RRB NTPC CBT 1 2016: questions with answers

The sentence must start with its subject, 'the climate of India' (Q), followed by the verb phrase 'comprises a wide range of' (S). What it comprises is 'weather conditions across a vast geographic' (P) 'scale and varied topography' (R). The order is QSPR: 'The climate of India comprises a wide range of weather conditions across a vast geographic scale and varied topography.'

A group of soldiers forms an army; similarly a group of musicians forms a band. A flock is a group of birds or sheep, a gang is a group of criminals or workers, and a colony is a group of ants or settlers.

Booting is the start-up process of a computer. When it is switched on, the BIOS runs a self-test and then loads the operating system from the hard disk into main memory (RAM), after which the computer is ready to use.

Kailash Satyarthi, an Indian child-rights activist and founder of Bachpan Bachao Andolan, shared the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize with Malala Yousafzai of Pakistan. Malala is Pakistani, so the Indian winner is Satyarthi.

Let the numbers be 2x, 3x and 5x, with sum 10x. Twice the sum is 20x = 100, so x = 5 and the numbers are 10, 15 and 25. The square of the largest is 25² = 625.

Womesh Chandra Bonnerjee presided over the first session of the Indian National Congress in Bombay in December 1885. A. O. Hume founded the Congress but was its General Secretary, not its President.

Amount = 48000 × (1 + 20/100)² = 48000 × 1.44 = Rs 69,120. Compound interest = amount − principal = 69120 − 48000 = Rs 21,120. (Rs 69,120 is the amount, not the interest.)

The ladder (20 m) is the hypotenuse of a right triangle, and the height reached on the wall is the side opposite the 30° angle. Height = 20 × sin 30° = 20 × ½ = 10 m.

Ram's paternal great-grandfather's only son is Ram's paternal grandfather. The grandfather's only daughter-in-law is the wife of his son, i.e. Ram's father's wife. So Sita is Ram's mother.

Let the length be x m, so the price per metre is 35/x. Then (x + 4)(35/x − 1) = 35. Expanding: 35 − x + 140/x − 4 = 35, so x² + 4x − 140 = 0, i.e. (x + 14)(x − 10) = 0. The length is 10 m (check: Rs 3.50/m; 14 m at Rs 2.50 = Rs 35).

Park Geun-hye took office in February 2013 as South Korea's first woman President. She was the daughter of former President Park Chung-hee and was later impeached and removed in 2017.

Babur founded the Mughal Empire in India after defeating Ibrahim Lodi at the First Battle of Panipat in 1526. Humayun, Akbar and Shah Jahan were later Mughal emperors.

The difference in heights is 20 − 15 = 5 m and the horizontal distance between the feet is 12 m. These form a right triangle whose hypotenuse joins the tops: √(12² + 5²) = √169 = 13 m.

Sameer's maternal grandmother's only son is Sameer's maternal uncle (mother's brother). The uncle's son is Akbar, so Akbar is Sameer's cousin, and Sameer is Akbar's cousin.

The survey links regular moderate exercise (half an hour a day) to being less prone to lifestyle diseases, which supports conclusion I that moderate exercise is essential for a healthy life. 'Less prone' does not mean that everyone who skips exercise gets these diseases, so conclusion II does not follow.

A pawn moves straight forward one square (two on its first move) but captures diagonally, one square forward to the left or right. The knight moves in an L shape, the rook in straight lines and the bishop diagonally, and each captures the same way it moves.

Digboi in Assam is the oldest oil field in Asia. Oil was struck there in 1889, and Asia's first refinery was set up at Digboi in 1901; it is still working.

SI for 2 years = 1200, so the yearly interest = Rs 600. The CI exceeds the SI by 1290 − 1200 = Rs 90, which is the interest on the first year's interest: 600 × r/100 = 90, so r = 15%. Principal = 600 × 100/15 = Rs 4,000 (check: 4000 × 15% × 2 = 1200).

