is correct.
Correct answer: (C) Dinabandhu Mitra
The play ‘Neel Darpan’ was written by Dinabandhu Mitra, showing the cruelty of the British planters towards the peasants who grew indigo.
Correct answer: (A) Sachindra Nath Sanyal
The Patna branch of the Anushilan Samiti was set up in 1913 by Sachindra Nath Sanyal.
Correct answer: (A) 1922
The Gaya session of the Congress was held in 1922 under the presidency of Chittaranjan Das. The ground for the Swaraj Party was laid after it.
Correct answer: (B) 1931
The nationalist daily ‘The Indian Nation’ began publication from Patna in 1931.
Correct answer: (C) دھنپت رائے
The passage says in its first line that Premchand's real name was Dhanpat Rai. ‘Nawab Rai’ was his first pen name, and ‘Premchand’ was taken later.
Correct answer: (A) سوزِ وطن
His first collection of stories, ‘Soz-e-Watan’, printed in 1908, was confiscated by the government for the patriotic feeling in it.
Correct answer: (B) 1921ء میں
In 1921, during the Non-Cooperation Movement, Premchand resigned from government service at Gandhiji's call.
Correct answer: (C) زمانہ
Premchand's essays and stories appeared regularly in the magazine ‘Zamana’, edited by Munshi Daya Narain Nigam.
Correct answer: (A) گاندھی جی
Premchand was deeply influenced by Gandhiji's personality—it was at his inspiration that he gave up government service.
Correct answer: (C) 1839ء
Sir Syed Ahmad Khan entered government service in 1839, later rising to the posts of munsif and sadr amin.
Correct answer: (B) غازی پور
Sir Syed founded the Scientific Society at Ghazipur in 1864; it was later moved to Aligarh. Its work was to have English scientific books translated into Urdu.
Correct answer: (C) 1869ء
Sir Syed went to England in 1869, where seeing Oxford and Cambridge gave him the idea of opening a like college in India.
Correct answer: (E) حسب بالا میں سے کوئی نہیں
Sir Syed founded the madrasa at Aligarh in 1875, which grew into the MAO College and then Aligarh Muslim University. All three years given are wrong.
Correct answer: (C) تہذیب الاخلاق
On returning from England Sir Syed brought out the journal ‘Tahzib-ul-Akhlaq’, whose purpose was social reform.
Correct answer: (C) علی محمد
Shahid Azimabadi's real name was Ali Muhammad; ‘Shahid’ was his pen name.
Correct answer: (A) انگریزی
The passage says that after learning Arabic and Persian at home he also studied English for a time.
Correct answer: (D) حسب بالا میں سے ایک سے زائد
Along with Islamic studies he read the books of more than one religion—Christian, Parsi and Hindu—so the answer is ‘more than one’.
Correct answer: (B) نغمۂ الہام
His collection of ghazals is called ‘Naghma-e-Ilham’.
Correct answer: (A) شیرین غزلیں
His fame rests on his ghazals—simple, melodious and sweet.
Correct answer: (B) جان گلکرسٹ
The head of the Hindustani department at Fort William College was Dr John Gilchrist, who had writers such as Mir Amman compose books in plain Urdu.
Correct answer: (C) قصۂ چہار درویش
Mir Amman recast the Persian ‘Qissa-e-Chahar Darvesh’ into simple Urdu, and that became ‘Bagh-o-Bahar’.
Correct answer: (D) حسب بالا میں سے ایک سے زائد
‘Bagh-o-Bahar’ describes the customs, the dress and the pastimes of Delhi alike, so the answer is ‘more than one’.
Correct answer: (B) باغ و بہار
The French scholar Garcin de Tassy spoke of the merits of ‘Bagh-o-Bahar’ in his lectures.
Correct answer: (E) حسب بالا میں سے کوئی نہیں
Mir Amman completed ‘Bagh-o-Bahar’ in 1802, and it was printed in 1804. None of the three years given is right as the year of completion.
Correct answer: (B) سیالکوٹ
Allama Iqbal was born at Sialkot.
Correct answer: (C) 1908ء میں
Iqbal returned to India from London in 1908, having finished his studies in law and philosophy.
Correct answer: (A) پروفیسر آرنلڈ
Iqbal studied philosophy under Professor T. W. Arnold, at whose urging he went to Europe for further study.
Correct answer: (B) سیالکوٹ
Iqbal passed the entrance examination from an English school in Sialkot itself.
Correct answer: (D) حسب بالا میں سے ایک سے زائد
From Shams-ul-Ulama Maulvi Mir Hasan, Iqbal received, besides religious learning, instruction in Arabic, Persian and Urdu—all three, so the answer is ‘more than one’.
Correct answer: (A) لقب
A name by which someone becomes known for a quality or a deed is a ‘laqab’—‘Qaid-e-Azam’, for instance.
Correct answer: (C) ضمیر
Words used in place of a noun are called ‘zamir’—I, you, he.
Correct answer: (B) فعل
A word showing the doing or happening of an action is a ‘fe'l’, that is, a verb.
Correct answer: (C) آرام
‘Aish’ means living in ease, so its synonym is ‘aaram’.
Correct answer: (B) متضاد
Words opposite to each other in meaning are called ‘mutazad’. ‘Mutaqarib’ means coming close together, not standing against.
The Commission's key gives (C), ‘mutaqarib’, but words of opposite meaning are ‘mutazad’; option (B) is shown here for that reason.