Sound is a mechanical wave: it needs a medium (solid, liquid or gas) to travel. In air it travels as a longitudinal wave of compressions and rarefactions, i.e. a pressure wave. So 'pressure', 'longitudinal' and 'mechanical' are all correct descriptions. Sound is not electromagnetic; electromagnetic waves such as light can travel through a vacuum, but sound cannot. So 'electromagnetic' is the false statement.

The statement concerns only some tier-2 cities, so it does not tell us that all tier-2 cities are poorly connected; conclusion I does not follow. It also says nothing about Indian metros, let alone that transport is their only problem, so conclusion II does not follow either.

All rats are hills and all hills are rivers, so all rats are rivers. If all rats are rivers, then some rivers are rats (the conversion of 'All A are B' to 'Some B are A'). The other options contradict the statements or go beyond them.

A newborn baby has about 270–300 bones (often quoted as up to 305), many of them made partly of cartilage. As the child grows, several bones fuse together (for example in the skull, spine and pelvis), leaving 206 bones in an adult skeleton.

The Beijing National Stadium, nicknamed the 'Bird's Nest' for its lattice of steel, was built by China as the main stadium of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

In the visible spectrum (VIBGYOR), frequency increases from red to violet. Red light has the longest wavelength and therefore the lowest frequency, while violet has the highest frequency.

In September 2015 Volkswagen admitted installing 'defeat device' software that cheated diesel emissions tests (the 'Dieselgate' scandal). CEO Martin Winterkorn resigned soon afterwards.

The wood is 1 cm thick on every side, so each inner dimension is 2 cm less than the outer one: 20 cm × 15 cm × 10 cm. The cement fills the inside: 20 × 15 × 10 = 3,000 cu. cm.

In MOTHER → JRQKBU the letters alternately move 3 back and 3 forward: M−3 = J, O+3 = R, T−3 = Q, H+3 = K, E−3 = B, R+3 = U. Applying the same to PRINCIPAL: P−3 = M, R+3 = U, I−3 = F, N+3 = Q, C−3 = Z, I+3 = L, P−3 = M, A+3 = D, L−3 = I, giving MUFQZLMDI.

Bromine is the only non-metal that is liquid at room temperature; it is a red-brown, fuming liquid. Mercury is also liquid but is a metal, chlorine is a gas, and gallium is a metal that melts at about 30 °C.

Maanch is a traditional folk dance-drama of the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh, performed with songs, dialogue and dance, often on mythological themes.

Endosulfan was aerially sprayed on cashew plantations in Kasaragod, Kerala, for over two decades. Reports of birth defects, cancers and neurological disorders among local people drew wide attention, and in 2011 the Supreme Court banned endosulfan.

For two numbers, HCF × LCM = product of the numbers. So the other number = (3 × 2730)/78 = 8190/78 = 105.

Each letter takes its alphabet position (A = 1). OAR = O 15 + A 1 + R 18 = 34, which matches. ROAR = 18 + 15 + 1 + 18 = 52.

Aluminium, iron and copper are pure metallic elements. Brass is an alloy (a mixture of copper and zinc), so it is the odd one out.

The ratio of the length to the breadth (width) of the Indian national flag is 3 : 2, as laid down in the Flag Code of India. The navy-blue Ashoka Chakra in the centre has 24 spokes.

When equal distances are covered at speeds a and b, the average speed is the harmonic mean, 2ab/(a + b). So the average = 2 × 40 × 50/(40 + 50) = 4000/90 ≈ 44.44 km/h. (The simple average, 45, is wrong because more time is spent at the slower speed.)

15 = 3 × 5, 25 = 5² and 29 is prime. LCM = 3 × 5² × 29 = 75 × 29 = 2,175.

APPLE (Ariane Passenger Payload Experiment), launched on 19 June 1981 by an Ariane rocket from French Guiana, was ISRO's first experimental geostationary communication satellite. Aryabhata (1975) was India's first satellite, and the Bhaskara satellites were for Earth observation.

In 1928 Alexander Fleming noticed that the mould Penicillium notatum killed bacteria on a culture plate. The substance it produced, penicillin, was the first true antibiotic; Fleming shared the 1945 Nobel Prize for it.

Replace the symbols: 17 + 6 × 13 ÷ 8 becomes 17 × 6 + 13 − 8. Multiplication first: 17 × 6 = 102. Then 102 + 13 − 8 = 107.

Convert each fraction to a decimal: 19/73 ≈ 0.260, 3/8 = 0.375, 17/39 ≈ 0.436 and 29/47 ≈ 0.617. In increasing order: 19/73 < 3/8 < 17/39 < 29/47, which is option B.

Let half of the first, one-third of the second and one-sixth of the third each equal k. Then the parts are 2k, 3k and 6k, with total 11k = 3740, so k = 340. The parts are 680, 1020 and 2040.

The White Desert is the Great Rann of Kutch in Gujarat, a vast salt marsh that turns into a white expanse of salt after the monsoon water dries. The Rann Utsav festival is held there every winter.

Article 21A, inserted by the 86th Constitutional Amendment (2002), makes free and compulsory education for all children aged 6 to 14 a fundamental right. It is put into effect by the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009.

Muhammad Quli Qutb Shah built the Charminar in Hyderabad in 1591. According to tradition it marks the end of a deadly plague that struck the city, and it stands at the heart of the old city he founded.

IBM Lotus Symphony, Microsoft Word and Google Docs are word processors, used to create and edit text documents. Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet program for tables, calculations and charts, not a word processor.

In the diagram the triangle represents reading. Adding every number inside the triangle: 43 + 31 + 12 + 28 + 12 + 44 = 170 persons like reading.

Persons who like trekking and reading are in the region common to the square and the triangle. Excluding the part that is also inside the circle (cycling) leaves only the region marked 28.

Reading and cycling together is the region common to the triangle and the circle. The part of it that is outside the square (not trekking) is the region marked 31.

Let there be x five-paisa coins and (90 − x) ten-paisa coins. Total value = 5x + 10(90 − x) = 700 paise, so 900 − 5x = 700 and x = 40. There are 40 five-paisa coins and 50 ten-paisa coins.

Under Badminton World Federation rules, the net is 5 feet (1.524 m) high at the centre and 5 feet 1 inch (1.55 m) at the posts on the side lines.

'Success cannot be achieved without hard work' means hard work is necessary for success, so every successful person must have worked hard; conclusion II follows. But hard work is not stated to be enough for success, so not every hard-working person need succeed; conclusion I does not follow.

The mode is the most frequent value. In the list, 55 appears three times, 54 and 53 twice each, and the rest once. So the mode is 55.

Fatima has no neighbour on her left, so she is at an end. Chitra is next to her and south-facing, so Fatima's row faces south, and Derek, diagonally opposite her, is in the north row. Biswajyot and Evan are north-facing, so the north row is Derek, Evan and Biswajyot, and the south row is Fatima, Chitra and Arun. Biswajyot is not next to Derek, so Evan is in the middle, opposite Chitra. Apart from Derek–Fatima, the other diagonally opposite pair is Arun and Biswajyot.

In the arrangement (north: Derek, Evan, Biswajyot; south: Fatima, Chitra, Arun), the middle flats face each other. So Evan and Chitra are exactly opposite each other.

Biswajyot, Evan and Derek have the north-facing flats, so the south-facing flats belong to Arun, Chitra and Fatima.

Total work = 30 men × 5 h × 16 days = 2,400 man-hours. With 40 men working 6 h a day, the days needed = 2400/(40 × 6) = 10 days.

For 2012, add all heads (in thousand rupees): 46 + 14 + 7.3 + 5.6 + 17 = 89.9 thousand = Rs 89,900.

In 2014, EMI = 7.4 and grocery = 52 (thousand rupees). Percentage = 7.4/52 × 100 ≈ 14.23%.

Leisure spending over five years: 5 + 6.5 + 7.3 + 7.9 + 8.5 = 35.2 thousand. Average = 35.2/5 = 7.04 thousand = Rs 7,040 per annum.

Let each equal side be x, so the third side is x + 20. Perimeter = x + x + x + 20 = 3x + 20 = 200, so x = 60. The third side = 60 + 20 = 80.

UNIX was developed in 1969 at AT&T's Bell Laboratories by Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, and the UNIX trademark originated there. (Today the trademark is held by The Open Group.)

Willis Carrier, an American engineer, designed the first modern electrical air-conditioning system in 1902 for a printing plant in Brooklyn, New York, to control humidity. He is called the 'father of air conditioning'.

DE and FG are parallel to BC and cut AB and AC at one-third and two-thirds of their length. Similar triangles have areas in the ratio of the squares of their sides: area of ADE = (1/3)² × 63 = 7 and area of AFG = (2/3)² × 63 = 28. The quadrilateral DEGF lies between them: 28 − 7 = 21 sq. units.

About 80% of kidney stones are calcium stones, and most of these are calcium oxalate. Oxalate-rich foods, low fluid intake and some metabolic conditions increase the risk.

Inside the bracket, multiplication comes first: 0.5 × 20 = 10, so the bracket = 50 + 10 = 60. Then 60 ÷ 0.7 = 600/7 ≈ 85.71.

R's daily rate = 1/6 − 1/10 − 1/24. Over a common denominator of 120: (20 − 12 − 5)/120 = 3/120 = 1/40. So R alone takes 40 days.

In 2015, radar studies by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed huge glaciers of water ice buried under rocky debris at Mars's mid-latitudes, enough to cover the planet in about a metre of ice.

Selling price after a 10% discount on Rs 320 = 320 × 0.9 = Rs 288. This gives a 20% gain, so CP × 1.2 = 288 and CP = Rs 240.

Vladimir the Great, Grand Prince of Kiev, converted to Orthodox (Byzantine) Christianity in 988 AD and had his people baptised in the Dnieper. This made Orthodox Christianity the state religion of Kievan Rus', the forerunner of Russia.

Each letter is written as its alphabet position: RUN = 18-21-14, BIN = 2-9-14. BRING = B 2, R 18, I 9, N 14, G 7 = 2189147.

An adult human tongue has roughly 2,000 to 8,000 taste buds, most of them on the papillae. Each taste bud contains 50–100 receptor cells and is replaced about every two weeks.

516 × 32 = 16,512. There are 2 + 1 = 3 decimal places in the factors, so 5.16 × 3.2 = 16.512.

A kennel is the shelter in which a dog lives; a hive is the home of bees. A barn houses farm animals and a nest is a bird's home.

'All vegetables are plants' gives 'Some plants are vegetables' by conversion, so I follows. Some fruits are vegetables and all vegetables are plants, so those fruits are plants, i.e. some fruits are plants; II follows too. Both conclusions follow.

Let the cost price be x, so the SP is 1.1x. New CP = 0.95x and new SP = 1.1x + 7, which gives a 20% gain: 1.1x + 7 = 1.2 × 0.95x = 1.14x. So 0.04x = 7 and x = Rs 175.

Corals, hydra and sponges can all reproduce asexually by budding or fragmentation. Annelids such as earthworms and leeches reproduce sexually, many being hermaphrodites that exchange sperm with a partner.

Galileo Galilei supported Copernicus's heliocentric model (the Sun at the centre of the solar system). In 1633 the Roman Inquisition found him 'vehemently suspect of heresy' and placed him under house arrest for the rest of his life.

Dr. Vikram Sarabhai is called the father of the Indian space programme. He founded INCOSPAR (which became ISRO in 1969) and set up the Thumba rocket launching station near Thiruvananthapuram.

Incandescent bulb filaments are made of tungsten, because it has the highest melting point of all metals (about 3,422 °C) and can glow white-hot without melting. The bulb is filled with an inert gas so the filament does not oxidise.

American businessman Dennis Tito became the world's first space tourist in April 2001, paying about $20 million to spend around 8 days on a Russian Soyuz trip to the International Space Station.

At a 10% profit, the SP is 1600 × 1.1 = Rs 1,760. If sold for Rs 1,840, the profit is 240, which is 240/1600 × 100 = 15%. The profit percentage rises by 15 − 10 = 5 points.

Cro-Magnons were early anatomically modern humans (Homo sapiens) who lived in Europe about 45,000–10,000 years ago. Neanderthals were a separate species or subspecies, Homo ergaster was an earlier hominin, and Proconsul was a much older ape.

C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁ is sucrose, ordinary table sugar, a disaccharide made of glucose and fructose. Sand is mainly silicon dioxide (SiO₂) and table salt is sodium chloride (NaCl).

Try each set: with ×, +, − we get 27 × 3 + 19 − 10 = 81 + 19 − 10 = 90, which is correct. The other sets do not give 90, for example 27 + 3 − 19 ÷ 10 = 28.1.

Over a common denominator of 35: 2/7 + 3/5 = (10 + 21)/35 = 31/35 and 2/5 + 2/7 = (14 + 10)/35 = 24/35. So the expression = (31/35) ÷ (24/35) = 31/24.

With ÷, ×, +: 44 ÷ 4 × 7 + 5 = 11 × 7 + 5 = 77 + 5 = 82, which is correct. The other sets give different values.

A number is divisible by 11 when the difference between the sums of alternate digits is 0 or a multiple of 11. In R019: (R + 1) − (0 + 9) = R − 8. This is 0 when R = 8, so the smallest such R is 8 (8019 = 11 × 729).

Malini's maternal aunt's mother is Malini's maternal grandmother. Her only son is Malini's maternal uncle, and Rohit is his son. So Rohit and Malini are cousins.

A hard court has a rigid surface of concrete or asphalt topped with an acrylic coating, as used at the US Open and Australian Open. Clay courts (French Open) use crushed brick, and grass courts (Wimbledon) use turf.

Replacing the symbols ('+' → ×, '−' → +, '×' → −), 36 − 4 + 7 × 8 becomes 36 + 4 × 7 − 8. Multiplication first: 4 × 7 = 28. Then 36 + 28 − 8 = 56.

The first 20 multiples of 12 are 12 × 1, 12 × 2, …, 12 × 20. Their average = 12 × (average of 1 to 20) = 12 × 21/2 = 12 × 10.5 = 126.

Sorted: 31, 53, 55, 56, 59, 61, 69. With 7 values the median is the 4th one, which is 56.

Let the number be 10a + b with a + b = 9. Reversing the digits decreases it by 45: (10a + b) − (10b + a) = 9(a − b) = 45, so a − b = 5. With a + b = 9, a = 7 and b = 2, so the number is 72 (reversed it becomes 27, which is 45 less).

Each letter is replaced by its opposite letter in the alphabet (A↔Z, B↔Y, …; positions add up to 27): M↔N, E↔V, N↔M, T↔G, O↔L, R↔I gives NVMGLI. For PROFESSOR: P→K, R→I, O→L, F→U, E→V, S→H, S→H, O→L, R→I = KILUVHHLI.

India's national song, 'Vande Mataram', was written by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and appears in his novel Anandamath (1882). The national anthem 'Jana Gana Mana' was written by Rabindranath Tagore, and Pingali Venkayya designed the national flag.

Noise pollution can cause hearing problems such as tinnitus, raise stress and blood pressure (hypertension), and disturb or even kill animals. Ozone depletion is caused by chemicals such as CFCs, not by noise.

Upstream speed = boat speed − stream speed, so 40 = 55 − s and the stream speed s = 15 km/h. Downstream speed = 55 + 15 = 70 km/h.

Tennis is played on a court; boxing takes place in a ring. Cricket is played on a pitch and football on a ground.

Six years ago the ages were 3k and 2k, so now P = 3k + 6 and Q = 2k + 6. Four years hence: (3k + 10)/(2k + 10) = 8/7, so 21k + 70 = 16k + 80 and k = 2. P's present age = 3 × 2 + 6 = 12 years.

The Gateway of India in Mumbai was built to commemorate the landing of King George V and Queen Mary at Apollo Bunder in December 1911. Its foundation stone was laid in 1913 and it was completed in 1924.